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12th May 2011
No.326
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Contents
Editorial
My Favourite Tipples
FreePint Bar
FUMSI Features
- Sound Advice: Online audio archives & repositories for research
- Using co-design to innovate in libraries
VIP Features
- Who's work is it anyway?
- Recent postings to the LiveWire
- Recent postings to the Wire
Jinfo - Jobs and Events
Jobs in Information:
- Business Research Analyst
- Research Analyst
- Competitive Intelligence Analyst
- Assistant Librarian - Cataloguing
Events in Information:
- AIIP Webinar: Questel's Orbit - Patent and Design Portal
- Understanding Additional Revenue Opportunities in the Digital Landscape
- GIA Conference, a leading Strategic Market Intelligence event
- EPublishing Innovation Forum
- More...
Highlights from DocuTicker
- The Underfunding of State and Local Pension Plans
- Mobile Media: Consumer insights across Europe
Highlights from ResourceShelf
- EBSCO Publishing Partners with the Canadian Medical Association
- New Study: Content Discovery Trends Across Web Publishers
Gold
Contact Information
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About FreePint
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.
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Editorial
By Michelle Manafy
Information rich, time poor and seeking ROI
Excess of riches, eh? Too much information but just too little time to enjoy it. That's been an information industry axiom for more than a decade now. Oh this wide world of the web, what bounty! Now if only I could find the time to locate what I actually need and get my job done...
Of course, the tension between our desire to know more now conflicting with the finite number of hours in the day is the force that drives our industry: we proffer products and services to maximise return on information our industry's ROI.
When I was compiling the components of our latest effort on this front one of our FreePint Volumes, in which we gather a variety of content from our publications to inform research on a specific subject I was struck by the clear parallels between investing time and investing money because, ultimately, they are both about delivering value to the bottom line. This collection of resources, the FreePint Volume: Insight & Resources for Financial Services, is particularly suited to meet the needs of those in financial services industries (It includes five product reviews and two FUMSI Reports at 40% off the price of purchasing the items on their own.)
Some hyper-aware subscribers may have read highlights of included content as they were published. But admit it: do you really remember the details of that great article or that specific statistic right when you're working on a relevant project? Content curation organises information for ease of access where and when it's needed.
It will not be lost on any of our readers that time is money, but when I consider the financial services industry, it is particularly incumbent to make a strategic investment of time in evaluating information from which our organisations can profit.
With information, more doesn't necessarily mean more value. As info pros and info providers, our job is to avoid cluttering the inboxes (and workdays) of our staff by adding to info glut and instead infuse essential information into workflow. One approach is through technology, to build platforms and search engines that go beyond the provision of information lists to incorporating just-right items into our projects while we work, and delivering answers instead of results sets.
Of course, the other is through hand-selected collections that save end users valuable research time so that they can best put their skills to work at turning these information investments into genuine value for their organisations. We recognise that it is a partnership between people and technologies and the mindful provision of resources to both that yields the highest dividends.
Best regards,
Michelle Manafy,
Director of Content
FreePint
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2011
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My Favourite Tipples
By Dale Moore
My interests are largely centred around content management systems in the widest sense (particularly those newer kids on the block) and the collaborative possibilities offered by social media and "low cost" tools. I think we're beginning to see smarter and leaner ways of working using a variety of ready made "cloud based" software, which are gaining a lot of ground over the more established higher cost, more complicated and maintenance dependent in-house systems. A stunning example of this is Dropbox, which is now a very established platform and widely respected. Google Apps is pretty cool too!
- AIIM: Formerly known as the Association for Information and Image Management, AIIM (which has a US and a UK site) is my first port of call getting the lowdown on finding, controlling and optimising my information. A real cornucopia of content for the Info Pro who wants to get a grip on Enterprise Content Management, Electronic Records Management, Business Process Management, Enterprise 2.0 (social media behind the firewall), Navigation and Search, Email Management and MS SharePoint. AIIM offers excellent online training, the latest industry reports and white papers, downloadable posters (for spreading the ECM word), webinars covering the latest industry topics and several communities of interest.
- Digital Landfill: The latest trends, data and stats on info management and social business from the president of AIIM (see above). If you're unfamiliar with the '8 things' series of publications (all free), head over to this site and fill your boots. It's well worth it and is a real education. You'll soon be an expert on everything ... just like me!
- BBC: Can't live without my daily fix of the BBC; who can? It's a real smorgasbord of up to the minute news and opinion, tons of bite sized topics and everything in-between. I'm sure there's nothing I can say about this that you won't already know.
- Google Apps: I feel slightly guilty for including this as Google is clearly on a quest for world domination. But I can't help it; Google Apps are fab. If you want to know what's possible for collaborative computing on a budget, this is it. It doesn't matter what flavour computer you have, if you have an internet connection and a desire to collaborate in the cloud, you're in!
- FreePint: Yes, it really is a can't live without resource (and no, I didn't feel obligated to include it). I'm amazed at how this has grown since the early days of William Hann's email text newsletter, which by the way, was pretty good, even then. (I first became aware of it in 1997 while an information management student at the University of Sheffield). I confess here and now of not making the most of this excellent resource and resolve to do better - starting now! (Hey, I'm off to a good start: I contributed this!) I particularly enjoying reading FUMSI which really does seem to connect with all the hot topics with very thoughtful and insightful articles of just the right length. I also appreciate DocuTicker which is great for keeping tabs on official (something boring but always essential) publications. Many of these have provided regular tweet fodder.)
Dale Moore is an information specialist, writer, researcher and general know-it-all (except for when he doesn't). He has a masters degree in information management from the University of Sheffield and over 12 years experience as an information practitioner. He has a penchant for dodgy electronic music and loves living by the sea.
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 submit them to support@freepint.com.
Have a single tip to share? Post it to the FUMSI Forum.
View the guidelines at: <http://web.freepint.com/go/family/contribute>.
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The best kept secret in Risk Management
The interactive online Business Intelligence system from Company Watch provides:
- information & analysis on companies from around the world
- tools to manipulate financial data: what-if, stress testing and forecasting
- the ability to add companies & generate immediate H-Score evaluations
Find out more at www.companywatch.net
9 out of 10 companies that fail are identified in advance by the Company Watch H-Score.
Also available via Bloomberg and Alacra Premium
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Factiva. The Intelligence Engine.
Accurate. Powerful. Efficient.
Factiva offers a premier collection of the world's top media including The Times, The Sunday Times and The Times Literary Supplement.
Using Factiva's powerful search features you can find results fast and monitor news on companies, industries, issues and regional affairs.
Find accurate, trustworthy and timely information faster.
Learn more: factiva.com/fp
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FreePint Bar
The FreePint Bar is where we publish information about the latest content from across the FreePint Family of resources.
The FreePint Bar is sponsored by:
Latest posts at the FreePint Bar:
- [FreePint] Webinars Launch with Social Media...
FreePint Webinars Launch with Social Media Marketing for Corporate Libraries
Social Media is among the hottest topics today. We've heard a great deal about how these tools can be used for marketing. However, anunder-served area in which social media and social networking can be leveraged is inside organisations. The debut of its the FreePint Webinar series with a two-part Webinar on "Social Media Marketing for Corporate Libraries" was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback.
Well-known industry speaker Scott Brown of Social Information Group led the two-part Webinar which is filled with practical information and real world examples for those seeking to effectively leverage social media tools - such as Twitter, blogs, forums and much more - inside their organisations. With the tips and suggestions Brown provided, corporate library staff and information managers can foster communication, collaboration and increase awareness of their services to key stakeholder groups.
Read posting online »
- [VIP] Latest popular LiveWire posts
There's a lot of valuable comment at the VIP LiveWire. The following are the most popular posts from our contributing editors over the last 30 days:
* Missing out on new legal information markets?
* Are organisations investing in information skills?
* Social media - heady expansionism?
* ProQuest Dialog looking sharp
* NYT.com introduces paywall
Subscribe to the free VIP Wires Weekly to stay informed. Your comments on any posting are always welcome.
Read posting online »
- [FreePint] Personal info management and health
Facing the future of information interface
Does finding and using quality scientific, technical and medical information have to be rocket surgery? Considering the target market, there shouldn't be an issue of the tool being too tough, right?
Well, there are a couple of problems with this (long-held) belief about many information tools: first off, no matter how smart your user is, most powerful tools require some investment of learning time to create true ease-of-use, and most researchers would rather spend their time analysing the information than locating it.
Secondly, the pool of potential users for all information tools is broadening. This presents an exciting opportunity for information vendors. At the same time, it poses the challenge of creating a user experience that reflects the needs and abilities of an increasingly diverse range of users.
Read posting online »
Visit the FreePint Bar »
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FUMSI Features
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 »
Follow FUMSI on Twitter »
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:
Sound Advice: Online audio archives & repositories for research
By Andrew Youngkin
FUMSI: Find
Recorded sound can evoke strong emotions and enhance the experience and understanding of the researcher and end user, which makes it a powerful tool for museums. It is also a format which is increasingly available online and can provide a valuable source of information to supplement text-based material for the researcher. In his article, Andrew Youngkin gives a flavour of the audio material available.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'Sound recordings can add a new level of authenticity and experience that can fill information gaps and supplement text-based material, highlighting understanding and emphasising insight for both the researcher and end user. With the increasing level of accessibility, combined with the portability of the format itself, audio recordings can be tapped as very powerful information sources. Many of the online audio collections are those of libraries, museums, academic institutions and radio broadcasting organisations, but with open government initiatives, many government websites are also making audio material available.'
Read, print, save or forward this article now »
Using co-design to innovate in libraries
By Lauren Currie and Joanna Ptolomey
FUMSI: Use
The key element when designing any successful service involving information is to meet the needs of the people who will use it. This sounds simple enough but how do we explore those needs and produce tangible outcomes? Lauren Currie and Joanna Ptolomey explain the process of service design, involving co-designing with the people, which can lead to innovative services.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'When designing information services we all know that people want something especially unique for them, and that can be hard to incorporate. But how can we know what people really need or want and be able to make those ideas tangible outcomes? If service designers can facilitate people through this discovery process and clear the path for true exploration, then this gives us more leverage for meeting the needs of the people who use our services. Service design has been described as a pragmatic discipline. It gives back quite a lot and creates energy and enthusiasm for change. It also provides a path for how to and visualising possible tangible outcomes.'
Read, print, save or forward this article now »
FUMSI Forum
The latest recommendations and tips from our editors, contributors and community:
Visit the FUMSI Forum »
FUMSI - Forthcoming Topics
- Exploring and Using Twitter Archives
- Datamining LinkedIn
- Using information to drive decision making
- Using social media at BBC World Service
- Gathering Organisational Intelligence
If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write, then please contact <support@freepint.com> or read the notes for authors at <http://web.freepint.com/go/family/contribute/>.
Browse all FUMSI articles »
Subscribe to the free FUMSI Focus to receive a weekly update of the latest FUMSI Forum discussion.
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Financial Times is now on Bloomberg
Making the most globally informed decisions
Just got easier.
Learn more »
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Focus on Financial Services: FreePint Money-Saving Volume
FreePint Volume: Insight & Resources for Financial Services collects 7 reports and prices them at 40% off, making it easy to improve your collection of databases.
Get the following VIP Reports:
- Product Review of Morningstar Direct, v 3.9
- Product Review of PitchBook
- Product Review of PI Navigator
- Product Review of DNBi - UK Edition
- Product Review of Factiva.com
Plus the following FUMSI Reports:
- Folio on Intranet redesign
- Folio on Emerging Research Tools
Learn more and purchase now »
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VIP Features
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: Insider
In addition to providing in-depth reviews of information products, VIP Magazine features VIP Insider, which offers an inside look at current FreePint Research projects.
The most recent issue of VIP (No. 89) features the following in VIP Insider:
Who's work is it anyway?
Preview of the FreePint Research Report: Info Pros and End Users
By Robin Neidorf, Director of Research, Free Pint Limited
Information is part of just about everyone's job. No matter what their job titles, workers today must cultivate skill in how they interact with information. Information professionals are the people who can help them do it more effectively.
Or at least, that's how it should be. Too often, executives have no idea that such as thing as an "information professional" exists or how their organisations might benefit from having them on the staff. To the uninitiated, a "librarian" is someone who works in a brick-and-mortar library where schoolchildren complete research projects.
Where information staff are a valued part of human resources, their role may be changing because of the increased visibility of information skills and their importance in today's workplace. They may be called upon to provide more resources directly to end users, provide training, and develop information strategies, in addition to providing a solid foundation in information management, search capabilities and content portfolio management.
To understand better how information professionals and end users all contribute to the value of information in today's organisations, FreePint Research undertook a research project that ran from February through to early April. Our online survey captured input from 198 participants some self-described "information professionals" and some not about how they interact with information and with other knowledge workers every day. The full results of this survey will be published later in April 2011; this preview presents a few of the most interesting findings...
To read the remainder of this article, purchase VIP No. 89 in the FreePint Shop, or subscribe today »
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.
VIP Wires Weekly is generously sponsored by Company Watch
Most Read Postings on the LiveWire Recently...
- Missing out on new legal information markets?
Traditional law firms and legal publishers risk missing out on a potentially huge and lucrative self-help legal information market - because they don't see one - according to a new report from Outsell. It's a timely warning - but events are moving so fast that it may be too late for established vendors to even run to catch up...
Read posting online »
- Are organisations investing in information skills?
The ability to interact effectively with information is a job requirement for nearly every worker in the digital age. Regardless of job title, we're all sorting through reams of information, finding and selecting the most important bits, analysing it and communicating it constantly. The wrong information can be costly; missing information can be time-consuming; incomplete information can be devastating...
Read posting online »
- Social media - heady expansionism?
Frenetic is the only word to describe the activity surrounding social media for business at the moment. Whether it's keeping a wary eye on leaks, beefing up your customer relations or leveraging your career opportunities, there's plenty to keep track of...
Read posting online »
- ProQuest Dialog looking sharp
The first commercial information products I professionally trained on were Dialog and DataStar. For most of us in the information world, using these products was a rite of passage as a professional...
Read posting online »
- NYT.com introduces paywall
Posting yesterday that The New York Times paywall was imminent proved to be accurate: paidContent reported later on that day that the paper had launched its digital subscription package in Canada. The idea is test the system for a short trial period, before rolling it out globally on 28 March...
Read posting online »
Always feel free to comment on any item on the LiveWire, and if you do not yet have a free subscription to the VIP Wires Weekly, you can sign up now »
VIP LiveWire »
VIP Wire
Information-related product and news announcements. Post your releases and subscribe to the free VIP Wires Weekly for regular alerts.
Recent VIP Wire announcements...
- ebrary Launches the Industry's First Usage-Trigg...
ebrary, a leading provider of e-books and research technology, today announced the availability of usage-triggered Short-Term Loans. Currently in beta, this groundbreaking model provides libraries with all of the benefits of traditional short-term loans with the added advantage of only paying if titles are used...
Read Press Release online »
- Zanran - for data search
The new search engine on the block is Zanran.com, which searches specifically for data and statistics on the web. This focus on finding data is what distinguishes it from Google and Bing. 'Data search' is, in effect, a new class of search...
Read Press Release online »
- ProQuest's Deep Indexing Earns Patent
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has recognized the unique value of ProQuest's Deep Indexing™ by granting the company patent protection on the CSA Illustrata® technology. ProQuest extracts and indexes data about graphic objects in journal literature to allow it to be searched as effectively as full text. Deep indexing was pioneered in CSA Illustrata, earning the database multiple industry awards for giving researchers the ability to surface relevant information that would be missed by other search methods. Deep Indexing is now available in the all-new ProQuest platform, allowing the innovation to be used across a much broader range of data...
Read Press Release online »
VIP Wire »
VIP - Subscribe and Back Issues
Start a trial subscription today for only £84 for three months. Visit http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/vip/volume/trial/ to start your trial. You can also purchase back-issues of VIP from the FreePint Shop.
VIP Archive »
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 - Forthcoming Topics
- IHS Global Insight
- ISI Emerging Markets
- BvD China Connect
- Lexis Diligence
- Infotrieve Mobile for iPad
If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write, then please contact <support@freepint.com> or read the notes for authors at <http://web.freepint.com/go/family/contribute/>.
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EPublishing Innovation Forum 2011
Set to take the temperature of change through interview, presentation, discussion and panel debates, the 2011 EPublishing Innovation Forum will address the theme Innovate Generate Monetise: Winning Digital Business Models.
With sessions from leading organisations such as Reed Business Information, Cambridge University Press and MacMillan Publishing, delegates are able to learn, update and benchmark their digital strategies to develop their businesses.
Learn more and register »
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Do you subscribe to or purchase science, technical or medical content for your library?
Participate in the latest FreePint Research Survey:
- What influences buying patterns for STM content?
- Is STM growing, stable or shrinking compared with the rest of the content budget?
- What types of content are most needed, at what point in business processes?
Share your insight anonymously; receive a copy of the complete report.
Participate by 15 May to be entered in a random drawing for a £50 gift card.
This project is sponsored in part by Elsevier, Informa and Springer.
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Jinfo - Jobs and Events in Information
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:
- Business Research Analyst
A prestigious law firm requires a strategic business research professional to deliver insight...
Recruiter: TFPL Intelligent Resources
Country: United Kingdom
- Research Analyst
Consumer industry senior research analyst; able to source, analyse and present research in client-ready format.
Recruiter: Fabric Recruitment
Country: United Kingdom
- Competitive Intelligence Analyst
Competitive Intelligence Specialist / Analyst with excellent primary and secondary research expertise for global financial organisation.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
Country: United Kingdom
- Assistant Librarian - Cataloguing
Charity seeks cataloguer on 5 month contract, experience of MARC21 and customer service duties essential, languages desirable, £23,500 - £25,500
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited
Country: United Kingdom
Browse all Jinfo Jobs »
Jinfo Events:
Here is a selection of the latest featured events in the Jinfo database:
Browse all Jinfo Events »
Jinfo - the best place for information-related job vacancies and professional development opportunities.
- RECRUITING?
- Advertise a vacancy for just £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 DocuTicker
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Highlights from ResourceShelf
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Gold
A look back at what the FreePint Newsletter covered at this time in previous years:
- FreePint No. 301, 13th May 2010 "Next generation catalogues, discovery interfaces and their role in helping meet changing user needs" and "An InfoRant on the State of Information Management Today"
- FreePint No. 277, 14th May 2009 "EBooks and Traditional Texts: Complementary or Mutually Exclusive?" and "Folksonomies: Business Use"
- FreePint No. 252, 8th May 2008 "Identity Theft: The Fastest Growing Crime Wave and Our Role" and "Managing Successful Vendor Contracts: Part 2"
- FreePint No. 229, 3rd May 2007 "Plastic Cash: A History of Money and the Credit Card in America" and "Special Report: Information Architecture Summit 2007"
- FreePint No. 205, 4th May 2006 "Gleaning consumer intelligence from blogs and podcasts" and "Trends in business information, provision and use"
- FreePint No. 182, 12th May 2005 "Ready, Steady, Go! Finding the right time for job hunting" and "Analysing corporate websites for competitive intelligence"
- FreePint No. 159, 6th May 2004 "Working in Older Age" and "Marketing for the Info-Entrepreneur"
- FreePint No. 137, 15th May 2003 "Net the Ancestors: the Internet and Family History" and "Business Continuity and Recovery - An Asian Perspective"
- FreePint No. 112, 16th May 2002 "Video Games Industry Research" and "Weblogs and Blogging - Part 2"
- FreePint No. 87, 10th May 2001 "2001 - The Internet Election?" and "Information Provision for the Information Providers"
- FreePint No. 62, 11th May 2000 "Idiots' guide to UK employment law sites on the Internet" and "Gimme a G for Global, a G for Geography"
- FreePint No. 38, 13th May 1999 "Patent information on the Internet - can you afford to ignore it?" and "Lurking on Lists"
- FreePint No. 14, 14th May 1998 "Six Opinions on Internet World UK" and "Deafblind access to the Web".
FreePint Newsletter Archive »
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Contact Information
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