How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

Asking right questions at the right time to capture right info is a skill that need to be practiced and developed.

I have come across of this article How To Ask Questions The Smart Way and the following section on the groundwork needed for the query is good.

Before You Ask

Before asking a technical question by e-mail, or in a newsgroup, or on a website chat board, do the following:

1. Try to find an answer by searching the archives of the forum you plan to post to.
2. Try to find an answer by searching the Web.
3. Try to find an answer by reading the manual.
4. Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.
5. Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.
6. Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.
7. If you're a programmer, try to find an answer by reading the source code.

When you ask your question, display the fact that you have done these things first; this will help establish that you're not being a lazy sponge and wasting people's time. Better yet, display what you have learned from doing these things. We like answering questions for people who have demonstrated they can learn from the answers.

Read the complete article here
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html