• Print-friendly (PDF) version
  
  
• Editorial
  By Monique Cuvelier, Editor, FreePint
  
  
• My Favourite Tipples
  Tim Houghton
  
  
• FreePint Bar
  IIn Association with Factiva, from Dow Jones
  
  
• Jinfo :: Jobs in Information
  
  • Junior Marketing Business Analyst
  • Market Data Analyst
  • Assistant Records Manager
  • Assistant Archivist (Under Review)
  • Corporate Finance Researchers
  • Assistant Information Officer
  • Health Information Scientist
  • Assistant Records Manager
    
    
• Tips Article
  "Holiday Express: Taking the Mobile Web on Holiday"
  By Gary Price
  
  
• Review
  "W3Schools"
  By Monique Cuvelier
  
  
• Feature Article
  "Google Answers is Dead! Long Live Google Answers!"
  By David Sarokin
  
  
• Events, Gold and Forthcoming Articles
  
  
• Contact Information
  
  

By Tim Houghton

I've been running a new media monitoring firm for seven years, and here are a few sites that help me keep tabs on what's happening in web-based media right now.

• What's hot and what's not in the world of new media? Here's one way to find out: Alexa <http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_500/> provides audience data for thousands of sites and is useful for identifying important ones.
  
  
• Tracking the blogosphere is another challenge, and Technorati does a great job. But it's always good to have an alternative, and I think Sphere <http://www.sphere.com/> is a decent blog search engine.
  
  
• My company also makes heavy use of online collaborative tools. I think 37Signals <http://www.37signals.com/> offer some great web services software to help you work with others online.
  
  
• Fred Wilson's A VC Blog <http://avc.blogs.com/> stands out among venture capital types. A very sharp guy, and he recommends the occasional decent bit of music, too!
  
  
• When I finally finish work, gastropubs and good restaurants are where I like to wind down. In a crowded marketplace I think Concierge <http://www.concierge.com/> is an up-and-coming guide.
  
  

Tim Houghton is the founder of New Media Intelligence, a web-monitoring firm. New Media Intelligence are the equivalent of a press clipping agency for the web, monitoring over 15,000 global media sources.

Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at <http://www.freepint.com/author/>.

Back to top ^

In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company

By Monique Cuvelier

<http://www.freepint.com/bar>

Letters from solicitors, generating waste and new students are all hot topics on FreePint. Read below for summaries, add your thoughts and then forward this newsletter to a friend or colleague.

• What would it take for you to accept a place at The Surrey Institute of Art and Design? A potential new student is looking for thoughts <http://www.freepint.com/go/s17464> from those who are acquainted with the university. Let her know if you have information or anecdotes.
  
  
• A well-meaning FreePinter unwittingly used an image that may (or may not) be copyrighted. Either way, a large firm of solicitors is demanding a hefty sum and acceptance of a license agreement <http://www.freepint.com/go/b84175>. Copyright infringement is a sticky area. Can you help decipher this issue?
  
  
• A fresh 23-year-old has been offered an interview for a position as an assistant librarian at an American university, but he's unsure of his abilities. If you can give him a shot of confidence or give him tips on how to ace an interview, lend them here <http://www.freepint.com/go/b87796>.
  
  
• Is recycling a young person's game, or are older folks more likely to sort paper and plastic? One FreePinter is wondering how different age groups prioritise recycling issues. Curious about the results? Check here: <http://www.freepint.com/go/b86837>.
  
  

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>.

Subscribe to the twice-weekly email digests at <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>.

Back to top ^

<http://www.jinfo.com/>

The Jinfo service enables you to search and advertise information- related job vacancies.

The newly redesigned Jinfo Newsletter now features a CV makeover, in which a job seeker's CV is critiqued and revised by specialists in the field. Read the latest edition and learn how to submit your CV for review.

Subscribe free at <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/>.

Here is a selection of the latest featured entries in the Jinfo database:

United Kingdom

• Junior Marketing Business Analyst Supporting practice and industry groups as well as the wider marketing team by providing business analysis services. Recruiter: CMS Cameron McKenna Country: United Kingdom <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j6252>
  
  
• Market Data Analyst Responsible for the development, implementation and provision of management information and policy analysis. Recruiter: Goldsmiths College Country: United Kingdom <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j6253>
  
  
• Assistant Records Manager To assist Records Manager in establishing a unified records management solution ensuring all key records are easily accessible. Recruiter: Glen Recruitment Country: European <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j6256>
  
  
• Corporate Finance Researchers We have excellent career development moves for proficient Financial Market researchers into leading top tier Investment Banks. Recruiter: City Professionals Country: United Kingdom <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j5910>
  
  
• Assistant Information Officer An international city law firm is looking for a qualified Assistant Information Officer for 12 months maternity cover. Recruiter: TFPL Ltd. Country: United Kingdom <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j6238>
  
  
• Health Information Scientist  Working with Knowledge Services you will provide support to the development of evidence based products within an NHS organisation. Recruiter: NHS Quality Improvement Scotland Country: United Kingdom <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j6251>
  
  
• Assistant Records Manager Assist with management of filing staff, physical storage and records and overseeing electronic and/or paper based information. Recruiter: Instant Library Recruitment (Tribal Group Plc) Country: United Kingdom <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j6258>
  
  

Bermuda

• Assistant Director Archives & Records Exciting 3 year appointment for an innovative, experienced records manager. Bermuda Government. Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited Country: Bermuda <http://www.jinfo.com/go/j6202>

[The above jobs are paid listings]

NB: These are just a selection of information-related jobs in the Jinfo database <http://www.jinfo.com/>. Receive the latest job listings weekly with the free Jinfo Update. Free to subscribe at <http://www.jinfo.com/>

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 just GBP195 <http://www.jinfo.com/recruit/> -- 10% discount for agencies -- 50% discount for registered charities

Find out more today at <http://www.jinfo.com/>

Back to top ^

Plain text | PDF | Contents

"Holiday Express: Taking the Mobile Web on Holiday"

By Gary Price

Holiday travelling is stressful enough with the shopping, visiting relatives and finding someone to water your plants while you're away. The added hassle of juggling travel plans, itineraries and traffic maps can be downright traumatic.

Blessed is the mobile device, which can make organising your holiday plans less distressing, whether you're visiting the in-laws for the New Year or travelling for business. Having timetable info and check-in capabilities at your fingertips wherever you go, can make the journey that much easier.

Travel-related information on the mobile web is booming, as are all types of online research for such devices as BlackBerries, Treos and mobile phones. If you're not using the mobile web for some kind of research yet, it's likely that in the next 12 months you will be.

While the mobile web is burgeoning with information, below is a small representation of what's out there for those with a mobile-web browser, excluding services based on SMS (Short Message Service aka text messaging). Although brief, this list will still help you keep all your travel-related information at hand.

Planning your trip

One major area of growth on the mobile web is m-commerce or mobile commerce, allowing people to make purchases via their mobile devices. That's already available from companies like Amazon.com and Fandango (for movie tickets) that allow the user to enter a credit card and buy what they need. While most airlines and travel sites don't allow you to buy tickets (although in America, Amtrak does allow passengers to make train travel reservations online), many do offer timetable info, check-in capabilities and airport information.

Many airlines also offer tracking information on the mobile web. Some even offer notification services to alert you, family, friends, whomever, to delays, cancellations and other information.

• Amtrak <http://www.amtrak.com/> will automatically recognise mobile browsers and let you use them to make reservations.
  
  
• National Rail Enquiries <http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/> is now PDA-friendly for Pocket PCs, Sony Ericsson P900 and P901, Hewlett Packard Ipaq, Windows CE and BlackBerry.
  
  
• Find flight information on British Airways <http://digbig.com/4qnad>, Cathay Pacific <http://wap.cathaypacific.com/>, Southwest Airlines <http://mobile.southwest.com/> and United Airlines < http://united.flightlookup.com/>
  
  
• Orbitz <http://mobile.orbitz.com/> lets you access your personal itinerary (if you've booked via Orbitz) and is also a good place to get hotel info.
  
  
• SeatGuru's <http://mobile.seatguru.com/> mobile version helps you select the best airplane seat.
  
  
• eSkyGuide <http://www.flightlookup.com/> is a powerful database with timetable info for all major airlines.
  
  
• Airport Delays (U.S.) <http://www.faa.gov/wireless/> lets you know what American airports are flying behind schedule.
  
  
• FlightStats.com <http://mobile.flightstats.com/> is one of several sites for tracking aircraft as they fly in and out of U.S. airspace. Also useful is FlightChecker <http://www.rovenet.com/master/Flight/beginflight.htm>.
  
  
• Car Rentals <http://mobile.carrentals.com/> gives access to many but not all major car rental companies.
  
  

Around town

As the mobile web grows in size, more and more newspapers are making all or some of their content available on the mobile web. Newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post already have mobile sites. They can be very useful, not only for local news but also for getting info about events and happenings around town.

• NY Times Mobile <http://mobile.nytimes.com/>
  
  
• Washington Post <http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/>
  
  
• BBC News <http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/news/>
  
  
• Wcities <http://pda.wcities.com/index.html> has event calendars, restaurant info, sports info and more for hundreds of cities around the world.
  
  

Transportation

Need help planning your route around a city using public transportation? This is one area that is likely to keep growing.

• TeleNav <http://www.telenav.com/> offers a subscription service for many mobile devices so they can receive GPS services.
  
  
• i-Metro http://imetro.nanika.net/metro?o=h> download: <http://metro.nanika.net/index-en.html>) is an amazing tool. It offers public transport journey planners for many cities around the world. It's available on the mobile web or can be downloaded for offline use.
  
  
• Transport for London <http://wap.tfl.gov.uk/> is a UK service that lets Londoners and their visitors plan their journeys on the Tube and rail.
  
  
• Another type of service we will also see grow is real-time transport information like what's available from NextBus <http://www.nextbus.com/wireless/miniRegion.shtml>. Only a few cities are available but expect more from this and other services in the future. Here, GPS devices are placed on buses and trains, and you can learn precisely when the next bus or train will be at a specific location.
  
  
• Traffic.com <http://mobi.traffic.com/> now has a mobile site and in New York City you can even view live traffic cameras: NY City Traffic Cameras <http://service.nyctmc.org/mobile/>.
  
  

Weather

If you're not sure if you should pack your mac or shorts while you're away, you can check the following for weather reports on the road.

• BBC PDA Weather <http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/pda/> has UK weather and worldwide weather (as well as sports and news headlines).
  
  
• Weather Underground <http://mobile.wunderground.com/> provides weather for many global cities.
  
  
• For other cities, you can find a number of useful services including weather, sports scores, movie times and more from <http://wap.4info.net/>.
  
  

Back to top ^

Plain text | PDF | Contents

"W3Schools"

By Monique Cuvelier

Advice abounds on how to build better websites, but it's not always easy to access nor is it always dependable. Many experts attempt to instruct without any knowledge of how to do so. And the time and expense of classroom time to master .NET or CSS can simply be out of the question.

An initiative called W3Schools <http://www.w3schools.com/> aims to help. It's a comprehensive resource put together by a Norwegian company called Refsnes Data for developers, coders and designers who want to learn new technologies or brush up on their skills. Best of all, it's free and always will be (or so the developers say).

Its growing collection of online tutorials, ranging from basic to sophisticated, offer users step-by-step help. Subject areas include HTML, XML, browser scripting, server scripting, .NET, multimedia and web building and touch on such technologies as SMIL, Semantic, PHP, SOAP and more.

Each multi-page tutorial is far from flashy or glamorous. Images are limited to a few stock clipart graphics, and any fancy functionality is limited to what you'll learn to create yourself in tutorials. Functionality is so straightforward you might wonder if you've missed something, but everything is there, living up to its motto: Ockham's razor, 'Never increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything'. W3Schools offers bare-bones material that does one thing only: shows you how to learn web technologies.

But what it does, it does well. Basic information (e.g. 'The WWW is a network of computers all over the world. The WWW is most often called the Web') is clear for beginners, yet compact and easy to scan for more advanced users.

I sped through Web Primer <http://www.w3schools.com/web/default.asp>, an area in which I feel confident, in about 15 minutes, picking up a few helpful explanations. I skimmed the details about what HTML and CSS were, but found little nuggets that helped me understand areas that have always befuddled me such as XML ('XML is not a replacement for HTML. XML is used to describe and transport data, while HTML is used to display data').

This and all tutorials have clever little exercises that let you try your new-found skills, and many subject areas have jumping-off points to learn more about related technologies. In Web Primer, I made a detour to delve a little deeper into XML <http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp>, where I intend to spend a couple of hours learning more about what it is and how to use it.

Once you've finished the lessons, you can see how much you've picked up in multiple-choice quizzes. You can also see examples of languages and scripts or look at tip sheets, called References, for HTML colour names, PHP 5.1, ASCII characters and more. The forums let you discuss a topic with other learners. W3Schools also offers certification in HTML, XML and ASP, where you study for free but pay a small fee for the certification exam, $59 for HTML and ASP. XML certification is provided separately through Altova.

W3Schools has been quietly teaching developers, designers and beginners how to improve their skills for some time, but is quickly earning a well-deserved reputation for being one of the best tutorial resources. Simple, fast and effective. Ockham would be proud.

Monique Cuvelier is Editor of the FreePint Newsletter. She created and was editor of a book-review publication and has written book and product reviews for many magazines and newspapers. She authored a chapter (the letter H) on an encyclopaedia of computing and technology.

Related FreePint links:

• Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the FreePint Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/>
  
  
• To propose an information-related book or resource for review, send details to <editor@freepint.com>.
  
  

Related links:

• W3Schools <http://www.w3schools.com/>
  
  
• "XML - the DNA of the Internet" By Neil Smith <http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/150301.htm#tips>
  
  

  Back to top ^

Plain text | PDF | Contents

"Google Answers is Dead! Long Live Google Answers!"

By David Sarokin

Google Answers is officially gone. So (my non-disclosure agreement notwithstanding) this seems a good opportunity to reflect on a few questions, such as:

• What the ^$#@*&% happened?
  
  
• How did Yahoo! Answers prosper so mightily, while GA withered and shrank?
  
  
• Just what do I mean by 'Long Live Google Answers'?
  
  

First, though, a bit of introduction. For those unfamiliar with Google Answers, it is (was!) a human-powered, question-and-answer service begun in 2002 as the brainchild of Google co-founder Larry Page. Unlike most search-engine tools, Google Answers (gasp!) charged a fee: anywhere from $2 to $200. Not everyone is convinced that a fee-based Q&A service is workable, but in the course of its brief history, several hundred thousand people were willing to pay to have their questions answered at GA.

I'd been a Google Answers researcher since its inception. I loved it! I loved being associated with one of the most innovative companies around; loved the thrill of the chase while tracking down obscure titbits of information; loved helping people get the information they needed; loved being totally mobile -- able to work when and where I pleased; and by golly, I loved getting paid for doing research that was fun.

But Google Answers was more than a job. GA built a great community of researchers, clients, and 'peanuts' -- those who frequented GA's pages and left comments that were witty, helpful, humorous and only occasionally troll-like.

For a while, GA seemed to be thriving. So much so that Google actually brought it out of beta a year after start-up ... a vote of confidence that few of its experimental services ever achieve (even Gmail is still in beta). But in November 2006, Google abruptly announced that GA was closing down, and a month later, it all came to an end. Why the sudden collapse? Here are my thoughts on what went right and what went wrong.

What went right

GA built a very high quality, very eclectic library of information on an astounding variety of subjects. There are about 75,000 answered questions, each a well-researched, well-referenced mini-article on a specific topic. To my mind, Wikipedia is the only internet resource that surpasses GA in terms of the depth, scope and sheer 'eclecticness' of the content offered. But Wikipedia, as wonderful as it is, still has some 'trust' issues with its content ... issues that don't affect the professional content at GA.

These are not simply find-the-right-link Q&As either; many of the answers are original research, creating new content. Nowhere else but Google Answers can one find out how many tyrannosaurs are in a gallon of gasoline <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=6021>, or find out who Castec Drive in Sacramento is named after <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=786731>. The information in these answers, and thousands of others, simply didn't exist in a consolidated form until GA researchers pulled the information together.

The GA content is tremendously information-rich. From my own experience as a researcher, I've noticed more and more GA answers showing up in my routine searches. Try a Google search on 'top selling private airplanes', and a GA answer is right near the top of the list <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=764311>. Not because Google is favouring its own content, but because an answer at GA provides the best source of information for this particular query.

GA also built a cadre of several hundred top-notch internet researchers, all of them experts in online searching, and a number of whom had considerable expertise to offer on particular topics, whether as scientists, legal or medical experts, professional chefs, computer programmers, poets, law enforcement experts or a wide variety of other walks of life. The group of researchers gave GA its impressive scope, with an ability to answer questions ranging from advice to the lovelorn, <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=122688 > to dealing with female vampires, <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=517334> to radiation releases from burning coal <http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=780347>.

Google Answers also seemed perfectly viable as a business model. Though the details of the site's operations and finances are known only to a few Google insiders, it was clear that GA involved only a minor investment of people power to keep the site going and provided a small-but-steady source of revenue from both the fees paid for answers (of which, Google earned 25 per cent; the rest went to the researchers), and from the advertising revenue generated by site visits.

 What went wrong

So we're back to the main question at hand: What the ^$#@*&% happened?

The only credible answer I can offer is: Who knows? Google's official announcement <http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/adieu-to-google-answers.html> didn't really say much about why they were shutting down, nor did they offer any particular insights to the researchers.

But to me, the shut-down smacks of 'new executive syndrome' ... the shake-up that occurs when a new, fairly senior person comes on board, bent on reviewing and reorienting priorities. So, even though GA is working fine, and even though it's no longer a beta-level trial run, and even though it's a Larry Page brainchild, someone decided it was simply time for GA to go!

Some observers have speculated that it was a matter of traffic and income. Google has very rapidly become a company accustomed to dealing with 'billions' as its unit of operation -- whether dollars, bytes, searches, internet users, whatever ... if something doesn't rise to the billion-level, it tends to fall off the radar screen. Perhaps such was the case with Google Answers, with its modest database of only a few hundred thousand questions.

Still, the overall operational level of the service was clear from the outset, and must have been considered when GA went through its internal company review prior to emerging from beta. So why the change of heart? Again, it seems like a new boss at work.

Building the base

But as long as we're on the topic of overall traffic, another question that pops up is: Why was Google so reluctant to promote Google Answers?

Sure, Google relies on buzz rather than advertising. That's how Google itself grew to dominate online searching, and that's become part of their corporate culture. Google, a company built on advertising revenue, doesn't do much advertising itself. But still, the company's choices regarding their GA brainchild seemed intent on keeping it hidden in the darkest corner of the internet. There was no link to GA on the main Google search page -- which currently features Images, Video, News, Maps and 'More' -- and after a while GA was even dropped from the More list.

For a brief experimental moment, GA *was* listed on the main page, and question volume soared. Researchers found themselves with the rare luxury of being able to pick and choose the juiciest questions to work on from an ample supply. But the listing was short-lived, and GA's 15 minutes in the spotlight quickly vanished.

For a long time, GA's content was not even indexed by Google's own bot, and did not show up in search results. This was eventually rectified -- I like to think because Google recognised the high quality of information that was being created -- but more time was needed to continue to build up the community of searchers who stumbled across GA via a link from a search-results page.

Yahoo! Answers vs. Google Answers: free vs. fee

So, here I am, bemoaning the demise of Google Answers, and you FreePint readers (if you've read this far) are sitting there thinking, 'What's this guy whining about??? Look how successful Yahoo! Answers has become. Why couldn't Google do that?'

Well ...<<ahem>> ... <<harrrumph>> ... the only real similarity between GA and YA is in the names. Otherwise, the two services are very different in concept and content. The difference has been noted in cartoons <http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/06dec/uf009809.gif>, a video <http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=savegoogleanswers>, and (warning: plug for me coming up) an interview <http://xooxleanswers.com/interview.aspx>.

A major difference, of course, is that Yahoo! Answers is a free service, while Google Answers charged a fee. To some, this automatically doomed GA from the start. But my own feeling is that there is plenty of room on the internet for both types of services to thrive. People pay for 'free' things all the time. Amazon.com runs a robust business, even though books can be had for free from any library. Drinking water sells for $2 a bottle, even though you can simply turn on the tap and have it for free. People will always be stopping at Starbucks for a high-priced cup of coffee, despite knowing they can brew it up themselves for next to nothing.

A whole host of factors -- convenience, quality, service, reputation, credibility -- come into play regarding the whole fee-vs.-free issue. But there's no reason to suppose that a fee-based research service couldn't make a go of it.

Still, there's no denying that Yahoo! has a huge success on its hands, traffic-wise, with its Answers program, while Google's service always struggled to make itself known.

Google made a mistake

It all comes back to marketing.

I believe the market for Answer-style services is huge. There are about a billion internet users, and sooner or later, almost all of them will be in dire need of information, and willing to pay a modest fee to have a question answered. It may only be once every five years for any given person, but still, that means many millions of paid questions and answers per year.

But when that once-in-five-years moment arrives -- when you're offered a great business deal, but you're wondering just how legitimate the company is -- you have to know where to turn to for an answer.

And that was the problem with Google Answers. People ready and willing to pay for reliable information simply didn't know where to turn to obtain it. Everyone knew how to 'Google', but hardly anyone knew how to 'Google Answers'. And for some inexplicable reason, Google made it increasingly more difficult to find GA. The service seemed doomed by its own invisibility.

Yahoo! has overcome that problem by promoting the bejeebers out of Yahoo! Answers, starting with large banner ads on the Yahoo! homepage, and moving from there to 'celebrity questions' from the likes of Al Gore and Bono.

Ahhh ... if only Google had seen fit to give GA a simple link on the main page. What a difference it could have made.

Long live Google answers

Which leaves me with my hope: Long Live Google Answers! The library of GA materials is a valuable and unique resource that should certainly live on and find use for many years to come. Google's corporate mission is to '... organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful ...' I expect, then, that the GA content will be around for a long time to come, even if the GA service is no more.

But don't despair about the end of GA (as if!). Alternatives exist, for those moments when you just have to have a high-quality answer, and you're even willing to shell out a few bucks for it.

XooxleAnswers (say 'zooks-il') is a new service at <http://xooxleanswers.com/> that was started up by one of Google Answers' most prolific researchers: me! I even have an Annex of sorts, at <http://mysite.verizon.net/dsarokin/xa/index.html> where you can learn more about the service. Some other ex-GA researchers have launched similar efforts, and I've begun compiling a list of links to their services at <http://xooxleanswers.com/links.aspx>.

Many of the ex-researchers (and a few customers) hang out at the GA Alumni Association <http://groups-beta.google.com/group/GAalumni/> and at Web-Owls <http://web-owls.com/> if you'd care to drop by for a chat.

And if 2007 seems too sad a prospect to you without Google Answers, you can still have a daily drip at 365-Days-of-Google-Answers <http://dailycalendar.googlepages.com/>.

David Sarokin is the Researcher Formerly Known as Pafalafa-ga. His new service is called XooxleAnswers <http://xooxleanswers.com/>. He can be reached at david at xooxleanswers dot com.

Related FreePint links:

• "An Insider's View of Google Answers" By David Sarokin <http://www.freepint.com/issues/300605.htm#tips>
  
  
• Google Answers stories from ResourceShelf <http://www.resourceshelf.com/index.php?s=google+answers>
  
  

Related links:

• * Yahoo! Answers <http://answers.yahoo.com/>

Back to top ^

It is free to search and advertise information-related gatherings in FreePint Events <http://www.freepint.com/events/>.

United Kingdom:

• "Managing your career" 19 January < http://www.freepint.com/go/e780>
  
  
• "JISC Conference 2007" 13 March <http://www.freepint.com/go/e708>
  
  
• "Competitive Intelligence Basics Workshop" 26 - 27 March <http://www.freepint.com/go/e782>

Australia and Territories:

• "Information Online 2007" 30 January - 1 February < http://www.freepint.com/go/e689>
  
  
• "Search and Retrieval Conference" 5 - 7 February < http://web.freepint.com/go/advertiser/ArkGroup/>

Hungary:

• "Global Outsourcing Locations Strategies Summit" 8 - 11 March < http://www.freepint.com/go/e778>

Sweden:

• "The 13th Nordic Conference on Information and Documentation 2007" 18 - 19 June <http://www.freepint.com/go/e703>

United States:

• "ASIDIC Spring 2007 Meeting" 11 - 13 March < http://www.freepint.com/go/e784>

NB: These are just a selection of information-related event listings in the FreePint Events database <http://www.freepint.com/events/>.

*** Submit your event for free promotion ***
New upgrade option for enhanced listing coverage

<http://www.freepint.com/events/>

Back to top ^

A look back at what FreePint covered at this time in previous years:

• FreePint No.197 5th January 2006. "Seven Deadly Sins (and Desirable Strategies) for Library Managers" and "Competitive intelligence: an introduction" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/151206.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.174 13th January 2005. "Trends in business information, provision and use" and "Enterprise Blogging" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/130105.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.151 8th January 2004. "Sources of Information on Human Resources" and "Quality and Comparative International Statistics" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/080104.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.128 9th January 2003. "Keeping IT Simple" and "Digital Libraries" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/090103.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.103, 10th January 2002. "Searching Patents on Government Databases on the Web" and "Livestock" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/100102.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.78, 4th January 2001. "Radio Industry Web Sites" and "Careers Information Resources" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/040101.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.53, 6th January 2000. "PanEris: a model for the virtual establishment" and "Online Information - The past and the future" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/060100.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.29, 7th January 1999. "Understanding 'cookies' on the Web" and "Internet, copyright and linking" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/070199.htm>
  
  
• FreePint No.5, 8th January 1998. "Top Five Web Resources of 1997" and "Finding IT on the WWW" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/080198.htm>
  
  

Back to top ^

FREEPINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
[Provisional]

• Digital Music
  
  
• Finding People in the Digital Age
  
  
• Selecting and Working with a Subscription Agent
  
  
• Linking Real-World Local Communities With Online Communities
  
  
• Myth of the Paperless Office
  
  
• RAST Web V & D software
  
  

If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write for FreePint, then please contact FreePint's Editor Monique Cuvelier, <monique.cuvelier@freepint.com> or read the notes for authors at <http://www.onopoly.com/author/>

Back to top ^

Address:

Free Pint Limited 4-6 Station Approach Ashford, Middlesex TW15 2QN, United Kingdom

Telephone:

UK: 0870 141 7474 Int: +44 870 141 7474

Directions and maps: <http://www.freepint.com/contact.htm>

Contributors to this issue:

Monique Cuvelier (Editor, FreePint), Tim Houghton, Gary Price (Editor, ResourceShelf), David Sarokin, Robin Neidorf (General Manager, FreePint), Pam Foster (Editor, VIP), Shirl Kennedy (Senior Editor, ResourceShelf and DocuTicker), William Hann (Managing Editor, FreePint), Penny Hann (Production Editor, FreePint), Plain Text <http://www.plain-text.co.uk/> (proofreading).

Advertisers/Sponsors:

CMS Cameron McKenna, NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, Goldsmiths College, TFPL, Instant Library Recruitment, Glen Recruitment, Sue Hill Recruitment, City Professionals, Factiva, VIP, ResourceShelf, Researcha, DocuTicker, DigBig, Jinfo.

• Web <http://www.freepint.com>
  
  
• Authors <http://www.freepint.com/author/>
  
  
• Advertising <http://www.Onopoly.com/>
  
  
• Subscriptions, Letters & Comments <support@freepint.com>
  
  
• FreePint Suggestion Box <http://www.freepint.com/suggestionbox.htm>
  
  

(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2007 <http://www.freepint.com/> Technology by Willco <http://www.Willco.com/>

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your subscriptions or password, visit <http://www.freepint.com/subs/> or email <support@freepint.com>. For details about contributing, advertising or to see past issues, please visit the Web site at <http://www.freepint.com/>.

Please note: FreePint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a registered trademark of, and published by, Free Pint Limited. The publishers will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any other company or organisation.

The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.

This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers. Write to William Hann, Managing Editor, <william.hann@freepint.com> for more details. Product names used in FreePint are for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. FreePint disclaims any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved.

Back to top ^