There's no doubt that most students can surf the web and understand the etiquette of chat rooms, but how many can navigate the electronic superhighway and other online resources to do meaningful research with applications in the corporate world?

Online research courses are still uncommon these days, despite the ubiquitous computer terminal. Usually what's offered is a workshop or two geared toward helping a student research a term paper. But at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), a recently developed three-credit, human resource studies course is enabling students to learn the ins and outs of online research by conducting information searches for corporate clients.

The course was recently recognized by the ILR School as a significant "innovation in instruction" impressing both corporate America and graduate students who have deemed this a welcome addition to the curriculum.

The course, HR Online Research and Reporting Methods, teaches students advanced methods for using the electronic and hard copy sources of the ILR School's Martin P. Catherwood Library -- the largest and most comprehensive university collection of employer-employee relationship material in North America. Students learn how to use the Internet, Lexis-Nexis, CD libraries and other online databases.

"It's likely that what we will see is increasing availability and access to these sorts of tools outside the university setting, but that doesn't mean the expertise will match the availability," said John Boudreau, professor of human resource studies, who team teaches the course. "Professionals in this field who have an awareness and capability of what information is out there and how to get it are going to be ahead of the game. This course is giving our students an advantage."

The course begins with an intensive five-week training session in which students navigate a sea of online resources and other reference materials. After several mini-case studies, students are paired into teams and begin to research actual assignments from corporate executives. Corporations participating in the course are members of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS).

Examples of recent searches include:

• An oil company requested information on ways to mitigate attrition when relocating a business unit;
• A major corporation sought information on best practices in performance management;
• A pharmaceutical giant requested a report on current policies in place among peer companies regarding adoption, such as whether companies are helping to pay agency fees, etc.
• A major financial institution requested information on how "flexible work" arrangements work in a highly client-centered business.

"Answers to these questions aren't found by simple research," said Stuart Basefsky, an information specialist at the Catherwood Library who also teaches the course. "If one doesn't have the skills necessary to do in-depth online research, finding materials to answer these requests in a timely manner would be difficult, if not impossible."

Students had 10 days to complete their assignments and report back to their corporate clients. Before starting the searches, students interviewed their corporate contacts to find out more about the requests. Once the searches were conducted and the information gathered, students drafted reports and executive summaries that were forwarded to the corporate clients.

"Conducting the search is only one aspect of what students here are learning," Basefsky said. "Once you have all this information, you must decide the best way to present it to your client; that can be a real challenge."

But students are up to it -- and they have testimonials to prove it. A Corning executive used a 21-page report on diversity profiles among Fortune 500 senior executives, along with an executive summary and a bibliography of article abstracts he received from a student, as the focus of a presentation he delivered to Corning senior human resource executives.

Boudreau and Basefsky believe that arming these students, many of whom will enter the human resources field, with the skills to accomplish such extensive online searches provides them with an essential ingredient for success in the marketplace.

"The explosion in information technology and the availability of online resources makes information research an essential skill for future human resource professionals," Boudreau noted. "An individual who can enter an organization with this set of skills and knowledge base will be extremely valuable."