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12th January 2012
No.342
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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.
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Editorial
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 By Michelle Manafy
Newsworthy information
The close of 2011 saw what, at first glance, might appear to be just another nail in the news media coffin: on 27 December, The New York Times Company sold off its Regional Media Group. However the company spins the story well, with New York Times Co chairman Arthur Sulzberger stating that the sale "will enable The New York Times Company to continue [its] transformation to a digitally focused, multiplatform media company".
 Certainly, 2011 had its share of bad news about the news business, quite probably topped by the News of the World hacking scandal, which racked up 2.9% of all American media coverage in the 3rd Quarter of the year, according to Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism's A Year in the News Interactive 2011. Not surprisingly, it was a very hot topic in the UK as well. In July, Rasmus Klen Nielsen, a research fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford, reported that, as a search term, the story was as popular as David Beckham among Brits.
Nielsen pointed out that, as a rule, stories about the media lack such mass appeal and that this one has the unfortunate effect of further undermining the public's trust in media. In fact, negative opinions about the performance of news organisations now equal or surpass all-time highs on nine of 12 core measures that Pew has been tracking since 1985. However, these bleak findings are somewhat offset by the fact that Pew also reports that news organisations are more trusted sources of information than are many other institutions, including government and business.
Despite our mixed feelings about the news and those who provide it, we continue to view professionally produced news as one of the most trustworthy sources of reliable information. We also continue to consume a good quantity of it: the average UK adult receives 57.4 minutes of news each day; 52% of which is in broadcast form and 38% either physical or digital, according to a 2011 Enders|Analysis report, News Consumption for DMGT.
Our own research, published last month in the FreePint Research: Survey on News Needs and Preferences 2011, finds that budgets for news content within organisations remained consistent from the previous year and that information managers are closely monitoring their news products to ensure that the sources they most value remain available within licensed collections. According to the report, "Respondents strongly agree that news is an important element of their organisations' information portfolios".
Respondents also agree that premium features add value to products they license and purchase. "Effective search" and "easy to use search" rank among the most valued features by premium news users according to FreePint's research.
The 2011 report marked the tipping point for mobile as a valued premium feature. Given that nearly 10% of UK newspaper website traffic came from non-computer devices, according to 2011 comScore Device Essentials research, this may not come as a surprise. And FreePint finds that, "because the entire concept of news is so tied to the immediate update, news has been one of the first types of content to make significant inroads with mobile delivery in the enterprise". Furthermore, year-over-year research indicates that the news category has been a good predictor of increased mobile enterprise demand in other categories of content as well.
As a New Year begins, I look forward to monitoring continued transformation of information use and consumption patterns -- particularly, what the year will bring our way via mobile. As an update to our FreePint Research Report: Enterprise Market for Mobile Content is due out later this month, we won't have long to wait for more newsworthy insights into the information industry.
Best regards,
Michelle Manafy,
Director of Content
FreePint
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2012
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My Favourite Tipples
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 By Chris Dillon
As Domain Names Project Director in the Department of Information Studies at UCL (University College London), I need to keep up-to-date with the domain names industry and organise information about it so that I can access it quickly. Below is a list of my main sources of information and my favourite tools:
- The website of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the most important source of information on the domain names industry. The New generic Top Level Domains Program (i.e. the equivalents of .com, .org., .travel etc. in any language) has its own website at newgtlds.icann.org. The new URLs are scheduled to go online at the end of 2012.
- Twitter is the best way of keeping up-to-date on developments in this area. During ICANN meetings (meetings.icann.org), the most common app open seems to be TweetDeck.
- TreePad is the quickest way to access complex information which one organises into a hierarchy of nodes. The Lite version is free; the Enterprise version adds useful features such as formatting, images, live links to files and websites, and file attachments to nodes. I have a general file (e.g. meetings by date and information on projects), a software file (A-Z for Mac and PC including notes on how-tos and issues), a file on domain names and one for research notes.
- Tips and advice Internet, a newsletter published by Indicator, is the quickest way to keep up-to-date with software and website developments.
- NONAGS, so called because there are no nag screens, is an Aladdin's cave for those interested in the latest free software.
Chris Dillon is Domain Names Project Director based in the Centre of Digital Humanities in UCL's Department of Information Studies. He was previously Information Support Officer for UCL's Faculties of Arts & Humanities, and Laws, specialising in IT support for non-Roman scripts. Before that he was Information Librarian at the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and Head of the British Library's Japanese Information Service. He can be found on Twitter as @chris_j_dillon and his website is here.
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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 Tend Your Garden: Influencing your stakeholders and making your organization look good
"Thank you for selecting this topic. It was most informative and relevant to a role I enjoy. I appreciate your focus to provide value by allowing us to have presentation materials as reference resources to support the application of lessons learned." -- Tend Your Garden webinar participant
Missed this session? You can access the recorded version and learn from panelists Anne Caputo, Scott Brown and Helen Clegg:
- How to identify and prioritise stakeholders
- Best practices for stakeholder communication
- Approaches to creating a communication plan.
Register now for free access to the recorded version of this FreePint Webinar »
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For your desktop, laptop and iPad™
Easily and securely access Infotrieve's Mobile Library, a cloud-based
copyright-compliant content management and document delivery system anywhere, anytime. Mobile Library is an easy-to-use gateway to corporate licensed, pay-per-view content and personal documents, plus compliant industry-leading social networking and collaboration tools.
Learn more about Mobile Library by visiting www.infotrieve.com
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FreePint Bar
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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:
- [FUMSI] Latest popular articles
The following are the most popular FUMSI articles published in the last 60 days:
* Where the jobs are: Listings and resources for LIS professionals
* Social media and the emergency services: Part 1 - Policing in your pocket
* "Frictionless sharing" - exploring the changes to Facebook
* Social Networks in the workplace - some data protection issues
* Seven things I've learnt about organising a conference
Free uses of FUMSI articles are supported by our sponsors.
Read posting online »
- [DocuTopic] Visualising 2012: Powerful pictures
The DocuTicker newsletters and DocuTicker Reports highlight timely, free, high-quality reports found in our DocuBase current awareness service. The reports are made available by governments, international organisations, academic research centres, think tanks, scholars and other institutions and individuals. Some of our favourite sources are the World Bank, the US Department of Agriculture and the Pew Research Center.
Read posting online »
- [FreePint] A look back ... and looking forward
As the year winds down, it is a good time to reflect upon what the past year has shown us, particularly as we get ready for the New Year. For me, this issue finds me concluding my first year here at FreePint and mulling a bit over what we've done...
Read posting online »
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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 »
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:
A look at non-profit information websites
 By Joann M. Wleklinski
FUMSI: Find
If you need to research the non-profit sector then the GuideStar websites are great places to start. Covering the US, UK, Belgium, Israel and India, these websites provide information about the sector's organisations with some details available for free, more once you are registered, and yet more if you subscribe.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'The GuideStar websites provide authoritative information about all sorts of non-profits for a variety of purposes - financial as well as administrative. The GuideStar websites are easily searchable, and provide detailed information to help those in the non-profit sector strategically position themselves in these difficult economic times. Visitors to the GuideStar website can access information for free. Register at the website (also free) and you get a bit more information. Pay for a subscription (monthly or yearly), or purchase a report individually, and you get a lot more information.'
Read, print, save or forward this article now »
Social media and the emergency services: Part 2 - Emergency management
 By Martha Murphy
FUMSI: Use
The emergency services are finding new ways of communicating with the public through social media. Martha Murphy shows how Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, blogs and podcasts have opened up new ways of information dissemination for fire and related groups in Canada.
WHAT'S INSIDE: 'Social media tools provide fire departments and other emergency groups with a timely response in disseminating public information to citizens, whether its preparedness information on a weekly basis or emergency information when a disaster happens. This includes Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, blogs and podcasts, with content such as safety tips, fire prevention week events, emergency preparedness workshop notifications and other announcements.'
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
- Leveraging unconference facilitation styles to revitalise training and meetings
- Think global, search local
- Information and opportunity: We are looking in the wrong direction
- Tend your garden: Build relationships and work with your stakeholders.
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 »
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Are your current news sources the best ones for your purposes?
Are you sure?
None of us can afford to take shortcuts in due diligence. The FreePint Volume: Business News Sources provides you with an easy and convenient way to:
- Compare and contrast premium business news providers across variables like underlying content, output formats, languages and more
- Dig into the strengths and weaknesses of each product
- Gain the insight of a global pool of information managers on how they manage their business news sources, both free and fee.
Includes product reviews of Factiva, NexisUK and FirstRain, a report comparing these providers, our Survey on News Needs and Preferences, plus a recent issue of VIP with a feature story on alternative news sources.
Get the collection -- valued at over £170 -- for only £97.50 (single site).
Learn more and purchase now »
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 Find the right information from the right source: Ask a person
Is all the information you need freely available on the web? It doesn't take long to find the answer to that question! Fill in the gaps with a time-tested information gathering method: Have a conversation with a person.
The FUMSI Report: Folio on Gathering Information From Human Sources will help you:
- Find expertise inside your organisation
- Maximise phone research efficacy
- Make the most of trade show field work
- Use the filtering insights staff posses to find sources.
Starting at only £39 for a single site license, the FUMSI Report: Folio on Gathering Information From Human Sources will empower your research to go beyond the web.
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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: Less information is more ... as long as it is the right information - A VIP Editorial
By Marcy Phelps
As the owner of a research firm specialising in business intelligence, I quickly learned that more is not better. No, the way to impress clients wasn't with those 80-page reports of which I was so proud when I first started my business. It didn't take long to determine that my clients weren't interested in having me gather more information than they could through their usage of the latest and greatest all-purpose search engine. They wanted information that was better than what they were finding. I eventually also learned that "better" had many facets.
Better information meant that it came from trusted sources. More definitely does not translate into authoritative, and my clients - with critical business decisions at stake - weren't comfortable with the ease with which one could publish on the web.
It also meant that the information would be focused, yet comprehensive. These busy executives didn't have time to go to multiple sources or scan pages of search results for those relevant nuggets. They needed specialised tools for quickly targeting the right amount of information in their topic of interest - the business of running a business.
For my clients, I found that better information needed to be packaged to facilitate decision-making. They wanted quick profiles for insights into industries and competitors. Executive summaries, tables, charts and other formats made it easy to spot key issues and trends. My analysis of the findings and what they meant with regard to my clients' goals and objectives added the kind of value that kept them coming back for more...
To read the remainder of this article, purchase VIP No. 97 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 Infotrieve.
Most Read Postings on the LiveWire Recently...
- Social networkers to business: "Get out!"
Most businesses still struggle to find the Holy Grail of engagement with customers on social media, suggest a couple of new reports. If so, it's not for want of tools to help them - but the real question is whether social network users want the big brands to be there at all...
Read posting online »
- Factiva is revving its engine
No, Factiva is not the sponsor of the next Indianapolis 500. But it is tuning up its own vehicle of sorts, adding tools and search features that encourage synthesis and analysis. Hence their tagline: Factiva: The Intelligence Engine...
Read posting online »
- Enterprise social requires governance
In the old days we called it the company intranet. Now, it is the social enterprise collaborator workspace. That is according to Matt Hamilton of the Plone Foundation and his seminar presentation at Online Information 2011...
Read posting online »
- Can search replace "the perfect secretary"?
Despite all the information available to them, companies are now taking longer to reach critical business decisions, a new report finds. But perhaps we shouldn't be surprised; a couple of other recent publications suggest that there's a serious shortage of the skills needed to help turn data into action.
Read posting online »
- UK small businesses still in the dark ages
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are in danger of getting stuck in the technological "dark ages" according to a recent report. The Intel Small Business Index reports that small businesses are "slow to adopt new technologies such as tablets and cloud computing because of a lack of financial and human resources" adding that these businesses "are also putting themselves at risk of data breaches because of a lack of awareness around security regulations and investment in security technologies"...
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...
- National Library of France Chooses EBSCO Discovery Service™
IPSWICH, Mass. - January, 10, 2012 - Bibliotheque nationale de France (BNF), the National Library of France has selected EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) as its library discovery solution. As a long time EBSCO Publishing (EBSCO) customer, the National Library of France was pleased with EDS's comprehensive index solution and ability to incorporate many of the library's information resources. After looking at several discovery services, the librarians at BNF were confident that EDS was the best service to expose users to the national library's collection - one of the largest and richest e-collection of any library worldwide...
Read Press Release online »
- CCC Acquires Pubget
Acquisition Supports CCC Mission of Making Licensing Seamless by Providing Value-Added Services
Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), a not-for-profit organization and leading source of licensing solutions, has acquired MA-based Pubget, a solutions provider focused on expediting the acquisition and analysis of content...
Read Press Release online »
- Springer Launches SpringerLink mobile app
Springer launches SpringerLink mobile app for iPhone
SpringerLink app provides wireless access to one of the largest collections of scientific information
Springer, a leading global scientific publisher, has launched the SpringerLink mobile app for iPhone and iPod Touch. It is free to download from the iTunes App Store providing access to the science platform www.springerlink.com containing articles and chapters from over 2,000 peer-reviewed journals and 49,000 books. In total SpringerLink is offering over 5.4 million documents spanning every area of science, technology and medicine...
Read Press Release online »
VIP Wire »
VIP - Subscribe and Back Issues
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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
- Novares
- Bibliogo
- SciVerse
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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 Research on Global Economy
Not a day goes by without news of the economy strongly featured, largely stories of crisis: recession, fears of a "double dip recession", hopes of recovery found in some figures set against evidence of continued problems in others.
The DocuTicker Report: DocuTips on the Global Economy informs your research on this pressing issue.
Providing:
- A deep collection of current research
- Resources for further research
- Articles and insights on information accessibility in practise
Starting at only £12 for a single site license, the DocuTicker Report: DocuTips on the Global Economy is a smart addition to your learning and library.
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Request your free FreePint Report: Buyer's Guide On Business News Information
In addition to providing a guide to companies providing tools to power business news information, this free report includes three FUMSI articles, written by experts in the field, on:
- Selected sources for news
- Sound advice: Online audio archives & repositories for research
- Search engines revisited
Plus helpful information from listings in the FreePint Buyer's Guide on business news information.
Request your free copy »
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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:
- Researcher - Corporate Finance
Salary - £Market Rate. Independent corporate finance advisory firm requires a reliable...
Recruiter: TFPL
Country: United Kingdom
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E Resources Project Officer
Short contract at university in London for someone who has created metadata in a library or archive context and who has SQL, Excel & Access experience. c£10.50 per hour
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited
Country: United Kingdom
- Legal Research and Library Manager - SHEFFIELD etc
Legal Research Manager (9 month Maternity Leave Fixed Term Contract) to be based in either Sheffield, Manchester, Leeds or Birmingham.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
Country: United Kingdom
Browse all Jinfo Jobs »
Jinfo Events:
Here is a selection of the latest featured events in the Jinfo database:
- No events as of publication date
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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Contact Information
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