Newsletter No. 145
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"Helping 62,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 18th September 2003 No.145
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IN THIS ISSUE
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EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Steve van Dulken
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JOBS
Research Guide
Information Researcher
Assistant Information Manager
Electronic Records Advisor
Information Scientists
TIPS ARTICLE
"Tips on Negotiating Licences for Electronic Products"
By Paul Pedley
BOOKSHELF
"The Knowledge Activist's Handbook - Adventures from
the Knowledge Trenches"
Reviewed by Jela Webb
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Real Estate Sources on the Web"
By Alison D'Urso
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180903.htm>
FULLY FORMATTED VERSION
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**Your Research Concierge Has Arrived. No Tipping Required.**
MarketResearch.com
Deadlines make searching for information stressful, costly and time
consuming. Relax. Dial 1-800-298-5294 and our Specialists will assist.
Or, visit <http://www.marketresearch.com/redirect.asp?progid=2634> and
search for yourself, with no subscription fees.
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>>> ABOUT FREEPINT <<<
FreePint is an online network of information searchers. Members
receive this free newsletter twice a month: it is 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
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EDITORIAL
FreePint is somewhat of an international community, with members in
over 200 countries. Its global scope is akin to the Scouting movement
of which I was a keen member many years ago.
I vividly remember recounting the Cub Scout Law, encouraging me to
do my best, to think of others before myself and to do a good turn
every day. These are great laws by which to live your life, and
they translate well into the world of work: think of your customers'
needs before your own and try to innovate every day for continued
growth and success.
Customer service is one area where innovation can make a big
difference. We're therefore asking you to tell us about such
innovation by encouraging you to make nominations for the 2003:
"Online Information/FreePint Award for Innovative Customer Service"
<http://www.freepint.com/events/online-info-2003/>
Whereas you contact organisations with questions for customer service,
they tend to contact you when they want some money. To help with this
we've just published a fantastic new report with practical tips on
buying information products -- making the most of a limited budget and
making sure that clauses in the contract are in your favour:
"Practical Guide to Negotiating Licenses for Electronic Products"
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
ISBN 1904769012
The report is by Paul Pedley and you can get a good feel for its
contents by reading his top ten tips for contract negotiation in his
article in today's FreePint. We also bring you the regular mix of
reviews and news, with the latest from FreePint Jobs and the Bar.
We hope you enjoy today's newsletter and perhaps think of others and
do a good turn by forwarding it on to your colleagues.
All the best
William
William Hann BSc(Hons) MCLIP
Founder and Managing Editor, FreePint
Email: <william.hann@freepint.com> Tel: +44 (0)1784 420044
Free Pint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2003
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"Practical Guide to Negotiating Licenses for Electronic Products"
ISBN 1904769012
Do you negotiate licenses for electronic products? Then you must
check out this new report from FreePint. Tips on contract clauses,
model license agreements and more.
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Steve van Dulken
* <http://www.documentsonline.pro.gov.uk/> - The National Archive's
index to over 800,000 wills proven at Canterbury. A fascinating way
to find people by occupation, place, name...
* <http://www.abebooks.co.uk/> - A massive index of books offered by
numerous second-hand dealers. A great way to compare prices as well
as finding out-of-print books.
* <http://www.streetmap.co.uk> - An easy way to get Ordnance Survey or
street plan coverage of places in Britain.
* <http://inventors.about.com/> - A wonderful source of information on
"who invented what", often in great detail.
* <http://www.howstuffworks.com/> - This is the site if you want a
detailed explanation of how things work: engines, automatic
pinsetters or whatever.
Steve van Dulken has worked in patents, designs and trade marks at the
British Library since 1987. He is the author of several books.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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"Online Information/FreePint Award for Innovative Customer Service"
Have you been pleasantly surprised by the innovative way an
information-related organisation has provided you with customer service?
If they're exhibiting at Online Information 2003 then nominate them
for this annual award:
<http://www.freepint.com/events/online-info-2003/>
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FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Here in the Bar section of the FreePint Newsletter we try to highlight
research questions which haven't been answered in the last couple of
weeks. Problem is that you're all so helpful, and quick at being
helpful, so it's tricky to find unanswered queries. Believe me: we're
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FreePint's bread and butter is in recommending good Web sites, so can
you help suggest a site which give titles of author sequels to help a
library with "what's the next book called?" type questions
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b25589>?
If you have to develop a staff handbook for a voluntary organisation
then there have been lots of useful suggestions
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b25545>. But can you help a consultant
librarian to NGOs in Kenya who wants their own Dewey Decimal
Classification Scheme <http://www.freepint.com/go/b25623>? What about
market research on small consultancy firms - is there any
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b25676>? What about online sharing of
calendars, documents, etc. <http://www.freepint.com/go/b25624>?
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>>ONLINE INFORMATION CONFERENCE<<
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FREEPINT JOBS
<http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
FreePint Jobs -- the best place for information vacancies.
* VACANCY SEARCHING -- Free search and set up a weekly alert profile.
* VACANCY RECRUITING -- Complete the form and advertise a vacancy
for just GBP195 <http://www.freepint.com/jobs/submit/overview.php3>.
This week's selected listings are below. All new jobs are posted to
the Bar and Bar Digest (circulation 11,000+) and matched against the
1000+ live job seeker profiles. Last week's Bar 'new jobs' listing is
at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b25599> and this week's at
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b25659>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Research Guide
Annual scheme offering appropriately qualified disabled people
opportunity to gain 16 weeks paid work placement within the BBC.
Recruiter: BBC
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j2656>
Information Researcher
Business Researcher with one years relevant experience for entirely
new role with Business Services client. Excellent training opportunity.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
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Assistant Information Manager
Creating and developing a central resource for our hard copy and
electronic information.
Recruiter: Energy Saving Trust
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Electronic Records Advisor
Use your knowledge of managing electronic records & email to advise
this central government dept on their e-record policies. 6-18 mnths.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
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Information Scientists (1 perm - 1 x 12month mat cover)
Dealing with enquiries from the public, students, healthcare
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Recruiter: Diabetes UK
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[The above jobs are paid listings]
Find out more today at <http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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KeepingLegal.com
For news about the copyright directive, spam, employee monitoring,
music piracy, the evidential value of email and other legal issues
affecting information professionals; and to register for a free
newsletter.
<http://www.keepinglegal.com>
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180903.htm#tips>
"Tips on Negotiating Licences for Electronic Products"
By Paul Pedley
The digitisation of content is changing the way in which rights holders
protect their intellectual property rights. Instead of relying
primarily on copyright law, rights owners are looking to other areas
such as the use of licences and contracts; and also to technological
solutions in order to manage and protect their content.
Information professionals have to negotiate licence agreements with
suppliers on behalf of their organisations in order to set up access
to electronic products such as databases, news feeds, e-books,
reference materials, encyclopaedias, newspapers or electronic
journals. These licence agreements are often written in technical
language or "legalese" which it is not always easy for the layman to
understand.
It is important to point out that a licence does not confer ownership
rights. It merely specifies the conditions upon which databases and
other copyright works can be used and exploited, and by whom. At the
end of the subscription period they may well no longer have access to
the materials. Indeed, it may even be a requirement of the contract
that anything which has been downloaded from the electronic
information product is deleted at the end of the contract term.
Typically the licences that information professionals negotiate are
non-exclusive, granting the same rights to many different users.
Listed below are a number of practical tips to bear in mind when you
negotiate licence agreements for electronic products:
1. Make sure that the key definitions fit with your requirements.
Each licence will have its own set of key definitions, and they will
differ based on factors such as the nature of the materials being
licensed; the type of organisation purchasing the materials; and the
supplier's own standard procedures. As far as information services are
concerned, the most important definitions of all are ones relating to
authorized users; authorized uses; and the definition of site.
2. Look at the range of model licences available to see whether
there are any which fit well with your type of organisation.
There have been a number of initiatives to produce model licence
agreements, such as the ones from ECUP, JISC, or John Cox Associates.
There are standard agreements available for a range of different
institutional types such as for public libraries, national libraries,
university libraries, and for company libraries. They contain the form
of words that is necessary to express most of the variables that
publishers and librarians are likely to meet when negotiating licence
terms.
3. Think about what would happen in the event of a dispute.
The very fact that you have a written contract means that there is
less likelihood of a dispute arising, because both parties to the
agreement will be aware of their obligations. But disputes can and do
arise, and when you negotiate the licence, you need to ensure that the
provisions for dealing with disputes are thought out carefully.
It is worth bearing in mind that relying on the courts to sort out a
dispute between you and the other party would be an expensive way of
doing things. Complex intellectual property disputes do not come
cheap. In the High Court in London such cases are likely to cost well
over GBP 100,000.
You would normally want the applicable law governing the contract to
be the national law of where your organisation is situated. Otherwise,
you could potentially find yourself having to travel to another
country in order to plead your case.
4. Bear in mind your administrative requirements with regard to
issues such as invoicing, payment terms, and exchange rates.
There are a number of administrative details which at first sight may
well appear to be insignificant, but which could nevertheless become
areas for concern at a later date if they aren't sorted out to your
satisfaction in the contract.
In the case of exchange rates, for example, the issue might arise
where your organisation is multi-national; or where the supplier
normally bills in another currency, but converts the amount into your
currency at an exchange rate which is not advantageous to the
customer.
5. Are there any arrangements in place for perpetual access?
The use of information in electronic formats has led to a change in
the ground rules over how that information can be used. In the
hard-copy environment, if you bought a book or a journal you were the
rightful owner of those materials; and were lawfully entitled to
access the books and journals at your own convenience as often as you
wanted, for as long as you wanted. With the electronic environment all
of that changes. You do not have an automatic right to retain access
to the materials once the subscription to the product comes to an end.
In many cases you will need to raise the issue of perpetual access in
your contract negotiations, because it is certainly not automatically
covered in all suppliers licences.
6. There is usually a force majeure clause. Does this contain a
provision in case the information centre closes down?
A "force majeure" clause in a contract is an "Acts of God" clause
which excuses a party from liability if some unforeseen event which
is beyond the control of that party prevents it from being able to
perform its obligations under the contract. The licensee who signs a
contract for an electronic product needs to consider what would
happen in the event of the information centre being closed down.
7. Check that the "Term and Termination" clause is clear and that
you are happy with it.
The "term" of the licence agreement is the period during which the
licensor must provide the licensee with access to the service, and the
licensee must pay for that period the amount that is specified by the
clause on fees.
The termination clause sets out the conditions under which the
contract can be terminated by either the licensor or the licensee. You
need to look carefully at the section of the licence which deals with
the question of termination. Is there, for example, a provision
stating that the contract automatically renews unless you give 3
months notice?
8. Do the warranties and indemnities protect both the licensor
and the licensee?
Warranties are, in effect, promises which - if broken - can lead to an
action for damages for breach of contract. The key warranty that you
need to have is one which confirms that the licensor has the legal
right to licence use of the copyright material; and that this does not
infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party. This
should be backed up by an "indemnity" where the other party to the
licence agrees to insure or compensate you against losses and expenses
resulting from a failure to perform the contract.
9. Don't sign up to an agreement where the terminology used
is unclear.
If there is anything that you don't fully understand, it is imperative
that you seek clarification before signing the contract. For example,
what exactly do phrases like "reasonable effort" or "best effort"
really mean. It is no defence to say that the contract is invalid
because you didn't understand a particular clause.
10. Ensure that the contract cannot be assigned without your
permission.
Decisions to take out a contract are likely to be based on price,
customer service, functionality, but probably above all content. If a
vendor merges or changes ownership, they may well want to have the
freedom to assign the contract. But they may genuinely be unable to
provide the same mix of content or the same level of customer service.
You should ensure that the contract cannot be assigned without the
written permission of the customer.
These areas are explored in much greater detail in the report "A
practical guide to negotiating licences electronic products" which is
available from FreePint. The report also includes information about
the licences from the Copyright Licensing Agency and the Newspaper
Licensing Agency, and the extent to which they cover digitised
content; an exploration of the relationship between copyright law and
the law of contract; a checklist of key points to be considered; plus
additional resources including further reading; examples of provider
contracts; hyperlinks to model licence agreements; and details of
relevant discussion lists.
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The full report "Practical Guide to Negotiating Licenses for
Electronic Products" ISBN 1904769012 is published by FreePint and
is available online at:
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
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Paul Pedley is Head of Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit,
and has previously worked in the information departments of a law
firm, property developer, and in a number of government departments.
Paul is a Fellow of CILIP; represents Aslib on the Libraries and
Archives Copyright Alliance; and is also on the steering group of the
JISC Legal Information service. Paul is also Editor of
KeepingLegal.com. The service covers legal issues affecting the
information profession such as data protection, copyright and freedom
of information. There is a regular newsletter which can be
requested via the site. He regularly runs training courses on
copyright, data protection and freedom of information; as well as on
Internet topics such as the invisible Web, and business information on
the Internet.
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Related FreePint links:
* "Practical Guide to Negotiating Licenses for Electronic Products"
ISBN 1904769012 " full report available at:
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
* 'Information and Libraries' articles in the FreePint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p69>
* Post a message to the author, Paul Pedley, or suggest further
resources at the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/180903.htm#feature>
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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FREEPINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"The Knowledge Activist's Handbook - Adventures from
the Knowledge Trenches"
Written by Victor Newman
Reviewed by Jela Webb
Those of you who subscribe to KM journals might be familiar with
Victor Newman's writings; he is a regular contributor to a column
in 'Knowledge Management' magazine and this book is a collection of
articles each up to 1500 words in length, divided into five themes:
(1) Developing Personal Knowledge
(2) Developing Knowledge Leadership
(3) Working with Knowledge
(4) The Organisation vs. Knowledge Management
(5) Creative Approaches and Tools.
The articles draw upon his experience as a consultant, academic and KM
practitioner, and the style of writing makes it easily accessible. The
book is not an academic tome but rather is aimed at those who want a
quick 'dip in' to the subject of knowledge management. Each article
concludes with 3-5 'implications' for the reader commenting upon the
key aspects they need to remember or do, for themselves.
Newman deliberately sets out to be controversial and challenges many
mainstream ideas in KM - I don't think that he is a paid-up member of
the 'awkward squad' but genuinely wishes to widen the debate and
provoke discussions. I like his approach and found the book an
entertaining read because it challenges some of my own thoughts and
beliefs about how best to approach knowledge management. He encourages
the reader to question their own ideas - an example, for instance, is
the commonly held view that 'knowledge is power'. Newman takes this a
step further by advocating that one should attempt to examine and
understand the kind of power involved. He says that knowledge is a
power, not power itself, and that there are other variables to
consider such as ability to apply knowledge, the knowledge context and
the marketing mix.
Newman believes that a Knowledge Activist (his use of the term
activist is based upon Honey and Mumford's 'Learning Styles
Inventory') should be counter-cultural and creative and he certainly
sets out to practice what he preaches. Many of the articles contain
personal anecdotes from his consulting experiences but because of the
length of each piece it is not possible for him to go into great
depth. I would have welcomed more detail of the projects he draws upon
to illustrate his thinking - perhaps this is an area that he could
expand upon as a subject for his next book?
Those readers who are naturally inquisitive and enjoy seeing ideas
turned on their head will find this book a useful reference tool. I
can also imagine that some of the ideas would work well in an
organisation open to having its own KM initiative challenged.
Should you wish to examine his ideas in more depth, Newman is running
an interactive masterclass on 2nd October in London during which he
will explore the application of pragmatic knowledge techniques - for
details see <http://www.ark-group.com>.
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Jela is a freelance consultant, lecturer and trainer in information
and knowledge management. She has implemented KM programmes in FTSE
100 companies and in collaboration, developed 'The Integrated Learning
Model' combining traditional training with online learning and
knowledge management.
Jela presents at national and international conferences, participates
in research and facilitates discussion forums on KM and e-leadership.
Jela is the author of the Ashridge Business School Learning Guide to
Knowledge Management, a visiting lecturer at the University of
Brighton and has been invited to evaluate KM projects for the European
Commission.
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Related FreePint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/activist.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/184112320X/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/184112320X/freepint00>
* "The Knowledge Activist's Handbook" ISBN 184112320X, published
by Capstone Publishing Limited, Written by Victor Newman.
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the FreePint
Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
* Read about other Internet Strategy books on the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/strategy.htm>
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/180903.htm#feature>
"Real Estate Sources on the Web"
By Alison D'Urso
The Commercial Real Estate sector covers many property types, from
retail to office to industrial to residential, and many aspects of
dealing in property as a commodity. Whilst there are several
property-specific databases with the usual price tag attached there
is also a lot of relevant, free information available on the web.
Categorising the information presents a challenge (especially to
someone who hasn't done any classification since her Masters in 1998)
so the headings used are those that make most sense to me but aren't
necessarily the most logical. The coverage is by no means exhaustive.
Rental and Sales Values
-----------------------
Values have an important role to play when assessing the market and
are most often used as comparables when it comes to putting a rental
or sale value on a property, to value an investment property portfolio
and also to evaluate the strength or weakness of a market.
Residential house prices are available from two main sources - Halifax
Bank of Scotland and The Land Registry. The Halifax Bank of Scotland
website
<http://www.hbosplc.com/view/housepriceindex/housepriceindex.asp>
provides a spreadsheet of historical data back to 1983 as well as the
current monthly and quarterly publications. The data is provided for
a variety of criteria such as first time buyers, dwelling type (new or
existing stock) and region of the country. Land Registry information
is perceived to be more reliable as it covers all residential
transactions whereas HBOS is based on properties on which the company
has made a mortgage offer. The Land Registry information
<http://www.landreg.gov.uk/publications/default.asp?fl=1&pubtype=0> is
presented as PDF documents for each quarter back to 1995 which give
volume and value at county or unitary authority level for detached,
semi-detached etc. properties.
Commercial property rental values are covered by a variety of sources
of which reports by the large surveying firms are the easiest to
access. Jones Lang LaSalle produces the '50 Centres' reports which
cover rental values for retail, industrial and office properties in
50 centres across the UK. The reports can be downloaded from the
UK Market Monitoring section of their UK website
<http://www.research.joneslanglasalle.com/default.asp?CountryID=63&LanguageID=1>.
Reports are also available on the London and Glasgow office markets
and the whole of the Edinburgh market.
Other firms offering free access to their research reports will be
covered in the section on Research but the CB Richard Ellis Rent &
Yield Monitor is worth noting.
Investment
----------
Investment into property is most often undertaken by pension funds and
insurance companies when it forms the long term part of their
investment portfolios. Information on this aspect of the property
market can be gleaned from several sources.
The Office for National Statistics publishes a quarterly report (the
MQ5) on Pension Fund and Insurance Company investment which covers
property investment. The report can be downloaded from the National
Statistics website
<http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=502> and gives
figures on the amount invested each quarter and the total amount
invested.
Property is usually benchmarked against equities and gilts as an asset
class and benchmarking information can again be found on the Jones
Lang LaSalle site in their Property Index publication (follow the link
given in the previous section). More extensive information is
compiled by a company called IPD (Investment Property Databank). Most
of their information has a price attached but they do make some of the
information available free on their site
<http://www.ipdindex.co.uk/results/main_frame.html>. IPD has global
coverage so the site is well worth a visit.
Research
--------
As mentioned in the previous two sections several of the large
chartered surveying firms produce regular research reports on a
variety of topics. Some of my (free) favourites are:
Knight Frank - strong on residential and global coverage
<http://www.knightfrankglobal.com/research/default.asp>, Jones Lang
LaSalle - produce a good 'hot topics' series also worth looking at
their other websites for reports (e.g. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels)
<http://www.research.joneslanglasalle.com/default.asp?CountryID=63&LanguageID=1>,
Insignia Richard Ellis <http://www.richardellis.co.uk>, CB Richard Ellis
<http://www.cbre.com/International/Sites/UK/Research/
UK+Research+/UK+Research.htm?pageid=12>,
GVA Grimley - good on retail <http://www.gvagrimley.co.uk/x920.xml>,
FPD Savills - good on residential <http://www.fpdsavills.co.uk/research.asp>.
Academic research papers can be found on the websites of Universities
with Land or Estate Management departments. The Department of Real
Estate and Planning at Reading University has some good papers
including 'Who Owns the City [of London] 2001'
<http://www.reading.ac.uk/LM/LM/newp.html>. The College of Estate
Management also offers papers on topics from urban regeneration to
ebusiness <http://www.cem.ac.uk/res-rep.shtml>.
The RICS Foundation <http://www.rics-foundation.org> is an arm of the
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and exists specifically to
undertake research into land, property, construction and development
with a focus on sustainable development. The website has a host of
research on global topics.
Market Overviews
----------------
Again the chartered surveying firms research is worth a look to get a
picture of markets although these will tend to be the larger cities or
particular markets such as the M25 office market.
The two main UK Property journals - Property Week and Estates Gazette
- both do weekly surveys, usually on a region (for details on their
websites see the section on journals) which will cover different
aspects of a market and include statistics and outlooks.
It is also worth trying some of the regional development/inward
investment bodies. Locate in Kent, for example, produces an annual
Property Market Report <http://www.kentpropertymarket.co.uk/>.
Trade Bodies, Associations and Organisations
--------------------------------------------
The main body of the profession is the Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors. The website <http://www.rics.org.uk/> is very
comprehensive and is a useful resource for checking current issues
affecting the profession. The institution also has a research
programme, covering everything from salary surveys to regeneration,
and makes reports available on the website.
The Royal Institute of British Architects is worth a mention as it has
a an online catalogue for its library
<http://www.architecture.com/go/Architecture/Reference/Library_897.html>
which is very useful if searching for references on particular
landmark buildings or developments.
The British Council for Offices <http://www.bco.org.uk> has details of
its reports on tall buildings in London, office leases and sustainable
development (reports are available to buy in hard copy). The BCO also
produces the industry standard on office specification which has its
own website <http://www.bco-officefocus.com/>.
Other sites worth bookmarking are:
The British Institute of Facilities Management <http://www.bifm.org.uk/>
The Royal Town Planning Institute <http://www.rtpi.org.uk>
The Town & Country Planning Association <http://www.tcpa.org.uk>
Residential
-----------
Although the focus of this report is commercial real estate,
residential property is worth mentioning as the demand for housing in
the UK is increasing and investment in residential development is
growing. Therefore I have decided to include a few sources on housing
and housing stock.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is the first stop for
statistics, publications and guidance on housing
<http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_housing/documents/
sectionhomepage/odpm_housing_page.hcsp>
Information is available on household projections, council house
sales, housing stock, rental and price levels to name but a few.
The Centre for Housing Policy at the University of York is
particularly concerned with social housing and housing policy
<http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp>. Details of publications and research
are available on the website. The centre used to produce a rental
index but have ceased publication, although details of how to obtain
back copies are available on the site.
The European Mortgage Federation is a trade association for mortgage
lenders across the EU and Norway. The Federation collates data on the
mortgage and home owning market and whilst much of the information has
to be purchased there is a small amount of free information on the
website which is a good starting point when looking at the market for
mortgages and home ownership across Europe <http://www.hypo.org>.
Journals
--------
The two main property journals in the UK, as already mentioned, are
Property Week and Estates Gazette.
Property Week has a website <http://www.propertyweek.co.uk> which
requires registration but is then free. There is an archive of
articles back to 1999 as well as information being arranged under
sector profile and regional survey headings. Coverage does extend
outside of the UK. Make use of it whilst it's still free!!
The other journal is Estates Gazette which has an extremely good
website in the form of Estate Gazette Interactive (EGi)
<http://www.egi.co.uk> and as it's so good, it obviously isn't free.
However, you can sign up for a free trial which is worth doing to see
the added value information. The site not only contains archive
material from the journal but has additional databases such as the
London Office database and the deals database of property
transactions, a legal section, daily news and a news alert service
amongst other services.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alison D'Urso is a senior researcher at the Financial Times Research
Centre, the commercial research service at the FT. She has worked at
the FTRC for almost two years where she undertakes research on
'anything and everything' depending on the requests made by clients.
Prior to moving to the FT she worked in the Information Centre of one
of the big chartered surveying firms for seven years.
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