This document provides guidance on defining an information problem by outlining steps to identify what is already known about a topic, formulating a research question, determining relevant vocabulary, specifying what additional information is needed in the form of questions, and identifying the types of information sources that will be required, such as statistics, interviews, academic articles, experiments, or historical documents.

1. 1. Task Definition
1.1 Define the Information Problem
1.2 Identify the Information Needed
What do I already know about this topic?
Research Question:
What is the relevant vocabulary for this topic?
(Words and Phrases that will help your search)
What do I need to know about my topic?
(Phrase these as questions)
What types of information do I need for this
topic?
(E.g. Statistics, Interviews, Academic Journal
Articles, Experiments, Primary Source Historical
Documents, Images, Graphs)