|
FreePint Newsletter No.359
20th September 2012
|
|
|
 In reviewing the latest articles for this issue of the FreePint Newsletter, two jumped out at me for very different reasons.
The first is Tim Buckley Owen's commentary "Inconvenience sucks". Tim's title comes from a comment Dialog founder Roger Summit made during a panel discussion at the SLA annual conference in July: "Convenience is king; inconvenience sucks." Every time I see Tim's headline when I scan the FreePint Subscription articles list, its bluntness causes me to catch my breath. Let's not beat around the bush, it seems to say to me. And truly, it reflects a kind of frustration we probably all feel more often than not with poor user interface, clumsy search, and the "why can't it be as easy as..." (fill in the name of a search engine. Which might rhyme with "schmoogle"). Read more from Tim to learn how some of our industry's Big Thinkers are wrestling with the idea of convenience in a complex world which also requires thoughtfulness.
The other article that captures my attention is also about convenience of a sort: Helen Clegg has researched and written a mini-review of PrivCo, one of the latest entrants into the world of providing private company information. Helen was particularly impressed with the ease of use of the advanced features, as well as the depth of coverage on private companies. In one comparative search, she found that PrivCo provided 18 years' worth of income figures, compared with just one sales figure from another "well-known company."
We're all looking for that almost contradictory combination: Easy access to hard-to-find information. Convenience and value. Scan this issue's headlines, abstracts and latest reports, and I'll bet you'll find a few items that deliver just that.
By Robin Neidorf
Director of Research, FreePint
robin.neidorf@freepint.com
|
My Favourite Tipples
|
 By Barbara Fullerton
The event happens every four years in the US, but it consumes us for over 10 months, and takes perhaps 10 minutes to complete. The event is the 2012 US Presidential Election. The action is voting. There are so many different points of view and news about the candidates and issues that it seems difficult to locate unbiased information and to sort through the facts in the media. The following sites may help an individual review issues and find truths in American politics.
- PolitiFact: Winner of a Pulitzer Prize, this site claims to fact-check items and issues reported on the web and rate them on their "Beyond the Truth-O-Meter" and "Flip-O-Meter" pages. PolitiFact is a project of the Tampa Bay Times. The reporters and editors from the Times fact-check statements by members of Congress, the White House, lobbyists and interest groups. What makes this a trusted site? It is owned and maintained by an independent, non-partisan news organization and is not "beholden to any government, political party or corporate interest". PolitiFact also has an app for smartphones and tablets. One can sign-up for their weekly emails or subscribe to their RSS Feeds. They also have a Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/politifact.
- FactCheck: FactCheck is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania (APPC). It was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg to "create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state and federal levels."
Participants are "nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer advocate(s) for voters that aim to reduce the level of deception and confusion in US politics." The group monitors TV ads, videos, campaign appearances and forums, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases for accuracy. FactCheck's announcements and articles are also available via an app for smartphones, email and RSS feeds. The group can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/factcheck.
- Federal Election Commission: This is a US government site that monitors all election finances. In the 1970s, Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). What is appealing about this site is the Campaign Finance Disclosure Portal. The Portal provides a single point of entry to campaign finance data. There are navigation maps and charts that display the campaign finance data, and search tools and methods to download data sets for analysis. Information includes campaign finance data, report filings and summary information for the 2012 presidential elections. Email subscriptions are available for the latest updates on certain pages, and you can customise the delivery frequency (immediately, daily, weekly or monthly).
- The Message Machine: This site is sponsored by National Public Radio (NPR) and PolitiFact, and includes analysis of "speeches and truths in campaign advertising". Reporters from PolitiFact check claims made on TV, radio, Facebook, tweets and other social media tools on the Presidential race, House & Senate Races, statewide races and primaries. NPR airs segments about the fact-checking process on the Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other shows.
- Project Vote Smart: This site contains millions of facts on the candidates, including biographies, voting records, issue positions, ratings, speeches and public comments, and campaign finance information. One feature, the Political Courage Test, measures a candidate's willingness to provide citizens with their positions on key issues. Their award-winning interactive tool, VoteEasy, allows voters to "find their political soul mate." Newsletters are available via email subscriptions, and RSS feeds are available for updates on the 20 most recent key votes going through Congress.
Barbara Fullerton has been in the information professional field for over 15 years, with experience in vendor relations, and corporate and law libraries. She has a Bachelors degree in mass communications, a paralegal certificate, and an MLIS from Emporia State University in Kansas. She has been in the Dallas, Texas area for over 10 years, and is an active member in AALL, SLA and other regional librarian and information professional organisations. She is a regular speaker in the information industry, including AALL and SLA annual meetings, AIIP, SLA regional meetings, Internet Librarian, Computers in Libraries, SCIP, Texas Library Association and regional paralegal associations. Her speaking and writing topics include gadgets, mobile apps, privacy issues, data mining, and cybertheft. She can be reached at bjfullerton@gmail.com.
Would you like to submit your Favourite Tipples suggestions to the FreePint Newsletter? Find out more »
|
|
Back to top ^
|
|
Discover how Linklaters is benefiting from a Financial Times Corporate License
Linklaters LLP, a global law firm uses the Financial Times to increase lawyers' commercial awareness and build better client relationships. The FT offers the global business intelligence needed to help Linklaters lawyers to become more commercially aware and develop their international expertise.
Download the full case study here
 With an FT corporate subscription, all Linklaters lawyers receive unlimited access to FT content via desktop, mobile devices and third party channels, such as WestLaw and LexisNexis, for a single subscription payment.
Contact us to find out how your firm could benefit from a corporate license.
|
|
|
|
 The latest FreePint Report: Buyer's Guide on Competitive Intelligence
Request your free copy today
One of the most common topics covered by FreePint, competitive intelligence is a discipline that you never stop learning about. Whenever companies find new ways to share information, CI professionals have new potential sources of insight.
Buyer's Guide reports combine FreePint articles with information about vendors that provide products and services for the discipline.
In this issue:
- Mini Review: Northern Light Discovery Portal
- Essential resources for competitive intelligence research in biopharma
- Competitive intelligence on a budget
- LinkedIn buys SlideShare - a boost for CI researchers
- And more...
Request your free copy now »
|
|
|
FreePint Features
|
 FreePint Features offers the latest commentary on trends, issues and opportunities in the information world, as well as examples of how organisations use FreePint resources to raise the value of information.
Selection of the latest FreePint Features articles:
- The "hidden" side of information practice
By Scott Brown on Tuesday, 18th September 2012
We conduct high-value research, and provide analysis and insight. These are the activities we usually talk about when we talk about our work. This issue of the Information Practice Newsletter provide a view of some of the "hidden" aspects of information management, and the breadth and depth of the impact we can have.
- Workplace integration: the ties that bind
By Cindy Romaine on Tuesday, 18th September 2012
Getting the right information into the right hands via the right tool is a key to empowering the enterprise. Without the right software, users are condemned to drowning in a tsunami of information and overloaded by uncontrolled data.
- Reports coming later this month
By Robin Neidorf on Monday, 17th September 2012
Get a preview of the FreePint Reports being published in September 2012. FreePint Subscribers get access to all reports, as part of their subscription, and can share them with anyone at their organisations.
- This week's popular FreePint Subscription articles
By Robin Neidorf on Monday, 17th September 2012
We keep an eye on usage and sharing statistics, to help us learn what's most useful to FreePint Subscribers. Check out the latest most-read and most-shared items.
- The care and feeding of taxonomies: Taxonomy management
By Heather Hedden on Thursday, 13th September 2012
Taxonomy management is an important responsibility of any organization that owns a taxonomy, no matter the original source of the taxonomy. Taxonomies connect users to content, and as users, content or terminology may change over time, the taxonomy must adapt. This is a short version of a more detailed article published in the FreePint Subscription.
- Chaos, idiocy and salvation
By Scott Brown on Tuesday, 11th September 2012
Can we win the battle against information chaos and idiocy? Find out the answer in this week's Information Content Newsletter.
- PrivCo: Making a researcher's life easier
By Helen Clegg on Tuesday, 11th September 2012
Part of an information professional's job is to be able to navigate the ever-growing landscape of research tools, whether free or subscription-based, and make an informed decision on the most appropriate tool to use from the myriad available. This article highlights the benefits of the PrivCo database, which is filling a gap in the market by providing detailed private company financial information, including insight into funding, venture capital and M&A activities. This is a short version of a more detailed review published in the FreePint Subscription.
- Expanding Your Reach: Social Enterprise, Collaboration, Awareness and Integration
By Christy Confetti-Higgins on Monday, 10th September 2012
Communications for information professionals in the enterprise is critical, as it creates awareness of the information services being provided to the company and how those services impact the business.
- The challenge of information management compliance
By Edsel David on Thursday, 6th September 2012
As information technology continues to become increasingly embedded in our jobs, organisations will have exponentially more challenges around information compliance. Although individual industries have unique regulations, technologies and challenges, fundamentally, many of the compliance requirements are common. This allows information managers across multiple industries to address compliance challenges in a standard, systematic way. Edsel David looks at six strategies to begin to address these challenges.
- Catching up on a world of change
By Robin Neidorf on Wednesday, 5th September 2012
Global events provide a context for observing the scope of change in the information world: Social media was an essential component of coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, unlike the Beijing Olympics only 4 years before. FreePint Reports published this month provide a similar opportunity to step back from the busy desktop and consider the full range of tools that impact how we go about research, news and media monitoring, and gathering intelligence about this world around us.
- ... More ...
Visit FreePint Features »
 Subscribe to the FreePint Features RSS Feed »
|
|
Back to top ^
|
|
Nothing Fits Quite Like A NewsEdge Solution!
We specialise in crafting a custom fit of our NewsEdge services into your workflow. The end result is a powerful real-time news management solution tailored for how your end users need their information.
Whether you need to deliver current news to an intranet, alerts to a mobile device or custom newsletter to your executive staff, NewsEdge will make you look good. We are not a "one size fits all" solution. It's our tailoring that makes all the difference!
Let us show you more with a tailored demonstration fit just for you.
Find out more at www.newsedge.com. Follow us on: Twitter - Facebook
|
|
|
|
Do you face these kinds of challenges:
- Staying informed about changes to critical sources
- Keeping up to date on emerging information-related tech and tips
- Educating senior leadership on trends in information strategy
... then a FreePint Subscription can help.
Find out more. Start by completing our online form, "How can FreePint help?"
|
|
|
FreePint Subscription
|
 Articles and reports included in a FreePint Subscription provide customer organisations with practical insight to support information practice, content purchasing and usage, and strategic planning.
Subscribers can click any link to login and view the full item. If you have not yet purchased a FreePint Subscription, learn more about the benefits now.
Selection of FreePint Subscription articles and reports:
- Consuming information via streams
By James Mullan on Wednesday, 19th September 2012
How individuals and organisations publish content to the web has changed significantly since the early days of the web. It would appear that now we're seeing another significant change in web publishing. One of the biggest drivers of this change is the move from pages to streams. This new way of consuming content is also changing the way content is published, but how and why?
- The dark side of information overload
By James Mullan on Tuesday, 18th September 2012
The extent by which we all suffer from information overload has been written about and discussed time and time again, but is there a dark side to information overload - a side that we're only just becoming aware of?
- Findability: a taxing issue
By Dale Moore on Tuesday, 18th September 2012
Taxonomies connect people and content. They enable us to find what we're looking for by grouping related things together and help capture the key vocabulary of our knowledge domains. So why do so few organisations seem to make use of them? Why do we hear so much about big data, the cloud, social media and mobile computing, but relatively little about taxonomies? Is this an area we should be focussing on in our organisations?
 FreePint Report: Workflow Integration: Right content, right place
Published on Tuesday, 18th September 2012
Getting the right information into the right hands via the right tool is a key to empowering the enterprise. Without the right software, users are condemned to drowning in a tsunami of information and overloaded by uncontrolled data. The articles in this report look at the challenges and successes of workflow integration and workflow tools in organisations.
- The Deal moves into TheStreet with Pipeline and top subscribers
By Penny Crossland on Monday, 17th September 2012
The crowded digital financial information space has just consolidated. Econtent alerted us to the acquisition of The Deal LLC by TheStreet Inc, the well-established publisher of free and paid-for financial news and consumer sites. The transaction price was $5.8 million and reflected the value of The Deal's respected premium database Deal Pipeline, which is only four years old and contains news on deals and profiles of individuals and firms.
- My data, my rules?
By Tim Buckley Owen on Monday, 17th September 2012
Doubts and uncertainties remain about swathes of United Kingdom privacy regulation, including self-reporting of breaches, regulation of cookies and the principle of putting data "beyond use". The government is clearly dissatisfied with the voluntary take-up of the midata scheme so far, and a consultation is looking at making it compulsory if necessary. Like it or not, it probably means there's more privacy regulation on the way.
- "Inconvenience sucks"
By Tim Buckley Owen on Thursday, 13th September 2012
Make information more insightful to our users. Value-added services need to be as easy to use as Google. Inconvenience sucks. Be "aggressive" in approaching key players and departments. All good stuff, but where are the exemplars? To keep abreast of the empowered end-user, you have to get ahead of them - and that may mean taking conceptual risks.
- Taxonomy management: Needs and considerations
By Heather Hedden on Thursday, 13th September 2012
Taxonomy management is an important responsibility of any organisation that owns a taxonomy, no matter the original source of the taxonomy. Taxonomies connect users to content, and, as users, content or terminology may change over time, the taxonomy must adapt. Taxonomy management encompasses the issues of taxonomy change and maintenance, taxonomy system, taxonomy editorial policies, and taxonomy ownership roles and responsibilities.
- InfoMonitor launches as InfoArmy reaches milestone - the CI battle heats up
By Penny Crossland on Wednesday, 12th September 2012
Competitive intelligence researchers should take note of a new service offered by InfoDesk, the information management solutions company. It recently launched an alerting service called InfoMonitor, which provides tailor-made updates on companies using web-based, subscription and social media sources, including Twitter.
- Making enterprise search more like Google
By James Mullan on Wednesday, 12th September 2012
We live in a world where information is being created at a phenomenal rate. You only have to look at this infographic to understand how much and how quickly information is being created. Whilst the numbers are a bit smaller, organisations face the same challenges when managing their internal information. Two issues in particular stand out: how to organise content that has been saved in different systems and how to search it. Enter a new breed of enterprise search tools and moves to make search "more like Google".
 FreePint Report: Internal Communications
Published on Tuesday, 11th September 2012
Communications for information professionals in the enterprise is critical, as it creates awareness of the information services being provided to the company and how those services impact the business. This report, updated twice annually, collects the current content relevant to those responsible for internal communications in a convenient PDF package for downloading and offline reading.
- Mini Review: PrivCo
By Helen Clegg on Tuesday, 11th September 2012
Searching for financial information on private companies in the US is time-consuming and difficult, simply because private companies don't have to file their accounts with the SEC. This article reviews the PrivCo database, which focuses solely on providing accurate financial, M&A, venture capital and investor information on private companies. It's a rather neat tool that provides a good deal of insight on private companies all in one place, saving users the hassle of conducting multiple searches across an array of databases and social media networks.
- The SharePoint puzzle
By Dale Moore on Friday, 7th September 2012
In a recently published report from AIIM (the content management specialists), it's stated that SharePoint 2010 seems to be the Swiss army knife of Enterprise Content Management systems and, as such, seeks to be a lot of things to a lot of people. Is this a strength or a weakness? The report offers some very interesting and surprising insights into current practices and attitudes, and some clear opportunities for information professionals to make their mark.
- Six strategies for improving information management compliance
By Edsel David on Thursday, 6th September 2012
As information technology continues to become increasingly embedded in our jobs, organisations will have exponentially more challenges around information compliance. Although individual industries have unique regulations, technologies and challenges, fundamentally, many of the compliance requirements are common. This allows information managers across multiple industries to address compliance challenges in a standard, systematic way. Edsel David looks at six strategies to begin to address these challenges.
- Digging Deeper into Staff Size
By Robin Neidorf on Wednesday, 5th September 2012
Following high-level discussion of staff sizes for information services and configuration of those services, we take a closer look at the data from 20 interviews and analyse them in terms of average and median staff sizes, average and median numbers of supported staff, and FTEs in information services as a percentage of supported staff. A number of distinctions by tiers emerge as well as industry differences.
- ... More ...
Latest FreePint Subscription content »
|
|
Back to top ^
|
|
 More need than budget? DocuTicker Reports can help
DocuTips on Healthcare Research: Free ebook sponsored by Springer
A wealth of quality research is available on topics relating to disease, health and patient care. If your library has more information needs than budget, the latest DocuTicker Report: DocuTips on Healthcare Research can point you in the right direction.
Request your free copy now »
|
|
|
|
If you find FreePint useful...
Forward to a colleague
The FreePint Newsletter is a free resource to provide insight and updates on information practice, content products and information strategy.
If you find it useful, please forward to a friend or colleague.
"Fabulous resource to learn of unique tools and insights. Very useful." -- Manager, Futures and Forecasting, Virginia, USA
Read more testimonials and share yours now »
|
|
|
Jinfo
|
 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.
Latest featured vacancies in Jinfo Jobs:
- Analyst - Business Development
Our client, a leading professional services firm has an opportunity for an experienced analyst... | Recruiter: TFPL | Country: United Kingdom. Full listing »
- Senior Business Researcher - Legal
To work in the legal field and undertake business research and report writing relating to sectors, companies and markets. | Recruiter: Glen Recruitment | Country: United Kingdom. Full listing »
- Workflow Coordinator
Skilled communicator needed to manage workflow & client expectations. Exp in secondary research & analysis in a business research setting essential. | Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited | Country: United Kingdom. Full listing »
Browse all Jinfo Jobs »
Latest featured events in Jinfo Events:
Browse all Jinfo Events »
Next steps:
- Jinfo Update - Receive the weekly email Jinfo Update, with a complete list of the latest vacancies and events.
- 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.
Visit Jinfo »
|
|
Back to top ^
|
About FreePint
FreePint supports the value of information in the enterprise. We do this by publishing practical articles and reports about information practice, content and strategy.
A FreePint Subscription provides exclusive access to all premium articles, reports and packages. FreePint Features highlights latest content and comment on the information industry.
The FreePint Newsletter serves as a guide to the latest articles and reports, and highlights the value organisations get from a FreePint Subscription. View the FP Newsletter Archive and sign up for free.
To find out more about how your organisation can benefit from a FreePint Subscription, complete our online form, "How can FreePint help?"
Contribute: If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write, then find out more about contributing »
Sponsorship: Read about the range of offerings through FreePint Vendor Services »
Please note:
- 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.
- This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers. Contact FreePint Support for more details.
- Product names used in FreePint are for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. FreePint disclaims any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved.
The FreePint Newsletter (ISSN 1460-7239) is published by Free Pint Limited. FreePint is a registered trademark of Free Pint Limited, registered in England and Wales. Registered Number: 3754481. Registered Office: Delaport Coach House, Lamer Lane, Wheathampstead, Herts, AL4 8RQ.
Copyright Free Pint Limited 1997-2012
|
|
Back to top ^
|
|
