Newsletter No. 31
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Free Pint
"Helping 19,000 people use the Web for their work"
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ISSN 1460-7239 4 February 1999 #31
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"Researching from home"
by Gina Armfield
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Internet Resources for Seniors"
by John Lewell
FREE PINT FEEDBACK
"Internet Quality"
"IP address problems"
"Computer Assisted Journalism links"
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
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EDITORIAL
You may notice a new feature whilst reading today's Free Pint ...
"Quick Tips" are short hints throughout the newsletter where I will
pass on hints I pick up in my work as an Internet consultant, trainer
and publisher at Willco. I hope you find them useful - please let
me know if you do and I'll make them a regular item.
This issue's articles also give some great insights into using
the Web ... whether it be providing a home-based business research
service or finding super sites aimed specifically at Seniors.
As always, please do let us know if enjoy Free Pint (or not!) and do
keep spreading the word to colleagues and friends.
Time now to savour your thirty first Free Pint!
Kind regards,
William
William Hann MIInfSc, Managing Editor
e: william@freepint.co.uk
t: +44 (0)1784 455435
f: +44 (0)1784 455436
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by the 11th February 1999 to Amanda Alley, Editorial Director.
Tel: 0171 720 3322, Fax: 0171 720 3525, Email: aalley@medicusgroup.com
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TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"Researching from home"
by Gina Armfield
They say things happen in threes... Taking the plunge into the icy
waters of self-employment was the first big step. Deciding to work
from home was the next. Agreeing to research and produce a report
concerning a subject I knew absolutely nothing about, namely the
training of European Astronauts, could have been the third make or
break point of my new career. Luckily I had the support and confidence
of all around me, along with a set up at home to deal with the tasks
in hand and none of the above three potential disasters materialised
as such. In fact things couldn't have turned out better. I now run a
successful home-based business research service.
My background is in managing information services for businesses,
which began at Business Link Isle of Wight, where I gained valuable
practical skills in searching on-line databases and CD-ROMs. These
skills were to prove invaluable when faced with the prospect of
retrieving and collating information from the Internet for my own new
venture.
Setting up a new business from home as a sole trader, I was unable to
afford the luxuries of annual subscriptions to on-line and CD-ROM
database providers that I had become accustomed to in my previous
work, and found myself turning to the promising and tempting fruits of
the Internet that everyone seemed to be talking about. Detailed below
are some of the ways in which the Internet has helped me in my
research projects.
My home office set up
First though a few lines about my home set up. My office is in a
separate room with a door that closes firmly - something I find
essential to stop interruptions when I am working. I've had a second
telephone line installed for fax/email/Internet purposes. I use an
Apple PowerMac with a modem, printer and scanner. The various software
packages I use include a fax package so I don't need a separate fax
machine, I simply send and receive faxes directly through my computer.
Oh yes and I mustn't forget the office furniture which is simply a
desk and chair and a 2 drawer filing cabinet.
Sources of research information on the Internet.
When embarking on a new project I usually start with a few general
enquiries using several search engines to get a general idea of sites
available, sometimes with amazing results. One example was when
researching the international market for metal wall tiles, including
tiles of stainless steel and aluminium. I began with a search on
Northern Light, using the phrase 'stainless steel wall tiles' which
produced a listing of hundreds of sites, the first site being by an
Australian manufacturer of SS wall tiles. The site gave full product
details, applications, fixing procedures, along with contacts for
pricing information which I received by fax the same afternoon, and
links to some very useful sites. The company was a member of an
Australian Stainless Steel Association, which had links to other
international associations and so went the research...
Another essential starting point is Sheila Webber's 'Business
Information Sources on the Internet' at
http://www.dis.strath.ac.uk/business/ which I learned about from
reading Free Pint! I know this site has been mentioned previously but
rightly so - it really is an excellent starting point for most types
of business research.
When researching the astronaut training project I had to look at
several different industries including Aerospace, Offshore Oil and
Gas, Information Technology and Nuclear Energy. Useful starting points
were the various trade associations, such as the AECMA (European
Association of Aerospace Industries), http://www.aecma.org/ which
gives essential links to national organisations with member profiles,
facts and figures for the industry and key contacts for different
areas. I was able to locate those organisations within the aerospace
sector which are involved in the development of aeronautical training.
A lot of my work requires keeping abreast of Research and Development
projects already in progress and those planned in the near future. The
best site for alerting me to such information is undoubtedly
http://www.cordis.lu/ the Community Research and Development
Information Service, where registered users can take advantage of the
Rapidus Search Service. Registered users can save search profiles and
receive automatic updates by email of search results that match the
criteria specified. Registration is free, you simply have to remember
your password. The CORDIS site also offers a document library, details
of funding opportunities, R&D news and events updated daily, and an
Intellectual Property Rights section.
I often receive enquiries for export market information, for which I
normally consult the DTI EMIC(Export Market Information Centre) site
http://www.dti.gov.uk/ots/emic . EMIC houses vast amounts of
information on export markets. You cannot access the Library resources
directly via the Internet but there is an up to date directory of
resources available, and you can make an appointment to visit the
library in person for free. I usually have a good look at the links
to other sources of export information listed, which are organised
by country and contain a wealth of free information within.
For financial information I tend to use the Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/ and Carol http://www.carol.co.uk/ which is 'a free
corporate on-line service offering one point access to company Annual
Reports' and a range of other investor information. Reports
available are limited to the larger companies throughout the UK,
Europe and Asia. Around 200 UK company reports are available. You can
search by sector or alphabetically. For anyone interested in Investor
Relations the Carol Hotnews services will be of interest. You can
register for a free monthly online newsletter on Internet IR with
direct links to press articles.
I hope I have managed to illustrate how I have incorporated the
internet as a useful working tool to help in research projects. I
cannot of course rely completely on the Internet for all my
information needs. I still have to refer to numerous chargeable
information sources and gather raw information in many cases. Talking
to people either face to face or on the telephone, being generally
inquisitive or nosy and asking those difficult questions that need to
be answered are essential traits for a researcher that the Internet
can never replace, can it?
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Gina Armfield runs Quality Research Services on the Isle of Wight
offering a range of research services. She is an affiliate member of
the Institute of Information Scientists and EIRENE (European
Information Researchers Network). She can be contacted by email:
gina@armfield.demon.co.uk or telephone: 01983 821367 or fax:01983
530031.
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QUICK TIP ... INTERNET TRAINING
When running Internet courses, leave more time than usual for
questions and discussion. Delegates always have a wide range of
practical experience and technical ability.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
"Internet Resources for Seniors"
by John Lewell
It was once thought that the Internet was a medium that would always
appeal chiefly to younger people, with just a few brave Seniors
venturing into cyberspace. How wrong that forecast has proved to be!
Seniors - variously defined as "over-50s" or "over-55s" - now
represent the fastest-growing sector of Internet users.
Personally, I am not at all surprised. After all, the Internet was
first developed by people who are now themselves Seniors - and a whole
generation of techno-savvy people has grown old along with them. Add
to this the fact that using the Internet has become very simple while
services have proliferated - and it is not hard to see why Seniors are
getting online.
In the year 2000, according to UN estimates, there will be 590 million
people over the age of 60, increasing to 1.1 billion by 2025. These
figures have not gone unnoticed by online entrepreneurs, who are now
providing resources for Seniors in ever greater quantities. Their
efforts are not in vain. Older people are the group most likely to
make online purchases, according to a Harris Poll for BusinessWeek.
42 per cent of people 65+ with Internet access have purchased
something online, and so have 39 per cent of people 50-64.
Portals
In researching a Seniors' directory for the Metaplus portal
(http://www.metaplus.com/pv/seniors.html), I found a whole host of
directories that lead straight to specialist Seniors' resources on
travel, health, news, finance, and housing. The best portal has to be
Yahoo! Seniors (http://seniors.yahoo.com/), with its comprehensive
listings, plus news, chat, and clubs.
However, Yahoo! has some rivals. Microsoft has recently launched an
Internet portal called Microsoft Seniors and Technology
(http://www.microsoft.com/seniors/) which is a good alternative
starting point.
Other portals include Age of Reason, from Seniors On Line,
(http://www.ageofreason.com/), with 5,000 links for the over-50s;
SeniorLaw (http://www.seniorlaw.com/), with an emphasis on legal
issues for American citizens; and Grandma Betty,
(http://www.grandmabetty.com/), a WebTV-friendly portal developed by a
genuine grandma, Betty Fox.
The best specialist search-based directory for Seniors is currently
SeniorsSearch (http://www.seniorssearch.com/) which also has special
sites for UK (http://www.seniorssearch.com/ssuk/homedirectory.htm),
Canadian (http://www.seniorssearch.com/sscan/homedirectory.htm)
and Australian (http://www.seniorssearch.com/ssaus/homedirectory.htm)
users. SeniorsSearch took six months to develop, and has 70 categories
and 100 sub-categories, all directly relevant to Seniors. It will even
locate retirement housing in the English countryside.
Getting Older
The U.S. Government is the best source of information in
English about the topic of aging (or "ageing," as we
insist on spelling it in Britain). All the information
is available via links from the National Institute on Aging
(NIA) (http://www.nih.gov/nia/), the principal biomedical
research agency of the U.S. Government.
However, there is another Federal agency now serving the needs of 43
million seniors: The Administration on Aging (AoA) which, with the Aging Network
(http://www.aging.com), leads the user to all
the latest health, social, legal, and financial information.
For those who are getting REALLY old, there is ElderWeb
(http://www.elderweb.com/), with 4,000 reviewed links related to care
of the frail and elderly.
In the UK, AgeInfo
(http://www.cpa.org.uk/ageinfo/ageinfo.html) has information for
everyone concerned with older people, including a bibliographic
database of over 32,000 books and articles.
Q: Who is the world's oldest surfer?
A: Dr. Jason Grinnell of LA Feria, Texas. Age 96.
(http://www.seniorssearch.com/contest.htm)
Staying Young
At the younger end of the age group, Seniors are among the
most active people around, with money to spend on travel,
cars, clothes, etc. That is why I added several recreational resources
to the Metaplus Seniors directory, including the 50-Plus Fitness site
(http://www.50plus.org/), at least nine travel sites, such as Skiers
Over 50 (http://www.skiersover50.com/) and Walking the World
(http://www.gorp.com/walkingtheworld/), plus the Senior.com travel
directory (http://www.senior.com/travel/).
For the golf-obsessed Senior, GolfSearch.com
(http://www.golfsearch.com/) lists 1,568 golfing sites, while
gardeners can enjoy the thousands of links on Karen Fletcher's
incredible site, The Garden Gate (http://garden-gate.prairienet.org/),
which includes a section named "The Holding Bed - where new links are
heeled in until they are transplanted into their permanent spots. Or
composted..."
Ultimately, the segregation of Seniors into a separate Internet colony
breaks down, because older people require the same political news, and
much the same information about books, cars, clothes, etc., as
everyone else. They just occasionally need special information,
obtainable from the sites I have mentioned, to supplement their
standard browsing diet.
There is so much good material out there, that I have a sneaking
feeling that, like me, a lot of Seniors are going to be needing the
Typing Injury FAQ (http://www.tifaq.com/) before age eventually
overtakes us all, and, like URLs, we are finally transplanted to our
permanent spots. Or composted...
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John Lewell is editor of three Internet sites: Metaplus
(http://www.metaplus.com/),InternetProductWatch
(http://ipw.internet.com/),and uk.internet.com
(http://uk.internet.com/). He is also author of two books on computer
graphics, and of the biographical encyclopaedia "Modern Japanese
Novelists" (Kodansha, NY, 1993).
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Pass on your article suggestions and ideas to
our Editor, Rex Cooke, by email to rex@freepint.co.uk
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QUICK TIP ... INTERNET CONSULTANCY
If you are responsible for creating or maintaining a Web or intranet
site, then set it as the first page you see when you start your
browser. A simple check on your site's availability, with no effort.
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FREE PINT FEEDBACK
Thank you for all your letters, feedback and questions. Keep them
coming to feedback@freepint.co.uk.
Subject index:
* Internet Quality
* IP address problems (Free Pint #30)
* "Computer Assisted Journalism" links
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Subject: Internet Quality (Free Pint #30)
From: Mark Perkins, Secretariat of the Pacific Community Library
Date: Friday 22nd January 1999
Thanks for the article on "Information quality on the Internet"
by Emma Worsfold and Debra Hiom. I have already used the Internet
Detective and also recommend it.
However, I do have a criticism of the article. It seems to imply
that "Warning - poor quality information freely available!" applies
only to the internet. There have been many cases of fraud involving
"scientific" peer reviewed journals. This is to be expected given the
number of articles published, the tenure & commercial pressures on
scientists. The problem clearly becomes greater with social sciences,
including economics, where "opinion" & "subjectivity" is much more
obvious. The same is also clear from the normal media, whether TV or
print. The cases of author identity deception has occurred in the real
world during elections.
I regularly point out to those I train that the internet is no
different than the real world - from objective to subjective, honest
to fraudulent, high brow to hard core pornography, legal to illegal.
Thus, I would recommend the Internet Detective to even those who do
not make much use of the internet. The lessons it teaches about
quality are relevant wherever information is found.
Perhaps the internet has done the world a favour by highlighting
the issue of information quality and readers will be more
questioning - online or hard copy, peer reviewed or not.
Mark Perkins
Secretariat of the Pacific Community Library
Tel: +687 26 20 00 Fax: +687 26 38 18
Email: MarkP@spc.org.nc
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Subject: IP address problems (Free Pint #30)
From: Tim Dunton, Global Gold Ltd.
Date: Thursday 21st January 1999
Due to size of the Net, IP addresses have been limited. I recently
applied for a Class C and the application was refused five times and
delayed the installation of our leased line by two weeks. I have
heard that they plan to change the amount of prefixes in the IP string.
A solution to your problem could be Cookies as they can be very
powerful in identifying users. Each machine which is allowed access to
the database could be installed with an encrypted Cookie and this
would avoid the IP address problem. Cookies would also avoid the
firewall problem although they would need to be installed at the
server end.
Thanks,
Tim Dunton
Managing Director
Global Gold Ltd.
2b - The UK's Leading Portal. - http://www.2b.co.uk/
2bmail - Free Email - http://www.2bmail.co.uk/
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Subject: "Computer Assisted Journalism" links (Free Pint #30)
There have been some problems with the links in the Computer Assisted
Journalism article in issue #30 - some of the sites mentioned changed
their address or rearranged their material shortly after publication.
Just to confirm, the correct addresses are:
http://www.crimetime.com/online.html
http://www.aukml.org.uk/sla3.htm
http://metalab.unc.edu/slanews/internet/ForArchives.html
http://www.amiplan.com
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DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION, COMMENT OR REPLY?
Let us know your feedback or favourite site by sending an email to
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or part for the interest of our subscribers unless you request
otherwise at the time of writing. Please let us know if you wish
your contact details to be withheld.
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FREE PINT FACT
As you know, Free Pint is free to you because of support from
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you can enjoy your regular Free Pint well into the next millennium.
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Thank you for reading Free Pint. We hope you will forward this copy
to colleagues, friends and journalists, or ask them to visit our Web
site soon at http://www.freepint.co.uk/ to see past issues.
See you in two weeks!
Kind regards,
William Hann, Managing Editor
william@freepint.co.uk
http://www.freepint.co.uk/
(c) Willco 1999
http://www.willco.co.uk/
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CONTACT INFORMATION
William Hann MIInfSc, Managing Editor
e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436
Rex Cooke FIInfSc FRSA, Editor
e: rex@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436
Jane, Administrator e: jane@freepint.co.uk
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Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free email newsletter for anyone who
uses the Internet to get information for their work in any business
or organisation. The newsletter is written by professionals who share
how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet.
To subscribe, unsubscribe, find details about contributing,
advertising or to see past issues, please visit the Web site at
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Please note: The newsletter is published by the information
consultancy Willco (http://www.willco.co.uk/) providers of Internet
consultancy, training and publishing services. The publishers
will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any other company
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The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the
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publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.
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Product names used in Free Pint are for identification purposes only,
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About this Newsletter
- Publication Date: 4th February 1999
- Plain text
- Link: https://www.jinfo.com/go/newsletter/31
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