Newsletter No. 169
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FreePint
"Helping 70,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 14th October 2004 No.169
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IN THIS ISSUE
-------------
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Irina Ibraghimova
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JOBS
Global Head of Central Information Office
Information/Database/Research Associate
TIPS ARTICLE
"Web Accessibility: Ensuring Access for All"
By Bill Raschen
BOOKSHELF
"Information Strategy in Practice"
Written by Elizabeth Orna
Reviewed by Steve Wood
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Trends in business information, provision and use"
By Pam Foster
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/141004.htm>
FULLY FORMATTED VERSION
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/141004.pdf>
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Online Information Exhibition FREE pre-registration now open!
30 Nov - 2 Dec 2004, Olympia, London, UK
<http://www.online-information.co.uk>
Over 250 suppliers of information content & info management solutions
Comprehensive FREE programme of seminars & masterclasses
Plus co-located Content Management Europe (CME) and
NEW features - Enterprise Document and Records Management (EDRM),
ePublishing Solutions and Enterprise Search Solutions
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EDITORIAL
We have a lot of difficulty defining the 'information industry' that
FreePint inhabits. It's even harder to provide generic definitions of
specific job titles, such as 'information professional' or 'information
manager'. We're all information managers, to some degree or other.
Anyway, it's budding 'information managers' (however defined) who are
going to get the most out of today's FreePint, with articles on
accessibility, the latest trends in business information and an update
to a seminal text on information strategy.
Accessibility is a timely topic here in the UK, with the recent
October 1st deadline for making premises accessible under the
Disability Discrimination Act. Web accessibility is not to be confused
with Web usability, which Jakob Nielsen will be discussing as the
keynote speaker at the Online Information conference next month.
As well as the conference, Online Information includes lots of
free seminars and other co-located events. FreePint will be exhibiting
as usual, and we'll be at the Gala Awards Dinner to announce the
winner of this year's award for best customer service.
If you're in London, UK, from November 30th to December 2nd, do make
sure you come along to this event. It's the biggest information event
anywhere, and the only one at which we exhibit. More information and
free exhibition tickets are available at:
<http://www.online-information.co.uk/>
Information managers should also enjoy today's round-up by Pam Foster,
VIP's Editor, about the latest trends in business information. We're
nothing if timely, and yesterday's announcement at the VIP Wire about
Factiva and LexisNexis working together will surely get people talking
<http://www.vivavip.com/go/w395>. The in-depth comparative review of
these two products in VIP No.10 has been a run-away success, with one
information vendor commenting: "Pam deserves the 'VIP medal' for
stamina - quite a review!". To find out more about subscribing to VIP
or how to receive a digest of postings from the VIP Wire, visit:
<http://www.vivavip.com>
There's a lot going on in the information world at the moment, so it's
fun to be back in the hot seat as Annabel Colley prepares for the
birth of her second child. I'm sure you'll join me in wishing her all
the best.
Please do send in your comments about today's FreePint, or post them
to the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/go/b30270>. If you know
someone who might enjoy the newsletter, then why not forward this
issue to them?
William Hann
Managing Editor, FreePint
<william.hann@freepint.com>
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2004
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Irina Ibraghimova
* For training on Presentation Skills - use ideas from Presenters
Online <http://www.presentersonline.com/> which contains training
articles on effective presentations, skills and techniques for
putting your presentation together, a library of clipart and sounds.
* To search for medical images - HONmedia
<http://www.hon.ch/cgi-bin/HONmedia> - a repository of over 6,800
medical images and videos on 2,000 topics. HON also encourages users
to add their own image links via the "Submit an image" service.
* Factsheets from BMA
<http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/__Hub+factsheets> - a useful
resource both for answering frequently received medical information
queries and a nice model for formatting your own answers to
reference questions.
* NoodleQuest <http://www.noodletools.com/noodlequest/> - a wizard
that helps to develop the optimum Web-based search strategy. Just
answer a few questions about your research topic and NoodleQuest
will reveal and explain some of the best search strategies you
can use.
* Info Career Trends <http://www.lisjobs.com/newsletter/> - my
favorite after-work reading. ICT addresses career development topics
relevant to practicing information professionals. This newsletter
helps me to feel that I belong to the library community, even being
a solo librarian working from home (in Croatia) with company
headquarters in Washington, DC and serving health care professionals
in 20 CEE/NIS countries.
Irina Ibraghimova (Medical Information Resources Coordinator, American
International Health Alliance) provides reference help and training to
health care professionals in CEE/NIS countries, and contributes content
to EurasiaHealth Knowledge Network <http://www.eurasiahealth.org>.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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how to find company news, financials, source specific articles,
industry trends, market information and global news.
View it at <http://www.factiva.com/learning/multimedia>
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*** In-depth comparative review of LexisNexis and Factiva ***
The current edition of VIP, the monthly publication for
information users and purchasers, has a full review
of these two major business information products.
Find out more and purchase a copy at:
<http://www.vivaVIP.com/>
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FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
If this edition of the FreePint Newsletter is all about educating
information managers, then the FreePint Bar seems recently to have
been all about recruiting them.
Following an agency recruiter's disappointment which was reported in
the last edition, they have now received lots of interesting feedback
about why people didn't apply for the job they advertised
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b30026>. There have been similarly candid
comments in a thread started by a job seeker in the Midlands: opinions
are certainly mixed (shall we say) on the ability of recruitment
agencies to do their job <http://www.freepint.com/go/b30167>.
A topic which was raised at the recent City Information Group (CiG)
day <http://www.cityinformation.org.uk/> was that of recruiting staff
for an information role who have no previous experience or
qualifications in information. Is the enquirer being too protective of
their profession or is there another problem with the appointment
(e.g. the salary level)? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b30106>.
Over at the Student Bar, someone who will shortly be graduating with
an MA in Information Services Management is looking to move to
California. Can anyone over there help?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/s4229>. Maybe a member of SCOUG would like
to chip in <http://www.scougweb.org/>?
If you're looking for a job, or looking to recruit, don't forget that
the twice-monthly FreePint Jobs Update can be sent to you by email
automatically. You can also view a fully-formatted version at
<http://web.freepint.com/jobs/>.
Of course, recruitment isn't the only concern of information-related
Bar users at the moment. Does anyone know if the 'Information Managers
Directory UK' is still available? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b30085>.
What about a list or review of suppliers of press clippings services?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b30272>.
The topic of a forthcoming FreePint article is that of preservation
and ephemera. If you're concerned about the long-term implications of
digital data storage, then you might like to listen to the Radio 4
series which has helpfully been highlighted at
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b30215>.
There are regularly requests for reviews of market research providers,
both at the Bar (e.g. <http://www.freepint.com/go/b30142>) and to
VIP's Editor, Pam Foster. Pam has offered a comparative review of two
providers (Alacra and Profound) in a future issue of VIP, but she
needs your confirmation that it's something you'd find useful
<http://www.vivavip.com/go/l79>.
Thank you to everyone who monitors and uses the FreePint Bar. It's a
pleasure to moderate and participate in such a professional and useful
forum.
William Hann <william.hann@freepint.com>
Founder and Managing Editor, FreePint
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Twice-weekly email digests of the latest postings can be requested
at <http://web.freepint.com/>.
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The FreePint Jobs Update is being circulated widely every two
weeks. This free newsletter now has 2,000 direct subscribers and
is posted at the Bar and in the Bar Digest (circulation 12,000).
To see the Jobs Update No.82 and read the new 'Jobs Advice' section,
visit <http://www.freepint.com/go/b30136>. To subscribe, modify your
account at <http://web.freepint.com>.
Fully-formatted PDF version available at:
http://web.freepint.com/jobs/FreePint-Jobs-Update-82.pdf
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Global Head of Central Information Office
Rare opportunity - global remit for Information Management for
Corporate Finance in leading investment bank.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
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Opportunity for extremely bright and energetic person with strong
business acumen to develop their career in the H.R. Consultancy field.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
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NB: There are 47 other jobs in the current edition of the Jobs Update
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/141004.htm#tips>
"Web Accessibility: Ensuring Access for All"
By Bill Raschen
Web Accessibility is a subject whose importance has quietly grown in
recent years. This results, in part, from the effects of legislation
in the UK and the USA, but also from the policies and initiatives of
organizations including the Royal National Institute of the Blind
(RNIB) and others. Advances in technology, particularly the advent of
PDAs, have also played a part. However, despite its increasing
importance, web accessibility remains a subject that at best is
relatively poorly understood by many information professionals, and at
worst attracts some wholly wrong misconceptions. What follows is an
attempt to clarify the issue, discussing the implications of
accessibility for both web designers and web users in general.
Definitions of Web Usability and Accessibility
----------------------------------------------
The first thing to do is to define what web accessibility actually is,
and how it differs from web 'usability'. Very briefly, in this
context, 'usability' refers to the features that make a Website user-
friendly: the ease of retrieving information, and the manner in which
that information is displayed. A detailed overview of web usability is
provided by Jakob Nielsen in 'Usability 101: Introduction to
Usability' <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html>. Web
accessibility differs from this in that it refers to a web site's
contents being made available to everyone, including people with
disabilities. Under ideal circumstances, an accessible web site can be
perceived and navigated by all, and can be utilized with just a
keyboard or devices other than a mouse. Material on the site should be
easily understood, even in attention-poor situations. An excellent
definition of web accessibility is provided by Education Technology
Services (EduTech) at <http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/accessibility/>.
EduTech debunks the misconception that accessibility applies only to
the permanently disabled, pointing out that the subject has
implications for anyone who uses non-traditional browsing devices such
as handheld computers and web-enabled mobile phones. In addition,
accessibility will be an issue to all web site owners who need to
benefit from search engine ranking results, search engines being
described as the biggest 'blind users' of them all.
The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
------------------------------------
No study of web site accessibility can ignore the importance of the
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).
The WAI pursues accessibility through five primary areas of work:
technology, guidelines, tools, education and outreach, and research
and development. A good starting point for the work of the WAI can be
found at <http://www.w3.org/WAI/Resources/#fq>. Although there are
other sets of accessibility standards and guidelines, the WAI Web
Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 1.0
<http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/> remain the definitive guidelines for
accessible websites (a working draft of WCAG 2.0 became available at
the end of July 2004). These concentrate on a variety of 'good
practice' web design measures (for example, the use of style sheets to
control presentation, and the use of properly descriptive 'alt' tags
in conjunction with images) and are reasonably straightforward - at
least in theory! The University of Strathclyde provides an excellent
overview of WCAG 1.0 (and of web accessibility matters in general) on
its website at
<http://www.learningservices.strath.ac.uk/access/websites/wcag.html>.
There are 14 of these WCAG 1.0 guidelines, each with associated
checkpoints and priority levels. At minimum, 'accessible' websites
should conform to all WCAG 1.0 'Priority 1' checkpoints: ones that
have to be satisfied otherwise some groups of people will be unable to
access information from the web.
Other Sets of Accessibility Standards
-------------------------------------
Two other sets of accessibility standards should be noted, both of
which build on WCAG 1.0. In the UK, the Royal National Institute of
the Blind (RNIB) 'See it Right' logo is issued to sites that the RNIB
has audited and which achieve a good standard of accessibility.
Details of the audit process are available at
<http://digbig.com/4bxnj>. In the USA, accessible websites should
comply with 'Section 508', this being the section of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that was amended in 1998 to include a set
of standards for accessible electronic and information technology
<http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/index.htm>. This includes
web-based intranet and Internet information and applications. Sites
will be deemed noncompliant with Section 508 if they fail to meet the
set of standards within the Act.
Accessibility-related Legislation
---------------------------------
Web accessibility has become an increasingly important issue for a
variety of reasons. In part, this is because of the general growth of
Internet usage, and in particular the spread of handheld browsing
devices. But just as important are the effects of legislation on site
owners (and their employers). Since June 1999, webmasters in the UK
have been obliged by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), passed
in 1995, to make 'reasonable adjustments' to enable people with
disabilities to use their websites. The DDA specifically referred to
the rights of disabled people against service providers, and has been
followed by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA)
of 2001, which confers similar rights upon disabled students against
educational institutions. Details of the implications of both for web
sites can be found at <http://digbig.com/4btms>.
Accessibility Legal Actions
---------------------------
The words of the DDA were given teeth by the RNIB in July 2003, when
it initiated county court proceedings against a website it deemed
inaccessible. The case was settled out of court, and the identity of
the site was not disclosed. Nonetheless, a precedent was set for
future action against other providers. In taking action, the RNIB was
following the examples of other cases elsewhere: notably in Australia
in 2001 where a private citizen managed to win substantial damages
after a ruling that the Sydney Olympics portal caused 'unjustifiable
hardship' in failing to meet accessibility standards, and in the USA,
where the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) won damages against
AOL in late 1999. The importance of accessibility has been enhanced by
greater publicity as well: a good example of this was the widespread
press coverage in April 2004 for the findings of a Disability Rights
Commission (DRC) investigation, which showed that 81% of a
representative sample of 1,000 UK public websites failed to reach
minimum W3C standards for disabled web access
<http://www.drc-gb.org/open4all/newsroom/newsdetails.asp?id=633>.
The DRC is an independent body that was set up by
Parliament in 2000 with the remit of stopping discrimination and
promoting equality for disabled people.
Accessibility Checking Tools
----------------------------
If you're a web manager, you'll be forgiven for feeling somewhat
despondent by the issues raised above. But there is plenty of help at
hand: notably, a large array of online resource tools designed to help
make sure your web pages conform to accessibility guidelines. Many of
these 'checking' tools are free - the WAI lists many of them at
<http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/existingtools.html>. This list includes
long-term stalwarts such as the 'Bobby' and 'Lift' tools.
Incidentally, if you're a Dreamweaver MX user, you can access the
version of 'Lift' that is already installed on the product by
accessing 'File > Check Page > Check Accessibility'.
Assistive Technology
--------------------
Conforming to web accessibility guidelines may be 'good practice', but
many disabled users will still need assistive technology to view a web
site properly. An excellent introduction to this subject is provided
by the AbilityHub web site <http://www.abilityhub.com/>, which details
the different types of product (for all types of disability) on the
market, the individual brands and what they do. The 'Blind and
Visually Impaired' section of the site, for example, provides a useful
overview of the screen magnifiers and screen readers that are
available and what they do. If you're not aware, 'screen readers' are
software devices that read aloud the text on websites - there is also
a section on 'speech recognition' software, this being software that
translates your speech into computer commands. The site does not
mention two telling disadvantages facing the disabled user - firstly,
many assistive devices mentioned are pretty expensive, and secondly
(in the case of at least one well-known 'screen reader' device) the
voice talking back at you sounds suspiciously like a transatlantic
Dalek on illegal substances.
Conclusion
----------
Beyond all the legislation, guidelines, and assistive technology, why
should the subject of web accessibility be treated with such
importance? The glib reply, 'because it's a good thing' is a bit of a
non-starter. Much better would be to give the example of a visually
impaired individual visiting an electrical retailer in pre- web days
to ask for a washing machine - only to be sold either the most
expensive model, or else the one that the shop wanted to get rid of.
This is a cynical example, but (according to the RNIB) sadly true. The
same individual can now avoid such rip-offs by visiting
<http://www.kelkoo.com/> (or wherever) and can compare prices on
screen. And accessible sites could also benefit those with short-term
injuries: for example, if you are unfortunate enough to break your
wrist. As Tim Berners-Lee famously said: "The power of the Web is in
its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an
essential aspect". The web has the potential to be a great enabler -
'accessible' sites are one of the ways that this potential can be
turned into reality.
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Bill Raschen is an Information Professional and Web designer whose
experience has included project managing and managing intranets for
large organizations. He has also acted as a consultant and
troubleshooter on matters including the redesign of intranets and the
rollout of Content Management Systems. His particular interests
include the usability and accessibility of large web resources, and he
has written and lectured on both topics. Outside of work, he is a keen
amateur astronomer and runner.
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FREEPINT BOOKSHELF
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"Information Strategy in Practice"
Reviewed by Steve Wood
Elizabeth Orna's 1999 text "Practical information policies" is
regarded as a key text for information managers responsible for
auditing information, devising organisational information policies and
strategies. This new text, "Information Strategy in Practice", builds
upon "Practical information policies" by including updated versions of
chapters 2-6 from the 1999 text with postscripts entitled "practical
insights" for each chapter. As Orna notes, a good deal has happened
in the world of information management since 1999, hence the need for
the new text.
Orna's excellent text has a well-defined approach that is consistently
applied throughout. It avoids much of the jargon that has often
blighted this field of work, particularly related to the area of
knowledge management. I will always point students to Orna as a
starting point for defining terms such as information, knowledge,
information management, etc. The scenarios from real-world
organisations that are used to illustrate key points in the text are
well chosen and taken from a good mix of sectors and industries. This
makes the text valuable to information managers working in both public
and private sectors.
The structure logically guides the reader through information strategy
processes for organisations. It begins with a chapter discussing why
information is important; then covers understanding information
requirements; before dealing with analysing organisational objectives.
The process developed by Orna matches the objectives to "content"
which is then mapped to "containers". The table outlining these three
areas is an excellent basic starting point and can be easily adapted
to many scenarios. In terms of teaching or training it also acts as a
good starting point for student understanding of the topic.
The following chapters then move on to the information audit process
from planning to execution. Useful new material added to the practical
insights section for this chapter include terms of reference that
could be adapted for an information audit project. The next chapter
rightly stresses the importance of analysing and interpreting the
findings before moving to the policy and strategy stages that are
dealt with in the following chapters.
Chapters 7 and 8 will be of most interest to readers of the "practical
information policies" text, as Orna offers insight beyond the "how to
do it" aspects focused on in chapters 2-6. She uses her experience to:
"recapitulate the main underlying ideas, so that readers can make them
their own, illuminate them with their own experience and knowledge,
and use them in convincing, explaining, arguing a business case,
answering objections, gaining allies on the way towards developing and
using information strategy". Concepts such as taxonomy, that have
become important information management tools, are introduced here,
along with a valuable comparison of information management and
knowledge management concepts in practice.
This book is highly recommended for students studying on undergraduate
and postgraduate information management degree programmes and equally
for information managers working in the field attempting to assess
information assets and formulate policies and strategies. For those
without the previous 1999 text, I would say this edition is an
essential part of any information manager's bookshelf.
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Steve Wood, Senior Lecturer, School of Business Information, Liverpool
John Moores University, lectures on undergraduate and postgraduate
programmes on web management, knowledge management, network management
and information policy.
Research interests include content management knowledge management and
freedom of information legislation. Steve is author of the text
"Business Information Management" with Dave Chaffey, published by
Pearson Education November 2004.
Email <steve_wood62@hotmail.com> or visit <http://www.livjm.ac.uk>.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/141004.htm#feature>
"Trends in business information, provision and use"
By Pam Foster
The VIP publications, VIP and VIP Eye, are concerned with the business
information industry - its products, its providers and its users. The
summer months are usually a quiet time for any sector, but an analysis
of the VIP content over the last quarter, from July-September,
identifies some interesting trends.
The VIP Web site is at <http://www.vivaVIP.com>.
Strategic relationships bring increased data coverage and new markets
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A number of information providers have entered into strategic
relationships, resulting in improved data coverage and new market
opportunities.
In a surprise move, two of the sector's largest news and business
information providers, Factiva and LexisNexis, have just announced
(12 October 2004) a deal that will result in LexisNexis becoming the
exclusive provider of Factiva content to legal professionals at law
firms worldwide. Factiva content will become available to LexisNexis'
legal customers in North America, UK, France, Germany, Australia, New
Zealand, Japan and Singapore on 1st March 2005. This agreement is only
for the legal market. Factiva content will not be available from
LexisNexis in the corporate legal department or federal government
markets. The deal will provide LexisNexis' legal customers with access
to Factiva's 9,000 sources of global news and information, including
business titles such as The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal,
Dow Jones and Reuters newswires. Factiva previously entered into a
similar deal with Westlaw, the online legal research service.
Following the LexisNexis deal, Factiva is withdrawing its data from
Westlaw.
UK company Hemscott has entered into a complex reverse buy-out deal,
which takes the company into the US and provides it with GBP20 million
of financing for approved acquisitions over the next 12 months.
Hemscott has acquired CoreData, a provider of US and Canadian company
financial data and, at the same time, Centerpoint, owner of CoreData,
has acquired a minority stake in Hemscott. Finmedia, which is the
majority shareholder in Hemscott, has sold 10 million of its Hemscott
shares to Centerpoint Data which now has a 54.5% stake in Hemscott.
The combined group will have access to 30 years of North American and
20 years of UK financial information, as well as a database of
directors' biographies and remuneration. Hemscott is best known for
its Company Guru product, which was reviewed in the January 2004 issue
of VIP.
D&B is continuing to seek strategic relationships in Europe and has
just sold its business in France to Base d'Information Legales
Holding. The terms of the deal mean that BIL Holding will own the
business and distribute D&B branded products in France. In return, D&B
will increase its coverage by gaining access to BIL Holding's database
of French businesses. This latest move follows a deal made earlier
this year, whereby D&B sold its operations in Austria, Czech Republic,
Germany, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland to Bonnier Business
Information. Again, the terms of the deal mean that D&B obtains access
to Bonnier's Central European database in exchange for Bonnier
distributing its D&B branded products in the Central European market.
D&B will also gain access to both BIL Holding's and Bonnier's sales
and marketing data in Europe.
OneSource is actively seeking out deals with new company data
providers, following D&B's decision to withdraw its data from
OneSource's Business Browser products. The decision followed
OneSource's acquisition by infoUSA, which is one of D&B's competitors.
In the meantime, D&B has just entered into a relationship with Corpfin
to supply its CompanyQuery product with European company data.
Perceived lack of information necessary to exploit benefits of EU
------------------------------------------------------------------
enlargement
-----------
Despite the lengthy negotiation process in admitting the latest 10
countries into the EU, a corporate opinion poll, conducted this
summer suggests that vendors have failed to provide adequate
information covering these new admissions. The survey was conducted by
company information provider Kompass and UKeIG, the UK electronic
Information Group (previously known as UKOLUG). The poll revealed that
66% of companies are planning to conduct research into the business
opportunities offered by the enlargement, yet nearly half of the
respondents - 47% - claimed that there are currently not enough
information sources available to help them research the new EU
countries and companies. Kompass and UKeIG plan to construct more
corporate opinion polls over the next few months.
Still room for more new company data products
---------------------------------------------
You might be forgiven for believing that the market was saturated with
company information products, but a number of new ones have been
launched in the last couple of months. The development of some of
these products has led to some new and interesting partnerships
between vendors and content providers and/or software companies.
Corpfin, which is well known for its M&A product CorpfinWorldWide, has
launched CompanyQuery, a new UK company financial database that looks
set to rival FAME, Business Browser and Plum. The initial product
covers all UK limited companies registered at Companies House, from
data supplied by Experian. The content set is currently being
expanded, following the news that Corpfin has struck a deal with D&B
to include its European company data on CompanyQuery. CompanyQuery
will be the subject of an-depth review in the November issue of VIP.
Bureau van Dijk has taken advantage of its partnerships with existing
content providers to create MINT, a new UK product targeted at the
desk-top market. MINT combines company data, news, director
information and market research from 11 content providers. It doesn't
offer the powerful searching and analysis functionality associated
with many of BvD's corporate products; rather, its emphasis is on ease
of use and simplicity. A review of MINT will also be published in the
November issue of VIP.
As part of its strategy to create more revenue from the web, D&B has
launched two more products on its D&B Access for the Internet (DBAI)
platform. Global Reference Service provides integrated access to D&B's
global database of over 80 million companies and its Who owns Whom
data. A partnership with Anacubis means that, shortly, users will be
offered options for visualising the results of a search and will also
be able to explore corporate structures visually. MarketDirect, D&B's
other new product, provides sales leads and marketing prospects on
more than 20 million enterprises in Western Europe. Both of these new
products were reviewed in the August issue of VIP.
News services looking to add value
----------------------------------
Rather than carrying news of events that have just happened, a new
service is adding value by providing its subscribers with advance
knowledge of global geopolitical and business/economic developments,
together with an analysis of their consequences. Every working day,
Earlywarning.com claims to explore the interface between economics,
politics and government, throughout the world, in order to predict the
impact the news will have on future events. The news of
Earlywarning.com was featured in a recent issue of VIP Eye (No. 17, 15
September 2004). As well as describing the service in some depth, the
feature ponders on the type of user the new service will attract by
asking, 'Will casual users be willing to pay for a service when
they're used to accessing news sites for free, and will serious users
find it worthwhile when they can access much more analysis from
products such as World Markets Research Centre, MyInsight and those
offered by the Economist Intelligence Unit'.
Another new news service offers consumers suggested news stories based
on what they have read previously. Newsbot is being developed by
Microsoft who describes it as a 'first-of-its-kind personal
newsstand'. It delivers headlines in seven different categories of
news and information, and provides users with the latest relevant news
stories at any time.
Search engines are developing higher levels of sophistication
-------------------------------------------------------------
Search engines currently mine only a small proportion of available
knowledge and desktop search is the logical next step in their
development. Google, Microsoft and Ask Jeeves are all working on their
own projects. A small Anglo-American development has stolen a march on
established search engine rivals by developing blinkx. The blinkx
search engine is one of the first to mine both the web and the user's
PC, in order to generate links to related concepts. It claims to
understand the context of what the user is reading on the computer
screen, such as documents, emails, web sites, news articles, blogs and
videos. As the user scrolls through the text, blinkx works in the
background connecting related information on the web and on the PC. It
scouts for information in over 200 media types such as Word, Excel and
PowerPoint documents, attachments to emails, Acrobat PDF files, blogs,
and video and audio clips.
Find.com is a new search engine developed by FIND/SVP and Empire
Media, in response to the results of a FIND/SVP survey which revealed
that US businesses are throwing away billions of dollars in lost time
due to ineffective and deficient research tools. Find.com is described
as the first true search engine designed specifically for information
professionals. It aggregates documents from major search engines and
combines them with results from thousands of business web sites, plus
premium research from well known business information publishers. The
search engine uses clustering retrieval technology, which it claims,
'thinks like an executive by automatically anticipating additional
classifications that may be relevant within a search and
instantly organising them into folders'. A review of Find.com was
published in the July 2004 issue of VIP.
Making sense of search is the theory behind the development of
Textonomy Reveal, a new search engine that claims to, 'deliver
relevant, coherent and accurate results based on the linguistic sense
of the words used in a search'. Textonomy asserts that the only way
search engines can overcome the problems of irrelevance and inaccuracy
is by harnessing the power of human linguistic intuition. Textonomy
Reveal combines dictionary and encyclopedia definitions, with the
knowledge inherent in the linguistic intuition of adult users of a
language. In addition, the names of thousands of products and
organisations, that form a crucial part of online searching, have also
been included.
The brain behind Textonomy Reveal is Professor David Crystal, Chairman
of Crystal Reference Group, and one of the world's authorities on
reference publishing and on linguistics. Professor Crystal will be
writing an article on: 'Take care of the sense, and the search engines
will take care of themselves', in the October issue of VIP.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Aimed at business information researchers, the monthly VIP provides
in-depth reviews of major products, while the fortnightly VIP Eye
provides news and analysis of products, publishers and vendors.
Further information is available at:
<http://www.vivavip.com>
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pam Foster is a freelance information professional and has been
actively involved in the business information industry as a writer and
reviewer for nearly 20 years. She previously played a major role in
Headland Business Information since its inception, as editor of its
newsletters and directories. More recently, she has acted as a
consultant to several large information companies. In December 2003,
she became editor of FreePint's subscription-based products, VIP and
VIP Eye <http://www.vivavip.com>.
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