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FreePint Newsletter No.373
18th April 2013
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 It used to be that information was like gold: if you hoarded it, it became more valuable. Today it's more like milk: wait too long, and it goes "off".
That's because business decisions and a competitive edge rely on having the freshest information available. And if you can access information your competitors don't have, so much the better.
Monitoring sources to glean relevant information would be challenging enough. But more sources are introduced all the time, and the access point for those sources also changes regularly.
One of the key benefits of a FreePint Subscription is its ability to keep you informed about changes in sources. In fact, "source awareness" is one of the five core topics driving editorial development at FreePint.
FreePint for Source Awareness
Here are a few of the ways we've contributed to source awareness in the past two weeks:
- Anne Jordan's latest Source Update covers changes in EBSCO's collection, noting relevant publications that have been added to their databases, for example. This is an aggregator we don't cover as frequently as we do Factiva and Nexis, but one that is still very important to readers, based on the spike in views that followed the article's publication.
- Aileen Marshall introduces another useful source collection, with her review of ReportLinker. ReportLinker harnesses semantic technology to aggregate reports from all over the web and make them available to researchers through one search point. "Clean and easy user interface - and a budget-friendly source" summarise her findings.
- Some sources get eaten up by others: the recently announced acquisition of upstart Mendeley by establishment Elsevier is analysed by both Victor Camlek and Penny Crossland - complementary perspectives that can help you sort out for yourself how you feel about this development and what actions you might consider taking.
FreePint Alerts - New Way to Keep Up With New Content
We hope that FreePint is one of your useful sources, and we're always looking for ways to make it easier to get to the articles and reports you find useful. To that end, we've recently added a direct link to Google Alerts, which can turn your FreePint site searches into active Alerts when new content matching your terms has been published. This article provides guidance on setting up a content alert.
Are there other features you'd suggest we add to the FreePint site? Sources or types of sources that are essential to you? Articles you'd like to read? Contact me at robin.neidorf@freepint.com and let us know.
By Robin Neidorf
Director of Research, FreePint
robin.neidorf@freepint.com
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My Favourite Tipples
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 By Paul Byfield
Primarily responsible for the delivery of know-how content, and management of the legal library and training resources for the team of lawyers in the Office of the General Counsel, the legal team at The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The team is comprised of 93 lawyers working across 34 jurisdictions and a diverse range of industries and sectors. The identification and dissemination of current awareness is a vital function for the department and I am currently looking to implement a workable solution to this problem!
- European Forum News: (This is not an indication of my political views!) An excellent collection of political news updates. This covers all of the region that the EBRD works in, including the Middle East and North Africa. It is free to access and you can sign up to receive the Newsflash newsletter.
- Emerging Markets Information Service: The EMIS service is almost tailormade for an organisation like the EBRD. Email alerts allow users to keep track of developments in any number of countries, including those countries in the Middle East and North Africa where the bank has just started working (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia). Content includes news, macroeconomic data, company and financial data and some legal information. Ideal for keeping bank staff up-to-date with what is going on in the region.
- EU Business: A quick and easy way to catch up with what is going on within the EU region, includes the "EU Agenda: Week Ahead" looking at upcoming items and issues. Subscriptions to sector-focused RSS feeds are also invaluable.
- Mondaq Business Briefing: Updates from law firms are a vital component of the EBRD’s know-how and Mondaq is a good aggregator of law firm newsletters. It is free to access and set up customised alerts, and the service can be sliced by topic and country. Also includes video content.
- Twitter: An obvious one, but a good way for me to follow what my fellow information professionals are doing, also I do find that the humour provides a good start to the day!
Paul Byfield is the Legal Knowledge Manager at The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He has recently authored the report "Information Management for Law Firms" and has also published articles on information and knowledge management issues in Business Information Review, Inside Knowledge and Managing Partner. He is an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. He graduated from Kingston University with an LLB (Hons) in Law and from Nottingham University with a Master's Degree in International Relations (including EU law).
Would you like to submit your Favourite Tipples suggestions to the FreePint Newsletter? Find out more »
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Big Data Beyond the Buzz
If "Big Data" is on your agenda but you still aren't quite sure what it means, you'll want to be part of FreePint's "Big Data in Action" series starting in April.
Register now for:
- Our free Big Data in Action report, including practical guidance, case studies and links to resources
- Notification of open registration for free webinars and online discussion sessions
- Special offers from sponsors who can help you make the leap from concept to practical plan.
Learn more and register now -- it's free »
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A Smarter Search Solution for Information Professionals:
ReportLinker.com is the only search engine that finds, filters and organizes the latest data from trusted public sources and private publishers on over 350 leading industries around the world - all in one place for maximum productivity!
Get instant access to official industry statistics - Register for a trial today!
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FreePint Features
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 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:
- Staying Alert to FreePint Content
By Robin Neidorf on Tuesday, 16th April 2013
FreePint has added two new features to its site to make sure you never miss articles or reports: one which gives users an even easier way to search the site; and the second which allows users to set up alerts so that when new content is published which matches your keywords, you're automatically notified.
- ReportLinker: A Comprehensive Deep Web Crawler
By Aileen Marshall on Friday, 12th April 2013
Claiming the largest online collection of industry, company and country reports, ReportLinker uses semantic search technology to pull results from the deep web. This allows researchers to trawl around 200,000 public sources at once - along with premium content, reports from around 450 private publishers including World Market Intelligence, The Economist Intelligence Unit and Global Markets Direct.
- The Competitive Intelligence War Goes Mobile with GPS and Smartphones
By Rachael Elliott on Thursday, 11th April 2013
Smartphones, GPS, apps and our love of sharing information, personal as well as private, has created a new opportunity for professionals in the field of competitive intelligence. Rachael Elliott discusses how deployment of mobile devices allows insights to be gleaned from everyday apps such as Foursquare and why we should be wary of new developments such as Google mapping inside buildings.
- FreePint for Information, Insight and Analysis
By Robin Neidorf on Thursday, 4th April 2013
As information professionals we spend considerable time and resources evaluating and selecting the best sources to support business research and to allow us to provide high-quality information, insight and analysis to other parts of the business. With the explosion in sources both free and chargeable, keeping up with the most appropriate and most authoritative can be a tough challenge. Taking time to scan the FreePint database of articles and reviews every week can reap dividends in highlighting trends, surfacing new definitive resources for your area and identifying new ways of working.
- ... More ...
Visit FreePint Features »
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You Know You're Curious
Have you clicked a FreePint article title, only to learn "you don't have access"? Find out what you're missing.
Complete our form How can FreePint Help? and put the note, "I want a peek!" in the comments box. Approved requests will get full access to our entire database of articles and reports for two business days.
If you've been curious, take advantage of this limited-time offer for a sneak peek at the full value of a FreePint Subscription.
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SLA 2013 Annual Conference & INFO-EXPO
Connect, Collaborate and Strategize with thousands of information professionals in beautiful San Diego!
Don't Miss Out On:
- Over 200 events! Including educational programming, networking events, receptions, and tours.
- The INFO-EXPO Hall! Featuring leading companies in the industry.
- A phenomenal Keynote Speaker! Mike Walsh, bestselling author of Futuretainment, and a leading authority on the digital future.
Early bird registration through 19 April;
learn more and register now »
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FreePint Subscription
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 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:
- Product Review of InsideView: Introduction and FreePint's View
By Jan Knight on Tuesday, 16th April 2013
Prospecting for sales leads and the inevitable cold calling is a tough task but it's a vital part of any business operation. Jan Knight reviews InsideView, an award-winning sales intelligence tool which aims to make the process more effective by providing sales and marketing specialists with critical business insights to allow them to contact the right person at the right time... and with the right message.
- Technology Talent + Softer Skills = Ideal Candidate?
By Tim Buckley Owen on Monday, 15th April 2013
Information technology talent may be in short supply, according to a new survey from Forbes Insights. But other reports from the Economist Intelligence Unit and Gartner suggest that there is an equally pressing need to recruit skilled people who can interpret big data or foster collaboration using corporate social media. Significantly, there's also one call for information resources to be pooled in a central unit, providing insights across the whole organisation and directly to the highest level executives.
- Elsevier Acquires Mendeley - Sell-out or Wise Move?
By Penny Crossland on Monday, 15th April 2013
So publishing disruptor Mendeley has been sold to STM establishment giant Elsevier. A Twitter campaign encouraging users to delete their Mendeley account has already begun but should researchers bide their time and see whether open access advocate Mendeley has really sold out or made a wise move which will benefit its founders and researchers alike, bringing users access to more content and faster development?
- Elsevier and Mendeley: What Will the Future Bring?
By Victor Camlek on Friday, 12th April 2013
Elsevier has acquired Mendeley. An established global publishing house purchasing a young edutech open access advocate may not seem the most likely pairing. Victor Camlek explores the factors that could make this a fairytale wedding or a short and rocky relationship.
- Have Social Intranets Failed to Live Up to Their Hype?
By James Mullan on Thursday, 11th April 2013
If you're an intranet manager there's no doubt that you're excited, if not overjoyed, about the potential of a social intranet. However, have social intranets caught on as much as we might have expected them to? Renowned intranet guru, and author of the Digital Workplace Trends Report, Jane McConnell doesn't think so.
- The Smartphone: Mini Missile in the Competitive Intelligence War
By Rachael Elliott on Wednesday, 10th April 2013
Technology has always been at the forefront of new developments in CI techniques, and the smartphone has provided a new dimension in intelligence-gathering techniques. GPS capabilities, barcode-scanning, cameras and mapping tools are all innovations which, when some creativity is applied, can be used to gather sophisticated intelligence about the competition.
 FreePint Report: Product Review of ReportLinker
Published on Wednesday, 10th April 2013
In her review of ReportLinker, Aileen Marshall explores the myriad of industry, company and country reports available for around 200 countries and 350 industries. Researchers can interrogate information from around 200,000 information sources on public and private companies using semantic search technology - and reports date back as far as 1994, presenting a comprehensive resource from UBIQUICK, a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA company.
- Product Review of ReportLinker: Executive Summary
By Aileen Marshall on Wednesday, 10th April 2013
If you're looking for a comprehensive global resource that covers public and private data, ReportLinker could be the ideal search engine for you. The company has developed a search algorithm using semantic technology that offers refined search capacities, mining research and data-driven documents that are hidden in the deep web, essential when 200,000 public sources and 450 private research publishers are at your fingertips.
- How to Identify what Intranet Users Want
By James Mullan on Wednesday, 10th April 2013
James Mullan considers how intranet managers can really understand what intranet users want. He explores a variety of tools and research techniques such as card sorting and focus groups, to help draw information from intranet users. Intranet managers can then truly put themselves into their users' shoes to allow them to develop and refine the intranet to better meet user needs.
- Alternatives to Google Alerts - Is it Next for the Cut?
By Penny Crossland on Monday, 8th April 2013
Google is the topic of conversation for the wrong reasons at the moment, from its copyright battles to disgruntlement over the recent cull of Google Reader. Now it seems free web monitoring service Google Alerts is providing poor results, leading to speculation about its closure. Penny Crossland looks at some alternative free alerting services and puts them to the test.
- Why We Need to Reward Employee Contributions
By James Mullan on Friday, 5th April 2013
New research has shown that organisations that say "thank you" to their employees consistently outperform those that don't. The question is, how should rewards and contributions be managed internally? James Mullan discusses some possible techniques including gamification.
- Product Review of ReportLinker: Introduction and FreePint's View
By Aileen Marshall on Thursday, 4th April 2013
In her review of ReportLinker, Aileen Marshall explores the myriad of industry, company and country reports available for around 200 countries and 350 industries. Researchers can interrogate information from around 200,000 information sources on public and private companies using semantic search technology - and reports date back as far as 1994, presenting a comprehensive resource from UBIQUICK, a Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA company.
- Replacing your Intranet with Yammer
By James Mullan on Thursday, 4th April 2013
Intranets have come a long way since the early days of static text-heavy internal websites for collaboration and communication. Now they offer unique functionality that often eclipses what is available on the website of the same company. Whilst social intranets are becoming the norm, we're yet to see an enterprise social network such as Yammer become an intranet... until now.
- Source Update April 2013: What's Happening with EBSCO?
By Anne Jordan on Thursday, 4th April 2013
This month's additions and takedowns in EBSCO, researched and compiled by Anne Jordan.
- Fair Use vs Free Ride - Meltwater Loses US Copyright Battle
By Penny Crossland on Wednesday, 3rd April 2013
The debate over copyright in the digital sphere continues with the recent ruling in the Meltwater/Associated Press battle. Central to the decision was whether or not Meltwater was driving subscribers to third-party news sites or acting as a source in itself, and how much free information constitutes "too much".
- Source Update April 2013: What's Happening with Nexis?
By Anne Jordan on Wednesday, 3rd April 2013
This month's additions and takedowns in Nexis, researched and compiled by Anne Jordan.
- ... More ...
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Jinfo
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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.
Latest featured vacancies in Jinfo Jobs:
- Records Manager
Records Management Specialist with confidence to supervise small team dealing with electronic records for Professional Services firm in prestigious Central London offices. | Recruiter: Glen Recruitment | Country: United Kingdom. Full listing »
- Knowledge Manager
Do you have knowledge of the trends and issues facing the financial services industry across its many and varied sectors? | 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.
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- Running An Event - List it on Jinfo to reach a targeted audience seeking professional development opportunities.
Visit Jinfo »
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About FreePint
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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.
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- 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.
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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 1997-2013
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