Newsletter No. 190
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FreePint
"Helping 74,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 8th September 2005 No.190
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IN THIS ISSUE
-------------
EDITORIAL
By William Hann
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Adrian Janes
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
Sector Specialist / Analyst (Financial Services)
Records Manager
TIPS ARTICLE
"Analysing User Behaviour: A Case Study"
By Chris Kutler and Ray Devaney
BOOKSHELF
"Delivering Digital Services: A Handbook for Public Libraries
and Learning Centres"
Reviewed by Michael Corkett
FEATURE ARTICLE
"The Slow Movement"
By Alison Scammell
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/080905.htm>
FULLY FORMATTED VERSION
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*Join us at Internet Librarian International, London, October 10 & 11*
Information technologies and strategies for the 21st century
Collaboration tools, e-learning and training, taxonomies,
folksonomies, e-content, blogs, wikis, new search interfaces
20% discount for CILIP members
How many more reasons do you need?
For full programme and to register:
<http://www.internet-librarian.com>
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*** VIP focuses on US and Scotland ***
The latest issue of VIP features an in-depth review of Hemscott's
CoreReference product which provides financial and executive data on
10,000 active public companies trading in the US. A second review
examines the Member's Area of SCOTBIS, the national business portal
for Scotland.
<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 last Editorial talked about the importance of nurturing the
talent of those people who can clearly and succinctly communicate
complicated messages <http://digbig.com/4emgk#editorial>.
It is one thing to be able to communicate something clearly so that it
is correctly understood ... but it is another thing entirely to
convince the recipient to 'buy in' to the message, and change their
behaviour as a result.
In traditional 'sales', market forces tend to set the price of things.
If a potential purchaser thinks the price represents good value then
they are more likely to buy. It's relatively easy for, say, a
housebuyer to compare the available properties in their area and work
out how to get the most living space for their money.
But what if you provide more 'fuzzy' products, like 'information'. How
do you put a value on 'information'?
I've been thinking about this as I work on my talk for the second day
of the upcoming Online Information conference here in London in
December <http://www.online-information.co.uk/conference.html>. As an
information business that is growing globally, how do we make sure
that our opinion of the value of services we provide matches the value
as perceived by our members and customers?
Think of those who work in commercial information services. They have
the unenviable task of getting agreement with customers (both internal
and external) on the value of the services and information they
provide. The FreePint Bar thread on this topic has certainly provided
a lot of food for thought on this topic
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33197>.
So what can we, as purchasers and users of 'fuzzy' products, do to
demonstrate to suppliers that we value what they do? We can spend more
money with them of course, but there are plenty of other ways: spread
the word to colleagues and friends; communicate with other customers
and members to create a sense of community; nominate the provider for
an award; say thank you; or give constructive feedback.
Providing this kind of fuzzy, non-financial support to valued
organisations has a tremendously positive effect as they grow through
promotion, producing better products with enhanced moral.
As I say, nurturing gifted individuals is one thing; but letting a
provider know you share their sense of 'value', through some of the
ways suggested above, can make a *really* big difference.
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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NEW from Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing
ORIANA
Public and private financial company information
for the Asia-Pacific region
To register for a FREE trial click on
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*** Why do Web addresses break in emails? ***
It's usually because they're too long, and span more than one line.
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Adrian Janes
* Euroguide <http://www.euroguide.org/euroguide/subject-listing>.
Useful gateway to sites on all aspects of the European Union and its
members.
* UK Public Libraries on the Web <http://digbig.com/4dskx>. Quick
route to the catalogues of British libraries and local library
information. Librarians in some areas have also categorised free
Internet resources.
* Phil Bradley <http://www.philb.com>. Offers a great directory of
international search engines plus practical articles and
presentations on key Internet topics, e.g. "Which search engine
when?".
* Directory of Online Access Journals <http://www.doaj.org>. Few
public libraries can afford academic-standard journals. DOAJ,
claiming 1727 journals (June 2005), is one gateway I've found
helpful in redressing this.
* TSO Bookshop <http://digbig.com/4dsxb>. Straightforward
bibliographic tool. Naturally strong on UK Government publications
(including out of print), but can be used to trace all kinds of
books available in Britain.
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Adrian Janes is a librarian with the Information Services Library of
the London Borough of Havering <http://www.havering.gov.uk>.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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*** Factiva Keeps Your Skills Sharp ***
With Factiva's monthly newsletter, "InfoPro Intelligence", you get
the latest search tips, research tools and new sources. Register
today for the resources you need to stay up-to-date.
<http://www.factiva.com/ad/freepint0908>
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*** Encourage community :: Run a forum ***
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FREEPINT BAR
<http://www.freepint.com/bar>
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Is there a company that you would like to see get the recognition they
deserve? Well now is last your chance to nominate them for the Online
Information/FreePint Customer Service Award. There are only 17 voting
days left <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33458>.
Do you know where to find information on resellers of land-line,
mobile and broadband airtime? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33279>.
Or perhaps you know when retail companies are due to release their
financials? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33278>.
This FreePinter needs basic data of Jersey registered companies
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33255> and this one is trying to find
average salary data at a 'local authority' level
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33253> - can you help?
A fascinating posting has been made at the FreePint Student Bar about
library and information services (LIS) within commercial companies
<http://www.freepint.com/go/s4505>. Can you add anything to help with
a dissertation covering topics such as downsizing, the future of LIS
in commercial organisations and how valued your information service is
to your company?
Or perhaps you have some ideas on how to create revenue for a library and
information service? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33197>.
Can you help this FreePinter create a feasibility report on
establishing a local museum? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33450>.
Or do you know where to find information on movies shown on American
television? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b33302>.
Finally, are you attending Internet Librarian International 2005? We
are seeking two FreePinters to report on the conference in London
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b33477>.
That's it for this week. Thanks to all.
Penny Hann <penny.hann@freepint.com>
FreePint
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*** Report Authors Reap Financial and Promotional Benefits ***
FreePint publishes and sells reports on a wide range of
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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 "You don't have to be perfect to be right".
To read the latest Jinfo Newsletter and to subscribe to receive it
twice-monthly by email, visit <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/>.
Here are two of the latest featured jobs:
Sector Specialist / Analyst (Financial Services)
Fund management, investment or wholesale banking research experience
at senior level? Exc. opportunity with very high earning potential.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
<http://www.jinfo.com/go/j4358>
Records Manager
Pharmaceutical co. seeks enthusiastic Records Manager to redesign
existing system & Preservations & Disaster Management system.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
<http://www.jinfo.com/go/j4366>
NB: There are 44 other jobs in the current edition of the Jinfo
Newsletter <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/> and over 80 in the
Jinfo database <http://www.jinfo.com/>.
[The above jobs are paid listings]
Jinfo -- the best place for information-related job vacancies.
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What is ResourceShelf?
<http://www.resourceshelf.com>
ResourceShelf is a free daily update containing news of interest
to information professionals around the world.
Topics include the latest news with web search engines, research
tips, new web resources, and much more.
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*** Just 17 days left: nominate an information vendor today ***
This is your last chance to reward excellence by nominating
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Cast your vote for this year's "Online Information /
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/080905.htm#tips>
"Analysing User Behaviour: A Case Study"
By Chris Kutler and Ray Devaney
As keen researchers with wide varieties of interests, we welcomed the
advent of the world wide web - we could find information in seconds,
which, prior to the internet, would have taken days if not weeks to
locate. However, as the pool of online information has grown, a
paradoxical situation seems to have arisen. It seems that whenever we
initiate a search these days we are confronted with endless lists of
hyperlinks to often irrelevant information.
So, even though we are fairly sure that the information we need is
'out there', in many cases it is becoming more difficult to find. Many
can be forgiven for abandoning their search when faced with this kind
of 'information overload', and until more intelligent search
facilities are available to us, the problem is likely to get worse.
In order to address the above, various organisations have been looking
at ways of 'helping' us locate the information we are really looking
for. One method is to develop systems which attempt to 'second guess'
the nature of our research and present the results as a list of
hyperlinks ranked according to how the system has interpreted the
keywords entered by the researcher.
Work on this theme has taken place at The National Archives (TNA) at
Kew, Surrey, UK <http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk>, which houses the
Public Records of England and Wales. The online collection of public
records exceeds eight million records and summaries of these are
available via one of TNA's web-enabled databases called 'The
Catalogue'.
TNA also hosts other databases, one of which is the database called
'Access to Archives' (A2A) <http://www.a2a.org.uk>. This is an
electronic catalogue of records held outside of Kew at the various
County Record Offices and other repositories. This database also lists
in excess of eight million summaries of records held by these offices.
As with many public organisations, TNA is currently looking at ways to
improve the intelligence of its search engines with a view to making
it easier for users to locate records they are interested in.
One of the initial projects was to use computer programs to analyse
search patterns entered by researchers into these and two other
databases between 2001 and 2005.
It was anticipated that the results generated from these programs
would enable the development team to gain an idea of the kind of
information users have been looking for, how complex their searches
have been and whether or not there has been a trend towards more
sophisticated searches over time.
Data was analysed from the web log files generated from four web-
enabled databases hosted by The National Archives, using an in-house
word analysis program written in the Perl programming language, using
dictionaries of personal and place names built in-house. The program
was designed to interpret data in a semantic context and the data
analysed represented more than six million searches across the A2A,
The Catalogue, Documents Online and the search facility on TNA's home
page.
The initial analysis concentrated on determining the frequency of
keywords per search. The underlying basis of the approach was a
commonly held view that users have tended to restrict their searches
to one or two words. However, it was also suspected that when users
become more comfortable with the technology or more familiar with the
database's contents, they may start to construct more sophisticated
search phrases.
The results of the analysis suggest that users tend to restrict their
searches to one or two words. Inspection of the results show that over
70% of searches where composed of two words or less.
Year-on-year data since 2001 was available from the A2A web logs and
inspection of the results supported the belief that users become more
sophisticated over time. Keyword frequency analysis revealed that
since 2001, A2A users have increased the number of terms they use in
a search - there appears to have been a shift from single word
searches to two word searches.
User behaviour, therefore, does not appear to be static. It has become
more complex over time and will, subsequently, create further demands
on the technology researchers use.
As many of TNA's database users are interested in Family History, one
might have expected a large proportion of searches to comprise of
personal names or personal names in association with place names.
Given that, at this stage, most ideas of user behaviour were simply
'gut feelings', it was important to demonstrate this with real data.
Therefore, the list of previous search words and phrases was subject
to a frequency analysis of personal names by the program.
With respect to place-names, a place-name frequency analysis was done
to determine whether many users had been looking for information on
places. If so, then this may influence any future decisions to put
resources into the development of a geographically enabled search
facility. Such a facility might be a tool which enables the user to
search through the databases using a geographic co-ordinate, instead
of, or as well as, a keyword.
Programmatic semantic analysis of all the datasets suggested that the
majority of one, two and three word searches were for personal names,
place names or personal names in association with place names.
To determine the accuracy of all the findings, 200 item samples were
inspected and it was confirmed that the program was able to recognise
personal and place names with a high level of accuracy operating
between 88% and 92.5%.
With respect to personal names, when an average was taken across the
four databases, it was found that 47% of single keyword searches were
for a personal name; this figure rose to 54% for a two keyword search
and for a three keyword search the figure was still high at just over
40%.
The results and their interpretation would benefit from the
introduction of more rules to enable personal and place-name
identification. This would require inspection of the reports that list
rejected, personal or place-name searches and identifying errors. It
is anticipated that there will be an increase in the recognition of
place names or searches with a geographic context.
Further work has already begun on the development of additional
programmatic rules, capable of identifying other popular areas of
interest, which could serve to segment and categorise the catalogues
hosted by TNA. This work has focussed on interrogation of the lists of
searches which the program rejected as place or personal names.
It is hoped that the approach outlined may provide a starting point
from where developers can begin to construct more intelligent search
facilities which deliver more relevant results to users.
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Chris Kutler's first degree is in the Biological Sciences and he holds
a Masters degree in Applied Computing Technology. He works as a
Perl/XML developer for the National Archives, UK, and also runs the
Archaeology UK website at <http://www.archaeology-uk.com>. His
technical interests include the development of computer programs able
to interpret data in a semantic context and the development of
GIS-aware search engines. He will be presenting the work outlined
above at the 'Humanities beyond Digitisation' conference in London
<http://www.freepint.com/events/>.
Ray Devaney has been a programmer for LexisNexisUK for the last 7
years. He also works as a freelance technical writer specialising in
knowledge management. His technical expertise focuses on the
development of XML parsing systems.
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Related FreePint links:
* 'Internet Webmaster' articles in the FreePint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p183>
* Post a message to the author, Chris Kutler, Ray Devaney, 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/080905.htm#tips>
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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FREEPINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Delivering Digital Services: A Handbook for Public Libraries
and Learning Centres"
Written by David McMenemy and Alan Poulter
Reviewed by Michael Corkett
Public libraries exist in perpetual dichotomy. Justly regarded as
gatekeepers to valuable resources and services, there never lacks a
voice accusing them of being out-of-date and failing to serve the
needs of the communities they serve. Capable of attracting individuals
passionate about their profession and contribution to society,
detractors readily serve up the cliche of cob-webbed spinsters and
bachelors demanding perpetual silence in the reading room. Worthy of
multi-million pound investment from government and Lottery funding to
advance information and communication technologies, public libraries
remain capable of generating headlines about declining user numbers
and the fall in resource utilisation.
Having been raised in a community where the public library was the
focal point of learning resources, my respect for public libraries and
their staff is tremendous. This is, perhaps, why 'Delivering Digital
Services' left a sour taste in my mouth.
Described as an "essential handbook [offering] practical guidance and
expertise for public library and community network staff in setting
up, running and developing an effective digital learning centre", I
anticipated a compelling insight into how professionals at the front
line of community information provision can realise technology's
potential. Profound disappointment followed.
The objective of this book is to do something about the increasing
divide between the information rich and poor, not only in the UK but
in the global economy. A bold ambition, especially when what followed
would struggle to bridge a hair-line fracture.
Discerning public librarians and students should avoid this book.
Rather than provide meaningful guidance and advice, the reader is
presented with lacklustre case-studies, ill-founded theory, and
incorrect tutorials (errors exist in the HTML coding section). The
price of this book alone demands quality should be paramount, but
quality is sadly lacking.
The issue of wealth division within communities, be it in terms of
monetary income, educational achievement or access to information, is
frustratingly complex; yet the authors fail to pragmatically assess
the role public libraries can play in overcoming fear, ignorance and
poverty. Instead, a parochial mindset prevails offering little, if
anything, of value. Vital issues relating to access to internet
resources and copyright are dealt with in a shockingly incompetent
manner; while the chapter dedicated to supporting electronic
government sinks to unfathomable depths of worthlessness. Sections
devoted to website design and portal solutions are pitched at such a
level that school children would demand more testing content; and
repeated signposting by the authors to their latest Facet published
title is at best cynical.
No better than a poor collection of second-rate essays, questions
should be asked of those behind this book. Why was it commissioned if
the end result is so poor? Did the commissioning editor genuinely
consider the content to offer something new? Do the authors consider
themselves sufficiently in touch with the needs of a dynamic and
progressive profession?
People working in public libraries deserve better than 'Delivering
Digital Services'. Hopefully Facet appreciates this and will do their
readers justice in the future.
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Michael Corkett studied at the University of Kent and City University
(London) before embarking upon a career in informatics. He has worked
in the voluntary, commercial and public sectors, and sits on the
council of the UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP).
He is currently Senior Information Specialist for a health research
organisation.
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Related FreePint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the FreePint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/deldig.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1856045102/freepint0c>
* "Delivering Digital Services: A Handbook for Public Libraries and
Learning Centres" ISBN 1856045102, 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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Thank you for supporting FreePint by spreading the word.
William Hann, Founder and Managing Editor, FreePint
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/080905.htm#feature>
"The Slow Movement"
By Alison Scammell
The starting point for this article is Carl Honore's excellent book
'In praise of slow: how a worldwide movement is challenging the cult
of speed'. Honore investigates how the 'slow' philosophy is gaining
momentum as more and more of us are seeking healthier, more
fulfilling, less frenetic lifestyles. His central argument is not that
speed is bad but that a balance is required to ensure we all have
enough time to do things properly. He advocates living at our own pace
by tuning in to our own inner tempo, or 'tempo giusto' - the right
speed.
The slow movement (if in fact it can be called a movement) covers a
very broad range of issues that touch every aspect of our lives.
Honore discusses the slow approach in relation to food, the
environment, health, medicine, sex, work, leisure and parenting. The
following is a mere snapshot of some of these issues, along with some
selective Internet resources.
For me, the slow philosophy embraces a number of important issues
connected with sustainable living - less consumerism and materialism,
more spirituality and the importance of enjoying the simple pleasures
of life.
Slow Food
---------
The current preoccupation with all things 'slow' is generally
considered to have grown out of Slow Food <http://www.slowfood.com/>,
founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy in 1986 as a backlash to the opening
of a McDonalds besides the Spanish Steps in Rome. According to the
website, Slow Food is 'an international association that promotes
food and wine culture, and also defends food and agricultural
biodiversity worldwide. It opposes the standardisation of taste,
defends the need for consumer information, protects cultural
identities tied to food and gastronomic traditions, safeguards foods
and cultivation and processing techniques inherited from tradition and
defends domestic and wild animal and vegetable species'.
Slow Cities
-----------
Closely affiliated with Slow Food, is the slow city movement, Citta
Slow <http://www.cittaslow.net/world/>. The Citta Slow manifesto
contains fifty-five pledges aimed at improving the local environment
and enhancing the conviviality of an urban area. To achieve the status
of a Slow City, a city must agree to accept the guidelines of Slow Food,
such as backing local farmers and preserving local culinary
traditions. The movement comprises 100 towns and 10 countries working
to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants and visitors.
Work
----
Attitudes to work are at the heart of the slow philosophy. Although
the work-life balance debate is now firmly on the agenda, I am always
surprised at how few organisations offer any kind of flexibility, even
at the basic level of allowing employees to set their own start and
finishing times. An American company recently hit the news for
piloting a scheme to allow employees complete freedom in deciding
when, where and how long they want to work. Best Buy, an electronics
retailer based in Minneapolis, has introduced a 'results oriented work
environment' which, providing they get the job done, lets staff work
the way they feel is best for them.
Over 13 million working days are lost every year in the UK due to
stress. The UK has the longest working hours in Europe as well as the
lowest number of public holidays. See the Health and Safety
Executive's site for a wealth of statistics and other information on
occupational stress: <http://digbig.com/4emnk>.
Thankfully, in terms of working hours, the UK is still a long way off
from Japan, a country so notorious for its work culture that it even
has a word to describe death from over work (karoshi).
Employers for Work-Life Balance
<http://www.employersforwork-lifebalance.org.uk/>, run by The Work
Foundation, sets out the business benefits of good work-life
employment policies, which include increased productivity, improved
recruitment and retention, lower rates of absenteeism, reduced
overheads (through flexible working) and a more motivated, satisfied
and equitable workforce. The site is rich in information on the
subject, and includes case studies, advice on presenting an argument
for work-life policies and an extensive set of links.
Other work-life balance resources
---------------------------------
The Work Life Balance centre <http://www.worklifebalancecentre.org/>
is an independent organisation which grew out of one researcher's work
into the problem of executive burnout in the late 1980s and 1990s. The
Centre is a source of expertise, support and comment on all of the
wide and varied aspects of work life balance, both in the UK and
overseas. It now has two distinct, yet complementary, areas of
operation. The first is research and education (see the annual 24-7
survey into overworking and its effects on family life and personal
health <http://www.24-7survey.co.uk>). The second area of activity is
practical intervention work carried out with both organisations and
individuals, wherever a work life balance problem has been identified,
or is suspected.
'Changing Times' <http://digbig.com/4emfw> is the TUC's free
fortnightly email round up of news, resources and case studies on the
work-life balance debate.
See also The Equal Opportunities Commission <http://www.eoc.org.uk/>.
Play at Work
------------
The Institute of Play
<http://www.instituteforplay.com/7playing_at_work.htm> advocates play
at work for maintaining well being and improving productivity. See
also the Creativity at Work web site <http://www.creativityatwork.com>
for the top ten reasons to play at work and why creativity in the work
place is so important.
Why work at all?
----------------
There are plenty of good arguments not to work at all. Read Bertrand
Russell's 1932 paper 'In praise of idleness' for a radical critique of
the work ethic and the proposition of a four hour working day:
<http://www.zpub.com/notes/idle.html>.
'The Idler' magazine <http://www.idler.co.uk/> is compulsory reading
for anyone seriously anti-work. The Idler's editor, Tom Hodgkinson, has
also written an enjoyable book, 'How to be idle' billed as 'an
antidote to the work obsessed culture which puts so many obstacles
between ourselves and our dreams'. Although criticised for embracing
smoking and anarchism, it is full of suggestions to slow down and
enjoy life more. It has inspired me to take naps during the day
(see <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siesta>).
With no apologies for my own idleness, I have cut and pasted the
following Amazon's 'customers who bought this item also bought'
recommendations:
* Willing Slaves: How the Overwork Culture Is Ruling Our Lives by
Madeleine Bunting
* The Hedonism Handbook: Mastering the Lost Arts of Leisure and
Pleasure by Michael Flocker
* The Play Ethic: A Manifesto for a Different Way of Living by
Pat Kane
CLAWS (Creating Livable Alternatives to Wage Slavery)
<http://www.whywork.org/> is a non-profit support group and resource
clearinghouse providing 'access to books and other thought-provoking
and inspirational materials'. The organisation's main purpose is 'to
encourage people to value leisure, re-think the Puritan work ethic and
critically examine other work-related legacies of industrial
capitalism'.
Other anti wage slave sites
---------------------------
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty in Offices
<http://www.nspco.org.uk/nspco.htm>
Citizens Income <http://www.citizensincome.org/>
It's been said that the average office worker spends about two hours a
day in non-work related web surfing and personal emailing. The web
magazine Anxiety Culture <http://www.anxietyculture.com/> is worth a
look during those occasions. It offers a rich supply of anti work view
points in the form of articles, jokes, rants, spoof ads and gimmicks.
A typical article in the current issue is called 'How to stop
worrying' <http://www.anxietyculture.com/worry.htm>. Actually, they
could also have suggested buying some Guatemalan worry dolls from the
following (Fair Trade) site <http://digbig.com/4emfx>.
Parenting
---------
There is increasing evidence that children have too many
extra-curricular activities and are losing out on the pleasures of
unstructured play <http://digbig.com/4emfy>. Persil's recent 'dirt is
good' advertising campaign, cleverly timed to reflect the current
trend against children's over scheduling, lists 33 things children
should be allowed to do before they are ten:
<http://digbig.com/4emga>.
Health and well-being
---------------------
Meditation is one of the most obvious ways of slowing down, providing
enormous benefits for mind, body and spirit. Beliefnet provides a
mixed faith menu of meditation techniques
<http://www.beliefnet.com/story/145/story_14571_1.html>.
Time
----
The Society for the Deceleration of Time is the English translation of
the Austrian based Vereinzur Verzogerung der Zeit
<http://www.zeitverein.com/> whose declared aim is that 'Every member
should, regardless of what kind of activity he or she engages in,
prolong the time taken for that activity whenever it makes sense to do
so. In this, members are assured of the solidarity of the Society as a
whole. They should stand up for the right to pause for reflection in
situations where mindless activism and vested interests produce
solutions which are expedient rather than genuine. They should also do
their best to recruit as many new members as possible, thus providing
themselves with the necessary support in their immediate environment'.
The Society is at pains to point out that despite its name and the
salutary amount of humour with which its members approach very serious
matters, it is anything but a joke. The Society does quality research
on the phenomenon of time, organises symposia and publishes regularly.
Finally have a look at the website of the Long Now Foundation
<http://www.longnow.org/>, a fascinating project to build a 10,000
year clock to promote slower/better thinking.
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Alison Scammell is a freelance copywriter and communications
professional with clients mainly in the IT sector. She has written
brochures, white papers, newsletters, case studies, articles and web
copy for some of worlds largest computer companies. Previously she
worked as an information management consultant and has edited/written
four books. Contact Alison at <alison@justbeforedawn.com>.
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