Newsletter No. 110
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Free Pint
"Helping 48,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 18th April 2002 No.110
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
From Belinda Weaver
FREE PINT BAR & STUDENT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
JOBS
Intranet Project Advisor
Researcher
Information Officer
TIPS ARTICLE
"A World of Resources Awaits You in China"
By Laurel J. Delaney
BOOKSHELF
"Super Searchers Cover the World:
The Online Secrets of International Business Researchers"
Reviewed by Arthur Weiss
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Customer Satisfaction - do you know what they think
of your information service?"
By Jacqueline Beattie
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.htm>
ADOBE ACROBAT VERSION WITH NEWSLETTER FORMATTING
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.pdf>
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UNIVERSITY OF NORTH LONDON's MSc INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
* September start - gain MSc in 1 year full-time or 18 months part-time
* Develop practical skills - organisational focus
* Small group teaching, collaborate with students/lecturers/practitioners
* Residential sessions - distance supported learning
* Brochure http://www.unl.ac.uk/slgim/ikm.pdf
* For information/register for FREE SEMINAR 15 May ikm@unl.ac.uk
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>>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<<
Free Pint is an online community of information researchers. Members
receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips on
finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet.
Joining is free at <http://www.freepint.com/> and provides access to
the substantial archive of articles, book reviews, jobs, industry news
& events, with answers to your research questions and networking at
the Free Pint Bar. Please circulate this newsletter which is best
read when printed out.
To receive the Adobe Acrobat version as an attachment or a brief
notification when it's online, visit <http://www.freepint.com/member>.
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EDITORIAL
As you know from my recent Editorials, we've been attending a lot of
conferences and meetings recently, and like most organisations
thinking a lot about our strategy for the future. I found joining
Factiva's Advisory Board meeting last week particularly enjoyable,
London being a very handy venue for me after New York last year.
From talking to many other companies in the information arena, there
seem to have emerged two distinct camps. One is the 'real' companies
(those with print publications, conferences, etc.) who are trying to
encourage more use of their fledgling digital offerings. At the same
time there are companies, like Free Pint, who are already well
established online, but would like to reassert their brand by
providing something tangible to their members offline.
A common way for 'real' publishers to test the online waters is to
give access to some of their print publication articles for free on
their Web site. Many publishers have been reluctant to do this, but
there's a common acceptance that it's a good way for potential
subscribers to evaluate the usefulness of a publication before signing
up for a paid annual subscription.
This means there are now a large number of good quality sites where
you can access free in-depth articles about information research,
online strategy, content management, eCommerce, etc. It was for this
reason that we started producing the "Free Pint Pub Crawl".
Every day we monitor the Web sites of over 180 publications looking
for interesting full text articles that are accessible for free. We
then summarise the articles and publish them in a weekly round-up
called the "Pub Crawl", which is sent by email. We've been doing this
now without fail every week for a year and a half.
We've decided to offer, for the first time, a free four-week trial to
the Pub Crawl. A paid subscription is only 50 pounds a year (about
US$70 or 80 euro), but as I mentioned above I think it's good to be
able to evaluate something properly before becoming a full subscriber.
So, if you'd like to find out more about the publications we're
monitoring, read some of the testimonials from current subscribers,
sign up for a free trial, or take out a paid subscription, then please
visit <http://www.freepint.com/pubcrawl>.
As you can probably tell, we're very proud of the Pub Crawl. It's an
invaluable source of current awareness which supports all the work we
do here at Free Pint. I'm sure you'll also find it useful to rely on
us to highlight articles of interest in a range of publications.
In today's newsletter we look at how to prepare yourself online for
doing business in China, how to measure customer satisfaction for an
information service, and review another book in the Super Searcher
series. Don't forget there is a fully-formatted version of this
newsletter online at <http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.htm>.
Please support Free Pint by telling others about us, and do sign up
for the weekly Pub Crawl at <http://www.freepint.com/pubcrawl>.
Best regards
William
William Hann, Founder and Managing Editor
Email: <william@freepint.com> Tel: +44 (0)1784 420044
Free Pint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (c) 1997-2002
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AUTOMATE WEB RESEARCH WITH WEBQL SOFTWARE
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Or you can write your own queries. Why not request a free JumpStart?
Visit www.affinite.co.uk/freepinters.htm or call +44 1943 864124
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>>> INFORMATION VACANCIES IN FREE PINT JOBS <<<
Whether you're looking for an information-related job,
or have a vacancy to fill, visit Free Pint Jobs:
<http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
From Belinda Weaver
* Governments on the WWW <http://www.gksoft.com/govt/en/> - A one stop
shop for governments. You also get related country information -
languages, flag, human rights issues, tourist info, election
results, political parties, regional and local government and multi-
governmental institutions.
* Arts & Letters Daily <http://www.aldaily.com/> - My culture fix - a
page of article snippets that link to the full text of articles.
Also useful for finding current news and magazines, and book review
archives.
* BBC News <http://news.bbc.co.uk/> - The best news site around -
interesting story angles, in depth specials, and news by topic.
* Xrefer <http://w2.xrefer.com/> - Good quotation help is hard to find
and xrefer does the job brilliantly. Also handy for checking a range
of encyclopaedias, dictionaries and thesauri.
* CIA World Factbook <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/>
- Who better than the CIA at digging up information? A terrific,
current country data site with maps, statistics, economic and
demographic data, geography, land use, government information and
transnational issues.
Belinda Weaver maintains two web sites - Internet information sources
for Australian journalists <http://www.sjc.uq.edu.au/ozguide/> and
Globalisation <http://www.sjc.uq.edu.au/global/> - and the OZCAR
mailing list <http://www.sjc.uq.edu.au/ozguide/new.html>.
Email your top five favourite Web sites to <simon@freepint.com> or
see the guidelines at <http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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Factiva Launches 2002 White Paper Series
Factiva launches its 2002 White Paper Series with a new report
on the value of information tools. Free, Fee-Based and Value-Added
Information Services considers the quality, availability and value
of information on free Web sites, fee-based Web sites
and value-added information services. To learn more visit:
http://factiva.com/collateral/files/whitepaper_feevsfree_032002.pdf
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>>> EMAIL NEWSLETTER LIST HOSTING TRIAL <<<
Free trials are a great way to evaluate a service. If you're
considering using Free Pint's List Hosting service then set
up a free trial list today and make sure it meets
your needs: <http://www.freepint.com/bulk>
"William Hann and his team at Free Pint consistently
go that 'extra mile'" Better Business
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FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.htm#bar>
Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
-------------------------------------------
[Note: To read a Bar posting enter the message number in place
of XXXXX in the address http://www.freepint.com/go/bXXXXX ]
Ah, the manifold evils of the Internet! OK, I exaggerate. Like
anything else in the way of media or technology, it has its
drawbacks. Among those are pop-up ads (17073), spam (16986) and
insulting Usenet postings (17072). Thankfully there are solutions to
these problems, but if you don't ask, you'll never find out what they
are.
And, on the other hand, there are the advantages of the Internet too.
In the last couple of weeks I reviewed the Microsoft's Most Valued
Professional site, where you can go if you have any technical queries
relating to MS's products (17010). I also looked at some excellent
resources that hold Shakespeare's works and related secondary
material (17128). Other fine resources recommended include the UK
Merchant Navy site (16909), some Esperanto sites (16919) and the
wonderful Internet Resources Newsletter (16908).
Business researchers have been using the Internet to find historical
sales figures for European companies (16963), youth employment levels
in blue chip companies (17029), the UK injection moulding market
(17102), historical figures for Barclays base rate (16927) and a list
of retailers that are quoted on the German stock exchange (16999).
Quantitative data has been sought covering the largest enterprises in
areas other than the EU and the US, in terms of number of employees,
turnover, etc. (16905), the demographic breakdown of UK drivers
(16950), digital TV subscription figures (17041), the different types
of library in the UK (17055), the top fifty UK software companies
(17125) and production figures for the Triumph TR8 Convertible
(17095).
Some of the research questions people have raised have not received
any response yet. These are about a proposed toxicology information
forum (17048), templates for levels of confidentiality for
information sharing (16964), the Profound classification system
(16992), help with drawing up a style guide for producing elearning
materials (17093) and details of any research that's been done into
the effect of a computer screen's size on a worker's productivity
(17130).
Free Pinters have also been looking into ebook pricing models and
attitudes to ebooks (17006), training courses for doing research into
people (17047), an advisory panel in the Scottish National Health
Service (17141), switching from using a PC to using a Mac (16996) and
finding freelance economic research work (17025).
A few of the more technical questions have not been answered yet.
These are about evaluations of Slangsoft translation software
(16989), getting Internet Explorer to synchronise a Web site so it's
available offline (16997), a persistent parse error (17100) and
sorting out ads that slow down people's surfing (16967).
Other techie questions have been concerned with Google's date field
(16907), bookmarking and anchoring code in HTML (17133), creating
computer assisted assessment forms (17009), transferring an archive
onto a database (16922), getting links in Word to open in Explorer
(17051) and saving favourites without visiting the relevant Web site
(16962).
As well as a rash of queries about Latin (16906, 17015, 17090,
17118), there were also several about music (17049), especially music
appearing in ads (17074, 17103, 17140). There were further
miscellaneous postings about a speaker for a customer relationship
management conference (16948), old Argos catalogues (17088), getting
published (17101), UK post codes (17146), a town occupied by the
Germans in WW2 (17108) and the provenance of a poem about librarians
(17066).
So the Internet is not that evil after all. I think I could even get
to like it!
[Note: To read a Bar posting enter the message number in place
of XXXXX in the address http://www.freepint.com/go/bXXXXX ]
Free Pint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>
-------------------------------------------------------
[Note: To read a Student Bar posting enter the message number in
place of XXXX in the address <http://www.freepint.com/go/sXXXX>]
Students have been enquiring about information work for the police
(2456), English teaching work with the British Council (2462), Latin
phrase translation (2445), UK government policy on announcing layoffs
(2464) and historical maps that represent population, housing and
urban development changes effected by the introduction of railways
(2451).
[Note: To read a Student Bar posting enter the message number in
place of XXXX in the address <http://www.freepint.com/go/sXXXX>]
Simon Collery, Content Developer <simon@freepint.com>
If you have a tricky research question or can help other Free Pinters
then do post a message at the Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar> or
the Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>.
To have the latest Bar postings sent to you every other day, log in to
your account online at <http://www.freepint.com/member>.
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Your chance to speak at Online Information 2002;
the world's no. 1 event for information content,
management and delivery.
Check out
http://www.online-information.co.uk/online/conf_call_speaker.asp
for full details of conference themes and how to submit your paper.
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>>> UK DIRECTORS: DoB, Address, Directorships, etc. etc. <<<
The Free Pint company research gateway includes details of
ALL UK directorships. A detailed report only costs 8 pounds (about
US$11.5 or 13 euro). To see a sample or to try a free search visit:
<http://www.freepint.com/icc/sample>
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FREE PINT JOBS
<http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
As well as the details below, you might also like to check out the
new weekly Bar posting which lists the latest additions to Free Pint
Jobs. This week's can be found at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b17134>
and last week's at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b17027>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Intranet Project Advisor <http://www.freepint.com/go/j1687>
Participate at all project levels to help provide a managed gateway
to a wide range of external and internal information resources
Recruiter: Environment Agency
Researcher <http://www.freepint.com/go/j1706>
A Business Researcher to join a small and dedicated team in the
Information centre of a Professional Services Firm.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
Information Officer, P/T <http://www.freepint.com/go/j1712>
A 3 day-a-week role for someone with a year's experience in business
research, using effective online and customer service skills.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
[The above jobs are paid listings]
Free Pint Jobs is THE place for information-related vacancies.
Whether you're job searching or have a position to fill, you should
be using Free Pint Jobs.
Candidates: It is free to search the database and you can set up a
profile to be notified weekly by email of relevant new vacancies.
Advertisers: List your vacancies and receive significant publicity.
Match your job against the 400+ stored job seeker profiles. Listings
start at just 145 pounds (about US$200 or 230 Euros).
Find out more today at <http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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Targeted Science and Engineering Information
Nerac delivers hard-to-find information from worldwide resources
within the next business day. Our search experts locate information on
published literature, patents, trademarks and advancements in science
and technology. Our resources provide targeted results that save you
time and money. To learn more, visit our Web site at www.nerac.com,
call 860-872-7000 (U.S.), from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET to speak
directly with a Nerac representative or e-mail us at info@nerac.com.
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>>> TALK TO THE LARGEST GROUP OF INFORMATION RESEARCHERS <<<
Free Pint is one of the largest collections of
information researchers anywhere. If not THE largest.
Advertising with Free Pint is therefore an extremely cost effective
way of promoting your information-related products and services.
Find out more today at: <http://www.freepint.com/advert.htm>
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.htm#tips>
"A World of Resources Awaits You in China"
By Laurel J. Delaney
China is already an important and growing market for American
businesses. The number of small businesses exporting to China
increased 141 percent between 1992 and 1997. Currently, small
businesses account for 35 percent of all U.S. exports to China, making
it the 10th-largest export market for them. Who wouldn't want to sell
to 1.3 billion hungry customers?
In the course of my dealings, I have found five things to be true in
conducting business in China. You must:
1) Know the market.
2) Use Hong Kong as your base to enter China.
3) Learn about Chinese culture.
4) Leverage an existing relationship.
5) Assist your family of companies.
Clearly, learning all you can about the Chinese business environment
and how to build relationships in the area will be effort well spent.
You must build as many connections as possible and not forget to take
care of the people who give you those connections. Maybe someday you
will help them out. The Chinese are not as straightforward as
Americans are -- no doesn't mean definitely no. Two Chinese can carry
on the insisting and refusing game for a long time before one party
gives up. Remember also that most rules can be bent for special
situations for special people. If one is persistent and patient, one
is more likely to affect the outcome.
Meetings with potential partners over lunch and dinner, which are
usually longer than what foreigners are accustomed to, are also
occasions to recognize the slower pace of Chinese business. Be
patient and flexible. The time spent with people is a worthwhile
investment that will pay off in the future. Also, courtesy and
discretion are paramount. No Chinese would be eager to deal with
people -- whether online or offline -- who do not respect their way of
living and conducting business. Also, be careful with your opinions
on politics and government. The Chinese may not want to share with
you what they really think about the government policies unless they
are very close friends of yours.
Preparing Yourself To Do Business in China
------------------------------------------
You can start by surfing the Net and linking to China Search Engines
and Directories <http://www.net-promo.net/china.htm>. Then, move on
to a sampling of the many other sites offering a world of news to
China:
* United States of America China Chamber of Commerce
<http://www.usccc.org>
* The U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service People's Republic of China
<http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/english/commercial/index.html>
* MOFTEC, Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, PRC
<http://www.moftec.gov.cn/moftec_en>
* South China Morning Post -- Asia's Leading English News Channel
<http://www.scmp.com>
* China Daily <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn>
* China Internet Network Information Center
<http://www.cnnic.net.cn/e-index.shtml>
* The China Business Review <http://www.chinabusinessreview.com>
* ScoutAsia <http://www.scoutasia.com>
For the more scholarly type, there are several places to visit for
useful information on China. Try the European Case Clearing House at
<http://www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk> (search "China" under the Colis case
search area). This site offers cases written for or by The University
of Hong Kong School of Business that deal with doing business in
China.
Harvard also has several cases dealing with marketing in China (use
the keyword search "China") including <http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu>.
Additional sites that will guide you to doing business in China:
* Sina.com <http://www.sina.com>
* chinadotcom <http://www.china.com>
* Click2Asia.com <http://www.click2asia.com>
If you are interested in reducing procurement costs and sourcing Asia
online, try these:
* MeetWorldtrade.com <http://www.meetworldtrade.com>
* Chinamarket.com <http://www.chinamarket.com> -- locate and source
China manufacturers, suppliers and customers.
* SinoSources.com <http://www.sinosources.com>
If you cannot read a word of Chinese, try these English-only speaking
sites:
* Asia-Links -- links the world to Asia by providing high-tech
content and services to all Asian countries, including China and
U.S.A. <http://www.asia-links.com>
* ChinaOnline -- the information network for China.
<http://www.chinaonline.com>
Are you interested more than ever in China? Sign up for The China
Commercial Brief published by the U.S. Embassy-Beijing, a weekly
publication that offers summaries about developments in China's
various commercial sectors, tips on doing business in China and U.S.
Embassy news. This invaluable publication is free of charge. To
subscribe go to:
<http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/
english/commercial/english/products/china_commercial_brief.html>.
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Laurel Delaney runs a Chicago-based global marketing, consulting and
web content providing company aimed toward entrepreneurs and small
businesses. She is the author of Start & Run a Profitable Exporting
Business, and teaches an MBA International Marketing course at Loyola
University Chicago. Ms. Delaney is working on her next book, Women
Entrepreneurs Take On The World -- Not For Women Only, to be published
in 2002. She can be reached at <ldelaney@globetrade.com> or visit
<http://www.globetrade.com>. Ms. Delaney is also the creator of
"Borderbuster", a newsletter focussing on global marketing.
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Related Free Pint links:
* "China" resources in the Free Pint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/c45>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.htm#tips>
* Post a message to the author, Laurel Delaney, or suggest further
resources, at the Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Access the entire archive of Free Pint articles and issues
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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>>> FREE PINT PUB CRAWL TRIAL <<<
Try out the 'Pub Crawl' weekly current awareness email newsletter
on a four week free trial, and see how invaluable it is:
<http://www.freepint.com/pubcrawl/>
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FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Super Searchers Cover the World:
The Online Secrets of International Business Researchers"
Written by Mary Ellen Bates, Reva Basch (Editor)
Reviewed by Arthur Weiss
As an international business researcher I'm always on the lookout for
tips and ideas that can improve my own searching. This was my first
foray into the Super Searcher series of books. Knowing that the series
has been highly successful, I'd hoped that the book would not just
spark curiosity sitting on a bookshelf but would spend most of its
life, well thumbed and located prominently on my desk. Alas not! The
book is full of tips for better international searching but by lacking
a summary or final conclusion, the format does not allow it to become
a guidebook to better searching.
"Super Searchers Cover the World" consists of a series of interviews
with a number of international researchers. Unfortunately, most seemed
to have a US bias even when they were stressing that it is important
not to assume that what is true for one region or country will also be
true for others. (A particularly jarring example was a comment about
European unification saying that Europe is "still not a single entity"
and that there are "differences between Germany and Spain, for
example"!). This is a major failing in the book, for non-US readers,
as almost half the researchers are based in the US, looking outside.
Thus key sources that many European based researchers know were missed
(for example - CAROL <http://www.carol.co.uk>, and the European
Business Register portal <http://www.ebr.org> are not mentioned).
Searching for information on France, Germany, Spain, Scandinavia and
Eastern Europe is hardly mentioned. Reading the book I'd think that
nobody wanted to find information from Russia, India, South Africa
or Australasia and that hardly anyone was interested in the Middle
East. So, in fact the super searchers selected cover only a few
countries or regions: Latin America, parts of Western Europe and the
Pacific Rim are the main focus.
So far, this review has been negative. This perhaps reflects my
expectations rather than what the book does offer. The searchers
featured give sound advice, emphasising that searching does not just
involve bringing up a search engine and assuming that what came up was
all there was. There is a strong emphasis on thinking laterally, and
gaining familiarity with different sources: CD-ROM products, dial-up
hosts, and especially offline sources such as the telephone and direct
contact, reference books and directories and so on. There are also
some excellent tips on judging reliability and when to stop searching.
Other worthwhile tips cover keeping up-to-date, the importance of
managing client expectations and translation / cultural issues.
In summary, if you want to learn how other people approach
international search projects then this book is for you. However if
you are looking to deepen your own knowledge of international search
resources and techniques then you are likely to be disappointed.
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Arthur Weiss is a UK based management consultant specialising in
competitive intelligence and strategy. He has worked in the
information industry for over 15 years and has spent time searching
for information from many countries around the globe. Arthur has
written and presented on competitive intelligence, marketing and
Internet related topics in the UK, Europe and elsewhere. Arthur is the
managing partner of AWARE, a CI consultancy offering clients CI
research, analysis and training. He can be contacted through AWARE's
web-site at <http://www.competitive-intelligence.co.uk>.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.htm#feature>
"Customer Satisfaction - do you know what they think
of your information service?"
By Jacqueline Beattie
Why you need to know
--------------------
It's quite a good idea to know what your customers (or users if you
prefer) think of the service you're providing. It simply isn't enough
to assume that you're doing fine. 'Nobody has complained' is
something I have heard said before - that sounds dangerously like
apathy to me - probably on both sides! It is often stated that the
customer rarely complains - they just don't come back for more.
Sometimes it is really obvious what people think - I once had a four-
hole paper punch thrown at me for not allowing an irate engineer to
photocopy a British Standard - luckily I ducked in time! The customer
resolution came in the form of purchasing standards on CDs, a timely
questionnaire would probably have avoided this episode ...
Some reasons for wanting to know
--------------------------------
* Can validate the service you're providing
* Gather metrics for reporting
* Placing a value on information
* Assists planning
* Helps you make decisions about content/services
* Are the customer training sessions working?
* Usage
* Understand factors that drive your customers
* Issue/complaint resolution
* Know your competition (sometimes that word 'outsource' can trip
off the tongues of management) so find out where else your
customers could go for information - local information brokers,
local libraries, etc.
* Benchmarking (see point above)
* Ensuring continuous improvement
* Customer loyalty
* Word of mouth marketing
How do you do it?
-----------------
In our wired world, there are different ways of making use of
technology to find out what your customers are thinking:
* Email surveys
* Text-based emails (if you have issues of compatibility)
* Web/HTML
* Intranet/Extranet
* Online focus groups - e.g. inviting a set number of people for
a period of say, one hour, to a specialised chat room - you can
view text, graphics, sounds, video, multimedia for evaluation
(questions could be prepared and circulated before the meeting)
The size of the survey will depend on what you're trying to find out.
If you want a big company-wide view there are specialist organisations
which will take care of the whole process for you. This has the
advantage of an independent view: people may be more willing to give
their true impression of the service. If you are planning on a big
exercise I would advise you to check it out with your Communications
department - they may well have rules about the number of surveys
being carried out across the organisation at any one time. They might
even be able to help with hints and tips for the type of questions,
layout, etc. Another possibility is for your questions to be included
in a company-wide employee satisfaction survey.
If using an external organisation is out of the question, then you've
probably got people on your team capable of producing web-based
formats or you can liaise with your organisation's specialist IT
department (honestly, this can work!). You can use email
functionality for simple surveying. Think about how you will collect
the data - it will probably involve some sort of database which you
can then manipulate to produce workable figures. Comments are always
more cumbersome to capture, but it is likely that there will be some
repetition allowing you to categorise some of the responses.
What do you need to know?
-------------------------
Obviously that is up to you. Take some time to think about the
questions; it is important to get them right. You may want the survey
to be an annual event, covering all aspects of the service you
provide, so that you can establish your baseline to measure future
improvements, etc. Or you can just ask a few questions around what
the customer thinks of a single piece of work that the service has
provided.
Whatever you decide, you are asking people to take time out of their
busy day to provide you with feedback. In some organisations
(certainly my experience at The Document Company, Xerox) people
recognised the value of surveys to help understand and improve
services and so they were happy to reply. In other places it will be
harder to get responses. Increasingly, enquiries can be answered
electronically, so a short survey attachment sent along with the
results of the enquiry can have the desired effect. Bribing customers
with goodies if they reply might also help!
Here are some examples of the questions you might want to ask
customers about your Amazing Business Information Service (ABIS).
A single enquiry focus questionnaire could include the following
questions:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ABIS
Customer Satisfaction Survey
We are keen to ensure that we are delivering high quality information
solutions to our customers. As the recipient of a completed ABIS
enquiry, we would be delighted if you would take a few moments to
reply to the following questions using the ratings as shown below:
Ratings = 5 = Very satisfied
4 = Satisfied
3 = Neither satisfied or dissatisfied
2 = Dissatisfied
1 = Very dissatisfied
* Responsiveness of the ABIS team to dealing with your request
* Value and relevance of the information provided
* Overall satisfaction with ABIS
Any additional comments:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For obvious reasons, I cannot include an example of a much more wide-
ranging questionnaire, but here are a few ideas for questions:
How do you find the information you need to do your job?
a. ABIS
b. Internet
c. Purchased external services
d. Other
On average, about how many hours do you spend at work each week
finding and evaluating external information to help you do your job?
a. 1-3
b. 4-6
c. Other
What types of external information sources do you use?
a. Company information
b. Product information
c. Market research
d. Standards
e. Pricing
f. Book purchasing
Have you accessed ABIS in the last 12 months to help you find the
information you need to do your job?
If yes:
How would you describe the benefits the service has brought to you?
a. Saved time
b. Helped to generate revenue
c. Saved money
If no:
What prevented you from accessing the AIBS for information you need to
do your job?
a. Don't know what ABIS provides
b. Don't have enough time for searching and analysing information
c. Don't know who to contact
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What do you do with the results?
--------------------------------
People who run organisations LOVE metrics, so gather your statistics
to help produce a picture of how your service is doing. That takes
care of the quantitative side of things but do not forget the
qualitative side - take note of any positive feedback. This helps to
illustrate how well the service is doing and can also be used to
congratulate team members on their great performance. In several
organisations I have used a prominent display board to post the
monthly results and feedback so that everyone could see the story of
the service.
ALWAYS respond if a negative comment requires it - you can establish
your own rules. In one organisation I worked in, if the ratings were
3 or less we would call the customer to talk through the reasons.
Don't be afraid of this; if customers can see that you are truly
trying to improve the service, this will be viewed as positive.
After surveying customers, you will hopefully have information about
how, why and when people access your service. This should help you to
plan content purchases, training programmes, ensure as easy access as
possible to the service and so on.
Next Steps
----------
Go for it! Find out what customers think of your service. Be ready
to use the information you receive to re-appraise your service. You
can also inform your working world just how much it needs you - being
able to demonstrate it with numbers and good news stories.
Here are some sites showing the wide range of survey possibilities:
<http://www.surveysite.com>
<http://www.hostedsurvey.com>
<http://www.infoquestcrm.co.uk>
<http://www.surveytracker.com>
<http://www.infosurv.com>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Jacqueline Beattie is a qualified information professional who has
held mainly corporate roles since graduating from Loughborough
University. Her work has included information research management,
project management and knowledge management for The Document Company
Xerox, KPMG and Nortel Networks amongst others. Her special interests
included enabling and facilitating knowledge sharing; virtual
teamworking and developing customer relationships. Jacqueline is
writing in a personal capacity and can be emailed at
<jacqueline.beattie@ntlworld.com>.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related Free Pint links:
* "Information and Libraries" articles in the Free Pint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p69>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180402.htm#feature>
* Post a message to the author, Jacqueline Beattie, or suggest further
resources, at the Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Access the entire archive of Free Pint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
<http://www.freepint.com/events>
April has been a busy month for conferences, and May provides no
let up in the choice of information-related events to attend.
In the UK, the Aslib Electronics Group have their "Update 2002" which
is covering a range of hot topics <http://www.freepint.com/go/e107>.
Aslib in London have a one-day participative conference
entitled "Mobilising Knowledge for Business Performance"
<http://www.freepint.com/go/e104>. Staying in London, Learned
Information's "Online Information for the City" is "... designed for
information professionals and knowledge managers from the banking,
finance, insurance and legal
sectors" <http://www.freepint.com/go/e118>.
Stateside, the "Competia International Symposium" aims to "... create
an exceptional forum for Competitive Intelligence and Strategic
Planning professionals to meet, debate, and learn" in Massachusetts
<http://www.freepint.com/go/e102>. Meanwhile, Information Today's
"InfoToday 2002" brings together three conferences under one umbrella
in New York <http://www.freepint.com/go/e113>.
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Details of these and many other conferences and exhibitions in the
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FREE PINT GOLD
This time last year there was a rant about the difficulties of
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the feature article then covered a range of broadband Web sites for
those lucky enough to enjoy such a connection.
* Free Pint No.85, 12th April 2001. "Getting Connected in a Rural
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<http://www.freepint.com/issues/120401.htm>
Two years ago, we also managed to run two articles following opposing
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the topic of the feature.
* Free Pint No.60, 13th April 2000. "Wedding Sources on the Web" and
"Knowledge Management" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/130400.htm>
A topic which has gone quiet is the 'Dublin Core' which was discussed
in 1999. However, like our last edition two weeks back, three years
ago we also looked at chemistry sites.
* Free Pint No.36, 15th April 1999. "Cataloging the Internet:
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resources on the Web" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/150499.htm>
Four years ago, things were speeding up on the Web with new standards
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years on.
* Free Pint No.12, 16th April 1998. "The Duffers Guide to 56K Modems"
and "Sources of information on science policy and popular science
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GOODBYE
Many thanks for reading today's Free Pint, and we hope you picked up
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<william@freepint.com>
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Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free newsletter written by information
professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information
on the Internet. Useful to anyone who uses the Web for their work, it
is published every two weeks by email.
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- Publication Date: 17th April 2002
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