Newsletter No. 115
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Free Pint
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ISSN 1460-7239 27th June 2002 No.115
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
From Alison McCarthy
FREE PINT BAR & STUDENT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
JOBS
Senior Records Supervisor
Corporate Finance Researchers
Researcher
BOOKSHELF
"Smart Services: Competitive Information Strategies,
Solutions and Success Stories for Service Businesses"
Written by Deborah C. Sawyer
Reviewed by Arthur Weiss
FEATURE ARTICLE
"RSI and the Library and Information Science Professional"
By Vivienne Sales
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
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Free Pint is an online community of information researchers. Members
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EDITORIAL
Any new venture is a gamble, but if you don't try things out then
you'll never know if they're going to work out.
This is how I feel about our new seminars, the first of which was the
'Content Management Exchange' which took place here at the Free Pint
offices on Monday.
I needn't have worried. We had a great speaker, Martin White, who
quite clearly has ample knowledge of the issues in choosing a Content
Management System. The feedback forms told us that everyone found the
location convenient, and the venue comfortable too. Delegates reported
that they liked the smaller group size of a workshop, as they could ask
questions and have the topics tailored to their specific needs.
So, we're very much looking forward to the repeat next Monday. This
will be followed by further Exchanges on building and managing an
email publication (July 4th and 16th) and implementing an intranet in
a global organisation (July 11th). To find out more about any of these
events, visit <http://www.freepint.com/exchange>.
Other news, and after four happy years with Free Pint, Rex Cooke is
moving on to other challenges. I would like to thank him for all his
hard work and commitment. He has been a pleasure to work with and I'm
sure you'll join me in wishing him all the best for the future.
In today's newsletter we bring you the usual mix of articles, tips and
reviews. Of course, if you'd like to contribute an article or a set of
'Favourite Tipples' then please sign up for the regular 'Free Pint
Author Update' newsletter at <http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
Cheers
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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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
From Alison McCarthy
* Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion <http://cesi.org.uk> - for
UK labour market, skills, education and employment statistics,
reports, and full text documents.
* <http://nomisweb.co.uk> - official UK labour market statistics for
local levels - counties, districts, wards. Labour Force Survey,
Annual Business Inquiry, and VAT registered companies, etc.
* <http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/home.asp> - type in your
postcode and find the latest official statistics for your area.
* <http://bubl.ac.uk> - great for subject searching and UK
organisations and institutions.
* <http://swslim.org.uk> - South West Skills And Learning Intelligence
Module. Part of the Regional Observatory of the South West
Regional Development Agency.
Alison McCarthy is Library & Information Co-ordinator for Somerset
Learning and Skills Council. The Learning and Skills Council is a
national organisation with 47 local councils.
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 AND THE SPECIAL LIBRARIES ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCE
ANNUAL AWARD RECIPIENTS
Factiva and the SLA announced the recipients of two annual awards at the
conference in Los Angeles. Tom Fearon, Library Director, Lehman Brothers
Inc has been selected to receive the Factiva Leadership Award and
Margareta Nelke, Technology Intelligence Director, Tetra Pak in Sweden
was awarded the European Special Librarian of the Year. Congratulations
to them on their outstanding accomplishments in the information field.
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>>> INTRANET PUBLISHING EXCHANGE - WEST LONDON <<<
<http://www.freepint.com/exchange>
The Economist Intelligence Unit's Paul Pedley will share his
experiences of developing an intranet for a global organisation.
Topics covered include planning, content management,
taxonomy and how to encourage knowledge sharing.
Places are limited. Find out more: <http://www.freepint.com/exchange>
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FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
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I guess the question of what librarians and information professionals
should call themselves is an example of the sort of issue that never
dies, but just fades away for a while, only to reappear when you've
almost forgotten about it (18189). And for some people, the question
doesn't really arise. So I'm glad we're agreed on that one.
But regardless of your title, I'm sure you'll appreciate many or all
of the handy resources mentioned and recommended in the last two
weeks. They covered metadata systems (18256), copyright resources
(18195), football finance statistics (18396), taxonomy discussion
sites (18339), guidance for indexing UK government sites (18325) and
IT magazines with European coverage (18296).
Also mentioned were invisible Web search tools (18228), thesauri
(18255) and materials for Internet searching courses (18302). The
latest Tipples reviewed an excellent site for learning or brushing up
on your Web design skills (18458) and a very handy acronym reference
site (18307).
Researchers have been busying themselves with matters such as anti-
oxidants in fruit and vegetables (18269), global industrial production
forecasts (18214), market analysis for UK cut flowers (18297), Swiss
extremes of temperature (18420), the recent trademark dispute between
Philips and Remington (18350) and finding UK middle management contact
names (18454).
Other research issues were about research companies outsourcing work
to India (18193), case studies of innovation in industry (18224),
where the formulation "Background, Objectives, Scope, Constraints,
Assumptions, Reporting, Deliverables" comes from (18234), the use of
IT by UK accountants and solicitors (18366), the core brand values of
UK car manufacturers (18376), an analysis of enquiries made to
information services (18449) and free retail market information for
Kuwait (18463).
Business researchers have been looking for suppliers of magnetic email
address books (18337), manufacturers or distributors of baby bouncer
chairs (18298), a UK retailer who monograms glassware (18176),
accounting standards used in the Seychelles (18248), a sample business
plan for an information business (18320), sources of business
association information (18282) and information about pubs in Britain
(18464).
The latest techie questions have been about the Adlib inter-library
loans software (18356), printing with a combination of a HP printer
and MS Word (18346), the use of radio frequency identification devices
or RFIDs in libraries (18471), networked Word 97 documents (18452),
free anti virus software (18465) and free, world-wide email to SMS
services (18217).
Technical matters were also raised about Excel formulae (18400), the
number of people who can read HTML emails (18378), merge fields in
Access (18294), keeping the file size down with PDF documents (18427)
and using a Toshiba monitor without the manual (18340). And you can
now use the Free Pint Bar's new auto-signature to save a bit of time
when posting messages (18414).
Miscellaneous postings have been about reasons for discontinuities in
the sound on Big Brother (18273), the UK chart top 40 for 1998
(18323), wills in more than one language (18183), getting a book
published (18213, 18209), the meaning of the Greek letter phi (18221),
contacting US students in the UK (18309), some Tibetan translation
(18389) and the source of a quotation from Theodor Adorno (18439). And
if you spell his first name with an 'e' at the end, you get far fewer
hits.
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Students have been researching the range of information businesses, products
and services that exist, especially in South Africa (2539), insurance
industry commission earned per employee for new business acquired over the
last seven years (2540) and resources relating to the UK pub industry
(2551).
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Simon Collery, Content Developer <simon@freepint.com>
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>>> SHAREHOLDINGS OF UK COMPANIES MAPPED TO INDIVIDUALS <<<
Through our close relationship with ICC, Free Pint is able to supply
detailed shareholding information for individuals and companies.
The data is cross-referenced to highlight connections between
shareholders, executive officers, and company shareholdings.
How ever many individuals or companies you are researching, talk to us
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Two Corporate Finance Researchers with 2 years exp. New vacancies.
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FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Smart Services: Competitive Information Strategies,
Solutions and Success Stories for Service Businesses"
Written by Deborah C. Sawyer
Reviewed by Arthur Weiss
The front cover of "Smart Services" includes a quote from Andrew
Garvin, the CEO of Find/SVP saying: "Finally a book that nails down
what every service business needs to know about competition and
competitive intelligence. 'Smart Services' offers competitive
information strategies that firms can put to immediate use." I wanted
to stop this review here, as I don't think that I could have given a
better summary and description of this excellent book. However my
brief for doing this review included an approximate word count, and
I'm not brave enough to upset the Free Pint management by not adding a
few words of my own.
Smart Services is divided into three parts, of which the first, "The
Competitive Landscape", and the second, "The Competitive Issues",
occupy the bulk of the book. The final part, "The Competitive Game",
summarises the previous sections with suggestions on ways of
implementing the advice and processes described in the first two
sections.
"The Competitive Landscape" gives a comprehensive description of where
competition can come from for a service business. The section
describes the challenges facing service businesses and the types of
competition faced. Of importance, the book does not just focus on
traditional competitors but includes discussion on competition from
service businesses that appear to be in completely different sectors,
government and internal competition, and other types of indirect
competition. This section is also good on how problems facing service
businesses differ from those offering tangible products.
The second section looks at the issues of collecting information on
competitors, with chapters on how to find out who is competing,
competitor strategies, sales and marketing, assessing performance and
looking at who actually runs the competitor business. As with the
first section, the end of each chapter includes a brief summary giving
the key points mentioned in the chapter as well as suggestions on how
information gathered can be fed back and used in company strategies
and action plans. This is key, as there is no point collecting
information on competitors that is ignored or filed away "for later";
such information is not competitive intelligence, as it has no impact
on company actions.
Having said all this, was there anything about this book I disliked? I
have to answer yes - reluctantly, as my dislikes are fairly minor, and
possibly reflect the fact that I am not new to CI or to service
businesses. My first complaint is that the examples in the book are
almost entirely from the USA or Canada. All suggested sources for
information except one (the European Case Study clearinghouse at
Cranfield - a unique global source) are North American. Thus the book
cannot be used for specific advice on business sources outside the US
and Canada. This is a minor quibble though, as the book does not claim
to be a guide to sources.
A second complaint is actually addressed in the book's introduction.
Sawyer states, "the book is very light on models". I believe that this
was a mistake, as there are analysis tools that can and should be used
when examining service businesses. Good CI involves knowing how to
interpret information just as much as finding and collecting it. I
think that several chapters would have benefited from more examination
of how to interpret available information and less discussion of the
problems involved in doing CI on service businesses. However maybe I'm
unfair in expecting this in a book that does cover so much in just
over 200 pages.
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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 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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Related Free Pint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/smart.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965560/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965560/freepint00>
* "Smart Services: Competitive Information Strategies, Solutions
and Success Stories for Service Businesses" ISBN 0910965560
published by Cyberage Books written by Deborah C. Sawyer
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Free Pint
Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
* Read about other Internet Strategy books on the Free Pint Bookshelf
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To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to <bookshelf@freepint.com>.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/270602.htm#feature>
"RSI and the Library and Information Science Professional"
By Vivienne Sales
Most of us ignore the occasional, but annoying tenseness, tingling and
pain in our fingers, wrists, shoulders, elbows, neck or back.
However, when that pain starts to interfere with non-computer related
activities such as holding a toothbrush or carrying a two-year old
child, we listen to our bodies. We go to our general practitioner who
refers us to a hand specialist. The conversation with the hand
specialist may go like this: "The bad news is that we have diagnosed a
repetitive stress injury in your upper extremities. The good news is
that we caught the injury at its earliest stages, so we recommend rest
and working with a physical therapist (physiotherapist) for
rehabilitative stretches and strengthening exercises. The other bad
news is that you have to avoid careers with keyboards."
Whether you are a librarian, a web designer, a cataloger or an
information specialist, that last piece of advice can be the death
knell of your career.
Repetitive stress injury/ies (RSI) is an umbrella term for 18 neuro-
muscular disorders of the fingers, hands, wrists, arms, shoulders and
neck. Other umbrella terms for RSI are cumulative trauma disorders
(CTD), overuse injuries, or repetitive motion injuries.
Unfortunately, our profession is full of RSI minefields. Searching
through online databases and the Internet, cataloging books and
special collections, coding markup languages or any other computer-
intensive activities can aggravate or worsen RSIs. Even low-tech
activities such as shelving books and working at the circulation desk
can cause RSIs. In June 1998, Currie, Ritmiller and Robinson
presented a paper about how the Education Library at the University of
Saskatchewan successfully redesigned their shelving practices and
circulation area to be ergonomic-friendly.
The following web sites provide excellent explanations of RSI:
Twenty Clinical Truths about RSI
<http://www.tifaq.com/articles/20_rsi_truths.html>
Facts About Cumulative Trauma Disorders
<http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/wn/wn15/wn15-2/wn15-211.html>
Deborah Quilter's RSI Home Page
<http://www.rsihelp.com>
Dutch RSI Center
<http://www.rsi-center.com>
RSI-UK Page
<http://www.demon.co.uk/rsi>
Repetitive Strain and Computer Professionals: A New View
<http://www.UsabilityInstitute.com/rsi>
Non-computer related activities and RSI
-------------------------------------
In addition to using ergonomically correct furniture, changing your
work habits and a vocational rehabilitation program, you may have to
re-evaluate your activities outside of work. RSI can be caused by
non-computer related activities. Do you do weight lifting, play golf
or racquet sports (e.g. badminton, tennis, squash)? They can cause or
aggravate RSI. These web sites present information on RSI and sports:
Sports and RSI <http://www.repetitive-strain-injury.com/html/athlete.html>
Racquet Sports and RSI
Sports Medicine: The Elbow
<http://rothmaninstitute.com/sportsmed/elbow.htm>
Sports Injuries (tennis, golf, high impact aerobics, weightlifting and
running) <http://www.fit4tennis.com/YourSportandMostLikelyInjuries.htm>
Even elite athletes are vulnerable to RSIs. In the spring 1994 issue
of Massage Therapy Journal, Rich Phaigh documented how massage therapy
helped the US Olympic rowing team recover from RSIs in their wrists.
This two part series is available online at
<http://planet-hawaii.com/~billpeay/TECHT08.html> and
<http://planet-hawaii.com/~billpeay/TECHT09.html>.
Many people find gardening relaxing. Unfortunately, for gardeners
diagnosed with RSI, their hobby is a nightmare on their hands, arms
and wrists. The Indiana Hand Center's web site shows some less
stressful gardening techniques at
<http://www.indianahandcenter.com/garden.html>.
Hobbies which require fine motor skills such as knitting, needlepoint
and quilting can cause RSI. These three websites offer suggestions on
how these people can avoid or at least minimize their RSI risks, but
still enjoy their hobbies:
Needlepoint
<http://crossstitch.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2
Fwww.serve.com%2Fmarbeth%2Fneedlework_RSI.html>
Quilting, Computing and Your Health
<http://www.gloriahansen.com/rsi.html>
Repetitive Stitch Injury
<http://www.cauldroncrafts.com/tips/rsi.htm>
Even playing a musical instrument can cause RSIs. Musical instruments
such as the flute can cause RSI as explained in this website,
<http://www.angelfire.com/folk/ajflute/injurytips.html>. The web
site Musicians and Injuries
<http://www.engr.unl.edu/ee/eeshop/music.html> has a lot of
information for musicians afflicted with RSI.
The increasing use of computers at schools, colleges and universities
has made pupils and students of all ages more vulnerable to repetitive
stress injuries. The web site Kids and Keyboard Injuries
<http://www.umdnj.edu/umcweb/hstate/wntr00/pulse/pulse8.htm> shows why
we should be concerned when children spend too much time in front of
the computer. The Harvard RSI Action Home Page
<http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu/> is targeted toward University
students. At some of the major universities in the US, they offer
students with RSI, disabilities or other physical impairments voice
recognition software, note takers, and ergonomic keyboards and mice to
help you write your papers. However, there is always the tried-and-
true method of treating your friends to lunch or dinner when they type
your papers for you.
Finally, even mundane activities such as doing housework and cooking
can aggravate RSIs. This website documents how housework can be
damaging to your upper extremities,
<http://www.repetitive-strain-injury.com/html/who.html>.
A Holistic Approach
-------------------
If RSIs are diagnosed early, further damage can be prevented by proper
rest, exercise, massage, frequent breaks from repetitive activities
and constant vigilance of one's posture and ergonomics. Surgery
should only be considered for the worst cases of RSIs, but it is no
guarantee that it will cure RSIs. In some cases, it can even make the
condition worse.
Some health care professionals recommend yoga to their RSI patients
... with caveats. Some poses such as the Downward Facing Dog and hand
balances such as the Crow would only make matters worse for people
with RSI. The Yoga Research and Education Center in California has a
PDF file about yoga and RSI at
<http://www.iayt.org/repetitivestraininjury.pdf>. Rx: Yoga
<http://www.rxyoga.com/whatwhy.html> provides more data on how yoga
can ease RSI pain. Desktop Yoga <http://www.efuse.com/yoga/> presents
office friendly exercises that you can do during your breaks.
According to health writer Deborah Quilter, using mice and pen-like
styli can be more damaging to your hands because the work is
concentrated to only one finger. In contrast, when using a keyboard,
the work is distributed among ten fingers. She recommends using
keyboard shortcuts. The University of Durham has a PDF file on
keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Windows applications at
<http://www.dur.ac.uk/ITS/Help_and_Info/Documents/>, then scroll down
to "Info Sheets" and select "Using Microsoft Windows Applications
Without A Mouse (ver. 1.0)". AbilityNet also has downloadable
factsheets for keyboard shortcuts at
<http://www.abilitynet.co.uk/content/factsheets/Factsheets.htm#Available%20Factsheets>.
By changing your habits at work and at leisure, you can avoid
making the Faustian choice of "your career or your health."
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Vivienne Sales is a reference librarian at Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University and a freelance writer in Prescott, Arizona. She manages
her RSI by taking frequent breaks from working at her computer, doing
yoga, going race walking and having at least one computer free day and
delegating repetitive work to students. She longs for the day when she
can once again play a decent game of doubles in badminton.
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Related Free Pint links:
* "Healthcare and Medicine" articles in the Free Pint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p64>
* Post a message to the author, Vivienne Sales, or suggest further
resources at the Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/270602.htm#feature>
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- Publication Date: 26th June 2002
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