My Favourite Tipples

FreePint Research

• Semantics questions
  
• Supporting Information Strategy

By Seth Grimes

Creating a Tipples list is a challenge when you're (like me) a believer in Information Anarchy! That belief fits my work: I'm an industry analyst and consultant covering analytics and semantics, that is, technologies that help us make sense of numbers and a world of "unstructured" data.

I don't have a set of even five tools or sites I use regularly. Instead, I use "smart filters," namely folks (and a few tools) I trust to find, weigh, and relay news, papers, and resources I'll likely find useful. Here are my favourite filters:

• Twitter is an unmatched way to stay on top of fast-emerging issues and community attitudes. I have 5 accounts but do most of my reading and tweeting via @sethgrimes. Take a look at who I'm following to find some to add to your reading list.
  
  
• Google Alerts is the only automaton tool that makes my list. Choose the right, narrow search terms and be near-instantly informed when news hits the web (which for our purposes is synonymous with the Google search index.)
  
  
• LinkedIn Groups represent self-forming special-interest communities. There's a lot of overlap among groups, and the Discussions can be full of noise, but I've nonetheless found the groups to be a great way to identify and communicate with folks whose interests I share. Similarly, e-mail lists still deliver huge value for me. Have a look at those I belong to if you'd like.
  
  
• I love conferences. They're an opportunity to focus on the topics, people, and companies that matter to you professionally, to learn and network. And yes, I even put on my own. My next is the 4th Sentiment Analysis Symposium, 8 May in New York.
  
  
• The daily newspaper, two of them for me, The New York Times and the Washington Post, which I read on paper (!). We still need the editorial judgment and sustained, deep coverage that these media deliver, and I love the open-to-new-things experience of reading a publication printed on broadsheet.

My attitude is, Get your information-gathering methods right, and you open yourself to a world of content.

Seth Grimes is principal consultant at Alta Plana Corporation, which he founded in 1997. He writes, speaks, and consults internationally on the business application of analytical and semantic technologies, notably business intelligence, text analytics, and sentiment analysis. Follow Seth on Twitter at @sethgrimes.

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