How to tap Big Brother for information

Many planners, although aware of the importance of external information, continue to make decisions without using this resource. Such situations exist because planners have been conditioned to believe that the information they really need for precise decision‐making is either unavailable or too costly. These misconceptions are contrary to evidence showing that the United States has been experiencing an “information explosion” during the last twenty years and that most contributors to this explosion are public organizations and special interest groups who make information available at low cost. Ignorance of sources of external information, rather than its cost or availability, is the core of the planners' dilemma. This seeming incongruity exists because a majority of organizations generating information spend most of their resources collecting data and preparing reports, reserving little or no funds for advertising the availability of their information.