# SKILL — Search Strategy

## When to use
At the start of any investigation, and any time a line of search dries up.

## Workflow
1. **Break the question into searchable claims** — don't search the whole question, search its
   parts.
2. **Generate several hypotheses and queries** — not one. Different angles surface different sources.
3. **Map who would know / where it would live** — official body, regulator, vendor, filing,
   news, forum, archive.
4. **When a method fails, change the method** — not just retry. Vary: terminology (incl.
   historical terms), date ranges, spellings/name variants, language, database, source type,
   geographic assumption, or the associated organization/person.
5. **Hunt footprints, not just the fact:**
   - Removed page → web archive (Wayback).
   - Dead name → associated orgs, domains, officers, addresses.
   - Fuzzy date → search surrounding events.
   - Missing report → meeting minutes, regulatory/entity filings (e.g., Indiana INBiz).
6. **Apply the stopping rule** — stop when verified enough or returns go flat; don't spiral.

## Quality standards
- Record every query attempted (in `../../projects/research-log.md`) so I don't repeat work.
- Persistent about the objective, flexible about the method.

## Limits
Read-only, lawful methods only — no impersonation, no bypassing auth/paywalls. Finding a lead
is not confirming it; confirmation is `verify-and-source`.
