Newsletter No. 76
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Free Pint
"Helping 33,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.co.uk/
ISSN 1460-7239 30th November 2000 No.76
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Clive Hawkins
FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
"Britain's Railway Industry Web Sites"
By James Hatts
BOOKSHELF
"Leading the Revolution"
Reviewed by Drosten Fisher
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Web Sources for Film and Television Information"
By Ray Templeton and Danny Birchall
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/301100.htm
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THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT
For you, your friends, colleagues and customers
The beautiful Renaissance Library Calendar 2001
12 wonderful photographs of magnificent old libraries, guaranteed
to bring you pleasure on every day of the year. Already sold in
26 countries. Order NOW for Christmas!
Buy 2 or more and get one FREE! Click here - before it's too late!
http://www.isim.org/calendar.htm (mailto:info@isim.org)
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>>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<<
Free Pint is a community of business professionals who use the Web for
their work. Members receive this free newsletter every two weeks
packed with tips on finding quality and reliable business information
on the Internet. Signing up at <http://www.freepint.co.uk/> provides
free access to the substantial archive of articles, book reviews,
industry news and events, with answers to your research questions and
networking at the "Free Pint Bar" and "Student Bar". This newsletter
is best read when printed out and viewed in a Courier font.
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EDITORIAL
I remember being asked a couple of years ago about my master plan for
the future of Free Pint. I answered that there truly wasn't one, but
I secretly hoped that one day we would be selling information from the
Free Pint site. My background since graduating in Information Science
has always been in the provision of online information databases,
having worked for a number of vendors (including the FT and DIALOG)
before going freelance four years ago.
Therefore, it is with great pleasure and pride that I announce the
launch of our new UK company research database in association with
ICC. Free Pinters can now search for statutory and financial
information on more than 1.6 million registered UK companies.
Searching is free and provides details such as registered address,
company number and previous names, all of which are helpful in
verifying that you've located the correct company. You can then
immediately purchase and view a range of reports for your chosen
company using a credit card.
Please do try out the service and I would value your feedback on any
aspect of the system. Why not try a search today by visiting:
http://www.freepint.co.uk/icc
We will be distributing a press release about this major new gateway
at the Free Pint Bar (stand number 30) at next week's Online
Information 2000 exhibition at Olympia, London. This is the big annual
event for us and I really hope you can come along. We're running a
series of workshops again, as well as having live music on the stand
and giving out lots of freebies (yes, including your chance to win
real free pints!). If you're thinking of popping along then I would
urge you to visit <http://www.online-information.co.uk/>.
We've packed a wide variety of topics into today's issue of Free Pint
and so I'm sure you'll find many new sites and tips of interest.
Please do support the advertisers in this edition. These include
Factiva who sponsor the Free Pint Bars and WS Atkins who have a Web
Editor vacancy. Learned Information give information about next week's
show, plus there are details of the Renaissance Library Calendar,
HTMail and its opt-in marketing, and the popular advanced Internet
searching course from the British Library.
If you enjoy this issue then do pass it on to your colleagues and
friends, and don't forget to check out our new UK company information
gateway at <http://www.freepint.co.uk/icc>.
Cheers
William
William Hann BSc MIInfSc
Founder and Managing Editor, Free Pint
e: william@freepint.co.uk
t: +44 (0)1784 455435
f: +44 (0)1784 455436
Free Pint is a trademark of Free Pint Limited
http://www.freepint.co.uk/
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WHAT DO YOU NEED ON THE INTERNET?
site visitors? market surveys? customers?
market information on your web site?
A mailing to our 100% double opt-in list will bring you guaranteed 10%
click throughs (average of over 27%) and feedback! To suit any budget
- from under $30 to over $10,000.
Click here! http://www.htmail.com/fpintro.html
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>>> FREE PINT AUTHOR UPDATE <<<
http://www.freepint.co.uk/author.htm
Want to know what books we have available for review?
Interested in knowing what topics we're looking to cover?
Sign up for the brief monthly Author Update
http://www.freepint.co.uk/author.htm
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Clive Hawkins
* The Paper Boy - get the latest national or local news from this
excellent site that includes links to more than 4,600 newspaper
websites worldwide. Christmas tip not required!
<http://www.thepaperboy.com>
* Kompass - this powerful international business database contains
more than 1.5 million industrial and commercial companies worldwide,
including product details and brand names <http://www.kompass.com>
* Millennium Maps - presented as the modern day Domesday Book, this
fascinating view of the UK from the air is searchable by postcode
or street name <http://www.millennium-map.com>
* Search Engine Watch - the best reference site for search engine
placement and research techniques, with up-to-date developments on
all the top search tools available for free or on subscription
<http://www.searchenginewatch.com>
* Web Marketing and E-commerce - the biggest resource on the web,
offering practical advice on best web marketing practice and
thousands of links to related articles and sites
<http://www.wilsonweb.com>
Clive Hawkins is founder of the web search workshop
<http://www.websearchworkshop.co.uk>, a specialist search engine
placement consultancy helping UK business websites get noticed on the
net.
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Tell us about your top five favourite Web sites. see the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/author.htm> or email <simon@freepint.co.uk>
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FACTIVA LAUNCHES INFOPRO ALLIANCE PORTAL
Take a look at our new portal to support information professionals
around the world. The Infopro Alliance Portal provides tools and
resources especially for the professional researcher, with links to
industry web sites, publications, white papers, case studies and
discussion through our link to the Free Pint Bar.
Bookmark http://www.factiva.com/infopro
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>>> FREE PINT ADVERTISER UPDATE <<<
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/advert.htm>
Thought about advertising in the Free Pint newsletter or Web site?
Sign up for the Advertiser Update, a brief monthly email with
details of special offers, discounts and forthcoming article topics.
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/advert.htm> or email <ads@freepint.co.uk>
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FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/301100.htm#bar
Free Pint Bar - http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
[Note: To read a posting enter the message number in place of XXXX in
the address <http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar/read.php?i=XXXX>]
Security is a vital concern for everyone using the Web, not just those
who have something to lose or protect from breaches. High security
means more restrictions, higher costs, less sharing and generally
detracts from the usefulness of the Web. So if you know how to solve
the problem of crooks using your domain name to send spam we'd be very
interested to hear from you (6107).
And there are other technical and software questions in need of an
answer at the moment. Digital imaging projects (5985), computerised
clinical data systems (5986), auditing information systems (6027),
search engine interfaces (5979), evaluating Web sites (6105),
invoicing software (6037) and email databases (6098) have all been the
subjects of enquiry recently.
Still technical, one Free Pinter needs some development work in return
for equity (6094), another is looking for Web development courses in
London, UK (5972) and a third is interested in search engine inclusion
(6049). And ASPForums discussion software has been giving one of our
subscribers grief (6023).
Quite a few librarians have been in the Bar lately asking about access
to business sources in school libraries (6013), library qualifications
(6104), notification of monographs in print (6080), online librarian
initiatives (6084), librarian associations (6030), software for
controlling resource access (5957) and printing history resources for
children (5984).
If you want to find an old news story, predating the Web, I think the
best place to go to would be a library. Even if the information can
be found on the Web, it is the sort of thing a librarian would be best
placed to advise on (6062). Is there a librarian in the house?
As an indication of what the Web is good for, we have had a lot of
mentions and reviews of great resources. There's the wireless Web
(6008), full text papers from the UNESCO Infoethics conference (6099),
chemical industry historical spot prices (6001), eco-tourism journals
(6038), UK white paper information (6093), SME information for
Mediterranean countries (6018) and angel and venture capital finance
(6035).
Not content with all that we also served up sites holding free journal
articles (6039), basic international demographic data (6052), travel
information in French (6058), details of conference facilities (6045),
European Community SME information (5948) and information strategies
in charitable institutions (6014). And it appears that case studies
of many business and management practices are in plentiful supply
(6115).
Search tools are always under scrutiny on the Free Pint Bar.
Approving noises have been expressed about Copernic (5908),
recommendations have been made about searching individual sites
(5953), and opinions are divided on Guidebeam (5962). VirtualLRC
(6117) and C4 (6085) have also been test driven.
How much would 1500 dollars in 1830 be worth today (6016)? Other
quantitative queries have arisen on causes of blindness in the UK
(5950), UK schools with Web sites (5966), usage statistics for health
sites (6066), home ownership statistics in the UK (6095) and geocoding
(5961). I imagine the person looking for stress at work statistics is
now suffering from stress brought on by information overload (6079).
Miscellaneous questions have been asked about how much grass a cow
must eat to produce a pint of milk (6009), copyright on ad listings
(5973), forming associations (6019), ad hits converted to sales
(6028), the cost of portals (6091), opt-in email lists (6114), company
director information, (6064) and panels of academic experts (6137).
Anyone suffering from Knowledge Management withdrawal symptoms may
like to have a look at a long posting from someone who finds KM a hard
job (6076). Go on. You know you want to!
Free Pint Student Bar - http://www.freepint.co.uk/student
[Note: To read a posting enter the message number in place of XXXX in
the address <http://www.freepint.co.uk/student/read.php?i=XXXX>]
On the Student Bar we have heard from people interested in information
provision in law firms (1082), disabled access to libraries (1084),
Web site evaluation (1085), dissertations and research papers (1088),
information security management (1091), library work experience in the
UK (1092) and high school students' use of the Internet (1093).
Simon Collery, Content Developer <simon@freepint.co.uk>
To read a message:
- Enter the id number in place of XXXX in the address
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar/read.php?i=XXXX>,
for example <http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar/read.php?i=3989>
- For Student Bar postings please use the address
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/student/read.php?i=XXXX>
- Alternatively, view this summary online with activated hyperlinks at
If you have a tricky research question or can help other Free Pinters
then do post a message at the Bar or
the Student Bar .
Visit daily for "Today's Tipple" - a different Web site reviewed every
working day at the Bar. Every Tuesday there is the "Pub Crawl", a look
at full text articles from a range of information and Internet
publications. Access the archive of Tipples and Pub Crawls at
.
To have the latest Free Pint Bar postings sent to you every other day,
send a blank email to <digest@freepint.co.uk>. For the Student Bar
Digest send an email to <studentdigest@freepint.co.uk>.
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VACANCY FOR WEB EDITOR, Epsom, Surrey
We are looking for a mature information professional with a confident
approach to problem solving to join the team at WS Atkins plc
You will need a good command of written English, some knowledge of
HTML, high levels of accuracy and an ability to work under pressure
We can offer you varied work in a stimulating environment, with
appropriate training in Mediasurface, our content management system
Email pasteel@wsatkins.com with your CV, or for more details
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>>> Purchase UK Company Data from Free Pint <<<
http://www.freepint.co.uk/icc/
It is free to search over 1.6m UK companies. Purchase statutory and
financial information by credit card without setup or subscription
fees. View reports within minutes on our secure server.
Why not take a test run today at http://www.freepint.co.uk/icc/
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TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/301100.htm#tips
"Britain's Railway Industry Web Sites"
By James Hatts
Britain's railway industry Web sites have been busy in recent weeks.
As safety checks, floods and storms (not to mention the annual
autumnal problem of "leaves on the line") have caused serious
disruption to services, travellers have been hungry for information,
many of them turning to online sources for the first time.
The quality of rail industry sites varies immensely - what follows is
a brief survey of the information available online, both in terms of
passenger information and for those researching the rail industry.
National Information
--------------------
Many readers will be familiar with the Railtrack Web site
<http://www.railtrack.co.uk/> and its online timetable service, which
can now be accessed directly at <http://www.railtimetable.co.uk/>.
However, during the recent disruption callers to the overstretched
National Rail Enquiries telephone service were directed to a new
National Rail Web site <http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/> set up by the
Association of Train Operating Companies
<http://www.rail.co.uk/atoc/public/index.htm> to provide a central
online information source for Britain's fragmented network.
An alternative to the Railtrack site is provided by Germany's Deutsche
Bahn, whose pan-European journey planner
<http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/detect.exe/bin/query.exe/e> is popular with
many passengers.
The Railway Forum is the
main newsgroup covering the British network.
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James Hatts is Website Manager at Politico's
<http://www.politicos.co.uk>, the high-profile Westminster political
bookstore and publishing company. He is also Website Producer for
London-SE1.co.uk <http://www.London-SE1.co.uk>, the local information
site for London's South Bank area. In addition, James has acted as an
Internet consultant to several voluntary sector organisations. He can
be contacted at <james@hatts.co.uk>.
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Related Free Pint links:
* "Travel" links, articles and news in the Free Pint Portal
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/portal/industry/industry.php3?category_id=145>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/301100.htm#tips>
* Post a message to the author now at the Free Pint Bar
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar>
* Access the entire archive of Free Pint content
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/portal/content/>
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>> FREE tickets for Online Information 2000 <<
5 - 7 December 2000 * National Hall & Olympia 2, London, UK
Is finding the information you need turning out to be a bit of a bind?
GET UNTANGLED at Online Information 2000 and find a wealth of
information sources.
REGISTER TODAY for free, fast track entry into this essential event
http://www.online-information.co.uk/ol00/register.asp
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>>> FREE PINT FACT <<<
It's a fact that Free Pint will be exhibiting at the Online
Information show next week for the third time. This is the major
annual event for the information industry and our presence there just
keeps on getting bigger and brighter.
We always give away thousands of beermats, but last year we also gave
away 100 real bottled free pints. This year this has been multiplied
many times when there will be hundreds of real free pints available to
win on our Free Pint one armed bandit. This is also the first time
we'll have live music, with the Free Pint Players providing two
sessions a day of Irish folk music, involving our very own Simon on
Mandola. We'll be easily spotted in our Free Pint aprons and are
running a series of "Question Time Workshops" throughout the
exhibition. We hope you'll join us in the Free Pint Bar on stand 30.
William Hann, Managing Editor <william@freepint.co.uk>
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FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf
"Leading the Revolution"
Reviewed by Drosten Fisher
This is an engaging, inspirational book, written in an energetic and
informal style. The central thesis is that true business value is
created by radical business concepts, not by incremental improvements
to existing business models. Or, as Hamel succinctly puts it: "those
who live by the sword will be shot by those who don't."
It expresses complex arguments very simply, using down-to-earth
language and plenty of real world examples. In fact, the single most
persuasive argument Hamel uses to support his views is the practical
examples of success resulting from innovative business concepts.
The key to generating superior business returns, Hamel argues, is
learning to think about business strategically as opposed to
operationally. Operational thinking is characterised by a focus on
the present, on certainties, and what is "real", while strategic
thinking is focused on the future, on possibilities and on "play". To
quote Blake, "what is now proved was once only imagined", and Hamel's
key argument is that the information age we are now entering gives
unprecedented opportunities for the exercise of the imagination to
create new sources of business value. Or rather, to create new ways
of working; the key is that a business concept is better than before,
and this will naturally lead to profitability. As Hamel says, "you
can't use an old map to find new land."
At this point, you may be thinking, "this is all very well, but how
does it apply to my day job?" Hamel gives detailed examples, from
companies such as IBM, Shell and Sony, of how visionary thinking on
the part of one or two dedicated individuals has radically changed the
nature of a company. And it is this that makes the book very good
rather than merely very interesting. Because Hamel gives concrete
examples of his philosophy in practice, and also gives a detailed
checklist for implementing his ideas, it becomes possible for the
reader to see how they could apply these ideas to their own
organisation. The only problem is that if you do, you might well get
sacked. But Hamel would argue, does that matter in today's business
environment?
In summary, this book is a fantastically interesting, stimulating read
with real practical applications. You may not, in the end, decide to
start a "revolution" in your own organisation. But you will certainly
think differently about business and the real sources of competitive
advantage as we move into the information age.
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Drosten Fisher works as a Research Associate for Impact Plus plc.
Founded in 1990, Impact Plus is one of the fastest growing management
consultancies in the UK and Ireland. It is Impact Plus' mission to
make a positive impact on the business of our clients. We have an
enviable reputation for delivering independent, practical, value-for-
money advice. Impact Plus has offices in London, Edinburgh, Manchester
and Dublin and has delivered in virtually every market sector. Impact
Plus is also a principal member of E-I Consulting Group, with access
to 1,800 consultants in 75 offices worldwide. www.impactplus.co.uk
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Related Free Pint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf/revolution.htm>
* Read about other Internet strategy books on the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf/strategy.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578511895/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578511895/freepint00>
* Details: ISBN 1578511895 published by Harvard Business School Press
written by Gary Hamel
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Bookshelf
<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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ADVANCED SEARCHING ON THE WEB - 30 January 2001 at the British Library
In just one morning, this course will show you the most
appropriate place to start - a directory, a search engine, or both
combined? Discover how to quickly narrow or broaden your searches. For
instance, do you keep getting an unwanted site dominating your
results? Are you looking for terms within a URL only? Contact Tony
Catarinicchia 020 7412 7915 or visit our website at
http://www.bl.uk/services/stb/courses.html for further details.
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>>> SUBMIT YOUR SITE TO THE TOP SEARCH ENGINES <<<
It's quick, easy and free to promote your site using Free Pint Submit:
http://www.freepint.co.uk/submit/
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FEATURE ARTICLE
http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/301100.htm#feature
"Web Sources for Film and Television Information"
By Ray Templeton and Danny Birchall
From the very beginning, one of the web's strong suits has been the
involvement of enthusiasts and detail-obsessives; for much longer, the
worlds of film and television have attracted a similar cast of
characters. Put the two together and the result is that the web is an
enormously, and ever-increasingly, rich source of information and
images about film and TV, whether your interest is commercial,
educational, recreational, or just curious; whether you are a producer
seeking cast, or a fan wanting to find out what happened in a missed
episode of Ally McBeal. This brief overview can only indicate some of
the key sites, as well as starting points from which you can navigate
easily to more detailed levels.
General Reference
-----------------
By far the most comprehensive source of film information, and always a
good place to start, is the well-established Internet Movie Database.
IMDb provides detailed cast and credits for about 200,000 films, as
well as plot summaries, user comments, awards info, trivia, images
etc., as well as links to relevant external sites. It's an
interactive service: it relies on submissions and corrections from its
users to maintain accurate information. You can submit your own
updates to the IMDb either through the website itself or through
specially-formatted emails.
<http://www.imdb.co.uk>
IMDb also includes information about television, but a much more
detailed TV reference site is epguides.com, which offers detailed
episode guides for thousands of TV shows. It's clearly strongest on
currently running US series, but there's plenty of detail of UK
programming as well, and it is improving all the time. Using the
strengths offered by the web as an information medium, epguides solves
the problem of providing personality information by the simple
expedient of linking to IMDb.
<http://www.epguides.com>
Commercial and Industry Reference
---------------------------------
The key printed reference work for people working in the film and
television industries in the UK, The Knowledge is now a comprehensive
web resource, with continually updated listings of production needs
"from props and vehicles to catering and crew", as well as "events,
exhibitions, conferences, screenings or training days on the diary
dates page".
<http://www.theknowledgeonline.com>
Essentially a links site, TV Link pulls together not just industry-
specific links, ranging from footage sales -
a global network of sites serving the footage trade, with facilities
to search across a range of stock, archival and news databases - to
casting - a database of actors and
actresses, searchable by attributes as diverse as ethnicity and eye
colour - but also includes a facility entitled The Producer's
Briefcase, with links to everything from car rentals to exchange
rates.
<http://www.timelapse.com/tvlink.html>
In the absence of reliable bibliographic control of audiovisual media,
it's worth bearing in mind a site like Blackstar, which is a retail
service for video and DVD, but also provides a quasi-bibliographical
facility, in that it offers a fairly reliable (at least in respect of
feature films, TV series and popular non-fiction) indication of what
titles are in print at any given time, and can be searched in various
useful ways.
<http://www.blackstar.co.uk>
The movie business
------------------
To be in the know about the latest events in the film business (or at
least to give that impression), you rarely have to move far from your
monitor: a wide variety of sites trade in everything from breaking box
office figures to scurrilous rumours about the stars. With its home-
made look and feel, Ain't It Cool shares the reputation of Matt
Drudge's political news website for garnering the scoops and leaks
that the industry would rather you didn't hear: inside news from
outsiders, if you like. The site's correspondents mail in accounts of
previews seen, hints directors have dropped in interviews, and any
other tidbits of industry news and rumour, and the editor, Harry,
posts them for all to read.
<http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com>
Print magazine Variety has been the house journal of Hollywood ever
since there was a Hollywood, reporting on the deals done, the stars
signed and dropped, and most importantly of all, the money made.
Online Variety provides much the same, day-by-day. For studio
executives, or the seriously addicted, VarietyExtra, a subscription
service, will email you breaking news, and allow you to juggle box
office returns on the site.
<http://www.variety.com>
The daily online news service allied to EMAP's Screen International
magazine, Screen Daily provides news headlines covering a similar
territory to Variety, from a UK and European angle: companies bought
and sold, festival previews and other industry news.
<http://www.screendaily.com/>
Organisations and funding
-------------------------
In Europe and the UK, the role of public bodies in funding film
production and defending national film cultures against the tsunami of
Hollywood product has frequently been unclear, if not contentious.
Nevertheless, such bodies provide useful information and advice, if
not cold hard cash, to those interested in making, showing and
teaching people about film. Since May this year, the Film Council has
assumed responsibility for publicly-funded film production in the UK.
Its site, though sparse, provides details of the council's remit and
the various production funds available to apply to. More usefully, it
also carries Lowdown: the low budget funding guide, which provides an
introduction to how to get your low-budget film funded, and an
extensive directory of contact details for funding agencies and
organisations at every level from regional to European.
<http://www.filmcouncil.org.uk>
Tasked with preserving the UK's film heritage since 1933, the BFI
provides a wide range of educational and exhibition services as well
as preserving and releasing prints of classic films. The site provides
comprehensive information on all the BFI's activities, as well as
access to searchable catalogues from the collections, what's on at
London's National Film Theatre and regional arthouse cinemas,
downloadable educational materials, full catalogues of the books and
videos the BFI publishes, and in-depth features based around BFI
releases and retrospectives.
<http://www.bfi.org.uk>
The European Audiovisual Observatory provides business information on
the 'audiovisual sector' in Europe, including film and home
entertainment. The focus is on statistical information, foresight and
market analysis. It's quite dry, and definitely not for the casual
browser, but for an overall view of the media markets in Europe,
indispensable.
<http://www.obs.coe.int/>
Careers and Training
--------------------
For those interested in working in the industry, or in studying and
knowing more about it, there is a range of options. For UK-specific
training information the first port of call should be Skillset, the
National Training Organisation for Broadcast, Film, Video and
Multimedia.
<http://www.skillset.org.uk>
The BFI's site (see below) has a regularly-updated database of short
courses in Media and Multimedia, with details of short (i.e. less than
6 months) courses in film, television, video and radio across the UK
(co-published with Skillset).
<http://www.bfi.org.uk/education/skillset/>
Magazines
---------
The Internet has long threatened to revolutionise the world of
magazine publishing, replacing monthly glossies full of ads with fast-
changing news and reviews. Online film magazines, however, are no
exception to the trend of offline 'brands' extending their reach into
the online world and taking their existing readership with them:
independent web ventures find it hard to establish the vital
'mindshare'. One of the few independents, the recently revamped 6
degrees, concentrates on cinema beyond the multiplex, with a monthly
roundup of reviews of all films currently on release, including mini-
runs and limited releases. The reviews are written by volunteers
rather than professional journalists, but nevertheless of a high
quality. They also provide links to and information on film festivals
world-wide, and perhaps most usefully a free-to-submit small ads
service where low-budget filmmakers and cast/crew can seek each other
out.
<http://www.6degrees.co.uk>
Empire Online, the web version of the news-stand magazine, provides a
more mainstream view of the movies, with up-to-the-minute production
and celebrity news alongside reviews of films on UK release. In
collaboration with partner websites they also provide links to
trailers for forthcoming releases, and a search facility allowing you
to find out what's on at cinemas in your local area.
<http://www.empireonline.co.uk>
Part of the ever-growing Guardian 'unlimited' empire, Filmunlimited
takes film reviews and features from both the Guardian and Observer
newspapers and adds daily news items. Rooted strongly in the
broadsheets' film coverage, the emphasis is on 'cultural' and world
cinema, with lengthy features.
<http://www.filmunlimited.co.uk>
And finally
-----------
No article on film and TV websites, however brief, would be complete
without something for the true obsessive. A perfect example of such a
site would be The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia, an on-line version of
the Kevin Bacon game, in which movie buffs compete to see how quickly
they can link personalities using their appearances in films. For
example: Stan Laurel has a Bacon number of 3 - he was in Jitterbugs
[1943] with Vivian Blaine; Vivian Blaine was in The Dark [1979] with
William Devane; William Devane was in Hollow Man [2000] with Kevin
Bacon. The search engine on this site enables you to link any
personality to any other in this way. Hours of fun!
<http://www.cs.virginia.edu/oracle>
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Ray Templeton is Head of the BFI National Library, and has worked in
public, educational and specialist libraries. He has been involved in
the development of public information systems since the Prestel
experiments of the late 1970s. While at the Library Association in
the mid-1990s, he was project manager of the bid to the Millennium
Commission to fund a national network linking public libraries across
the UK.
Danny Birchall is the editor of the British Film Institute's website
<http://www.bfi.org.uk>. Before coming to the BFI, he was editor of
the University of Sussex Information Service. He is also a freelance
writer on digital media and the Internet, having most recently written
for Sight and Sound magazine on digital movie piracy.
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- Publication Date: 30th November 2000
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- Link: https://www.jinfo.com/go/newsletter/76
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