Whenever I go out to buy, the majority of what I buy comes from researching the artist or past experiences good or bad, but I always gamble on 3-4 records of which I have no prior knowledge. Then from the gamble I always learn something plus I have found plenty of diamonds in the rough. But even on the gambles, you are still making educated guesses based on cover, label, year, city recorded in. Digging for records is like shopping for wine. After buying the record, I take it home and listen all of the way through while recording it into audition. Then I set markers and go back and scrutinize each track. If I like it all the way, I put it into my Ipod for future listening. If I like pieces I sample them into my eps or sp1200 and save them. If i don't find anything redeeming I just press delete. Then there are more instances of finding samples from further listening in my Ipod.