Newsletter No. 62
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ISSN 1460-7239 11th May 2000 No.62
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Sue Bishop
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"Idiots' guide to UK employment law sites on the Internet"
By David Ogden
BOOKSHELF
"Millennium Intelligence: Understanding and Conducting
Competitive Intelligence in the Digital Age"
Reviewed by Arthur Weiss
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Gimme a G for Global, a G for Geography"
By Micky Allen
FREE PINT BAR
by Simon Collery
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EDITORIAL
We are putting ever more resources into the Web site at the moment as
it grows in popularity and utility. Thank you for all your positive
feedback about Free Pint Events page where we review major
forthcoming conferences and exhibitions in the information and
Internet industries at <http://www.freepint.co.uk/events>. The
Free Pint Bar however remains the top destination on the site at
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar> with answers to your tricky research
questions often coming within a very short time. If you've not
managed to visit recently then you'll find Simon's regular summary
of what's being discussed later in this issue.
As well as a reader's top tipples this week, we also bring you a
site-packed article on employment law resources and a look at where to
find information on GPS and it's importance to WAP, GSM and GIS.
Doesn't Web culture just seem to encourage the use of abbreviations?!
We have a review of a book on competitive intelligence along with
details of forthcoming events and articles and what we were doing
this time last year and two years ago.
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Sue Bishop
* <http://www.meto.gov.uk> Because I travel regularly between my
home in England and my work in Scotland, I find the Met. Office's
site useful. I can check what conditions will be like and choose
my route accordingly.
* <http://ag.arizona.edu/azaqua/extension/journals.htm> Links to
aquaculture journals.
* <http://www.piug.org/list.html> A discussion list on patent
information.
* <http://gb.espacenet.com> Free patent information through the
European Patent Office and national offices.
* <http://www.jobsunlimited.co.uk> I love my job but I want to work
nearer home!
Sue Bishop works for EWOS, the biggest fish feed manufacturer in the
world (until the next takeover) as IP Rights and Information Manager.
<sue.bishop@bigfoot.com>
To submit your top five favourite tipples see the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/author.htm> or email <simon@freepint.co.uk>
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TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/110500.htm#tips
"Idiots' guide to UK employment law sites on the Internet"
By David Ogden
Employment law is a part of our everyday working life as recent
cases on stress, working hours, part time work and race discrimination
cases have shown. It frequently impacts on other areas of legal
work. Employment lawyers benefit from an immense quantity of online
information resources. Many of these are costly subscription services
but there is an equal amount of free legal information in this field
to reward online searchers.
BEST LINKS PAGE
<http://www.emplaw.co.uk/>
A good starting point for all research is the "British Employment Law
super portal"
PRIMARY SOURCES
1. Subscription Services
<http://www.newlawonline.com>
New Law Online is an excellent way to keep up to speed with cases of
interest and it is particularly useful for employment cases ranging
from the Employment Appeal Tribunal to the European Court of Justice.
In addition to scanning the daily digest of new cases, one can search
for a specific subject. For example a search for "unfair dismissal
and 2000" retrieves all relevant cases on the subject since my
looseleaf textbook was updated. That's Harvey on Industrial Relations
& Employment Law, available from Butterworths on CD-ROM and shortly to
be available on the net. The personal alert service can ensure that
employment case summaries are emailed to you, usually the day
following judgment.
2. Free Services
Legislation:
<http://www.cch.co.uk/>
CCH offer "Employment Law Legislation Tracker" which summarises in-
force and upcoming employment legislation. Take "Channels", then "HR
and Personnel" and then the oblong button at the bottom. There is a
timetable of recent and forthcoming employment legislation and the
likely operative dates. There is also a drop-down contents list of
topics: Acquired Rights Directive, Age Discrimination, Burden of Proof
Directive and so on.
<http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk>
All statutes, statutory instruments and draft statutory instruments
since 1996 can be found at the HMSO site. For example see the
Employment Rights Act 1999 at
<http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1999/19990026.htm> and
the Act's explanatory notes at
<http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/en/1999en26.htm>
<http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills.htm>
Public Bills currently in progress in Parliament.
Regarding government sites, the Department of Transport & Industry's
web site at <http://www2.dti.gov.uk/> is a vital source. See the
"Employment Relations Contact Points" at
<http://www.dti.gov.uk/IR/empcont.htm>
for the relevant DTI expert on your topic of interest. The regulatory
guidance provided is useful, a good example being the guide to the
working time regulations at
<http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/work_time_regs/wtr0.htm>.
DTI press releases are very useful to keep up to date with policy
changes - see <http://195.44.11.137/coi/coipress.nsf/gti>.
Law Reports:
<http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/>
Court Service web site
<http://www.employmentappeals.gov.uk/>
Employment Appeal Tribunal
Judgments are available in full text at
<http://wood.ccta.gov.uk/eat/eatjudgments.nsf>
This site provides judgments in full text, indexed by type of case
(sex discrimination, TUPE etc ), appellant, respondent or judge. These
are available in HTML format.
Smith Bernal's Casebase site at <http://www.casetrack.com/casebase>
offers many court judgments but a subscription is required to access
cases from 1999 onwards.
<http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld199697/
ldjudgmt>
House of Lords cases:/other government department sites:
<http://www.dfee.gov.uk/>
Department for Education and Employment
<http://www.employmentservice.gov.uk/normal_text/Default.asp>
Employment Service
<http://www.eoc.org.uk/index.html>
Equal Opportunities Commission
<http://www.acas.org.uk/>
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS)
<http://www.hse.gov.uk/hsehome.htm>
Health & Safety Executive.
European Union:
<http://europa.eu.int/index-en.htm>
A vast range of resources are available on the European Union web
site.
<http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/index.html>
Legislation, the Official Journal, treaties etc. are available here.
<http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg05/index_en.htm>
Directorate General which deals with Employment and Social Affairs is
DG5.
SECONDARY SOURCES
1. Subscription Services
<http://www.cchnewlaw.co.uk>
CCH Employment Law Service is a news and legislation current awareness
service updated every Monday. It includes a full case reporting
service covering all employment law cases from the EAT, Court of
Appeal, House of Lords, High Court and European Court of Justice since
1 October 1997. Tel. 01869 872336.
<http://www.emplaw.co.uk/>
British Employment Law : an indexed and annotated copy of the
Employment Rights Act 1996 as amended at 1st January 2000, including
amendments made by the Employment Relations Act 1999, is included on
the professional area of this web site. DiscLaw Publishing Ltd
provides e-LOAD (employment Law on a Disc). The subscription service
includes CD-ROMS updated every six months plus a password to their
Internet site, updated every three weeks with the latest employment
law developments. Prices start at 95 pounds plus VAT for a
subscription and there is also a 5 pounds "24 hour" access. The site
also contains lots of free information based on an earlier issue
of the CD.
<http://www.ipd.co.uk/>
Institute of Personnel and Development is the professional institute
for those involved in the management and development of people. The
members / subscription service is a valuable library resource and even
the free information available on employment issues is worth looking
at.
<http://www.elaweb.org.uk/>
Employment Lawyers Association has recently launched a site - their
regular meetings in London are essential for lawyers.
2. Free Services
<http://www.harassment-law.co.uk/msindex.htm>
Barrister Neil Addison and Solicitor-Advocate Timothy Lawson-
Cruttenden specialise in harassment. Whether it is racial or sexual
harassment, stalking, bullying at work or neighbours from hell,
harassment is clearly an important legal and social topic. Their site
includes a copy of the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act.
<http://www.danielbarnett.co.uk>
Daniel Barnett , a barrister practising from 2 Gray's Inn Square
Chambers and author of the recently published "Avoiding Unfair
Dismissal Claims" (John Wiley), runs the employment law mail law
list, a valuable updating service. Select "Employment Law Mail
List". Alternatively, you can join by sending a blank e-mail (no
heading or message) to
<http://www.cch.co.uk/>
You can access back issues of the Employment Law Newsletter and the
Personnel Management News under the CCH Employment Law Manual link.
<http://www.parish.oaktree.co.uk/dla/dla1.htm>
Discrimination Law Association
<http://www.euen.co.uk/>
Federation of European employers
<http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/>
European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO): EIROnline contains
up-to-date information and analysis on the most important events and
issues in industrial relations in the 15 EU Member States and Norway,
and at the overall European level.
<http://www.4-5graysinnsquare.co.uk/>
4-5 Gray's Inn Square provides a substantial article on The Disability
Discrimination Act 1995: Comparators by Martin Chamberlain.
<http://www.incomesdata.co.uk/brief/index97.htm>
Incomes Data Services provides information on a wide range of
employment law issues. Their web site includes an index to the twice
monthly journal, IDS Brief.
<http://www.warwick.ac.uk/ier/>
The Institute for Employment Research is one of Europe's leading
centres for research in the labour market field.
<http://www.ilo.org/public/english/index.htm>
International Labour Organisation (ILO) : ILILEX is the ILO's
searchable database on International Labour Standards. NATLEX is the
ILO's database of national laws on labour, social security and
related human rights.
<http://www.11kbw.com/>
11 Kings Bench Walk chambers - it publishes a regular newsletter
containing articles on cases of particular interest which may be sent
by email.
<http://www.lawrite.co.uk/>
Lawrite is a company devoted to supplying "employment law solutions
for business". There is a newsletter and a number of fact sheets
available free on the site as well as the ability to buy a CD ROM of
advice, guidance and forms in this area. The legal input to the
company is provided by solicitor Martin Phillips.
<http://194.129.36.68/nacab/plsql/nacab.home-page>
National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux gives legal advice on
a wide range of topics including employment law.
<http://www.swarb.co.uk/>
Swarbrick & Co are a Yorkshire firm of solicitors who offer law-
bytes on many employment topics, updated regularly, including
transfer of undertakings, employee or self-employed and
e-mail at work.
<http://www.thompsons.law.co.uk/ltext/libindex.htm>
Thompson's Labour & European Law Review is an online employment
journal - it provides comment and discussion of rulings under both UK
and European law affecting trade unions and their members .
<http://www.tuc.org.uk/>
Trades Union Congress - I find their Research & Briefing page
particularly helpful.
CONCLUSION
All the major online sources such as Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw and Lawtel
cover employment law very well too and it is worth checking these
sources regularly to keep up to date in what is a fast changing area
of law.
Legal journals and law reports could be the subject of a separate
article but CCH's "Employment Lawyer" is worthy of a mention. This
relative newcomer is produced every two weeks and can be subscribed
to as part of the Employment Law Service mentioned earlier. Leading
series of law reports is the Industrial Relations Law Reports,
published by Industrial Relations Services.
This article could not have been written without inspiration from the
Delia Venables legal portal <http://www.venables.co.uk> or the
Lawlinks (Sarah Carter)portal at
<http://library.ukc.ac.uk/library/netinfo/intnsubg/lawlinks.htm>
Finally, if you are aware of any useful sources I have missed, please
get in touch with me at <david.ogden@srtlaw.com>!
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David Ogden is Director of Library & Information Services at Sinclair
Roche & Temperley, <http://www.srtlaw.com>, a major law firm
specialising in international trade and transportation. Sinclair
Roche & Temperley's Employment Unit handles both contentious and non-
contentious aspects of employment. The firm has extensive experience
in drafting and revising contracts of employment, wrongful dismissal,
unfair dismissal, redundancy, sex and race discrimination, transfer of
undertakings and enforcement of restrictive covenants and garden leave
clauses. If you require advice on any aspect of employment law please
contact Alan Bercow, Head of Sinclair Roche & Temperley's Employment
Law Unit, on 020 7452 4000 or email him on <alan.bercow@srtlaw.com>.
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Related Free Pint links:
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/110500.htm#tips>
* "Legal Resources on the Web" article in Free Pint No.21
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/030998.htm>
* "Researching the legal Web" and "Law of the Super Searchers"
book reviews in the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf/searching.htm>
* Discuss this article with the author now at the Free Pint Bar
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FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
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"Millennium Intelligence: Understanding and Conducting
Competitive Intelligence in the Digital Age"
Reviewed by Arthur Weiss
Millennium Intelligence is a "how-to" type book on Competitive
Intelligence (CI) written by some of the leading figures in the CI
world. Unfortunately, the problem with any book written by a
committee (even one that calls itself a Business Intelligence
Brainstrust) is that it becomes a hotchpotch of different styles and
quality. Some of Millennium Intelligence is excellent  and well
worth reading; other chapters, however, are too academic for the
average business reader while a few sections are too basic except for
novices to the subject. This may be intentional as in the
Introduction, Jerry Miller the book's editor, states "I don't
presume that you'll read the entire book. I've organised the material
so you can poke through it, reading the sections that are of most
concern to you". Nevertheless, I found the inconsistencies in both
style and depth of content irritating. For example, some chapters
conclude with a summary of the major points covered  others just
stop. Then, there are chapters that go into tremendous
detail  citing several research studies, while others only scratched
the surface of their subject or gave, in my view, inadequate
explanation of key techniques. Additionally, there is a strong
US bias  most examples and case studies focus on American companies.
The book's subtitle implies that its focus will be on aspects of
competitive intelligence that are applicable for a wired world.
Indeed, about a third of the book covers such areas in depth  with
sections on information technology for CI, knowledge management and
information resources. These, and related areas, are also mentioned
elsewhere in the book as relevant. The remainder, however, correctly
covers traditional approaches  starting with an analysis of the
structural, cultural and educational requirements for successful CI.
Other sections look at legal and ethical considerations, analysis
techniques, counter intelligence and small business intelligence. As
such, Millennium Intelligence provides a comprehensive coverage of
the various aspects of competitive intelligence practices and
processes today. In this, it is a useful addition to the literature,
especially for those who want or need to know more about establishing
efficient and effective CI in their organisations. It is just a shame
that there was not a greater consistency in the coverage and a more
global approach to the subject.
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Arthur Weiss is a UK based management consultant specialising in
competitive intelligence and strategy. He has worked in the
information industry for over 15 years and is fascinated by the
growth of the Internet as a new communication and information
medium. He has written and presented on competitive intelligence,
marketing and Internet related topics in the UK, Europe and the
Middle East. Arthur is the managing partner of AWARE, a CI
consultancy offering clients CI research, analysis and training.
He can be contacted through AWARE's web-site at
<http://www.competitive-intelligence.co.uk>.
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Related Free Pint links:
* "The Internet for Competitive Intelligence" article Free Pint No.35
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/010499.htm>
* Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf/compint.htm>
* Read about other Internet searching books on the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf/searching.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965285/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965285/freepint00>
* Search for any other book from Amazon via the Bookshelf homepage
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf>
To propose a business-Web-related book for review, send
details to <bookshelf@freepint.co.uk>.
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Find the latest news, analysis and comment from information industry
experts, a guide to the best web sites and search engines, and a
fully searchable archive of all articles published since 1994.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/110500.htm#feature
"Gimme a G for Global, a G for Geography"
By Micky Allen
Twinkle twinkle electric sheep How I wonder when you'll sleep
Like Iridium in the sky Soon it will be time to die
Although these words were never said by Harrison Ford in the film
"Bladerunner" (based on the Novel "Do Androids dream of Electric
Sheep"), the imminent demise of the Iridium Satellite System has
helped concentrate the mind on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in
general, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in particular.
The Iridium system <http://www.iridium.com> was set up 10 years ago as
a global mobile phone system. After spending $7 billion to put 66
satellites into orbit, it went bankrupt and was finally switched off
this year having only managed to acquire 55,000 subscribers. Current
plans (unless a new backer appears) are to de-orbit the satellites and
have them burn-up as they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
This first generation mobile phone system was supplanted by newer
technology in the form of GSM phones from the likes of Ericsson
<http://www.ericsson.com> and Nokia <http://www.nokia.com>. GSM phones
work by knowing their geographical position and transferring the phone
call from one transmitter cell to another as the user moves.
Once GSM phones are WAP enabled (Wireless Application Protocol) they
will know that you are passing through Central London and will be
able to inform you that there is a last minute cheap offer on tickets
for the show "Cats" <http://www.lastminute.com>.
GPS (Global Positioning System) uses a network of 24 US military
satellites to work out your location by a process of triangulation.
The first GPS receiver in 1983 cost $150,000 however now they have
become consumer devices and are on sale for less than 100 pounds
<http://www.trimble.com>.
Location information derived from a GPS can be used within a GIS
(Geographical Information System), which according to the Association
for Geographical Information <http://www.agi.org.uk> is:
"A system for capturing, storing, checking, integrating,
manipulating, analysing and displaying data which are spatially
referenced to Earth. This is normally considered to involve a
spatially referenced computer database and appropriate application
software"
Then again if you were to ask an Estate Agent what a GIS was, you
would initially get a blank look, and then be told that anyway it was
all about "Location, Location, Location", as all you really wanted to
know was, what were the schools like in your area
<http://www.upmystreet.com>.
The range of applications that one can use a GIS for is very diverse,
but essentially covers six basic questions.
Location: Where is the nearest Bank ATM? <http://www.visa.com>
Condition: Will heavy rain cause flooding in the Southwest of England?
<http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk>
Routing: What is the shortest road distance from Edinburgh to London?
<http://www.autoroute.com>
Trend: What was the percentage swing from Conservative to Labour in
the last elections? <http://www.election.co.uk>
Pattern: Is there a link between Landfill sites and the incidence of
Cancer? <http://www.foe.co.uk/factorywatch/index.html>
Modelling: If Ken Livingstone does well in Islington, what can we
expect to happen in Richmond? <http://www.londonelection.com>.
A GIS consists of 3 basic components:
1) Data (always the most expensive part, but getting slightly cheaper)
2) Software/hardware (used to be very expensive, but is now very
cheap)
3) Staff (highly trained therefore expensive).
Ten years ago a GIS would have run on a Mainframe computer, and cost
millions of pounds, with the Military, Forestry companies and
Utilities being the main users. Nowadays they run off a PC and can
be accessed by anyone browsing on the Internet.
With the increase in computing power, traditional GIS vendors such as
Intergraph <http://www.intergraph.com> and ESRI <http://www.esri.com>
were joined by companies such as MapInfo <http://www.mapinfo.com>,
Earth Resource Mapping <http://www.ermapper.com>, IDRISI
<http://www.clarklabs.org> and AutoCad <http://www.autocad.com>.
Finally last year even Microsoft got into the act
<http://www.microsoft.com/office/mappoint/> with a primitive GIS which
basically just draws maps.
However the true cost of a GIS still remains the data. It is estimated
that up to 85% of all information in circulation is geographically
referenced and hence has coordinates that require digitisation and
thus some sort of human input.
Data (which comes in two forms (a) Vector - points and lines and (b)
Raster - bitmaps) was traditionally supplied by Government Mapping
Agencies such as the Ordnance Survey <http://www.ordsvy.gov.uk> and
the United States Geological Survey <http://www.usgs.gov>.
In the US, data is seen as a public good (having been paid for by
taxes) and is fairly cheap. In the UK the issue of cost recovery
ensures that data is expensive. Third party demographic data is also
available <http://www.caci.co.uk> as well as air photography
<http://www.getmapping.com> and Spy satellite imagery
<http://www.terraserver.com>.
The last major hurdle to mainstream take-up of GIS was the lack of
trained staff, with on the job training and specialised University
courses such as Kingston University
<http://www.kingston.ac.uk/geog/gis/default.htm> and the UNIGIS
consortium <http://www.unigis.com> supplying this need. However with
the advent of the Internet the key word that enabled mass adoption of
GIS was "display", hence now by using a simple browser, millions of
people are able to use maps to simplify complex data to reveal trends
and patterns that might otherwise go unseen.
The Open Source movement's counterpart in the GIS world is the Open
GIS Consortium's Web Mapping Testbed Project
<http://www.opengis.org>. This plans to make geospatial data and
processing resources available through a Web browser, and will develop
a spatial search engine.
A variety of other Geospatial portals exist including Sylvan's
Geographical Inforation Systems Site
<http://www.win.org/library/services/gis/gishp.htm>, the Michigan
Electronic Library <http://mel.lib.mi.us/reference/REF-geomaps.html>,
University of California Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms in
Geographic Information Systems, Cartography, and Remote Sensing
<http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/abbrev.html> and last but not least
the GIS Dictionary and Resource list at the University of Edinburgh
<http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/giswww.html>.
Although it is hard to see where all this may end, a forthcoming
scheme in Japan to attach a transmitter to elderly senile people and
locate and monitor them over the Internet would no doubt have been of
considerable use to Harrison Ford in his efforts to track down the
escaped Androids in Bladerunner.
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Micky Allen runs a website that deals with the issues surrounding
Contaminated Land <http://www.contaminatedland.co.uk>, and has talked
at several conferences about GIS and the Internet
<http://www.contaminatedland.co.uk/sere-dip/agi-96.htm>. He is also
the Webmaster for the Association for Geographic Information
<http://www.agi.org.uk>.
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Related Free Pint links:
* Respond to this article and chat to the author now at the Bar
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/110500.htm#feature>
* "Virtual Visits: Links to museums and the like on the WWW"
article in Free Pint No.59
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/300300.htm>
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Training Courses at the British Library - May and June 2000 Sources
of Environmental Information, 23 May. Designed to introduce
Environmental workers to the expanding area of environmental
information. Sources of Health Care Information 13 June. Advanced
Searching the Web 6 June. Advanced Market Research Sources 20 June,
and Business Information on the Internet 27 June. For a full list of
our forthcoming courses contact Maureen Heath, t: 020 7412 7470
e: maureen.heath@bl.uk
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [bl626]
>>> PLEASE LINK TO FREE PINT <<<
If you have your own Web site then please show your support
for Free Pint by adding a link to our site.
It's easy by using the HTML code and small graphic at
http://www.freepint.co.uk/linktous.htm
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FREE PINT BAR
by Simon Collery
http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
Here is your summary of what's been happening at the Free Pint Bar
over the last couple of weeks. To read a discussion thread you can
access this summary online with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/110500.htm#bar>, visit the Bar
itself <http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar> or add the message number to
the end of <http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=>.
The Web is full of great things, being the cellar that stocks this
Bar. There are well filled shelves on the pharmaceutical industry
(3063), there are good resources for disabled people (3188), there's
insurance (3105), law (3164), reference materials (3072), dead people
(3186), museums and galleries (3119) and a wealth of stuff on
searching the Web. When you think how much data there is on the Web,
it's not surprising that there are numerous ways of searching it. We
get quite a lot of queries about searching in general (3178) and we
have recently served up several Tipples about search facilities
(3085, 3108, 3136, 3149, 3181). By search facilities, I mean
engines, directories, meta search engines and that sort of thing. We
at Free Pint are, if you like, sommeliers of the Web.
On the other hand, some questions posted at the Bar are quite
recalcitrant, and reflect the unevenness of the Web, and sometimes
the tastes of the tippler. So while there are plenty of statistics
sites, finding the number of deaths among elderly people in the UK
caused by falling in hospitals (3142) can resist even thorough
searching. Such information may not be available, which is a
difficult thing to confirm, but we hope there are Free Pinters with
some relevant knowledge who will help out. Finding successful online
diaries is also difficult (3183), as is finding evaluations of the
cost effectiveness of having a Web site (3113). And while there are
education resources aplenty, there are so many criteria to take into
account that the right course can be hard to find (3081, 3093).
A number of questions over the past couple of weeks have been about
the information business, and I hope we, as a community of
information professionals, are well qualified to answer these. One
was about analyzing search results from databases (3060), another was
on market research (3073) while a third was about getting in touch
with company information specialists (3079). Quite a few Free
Pinters must fall into this category. Somebody who is setting up an
inhouse research centre is interested in best practices (3153), while
another imbiber wants to get the gossip for the IT and
telecommunications sector (3167). That should comprise a hell of a
lot of gossip! If you are a freelance report writer/research
analyst, do get in touch (3175). And if you know of good Middle East
business resource (3200) or transportation news services, some
people are interested in that sort of thing, so don't keep it under
your hat.
Technical and tool queries have been raised about FrontPage (3077),
browsers (3096), knowledge and document management software
(3104, 3109), sending emails to fax machines (3147) and footnote
managers (3154). And there is a one stop shop for bookmark managers
if anyone is interested (3157). Also, a librarian is interested in
self service facilities for renewing borrowed books (3071).
Trade in the Bar is not just questions and answers. Sometimes people
get in touch to highlight something they feel others may find
interesting or useful. An example is a tippler who drew our
attention to the removal of restrictions to Global Positioning System
information in the US (3115). Another example is the posting about
the virus that caused trouble for many last week (3145). And a third
is about privacy issues and using the Internet for reporting crime
(3179). So if you would like to raise anything that concerns you,
make haste to the Bar and tell all.
Simon Collery, Business Development, Free Pint
Remember, to read this summary with activated hyperlinks visit ...
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/110500.htm#bar>
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Bar: Do you have a research question or Web-related comment? It's
easy to post a message at <http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar>
Digest: To have the latest Free Pint Bar postings sent to you every
other day, send a blank email to <digest@freepint.co.uk>
Archive: Dormant postings older than 45 days are moved to
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/archive/config.pl>
Email: To write to the Free Pint team, please send your email to
<feedback@freepint.co.uk>
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CITY INFORMATION GROUP SEMINAR
The CiG, a networking group of information people based in London, is
holding an evening seminar on 24th May 2000 at the Baltic Exchange,
London EC3. The topic is "Creating Communities Online". Three speakers
who have created online communities for business and information
professionals will discuss how and why they set up these communities
and which business models work best. For further details and a
booking form, please visit http://www.cityinfogroup.co.uk
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>>> HAVE WE COVERED YOUR TOPIC? <<<
Find out if there's something of interest to you on the
Free Pint Web site by using the site search facility.
http://www.freepint.co.uk/search
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FREE PINT GOLD
One year ago, Free Pint ran an article evaluating sources of Patent
information available on the Internet. In the same issue the
importance of lists and virtual communities to specialist groups was
discussed, with special emphasis on commercial aspects of lists.
Two years ago we were treated to the opinions of six Internet
professionals on the Internet World UK conference. This was
accompanied by an article on deafblind access to the Web. We were
given a description of how deafblind people access and use the Web,
and the consequences of certain design constraints for disabled
users.
Free Pint one year ago ...
* Free Pint No.38 13th May 1999 "Patent information on the Internet -
can you afford to ignore it?" and "Lurking on Lists"
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/130599.htm
Free Pint two years ago ...
* Free Pint No.14, 14th May 1998 "Six Opinions on Internet World UK"
and "Deafblind access to the Web"
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/140598.htm
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
http://www.freepint.co.uk/events
This is a busy time for conference goers. The Corporate Portals
event, in the UK, will cover topics often discussed by the Free Pint
community. Still in Europe, there will be the second TV Meets the
Web conference. Society itself will be under discussion Stateside,
at an event organized by the Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility.
The Global Internet Summit will tackle the technical and the
commercial in Europe, while the Advances in Digital Libraries event
in the States is considering access to intellectual resources. Still
in the States, the ISPCON conference gets underway, catering for the
service and access providers of the world. Those Internet users
interested in Wireless Application Protocol can get the whole nine
yards in London, at the Internet World conference, which includes the
Wireless Internet World event. The first Online Information for the
City this year will take place at the end of this month, and there
will be another in the Autumn. Our very own William Hann will be
talking about the Free Pint community at an evening event associated
with this exhibition being organised by the City Information Group.
Full details of these and many other forthcoming conferences and
exhibitions in the online-information and Internet industry can be
found on the Free Pint Events page at http://www.freepint.co.uk/events
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FREE PINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
* Corporate Web sites * Space Science and Engineering *
* Legal Information * Aeronautics * Researching for TV *
* Web sites for SMEs * What is XML? *
* Surveillance * Surfing the Sludge * The Invisible Web *
* Web sources for handheld computers * Insurance Web sites *
* Internet Intelligence * ICQ * Influencing the Media *
[Provisional]
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We hope you've enjoyed this issue of Free Pint and we'd love to
welcome you to the Web site. Why not pop along to access all the
resources or join us at the Bar where we may be able to help you
with your current research.
See you in two weeks!
William Hann, Managing Editor
william@freepint.co.uk
(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2000
http://www.freepint.co.uk/
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CONTACT INFORMATION
William Hann BSc MIInfSc, Founder and Managing Editor
e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436
Rex Cooke FIInfSc FRSA, Editor
e: rex@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1342 316027 f: +44 (0)1342 316027
Simon Collery BA, Business Development
e: simon@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1865 434143 f: +44 (0)1784 455436
Jane, Administrator e: jane@freepint.co.uk
Address
Free Pint Limited, FREEPOST (SEA3901), Staines
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Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free newsletter written by information
professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information
on the Internet. Useful to anyone who uses the Web for their work, it
is published every two weeks by email.
To subscribe, unsubscribe, find details about contributing,
advertising or to see past issues, please visit the Web site at
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Please note: Free Pint is a trademark of, and published by, Free Pint
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The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the
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This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its
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Product names used in Free Pint are for identification purposes only,
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any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved.
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About this Newsletter
- Publication Date: 10th May 2000
- Plain text
- Link: https://www.jinfo.com/go/newsletter/62
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