>general research skills are lifesavers I'd like to add one point here. Researching for a new tv model is a totally different beast as compared to researching

>general research skills are lifesavers I'd like to add one point here. Researching for a new tv model is a totally different beast as compared to researching something very technical in a field, (e.g.) the right mixture\* to optimize burn time vs thrust in a solid rocket motor in prograde to Venus. It's fairly easy to find info about common and popular things because the target audience is the general public and they write in a very informal tone. And because of penetration, you'll find quite a lot of information and you just have to apply statistics/probabilities to what you read online to factor if you're going to buy that TV set or not. On the other hand, specific data will be very hard to find. You may have to start searching for related topics like rockets and fuels before you try to find ratios. Even so, you may end up having to contact a professor or someone whose name you found on a related page. They may not know the answer, but they in turn will/may try to hook you up with the person who probably knows and this repeats. This takes time (atleast a few days if not weeks). * You may need info for the fuel ratios for hobby, work, or academia.