Suggestions for using the guide

The goal of the Insider's Guide is to help you become a more informed and effective information user. Whether you are using the information yourself or managing a project that will make it available to others, you will find helpful material throughout the site. It contains topic stories, case studies, summaries, and links to many different resources. You can use the Guide in several ways. Choose one that suits your needs:

Read the overview
This part of the guide summarizes the six topics and the lessons from the cases. It's a quick way to get the big ideas without the details. From the Overview, you can link to the full topic stories and the cases studies.

Get the scoop on main topics
The main topics are shown at the top of every page. Just click on the icon of the topic you're interested in and go right to the full story. You'll get an in-depth discussion of the topic, related resources, and links to real-life cases that illustrate the ideas.

Scan the key points
This list of Key points offers very brief "bullet points" that summarize the material covered in depth in all six topic stories. You will find a link to it in the right column of every page.

Read about projects
The eight case studies are rich descriptions of how agencies like yours have worked through projects that focus on better use of information. Click on Agency cases in the right column of any page to go to a list of case abstracts and choose the ones that interest you. You will also be linked to the cases from the practical examples section of each topic story.

Search for answers to your questions
If you have a particular question, you can search the Guide. A click on the Search link in the right column of any page will bring you to our search engine. There, you can search the Insider's Guide, the entire CTG web site, or another online CTG guide about building a business case for integrated information.

Browse the Guide index
This index lists every page in the Insider's Guide. Categorized by the homepage, topics, cases, and multimedia pages, this easy reference allows you to click directly to a page.

Print your own copy
If you want to hold the Guide in your hands, click the "printer friendly" icon on every page that links to a printable version where graphics are deleted. But remember, the online guide dynamically links principles to examples, which cannot be clearly illustrated in a printed version.