Research and watch: what’s the difference?
You would like to know, or rather you would like to get the best information possible on a specific subject. So you ask information specialist. Will you ask for research or watch? To understand the difference, here are some definitions, a comparative table and an illustrated example.
Definitions
Information research and information watch or strategic intelligence both falls within the information sciences. Here are how the experts outline the concepts:
Documentary research or information research :
- An activity which consists of identifying, localizing and processing one or many secondary information (bibliographic references) within one documentary environment (search engine, database), in order to answer a question or to solve a problem. [Adapted from 1]
- “All the methods, procedures and techniques used to find references to relevant documents (responding to a request for information) and the documents themselves.” [2]
- “All the methods, procedures and techniques used to select information from one or more document collections [databases], more or less structured, based on the user's [customer's] own search criteria.” [3]
Information watch and strategic intelligence :
- “Ongoing activity, frequently repeated, aimed at active monitoring to stay up to date in a specific field”. [4]
- “Dynamic and rigorous process of monitoring, managing and disseminating of relevant, up-to-date information, to anticipate issues and to help the decision-making process by the involved parties.” [5]
- • “Information watch is a continuous and systematic process of collecting, analysing and disseminating information, carried out by information professionals, for targeted clienteles, in order to update knowledge, anticipate evolution et make decisions.” [6]
Comparative table
| Information research | Informationnelle watch | |
| Objective | Answer a specific question to support decision-making. | Respond to a demand for continuous information to stay up to date with the latest developments in a field or anticipate trends to support decision-making and innovation. |
| Recurrence | None, except if the research needs an update, in case of a systematic review, for example. | Continuous, as long as the mandate is on going. |
| Steps |
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| Sources |
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| Tools |
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Difference explained by example
At Cogniges, we offer information research services as well as infowatch and monitoring services. The following examples are fictitious because we believe in ethics and confidentiality.
Example of an information research mandate: what are the best practices for promoting vaccination?
- These practices can cover a long period of time, until the present day.
- This is a subject that is firmly rooted in the public health culture of many countries: there are numerous publications, including systematic reviews.
- This topic has also been put into practice guides issued by government authorities.
Example of an information watch mandate: what are the new approaches and practices in treatment and rehabilitation for long-standing COVID?
- It is an emerging topic.
- The sources of information must be both rigorous and diversified, as the scientific studies are still scarce.
- A continuous following of the new developments in this field would be necessary by the interested agent.
References
[1] Dinet, J. et Passerault, J.-M. (2004). La recherche documentaire informatisée à l’école. Hermès, la revue, 2(39), 126-132.
[2] Association des professionnels de l’information et de la documentation (ADBS). (2012). Vocabulaire de la documentation.
[3] Dinet, J. (2014). La recherche d’information dans les environnements numériques. Londres : ISTE Editions.
[4] Université de Montréal. Bibliothèques. Faire de la veille informationnelle : notions de base.
[5] Communauté de pratique de veille en santé et en services sociaux du Québec. (2022). Charte de collaboration.
[6] Université de Montréal. École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information. (2018). Terminologie de base en sciences de l’information.