8.4Sources and ways of obtaining facts

Sources of facts

By and large, facts are available to consultants from three sources:

–records;

–events and conditions;

–memories.

Any of these sources may be internal (within the organization), or external (publications, statistical reports, data on customers and competitors, opinions of people outside the organization).

Records are facts stored in forms that are readable or can be transcribed. They include documents (files, reports, publications), computer files, films, microfilms, tapes, drawings, pictures, charts, and so on. Facts are obtained from records by retrieval and study.