My Favourite Tipples from a Scandinavian Information Specialist
Jinfo Blog

By Anja Chemnitz Thygesen

Abstract

My Favourite Tipples are shared by Anja Thygesen, independent Scandinavian business research specialist. She shares her favourite online resources in areas from statistics and company information to satirical cartoons.

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As an independent information researcher I have to stay on top of sources but also consider cost and value whenever I decide to sign up for new subscription-based sources.

I have access to a few databases that I cannot do without but prefer Pay As You Go solutions as the topics and industry focus of my projects keep changing. This also makes it much easier to send the bill directly to my client.

Many of my favourite sites are about numbers. Company financials and reliable statistics are good starting points for much of what I do and this requires a good range of high quality sources.

• Eurostat: I love to hate Eurostat. It's messy, often incorrect, contains old data and is difficult to use but it also contains a wealth of useful statistics. The statistics are comparable across the EU member states, and often even across other non-EU countries as well.

• Danish CVR national company registrar: The CVR recently decided to open their register and make all annual reports available free of charge. You can also search for historical and present management and board members of a specific company or search by the name of a person and see companies where that person has held positions. Unfortunately most of the annual reports are in Danish. Let's hope that other company registries decide to follow this example and give open access! 
  
  
• Orbis: Admittedly, I just love Orbis from Bureau van Dijk. Orbis provides key financials of companies all over the world. I KNOW that it has some problems when it comes to coverage in some parts of the world and to data quality, but the database and searching is simply amazing. Unfortunately you have to subscribe but it's worth every cent. Datasets can be purchased on a pay per use basis through Mint but with less data and without the great search functions available if you subscribe. 
  
  
• AIIP: As an independent information professional, I'm a member of the AIIP. This is one of the places where I get inspiration and updates from the other members through the mailing list, the quarterly magazine and the monthly webinars. 

For fun:  

• Wulff Morgenthaler: Every morning I enjoy my coffee with Wulff Morgenthaler. This crazy cartoon often puts me in a very good mood. Warning: they are sexist, crazy and may be crossing the line for some of you.

An article in FreePint which I found particularly interesting: 

• Skills development in a one-man army: staying updated and continuous skills development is one of the biggest challenges of being independent. A great way to stay updated is, of course, to read FreePint articles and the recent article "Information Skills Development - Incorporating Resources from Industry Partners" reminded me of some of the great sources for skills development.

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