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16th April 2009
No.275
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About FreePint
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FreePint publishes newsletters, websites, magazines and resources for the information industry. The FreePint Family of publications publishes practical tips, product reviews, expert tips, research collections and hands-on tools to support information work of all kinds. The FreePint Bar provides a Q&A forum for getting your research questions answered and building a network of peers worldwide.
This twice-monthly free FreePint Newsletter serves as a guide to the latest content, including discussion at the Bar, tips articles, vacancies, professional development events, product reviews, editorial commentary and more. Subscribing is free and connects you with the information community around the world. Subscribe today.
The latest announcements, including publication contents, can always be found at the FreePint Feed. Subscribe to RSS for the FreePint Feed for fastest updates.
Please share FreePint with others by forwarding this newsletter.
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Editorial
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By Sara Waddington
 The theme of data useability runs through this issue of the FreePint Newsletter. Whether it is finding the right online tools to pull up data, employing the right search skills or manipulating data to ensure technical longevity, useability is key.
In the FUMSI Focus, the FUMSI contributing editors identify and share some of their favourite online resources for information work. Last month's Focus was on 'Researching Developing Countries' and this month's focus is 'Online Collaborative Tools'. Subscribe to the FUMSI Focus, and receive recommendations every month. It's free.
With information useability in mind, Sarah Hinton (in her article 'Filling in the Gaps: Company Intelligence Beyond the Corporate Website',) explains that finding information is usually a multi-faceted process. She provides an overview of her normal research process for corporate information, which uses the corporate website as a springboard into competitive, patent, market, industry and insider information.
 Embedded in this are the skills which enable us to ask the right questions in order to understand the enquiry correctly and gain enough knowledge of the client. Then apply that understanding to knowing where to look, structuring and developing our search strategy, while assessing what we find for accuracy, authority, currency and relevance. These skills, she says, are as much a key part of the finding process as having access to large internet search engines.
In his article 'Information Architecture: Why SharePoint 2007 Needs It', Marc Stephenson points out that the very usability of Sharepoint on the user level can prevent it from being deployed in a way to ensure technical longevity, and that a clear information architecture is critical to getting Sharepoint implementations right.
SharePoint is a classic case of a technology defining our information environment. For many organizations, its deployment changes the way users interact and manage their information environment. SharePoint's raison d'être is its integration of different functional applications within one system, and the homogeneity of its approach to managing content. However, he points out, too little information architecture will not support sharing and findability, too much will incur unnecessary costs and time.
The information industry is undergoing major changes right now. The topic of outsourcing information and knowledge tasks is under scrutiny. We invite you to contribute experience and opinions to a survey on outsourcing.
Use the interactive features of our articles to print, save or email to a colleague to share these ideas, and any others you find in the FUMSI article database with your colleagues. Please send your suggestions, ideas and requests to support@freepint.com, or use our online suggestion box.
Sara Waddington
Senior Managing Editor
FreePint
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2009
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 Develop Your Strengths with Quantum2
For a wide array of hands-on training and resource materials, turn to Quantum2, an innovative skills development programme provided *free* by Dialog. The programme helps information professionals:
- Expand your services through strategic and business competencies
- Improve flow of information in your organisation
- Gain visibility and build value for your work
Discover best practices, *plus* the know-how to implement them.
Free monthly newsletter and further information at: http://quantum.dialog.com/
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My Favourite Tipples
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By Judith Schilling
In my work as information provider to the general public, key multipliers and even private entrepreneurs the various online services of the 'Office for Official Publications of the European Communities' are of great help:
- EU bookshop - EU publications only a click away. Online access to 32,000 official EU publications, the majority of them free of charge can be ordered and/or downloaded from this website, 150 new ones being added every month and that is in English only. Multiply this with the European Union's 23 official languages and you get a great choice.
- The European Commission Representation in the UK will gladly provide you with multiple copies of selected brochures, maps and posters suitable for the general public or use in classrooms. Class sets are no problem and there is no charge.
- Eur-Lex - free access to European Union Law. This website provides entirely free access to the world's largest documentary repository on European Union law dating back to 1951 and amounting to some 2,300,000 documents in pdf, html, tif and doc format. The database is updated daily and every year some 15,000 documents are added.
- TED - set your sights on business opportunities. Tenders Electronic Daily is the one-stop official information source for public procurement opportunities/public contracts in Europe. Access TED, anytime, for free, in 23 languages almost 2 billion euros turnover per year in the European Union.
- CORDIS - find your way through European Research. The Community Research and Development Information Service is a space devoted to European R&D activities and technology transfer aiming to facilitate participation in research, improving exploitation of research results and diffusion of knowledge.
Judith Schilling has been the Publications Manager at the Commission's London Representation since July 2006. Since then she has not only improved accessibility to the Commission's abundance of resources (brochures, posters, promotional items etc.) for schools and libraries but recently presented the European Commission's resources on some key fairs for teachers, librarians and linguists.
Prior to coming to London, she had been instrumental to the programme of seminars, fairs, lectures etc. for teachers and librarians at the Stockholm representation. Before that, she arranged selection procedures for scientific staff at the DG Research in Brussels. She speaks English, German, Swedish, and French (although recently neglected). Having graduated from the German Federal Administrators College in 1987 she worked in various German administrations, leaving the German Foreign Service to join the European Commission in 1999. She lives in Central London.
Would you like to add your Favourite Tipples suggestions for the FreePint Newsletter or write an article for FUMSI (Find, Use, Manage or Share Information?).
If so, please contact Sara Waddington at sara.waddington@freepint.com with your ideas or visit <http://web.freepint.com/go/family/contribute>.
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FreePint Bar
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By Sara Waddington
Guidelines for salary benchmarks, outsourcing ideas, research subscriptions and e-mail feeds are hot topics on the Bar at the moment. See a round-up of recent conversations below and click through to join the discussion. Post your research dilemmas to the FreePint Bar »
FreePint Bar
- One 'Pinter requests help with finding sources to enable him produce a benchmarking report showing typical salaries and hourly rates payable in Central London for engineering and scientific disciplines payable.
- The information industry is undergoing major changes right now. The topic of outsourcing information and knowledge tasks is under scrutiny. FreePint invites Baristas to contribute experience and opinions to a survey on outsourcing. Your responses will be completely anonymous. If you provide a valid email address, you will receive a free copy of the full report for benchmarking and planning purposes.
- Another 'Pinter has requested recommendations for full-text subscription services to which institutions can subscribe to search and access journal articles and other research materials related to employment, the economy, training, productivity and skills.
- Can you offer a FreePinter your ideas on services that can e-mail a range of feeds (RSS, Twitter, Facebook status updates etc.) into his mail inbox?
- Don't forget to check the latest FreePint news on the FreePint feed. FreePint is sponsoring an award to fund up to two SLA memberships and complete an application. FreePint is also supporting those who have lost their jobs due to business closures or redundancies. Apply for gap subscriptions to keep you in the loop during your search.
Visit the FreePint Bar »
FreePint Feed
The FreePint Feed keeps you up to date on what's new across all the sites in the FreePint Family.
Visit the FreePint Feed »
Sara Waddington is Senior Managing Editor of FreePint. She can be contacted at sara.waddington@freepint.com
The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky research questions.
Subscribe to the free FreePint Digest to receive a weekly update of the latest Bar discussion, plus FreePint Feed announcements.
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The Market for Info Skills has Changed...
So has Jinfo.
Check out expanded offering - professional development events as well as vacancies: http://www.jinfo.com/
How can we enhance Jinfo further? Help us with your suggestions by completing our brief survey: http://digbig.com/4yknr
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The latest VIP magazine reviews e-mail news monitoring from the BBC and NexisDirect.
Plus the latest commentary from the LiveWire, two expert views on Microsoft's SharePoint and more
Learn more and purchase Issue No. 64 now: http://web.vivavip.com/go/vip/
Or start your trial subscription for only GBP 80 for 3 months: http://www.vivavip.com/sample.html
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FUMSI Features
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 FUMSI publishes articles, tools, and a monthly magazine, to give you practical help with information skills.
Visit http://www.fumsi.com/
However you Find, Use, Manage or Share Information, you'll find something in FUMSI to help.
Become a fan of FUMSI on Facebook »
We add new articles to the FUMSI database in each practice area every month, which are free to read, browse, email, print or save. Here are the most recent additions:
Filling in the Gaps: Company Intelligence Beyond the Corporate Website
FUMSI: Find
Somewhere between paid databases and Google, there's a wealth of company information available to researchers who ask the right questions and poke into the odd corners. Sarah Hinton provides an overview of her normal research process for corporate information, which uses the corporate web site as a springboard into competitive, patent, market, industry and insider information.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'This comes home to me every time a client asks how I found what I sent. It's not always easy to explain; if it were, we wouldn't be needed. But it's not a 'black art' either.'
Read, print, save or forward this article now »
Information Architecture: Why SharePoint 2007 Needs It
FUMSI: Manage
Microsoft's SharePoint is here to stay in the enterprise information environment, but its ubiquity does not imply perfection. Marc Stephenson points out that the very usability of SharePoint on the user level can prevent it from being deployed in a way to ensure technical longevity, and that a clear information architecture is critical to getting SharePoint implementations right.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'I'd guess that 75% of all SharePoint implementations are done without any information architecture whatsoever. This is typically because they are just deployed by the IT department pretty much in isolation from the business's information management requirements, usually because IT want to see what SharePoint can do (it's a new toy and it will look great on their CVs), or the head of IT thinks it will quickly solve some business problems (it might - eventually).'
Read, print, save or forward this article now »
Also recently added to the FUMSI database:
Browse all FUMSI articles »
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VIP Features
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VIP publishes in-depth, unbiased reviews of business information products. If you purchase or use premium information resources, make VIP part of your professional reading every month »
 VIP Magazine No.64
- Blessing or Curse: Alan Pelz-Sharpe finds Microsoft's SharePoint a potentially powerful toolset that needs to be handled with care.
- Adding Value?: VIP responds to the latest Business Information Review survey,
which suggests that combining analysis with discovery could be the effective information professional's unique selling proposition.
- Under Scrutiny: The BBC Monitoring Email Service and LexisNexis's new quick-and-simple NexisDirect service assessed by VIP's reviewers Jonathan Gordon-Till and Joanna Ptolomey.
- Goodbye Gutenberg?: As the US continues a slow fade to a newspaper-less nation, Amazon's new ebook reader Kindle 2 is being hailed as the iPod moment for electronic books.
VIP Magazine No.64 »
In the next VIP: VIP reviews news services (SeeNews and Newser) and Mergent Online
Purchase VIP Issue No. 64 from the VIP website, or start your subscription now.
VIP LiveWire
VIP contributing editors comment daily on what's happening in the industry.
Visit the LiveWire for their insights, and subscribe to the free VIP Wires Weekly for regular alerts.
Recent posts:
- Beware of placing too much reliance on automated sentiment analysis was the message of a recent LiveWire posting on Dow Jones, Standard & Poors and algorithmic trading.......
Direct link to posting: http://www.vivavip.com/go/e17206
- It is indeed a sign of the times that the Guardians April fools joke this year was its announcement to become the worlds first newspaper to be published exclusively via Twitter........
Direct link to posting: http://www.vivavip.com/go/e18033
- Even the fastest growing segments cant escape unscathed as Outsell scales down its information industry growth predictions from its relatively upbeat assessment of last December........
Direct link to posting: http://www.vivavip.com/go/e18103
VIP
LiveWire »
VIP Wire
Information-related product and news announcements. Post your
releases and receive news FREE.
VIP Wire »
VIP - Subscribe
and Back Issues
Request a sample issue of VIP, or start a trial subscription today for only GBP 80 for three months. Visit http://www.vivavip.com/sample.html to request a sample or start your trial. Purchase back-issues of VIP from the VIP Archive.
VIP Archive »
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Find Your Focus
Subscribe to FUMSI Focus for Free!
Monthly update with favourite web resources from our FUMSI Contributing Editors.
Plus highlights from FUMSI offerings
Learn more and subscribe »
"FUMSI is nothing less than a vital resource for me - thank you so much!"
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Unexpected Career Gap?
Take advantage of FreePint's Gap Subscription programme:
Free subscriptions to our premium publications while you search for your next opportunity.
Learn more and apply »
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Jinfo - Jobs and Events in Information
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 Jinfo is the central location for supporting your information career. The Jinfo Jobs database lists vacancies, and the Jinfo Events database lists workshops, conferences, training, webinars and other professional development opportunities.
Start a free subscription to receive the weekly Jinfo Update, with a complete list of the latest vacancies and events, or search the databases at any time (free).
Jinfo Jobs in the FreePint Newsletter are supported through our partnership with Quantum2, an innovative skills development programme offered by Dialog. Learn more at <http://quantum.dialog.com/>.
Jinfo Jobs:
Here is a selection of the latest featured vacancies in the Jinfo database:
- Library Manager
Library Manager, Law Librarian, Legal
Recruiter: Weekes Gray Recruitment
Country: United Kingdom
- Records Team Leader
A global leader in assurance and tax advisory services is seeking an experienced team leader to take...
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited
Country: United Kingdom
- Contract Records Manager - Public Sector
Experienced Public Sector Records Manager for initial 7 month contract and possible permanent job.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
Country: United Kingdom
- Central filing coordinator and records manager
Our client is looking for a Central Filing Coordinator and Records Manager to join its London office...
Recruiter: TFPL
Country: United Kingdom
Browse all Jinfo
Jobs »
Jinfo Events:
Here is a selection of the latest featured events in the Jinfo database:
- Exploration Information Access: Enabling Better Decision Making
This webinar will demonstrate how to easily retrieve, share and display very precise geospatially-encoded information
Organiser: Mark Logic
Date: 23 Apr 2009
Country: Online
- INFORUM 2009
The 15th annual conference of INFORUM deals with professional electronic information resources for research, development, education and business purposes
Date: 27-29 May 2009
Country: Czech Republic
- CILIP's Umbrella 2009
Umbrella is the flagship event of CILIP: The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
Organiser: CILIP
Date: 14-15 July 2009
Country: United Kingdom
- Perfect Information Conference 2009
Entering into its sixth year, the PIC has a solid reputation for focusing on the needs of senior information professionals, department heads and key decision makers across investment banks, law firms...
Organiser: Perfect Information
Date: 12-14 May 2009
Country: United Kingdom
- Human-machine symbiosis for data interpretation
Dave Snowden: Technology support for understanding how to manage information and knowledge
Organiser: ISKO UK
Date: 23 Apr 2009
Country: United Kingdom
Browse all Jinfo
Events »
Jinfo - the best place for information-related job vacancies and professional development opportunities.
- RECRUITING?
- Advertise a vacancy for just GBP 195
- 10% discount for agencies
- 50% discount for registered charities
- RUNNING AN EVENT?
List it on Jinfo to reach a targeted audience seeking professional development opportunities
- Get started at <http://web.jinfo.com/events/load/>
- Partner events listed for free; enquire at <support@jinfo.com>.
Find out more today at <http://www.jinfo.com/>
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| Highlights from ResourceShelf and DocuTicker
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Gold
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A look back at what the FreePint Newsletter covered at this time in previous years:
- FreePint No. 250, 10th April 2008. "Legal Research: Turning It into Competitive Advantage" and "Exposing the secret state"
- FreePint No. 228, 19th April 2007. "Product Evaluations: Completing a Needs Assessment" and "Tough Love: Excelling at Customer Service Is Not Just One Big Happy-Clappy Hugfest"
- FreePint No. 204, 13th April 2006. "Thriving on change: The right stuff for resilience in an information career" and "European Unions: what you need to know about international mergers and acquisitions"
- FreePint No. 180, 7th April 2005. "Quality assuring health information resources" and "Trends in business information, provision and use"
- FreePint No. 158, 15th April 2004. "Searching for success: an update on search engine developments" and "Time Management"
- FreePint No. 135, 17th April 2003. "Radio on the Internet" and "Scenario Planning"
- FreePint No. 110, 18th April 2002. "A World of Resources Awaits You in China" and "Customer Satisfaction - do you know what they think of your information service?"
- FreePint No. 85, 12th April 2001. "Getting Connected in a Rural Area" and "Streaming Media and Broadband Sites"
- FreePint No. 60, 13th April 2000. "Wedding Sources on the Web" and "Knowledge Management"
- FreePint No. 36, 15th April 1999. "Cataloging the Internet: The Dublin Core" and "Idiots' guide to chemistry information resources on the Web"
- FreePint No. 12, 16th April 1998. "The Duffers Guide to 56K Modems!" and "Sources of information on science policy and popular science topics"
FreePint Newsletter Archive »
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Forthcoming Articles - Provisional
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FUMSI
- Finding Images, Audio and Video
- Proving the value of your information
- Lean Intranets: Part Two
- Social Bookmarking Services: Part 2
VIP
- SeeNews and Newser reviews
- Mergent Online
If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write, then please contact FreePint's Editor Sara Waddington at <sara.waddington@freepint.com> or read the notes for authors at <http://web.freepint.com/go/family/contribute/>
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Contact Information
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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:
Sara Waddington (Senior Managing Editor, FreePint), Sarah Hinton, Marc Stephenson, Judith Schilling, Nancy Davis Kho (Copyeditor), Robin Neidorf (General Manager), William Hann (Publisher), Douglas Brown (Proofreader).
Advertisers/Sponsors:
Quantum2 from Dialog, Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited, Glen Recruitment, TFPL, Weekes Gray Recruitment.
(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2009 <http://www.freepint.com/>
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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.
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