Newsletter No. 181
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FreePint
"Helping 72,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 28th April 2005 No.181
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Fully-formatted full-colour edition available at:
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/280405.htm>
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IN THIS ISSUE
-------------
EDITORIAL
By William Hann
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By David Sarokin
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
Information Officer
Assistant Information Scientists
Researcher
Internet Research Analyst - 4 or 5 days a week
Information Manager
Information Advisor
Assistant Librarian
Sector Specialist (Financial Institutions)
Information Officer
TIPS ARTICLE
"Distance Learning is Closing the Distance"
By Anne Esler
BOOKSHELF
"Practical Copyright for Information Professionals:
the CILIP Handbook"
Reviewed by Shivaji Shiva
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Using A Website To Open Up The Archive"
By Julia Swann and Susannah Ross
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/280405.htm>
FULLY FORMATTED VERSION
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/280405.pdf>
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** Three Information Today conferences, Paris, 1-2 June **
WebSearch Academy: Carrying out research on the net?
Enterprise Search Paris: Developing an internal search capability?
e-Workplace Collaboration: Implementing collaboration technologies?
For more information and to register:
<http://www.infotoday.com/Paris/>
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*** Hoover's reviewed in April's VIP ***
Hoover's UK Pro Premium provides a mix of proprietary and D&B data on
UK and international companies. Read what VIP has to say about company
coverage, searching, and generating lists and reports. This issue also
includes the first in a new series of Source Guides:
<http://www.vivaVIP.com/>
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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
a substantial archive of articles, reviews, jobs and events, with
answers to research questions and networking at the FreePint Bar.
Please circulate this newsletter, which is best read when printed out.
To receive a fully formatted version as an attachment or a brief
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EDITORIAL
By William Hann
My comments in the last FreePint about the information mix consisting
of three elements, namely 'free', 'fee' and 'promotion'
<http://www.freepint.com/go/n180>, certainly solicited a few
opinions -- not at the Bar, as expected, but directly to me by email.
The idea of promotion -- making money from sponsorship and advertising
-- still has some way to go before becoming accepted, especially here
in the UK. See this comment to me from a senior business information
professional in an investment bank:
"My current feeling is that the promotional aspect is beginning to
take over from the content for some things ... [and] that previously
hidden agendas of making money are becoming more obvious ..."
Nowhere can you see more evidence of how awkwardly 'promotion' and
'information professional' sit together, than at the conference of the
Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) in Tucson,
Arizona, from which I have just returned.
By its very nature, the AIIP conference attracts information
professionals who have struck out alone to start their own business.
The first session requires *all* delegates to stand in line, one at a
time, and introduce themselves and their business to the conference
over the microphone. It daunts the majority of the participants.
I personally think that this session alone justifies travelling 5,000
miles to attend -- it forms the basis for all the connections and
contacts you make throughout the conference. There are photos from the
conference, including the dreaded 'Member Introductions Session' at
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/events/>.
The second week of my American trip was at the annual Factiva Advisory
Board in New York. Companies like Factiva are at the other end of the
scale: with revenues that small businesses like ours find difficult to
comprehend, they are not shy of charging for their services and making
money. We must not forget that it is through their support and
sponsorship that resources like FreePint are indeed free to the end
user.
Indeed, FreePint itself is not a charity, and through a prudent mix of
free content, paid content, sponsorship and advertising, we try to
make a living. FreePint's sister publication VIP is subscription-based
itself and covers only subscription-based products. It has just
published an in-depth review of Hoover's <http://www.vivavip.com/>.
I stand by my comments that as long as all participants benefit from
our actions (and no one is disadvantaged) then there is no reason to
shy away from a new definition of the 'information mix' that includes
promotion as a key constituent.
William Hann
Managing Editor and Founder, FreePint
e: william.hann@freepint.com
t: 0870 141 7474
i: +44 870 141 7474
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2005
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Introducing MINT - a fresh approach to company information
from Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing
To register for a FREE trial visit <http://www.mintbusinessinfo.com>
Companies, news, industry research and directors in a single
easy to use information database for research,
sales, marketing and business development professionals.
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"Complying with Freedom of Information legislation:
a guide for practitioners"
This report is written for practitioners in jobs focused on,
or in roles influenced by, freedom of information legislation.
"Interesting and informative. I would and have
recommended the publication to colleagues."
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By David Sarokin
* Hidden Search tool at Yahoo Finance
<http://finance.yahoo.com/search> - This hard-to-find search
function is a great free tool for quick company research. It
searches only the Yahoo Finance company descriptions for search
terms, and returns lists, news, financial summaries, and a host of
other useful information.
* UMDL Texts <http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx/> - This
exceptionally clumsy site is quite simply one of the best history
resources on the internet. Thousands of historical documents -- none
of which show up in search engine results -- are full-text
searchable, and can be viewed in either text or original page image
format.
* Whois <http://www.whois.sc> - Hands down, the best free whois search
tool, especially for generating large lists of all domains that
contain a given term, such as [ library ]; use the "Domain Explorer"
tab to get started with your look-up.
* Dialog Intellectual Property <http://openaccess.dialog.com/ip/> -
For really deep domain name searches. Searches can be conducted on
ownership (find all sites registered to Coca Cola), and can include
current (whois) and historic (whowas) records. Searching is free,
but there is a charge for the actual records.
* Search Systems Public Records <http://www.searchsystems.net> - This
is the best-organized portal for finding online public records on
people, companies, governments, etc. Although strongest in its
coverage of the US, the site is international, and even includes
more than 25 links under the heading "Outer Space".
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David Sarokin <djs@poboxes.com> is an internet junkie, a Google
Answers Researcher, and is available for freelance research.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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>>> SIGN UP TO FACTIVA'S NEWSLETTER <<<
Keep up to date on Factiva and information industry trends by signing
up for the free InfoPro Alliance newsletter. This monthly email will
provide you with tips on how to better use Factiva, more information
about Factiva sources, and link you to other items of interest to
global information professionals.
Go to <http://www.factiva.com/infopro/register> and sign up today!
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*** VIP Eye :: Analysis of business information news ***
VIP Eye provides twice-monthly comment and analysis of
the latest announcements in business information.
Be the first to find out about new products, key personnel
changes, and trends in business information provision.
<http://www.vivavip.com/>
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FREEPINT BAR
<http://www.freepint.com/bar>
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
I have collected a few postings from the FreePint Bar over the last
three weeks - some answered: "Does anyone get interview expenses these
days?" <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31830>; and some not: "Does anyone
have an official number of EMEA Companies?"
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31946>.
FreePint Events has really taken off with 53 listings of events taking
place all over the world: UK, Spain, USA, Canada, Czech Republic,
France, Belgium, China, Finland and Australia
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31890>.
Know where to find information on the South African teenage market?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31983>. How are business
process/administration outsourcing contracts/projects/jobs priced?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31856>
The latest issue of the Jinfo Newsletter is out, with 34 job listings
and an editorial from Linda Emmett, Information Manager, Chartered
Institute of Personnel and Development, entitled "So you've got a
vacancy?" <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31925>.
Do you know of a forum or mailing list which will accept copyright
queries in the UK? There have been a few suggestions but no
definitive resource <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31952>.
Where can a FreePinter find the average tariff rates on imports
into the EU and the US? < http://www.freepint.com/go/b31895>. Or how
about: "Does anyone know where I might be able to source a list(s) of
the vocabulary that each age group should know?"
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31828>.
What proportion of employers and/or employees in the NHS do and don't
have either the legally required written statements of particulars of
employment or employment contracts?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31833>.
Finally, why not have a browse by category in the FreePint Bar Browser
<http://www.freepint.com/bar/browser/> -- there might be a query you
can help with.
If you haven't already subscribed to the free twice-weekly FreePint
Bar Digest, then please do so at <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>.
Penny Hann <penny.hann@freepint.com>
FreePint
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The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky
research questions <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
Help with study for information-related courses is available at the
FreePint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>.
Twice-weekly email digests of the latest postings can be requested
at <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>.
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--- GLEN RECRUITMENT ---
Glen Recruitment is a leading independent Employment Consultancy
dealing in the recruitment of Information Specialists, Knowledge
Professionals, Business Analysts, Researchers and Librarians. We
provide both permanent and temporary staff at all levels from senior
managers to recent graduates. Our client list could not be more
exceptional and includes prestigious organisations of all sizes.
For more details call 020 7745 7245 email info@glenrecruitment.co.uk
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JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
<http://www.jinfo.com/>
The Jinfo service enables you to search for and advertise
information-related job vacancies.
The Jinfo Newsletter is published free every two weeks, and contains
a list of the latest vacancies along with job seeking advice. The
latest editorial is entitled "So you've got a vacancy?".
To read the latest Jinfo Newsletter and to subscribe to receive it
twice-monthly by email, visit <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Information Officer
Information Services Section vacancy managing information submission
& updating activities of the Clinical Information Management.
Recruiter: SHS International Limited
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3965>
Assistant Information Scientists
A range of prof. information work; enquiries, current awareness,
evaluation of new sources, bibliographic work & end-user training.
Recruiter: MI5
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3966>
Researcher
Talented researchers sought to execute online analysis projects for
clients, on issues of reputation, CSR, lobbying and activism.
Recruiter: Infonic
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3976>
Internet Research Analyst - 4 or 5 days a week
Advanced Internet research skills, scientific background plus
postgrad qualification in information management.
Recruiter: Magus Research
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3978>
Information Manager
Leading six Information Advisers and eight Administrators in the
provision of professional document delivery and enquiry service
Recruiter: Health and Safety Executive
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3979>
Information Advisor
Deal efficiently with cataloguing, scanning & abstracting. Provide
input using research skills & flair for advising & guiding others.
Recruiter: Health and Safety Executive
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3986>
Assistant Librarian
6wk p/t temp role in healthcare org in Leeds - update dbase and
intranet, literature searches, etc - qual librarian, online skills
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3991>
Sector Specialist (Financial Institutions)
Senior Information Officers with industry sector knowledge with
experience in investment banking or professional services.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3999>
Information Officer
We are currently recruiting for an Information officer to join our
Business information Services department.
Recruiter: PKF
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j4007>
NB: There are 34 other jobs in the current edition of the Jinfo
Newsletter <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/> and over 70 in the
Jinfo database <http://www.jinfo.com/>.
[The above jobs are paid listings]
Jinfo -- the best place for information-related job vacancies.
* JOB SEARCHING -- Free search and sign up to the Jinfo Newsletter.
* RECRUITING -- Complete the form and advertise a vacancy for
only GBP195 <http://www.jinfo.com/recruit/>.
50% discount for registered charities. 10% discount for agencies.
Find out more today at <http://www.jinfo.com/>
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*** Email newsletter and forum hosting from Willco ***
Willco hosts many email newsletters and online
forums, for independent information professionals like
Mary Ellen Bates, Gary Price, Chris Olson and Cindy Shamel.
Read testimonials and find out how the service
can save you considerable amounts of time:
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/280405.htm#tips>
"Distance Learning is Closing the Distance"
By Anne Esler
All it takes is a quick web search using your favorite search engine
to find that elearning in the business world is BIG business. The
range of results is instructive, from Harvard Business School
Publishing elearning solutions, to elearning business models, to
certification courses, to jobs with titles such as "eLearning
Manager". Distance education is as close as your desktop.
According to Phil Britt in an article entitled "Elearning on the Rise"
(published in last November's EContent), companies are using online
learning courses to save on costs of keeping their employees up-to-
date with new skills and knowledge. The article quotes IDC's figures
of solid growth in corporate elearning of 11% per year through 2007 as
90% of organizations with 10,000 or more employees are developing or
have developed online learning programs [1].
Almost every industry that you can imagine -- aviation, medicine,
banking, insurance -- offer education and training online. Various
trade associations, as well as companies, have vast offerings.
However, a new model of 'just-in-time learning' is developing, as
online learning becomes more integrated within the context of one's
job. Jonathon Levy <http://www.JonathonLevy.com>, Senior Learning
Strategist at The Monitor Group, discusses this vision as a
partnership of the individual's information 'profile' and
technological support of databases, search engines and knowledge
bases [2]. From this develops a model driven by the individual's need;
an employee-driven model of education.
Technological improvements in learning management software open the
door to employee-driven education. I have taken several WebEx
<http://www.webex.com/> based courses which last for about an hour to
learn new database skills. While these courses still rely on using the
telephone for the audio portion of the course, one wonders whether the
rapid adoption of VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) telephony may
make collaborative educational efforts easier.
E-learning can give a competitive advantage to companies whose
employees have the ability to tap into training when needed. With
compliance issues more in the spotlight, doctors and bankers can keep
current with the ever-changing regulatory environment. Medical
personnel who require training in the United States regulation, HIPAA
(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), can get
up to speed in online certification courses.
Young students across the globe today are growing up with online
learning as a natural part of their education. As these students grow
and move from the world of school to the world of work, their
expectations and skills will naturally complement the 'just-in-time'
learning environment of the corporate world. Peter Drucker's vision of
continuous learning has arrived with learning management software to
lead today's workers towards not just tomorrow's work environment, but
this afternoon's. Perhaps the next obstacle in the evolution of
online education courses is to sort through the maze of information to
choose a quality program. There are many sites which are good
starting places for your research. However, it is important to assess
a program carefully for accreditation, overall costs, financial aid or
company reimbursement. Be sure that your computer system has the
necessary technical requirements.
Check out these websites for more information on online learning for
courses, degree and certification programs:
BBC
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/>
Trainingmag.com
<http://www.trainingmag.com/training/index.jsp>
VNU Learning
<http://www.vnulearning.com/learninggroup/index.jsp>
Distance Education Clearinghouse
University of Wisconsin-Extension
<http://www.uwex.edu/disted/home.html>
The Educator's Reference Desk
<http://digbig.com/4dgbb>
World Wide Learn
<http://www.worldwidelearn.com/online-courses/global-education.htm>
GetEducated.com
<http://www.geteducated.com/>
[1] ELEARNING on the rise. Britt, Phil, EContent, 15252531, Nov2004,
Vol. 27, Issue 11.
[2] Knowledge Warriors, Levy, Jonathon, T+D, Feb2004, Vol. 58 Issue 2,
p46, 6p.
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Anne Esler is a Business and Engineering Librarian at Dartmouth
College in Hanover, New Hampshire. She has an MLS degree and MBA
degree which was completed completely online.
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Related FreePint links:
* 'Education' articles in the FreePint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p39>
* Post a message to the author, Anne Esler, 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/280405.htm#tips>
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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*** Career tips and advice in the Jinfo Newsletter ***
The twice-monthly Jinfo Newsletter has great articles on
getting a job, interviews, dealing with recruiters, etc.
It is free to subscribe and there is a complete archive at:
<http://www.jinfo.com/>
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FREEPINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Practical Copyright for Information Professionals:
the CILIP Handbook"
Reviewed by Shivaji Shiva
Sandy Norman is a freelance copyright consultant. In this handbook,
published by CILIP, she aims to demystify the law of copyright and
provide practical guidance on dealing with copyright issues. She
achieves that aim. The book is easy to use with a sustained focus on
issues relevant to library and information professionals, and the
organisations they work for. It is written in a manner that allows
for quick access to the relevant question for those seeking specific
guidance, while providing enough background material to satisfy those
who want the reasons behind this guidance.
The book offers a clear exposition of copyright law from copyright
basics, to a brief look at the historical context and an outline of
relevant international developments. For those inspired to learn
more, the final chapter is devoted to sources of further information
including a useful survey of the committees and professional bodies
active in the field. This chapter also sets out the usual references
and recommends further reading.
The handbook has been updated to account for the changes made by the
Copyright and Related Rights Regulations Act 2003. There is also a
section on illuminating cases from the UK and elsewhere.
To aid focused use by time-pressed information professionals
seeking quick reference on specific issues, chapters are divided into
sections focusing on particular practical issues. For example,
chapter one includes a section setting out the rules for determining
first ownership of copyright in different types of material. Chapter
two highlights exceptions of particular relevance for information
professionals, including sections on permission to copy and the
various contexts in which this arises, exceptions particularly
relevant to educational establishments, and on copying by and for
visually impaired persons. Each chapter ends with a list of 'ten
points to remember from the chapter' which provides a summary and also
a useful aide-memoire.
This commonsense approach informs each chapter. Handy tips include a
rule of thumb for identifying a 'substantial' part of a work, a
checklist of common license terms and similarly helpful comments on
the fair dealing exceptions. The book also includes a helpful
collection of case studies and frequently asked questions together
with responses which are clearly rooted in considerable experience and
take a straightforward and pragmatic approach.
The compliance solutions include contractual solutions with an outline
of the characteristics of commonly available licenses and an
introduction to the key stages involved in negotiating copyright
licences.
This book is likely to be a regularly consulted reference volume for
library workers, information managers and anyone who manages the use
of copyright material and needs an accessible introduction to
copyright law. Within the constraints of its 175 pages it provides
clearly presented practical guidance to the legal issues that may
confront you on a day-to-day basis.
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Shivaji Shiva is a solicitor in the Charity Team at Russell-Cooke
Solicitors. He advises a range of not-for-profit organisations
including national archives and museums on issues including copyright
and data protection.
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Related FreePint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/praccopy.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1856044904/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1856044904/freepint00>
* "Practical Copyright for Information Professionals:
The CILIP Handbook" ISBN 1856044904, published by Facet Publishing
* 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 <support@freepint.com>.
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*** Why do YOU use DigBig? ***
"Saves a lot of messing about when wanting to
return to the depths of big sites such as BBC."
Health and Safety Manager, Northampton, UK (March 2005)
DigBig shortens long URLs and is free to use:
<http://www.DigBig.com/>
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/280405.htm#feature>
"Using A Website To Open Up The Archive"
By Julia Swann and Susannah Ross
When people say "It's all on the Web now", the response is usually
"Yes, but only if you can find it". In quite a few cases, the response
would be "No it's not; it's still in leatherbound books on our
shelves!" This article is about how the Newcomen Society
<http://www.newcomen.org.uk>, a learned society dedicated to the
history of engineering and technology, made its archive of fascinating
research papers available through its website and at the same time
attracted new members and created a welcome new source of income for
the Society.
75 volumes: 1,000 papers
------------------------
The Society's Transactions, containing research papers about topics as
varied as windmills, railways and vacuum cleaners, date back to 1920.
Although all today's volumes are originated in electronic form and
copies of recent volumes are available, until recently anyone who
happened to know of the existence of a paper in one of the early
volumes had to ask the Society to make a photocopy. These early
volumes, some of them finely bound and long out of print, were
becoming somewhat battered. Fortunately, a legacy from a member
offered an opportunity both to preserve the Society's archive and to
make it available to a wider audience through the Web.
Making electronic copies and a database
---------------------------------------
The volumes were unstitched and each page scanned. All 75 volumes of
the Transactions are now in electronic form on a CD, which is used as
the master copy for any printouts, thus preserving the fragile
originals for posterity. This first part of the job was undertaken by
a firm of specialists, Somcom. The second part of the job, also
successfully completed by Somcom, was to mount the papers on the Web
and provide a database with search facility together with an online
payment system.
All available now?
------------------
It's a common misconception that once an archive is in electronic form
and available online, it will be found by anyone using a search
engine. What people forget is that the search engine robots will not
usually be able to gain access to data in a database - especially
valuable data that is supposed to generate income for its owners. To
gain access to the Newcomen Society's data, the robots would need to
formulate the same queries as a human being (and then get out their
credit or debit cards!) The consequence was that the papers were still
really only available to those who already knew how to find the site
and who, once there, queried the database and then chose to buy papers
in their particular area of interest. For example, anyone who typed
"davy lamp" into a search engine would not be directed to the relevant
paper, as the keywords would remain hidden in the database.
Enter the website
-----------------
This is where the website came in. The role of the Society's main
website is to draw in visitors who are not aware of the existence of
the Society or its website but are interested in the subject. This
website, like so many other Societies' sites, was originally seen as a
way of informing existing members of forthcoming meetings, visits and
events, and of providing them with other useful information. It was
not generating visits by non-members, unless they had already heard of
the Newcomen Society, nor was it being used to show off the Society's
main asset - its splendid research papers.
Using the table of contents
---------------------------
The next task was to get all the titles of the papers up on the Web in
a form that would be attractive to the search engines. The table of
contents, listing all the papers in the Transactions, was scanned,
converted to machine-readable text (OCRd) and then mounted on the web
as an HTML file. This, however, was far too big and slow to load and
needed to be split into manageable chunks.
A mini-database behind the scenes
---------------------------------
By importing the OCRd table of contents into an Access database, it
was possible to search and sort it in many different ways. Thus it
could be presented in smaller quick-loading files, selected
alphabetically by author (A-C, D-E, F-H etc.). Fortunately many of the
titles were quite long and descriptive, containing a wealth of useful
keywords, so almost instantly the traffic to the website increased.
Presenting the information better
---------------------------------
A list of titles by authors A-C is not the most attractive or usable
page to present to casual visitors to your website. Given the database
of titles, it was not a huge job to search on various keywords and
collect together titles on various themes, such as canals, bridges,
steam engines, mills and electronics, and to produce a separate Web
page for each theme. This also had the advantage of producing pages
with greater keyword density: for example the word "mining" might
occur eight times on a themed page, as opposed to once or twice in the
alphabetical list of authors. And a list of papers on one topic makes
a more interesting menu for the casual visitor than a list of titles
by author.
Advertising your wares
----------------------
The casual visitor, interested in canals for example, may well be
pleased to see a list of titles of research papers on canals, but
lists still make rather dry reading. For this reason - and to give a
taste of what is in the archive - a handful of papers were picked out
and written up in 'highlights', which could be found via quick links
on the home page. This was rather laborious work (though quite good
fun), as it involved browsing through the archive, reading a few
papers quite carefully, selecting some lively passages with good
illustrations, and wrapping each excerpt around with some useful
context.
Search engines love depth
-------------------------
The result of the 'highlights', measured by log analysis and the
number of requests for full copies of the original papers, has been
quite dramatic. The reason that these pages are being found so easily
is, once again, keyword density. But with excerpts rather than just
titles, the keywords can be much more specific. For example, whereas
the term "Mulberry harbours" appears only once in the themed list of
titles, in the excerpt it appears several times, as do other related
keywords. So visitors who have typed in "Mulberry rafts", "Churchill +
Mulberry" or "Mulberry floating breakwaters" are also directed to the
Society's website because all the additional words occur in the
excerpt.
It works!
---------
An excerpt from the paper titled "Beauvais Cathedral" has been found
regularly by search terms as broad as "cathedral structure", "gothic
cathedral engineering" and "nave collapsed", on top of all the
searches that included the word "Beauvais". In a recent application
for membership, the answer to the question "How did you hear of the
Newcomen Society?" was "website article on Beauvais Cathedral" - proof
that presenting highlights like this really works.
Topicality helps
----------------
While Mulberry harbours and cathedrals seem to be of perennial
interest, the popularity of other topics may be more fleeting. The
highlight on the 'Big Stink' of 1858 was particularly popular at the
time of a television programme on Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who designed
London's sewers. This was pure luck, but it would be clever to
anticipate this sort of opportunity by looking out for anniversaries
(such as Brunel's bicentenary in 2006 <http://www.brunel200.com>), and
coming television programmes, films or books, and having relevant
excerpts ready.
Extra breadth
-------------
Another substantial increase in traffic happened as an unexpected
result of a quite separate initiative. The index to the earliest 32
volumes of Transactions had long been out of print, and two kind
volunteers laboriously scanned and OCRd the remaining library copy so
that it could be made available as a free download from the website in
PDF. Because the index lists the full range of keywords in the papers
in the volumes, this PDF file presents a concentration of yet more
useful words and phrases that could bring searchers to the site.
Again, it works!
----------------
Originally intended as a way of directing members to the right volume
of Transactions, the index - even though it was a PDF file and a big
one at that - was acting as a very successful magnet, attracting on
average 40 hits per day. For example, someone recently searched for
information about the "Whitefriars glass furnace"- a fairly specific
and esoteric query. The search engines would not have found it in the
database, nor in the list of titles, nor in any of the excerpts. It
was the juxtaposition of these three keywords in the index that
enabled the searcher to find the website and, we hope, the relevant
paper in the archive.
We've tried to show that using a website to open up the archive
involves not just the technicalities of converting documents to
electronic format, but finding ways of presenting information in a way
that is interesting and helpful to the user and makes sense to the
search engines.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Julia Swann and Susannah Ross run a website consultancy called Select
Ideas <http://www.selectideas.co.uk/consult>.
You will find the Newcomen Society for the study of the history of
engineering and technology at <http://www.newcomen.com>.
Somcom <http://www.somcom.co.uk> specialises in producing electronic
archives.
Julia is the author of a forthcoming book on building databases.
Susannah is the author of A Simple Guide to Writing for Your Website
(ISBN 013041557X Prentice Hall 2001)
<http://www.selectideas.co.uk/ross/sguide.htm>.
Declaration of interest: Julia's husband, Dick Swann, is Executive
Secretary of the Newcomen Society.
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About this Newsletter
- Publication Date: 27th April 2005
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