Here is an interview from Tekzilla that will give you a quick overview of drive recovery methods and what to do to try to attempt data recovery. Very interesting interview with Scott Moulton from Tekzilla’s - Which Hard Drives Fail The Least? Sleek Cell Phone Booster, Hard Drive Recovery Tools, Adobe Reader Alternatives, Space Pictures! – Tekzilla Episode.
I love the Tekzilla podcasts with Peter Norton and Veronica Belmont. I always learn some new technique or new software product that I can use. You can subscribe to their RSS Feed, or if you have a device/computer you can download their podcast from many different podcast distribution sources including iTune and Microsoft MarketPlace (Zune).