Newsletter No. 89
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Free Pint
"Helping 38,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 7th June 2001 No.89
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Ruth Sawyer
FREE PINT BAR & STUDENT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
JOBS
Information and Publications Officer
Information Development Officer
Researcher
TIPS ARTICLE
"Conference Information and the Internet"
By Alison McNab
BOOKSHELF
"Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality:
Methods for Reducing Costs and Increasing Profits"
Reviewed by Ralph Adam
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Dyslexia Resources"
By Lillian McMaster and Chris Norcombe
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070601.htm>
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>> Worldwide answers to your information needs <<
Online Information 2001
4-6 December 2001
Olympia Grand Hall, London, UK
http://www.online-information.co.uk
MAKE A DATE IN YOUR DIARY!
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>>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<<
Free Pint is an online community of information researchers. Members
receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips on
finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet.
Joining is free at <http://www.freepint.com/> and provides access to
the substantial archive of articles, book reviews, jobs, industry news
& 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
Walking around London's Internet World exhibition yesterday got me
thinking about the relevance and value of a show like that. Companies
spend a lot of money to attend, but I wonder how much valuable new
business they really encourage from their attendance.
For me, either as a visitor or exhibitor, the value I suppose comes
through "reassurance". The reassurance that a company is there and
seen as a player in their industry. That the people behind an
operation are real humans who you can communicate with face-to-face as
well as electronically.
There's an awful lot of uncertainty at the moment in the Internet
world, and there were more than a few worried companies there
yesterday. Here at Free Pint we have to constantly reassure suppliers,
customers, employees and competitors that we're here to stay. We're
not doing too badly since we're into our fourth year, with no external
finance and becoming profitable. However, we're always working hard to
negotiate on your behalf with new suppliers and contributors to bring
you the best of business information on the Web.
On the topic of contributions, we bring you your regular mix of great
tips and articles today. We start with a super resource-packed article
on finding conference information online, followed by an interesting
look at dyslexia resources. There's the latest gossip and gripes from
the Free Pint Bars, and a review of a popular book about information
quality and data warehousing. This topic is also close to home as our
Web servers continue to be stretched by the continued doubling of
visitors to the Free Pint site every six months.
We are of course always looking for new contributors to the newsletter
and site. If you fancy writing for Free Pint then sign up for the
monthly Author Update by modifying your account online. Another way to
contribute is to send us your feedback on any aspect of what we do -
we love to hear from Free Pinters - or spread the word to your
colleagues by passing around this newsletter.
Cheers
William
William Hann BSc MIInfSc, Founder and Managing Editor
Email: <william@freepint.com> Tel: +44 (0)1784 455435
(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2001
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Ruth Sawyer
* The GIS Portal <http://www.gisportal.com> - This site is excellent
for anyone interested in or working with maps or the GIS industry.
It has links to loads of other GIS sites and resources and is a good
place to start researching into suppliers, related sites,
universities and government.
* The Chartered Institute of marketing <http://www.cim.co.uk> - This
Web site is packed full of useful marketing information. If you work
in marketing it is a very useful resource, with links to other
relevant sites, a members only section, book ordering and links
to branch sites. I am a member of the Royal Counties branch, which
contains up to date information on branch events
<http://www.royal-counties.cim.org>.
* Barbara's Kitchen <http://www.barbaraskitchen.co.uk> - This is an
excellent web site for anyone suffering from food allergies or
intolerances, as I do. The site is mainly about baking with wheat
free and gluten free flour and includes recipes, tips and hints,
comments from other customers and how to bake with a breadmaker.
* MultiMap <http://www.multimap.co.uk> - MultiMap has detailed
streetmaps, aerial photographs and maps of Europe. You can search
for a place with one line of the address and get a detailed map of
the location. A great site to print directions when you are visiting
clients etc. You can also get postcode coordinates and check the x
and y coordinates for exactly where buildings and places are.
* Football news <http://www.footballnews.co.uk> - This site has up to
date news on all the football leagues, including a section on
Women's football. There is not much coverage for women's football
in the news so this site is great for those women who currently play
football (I play for Tring Athletic Ladies) and wish to keep up to
date with their team's position and performance.
Ruth Sawyer is a Marketing Associate for GeoBusiness Solutions, a
specialist GIS consultancy for retail, leisure, property and
banking/financial companies interested in market and location
analysis. <http://www.geobusiness.co.uk>. She is also an active
volunteer member of the Royal Counties branch of the Chartered
Institute of Marketing and organises business meetings.
Tell us about your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm> or email <simon@freepint.com>.
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FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070601.htm#bar>
Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
-------------------------------------------
[Note: To read a posting enter the message number in place of XXXX in
the address <http://www.freepint.com/go/bXXXX>]
It's funny how some 'flavours' catch on in the Bar for a while and
then disappear. Some of them don't disappear too quickly either.
Latin is still very popular (9958, 9931, 9897, 9907, 9983, 10118,
10120, 10162, 10184, 10114, 10083, 10156, 10090). I should have said
message 9958 and passim or et cetera but that might have given rise to
yet more questions. And those not content with Latin are now looking
for Russian (10126), Arabic (10027) and Tibetan (10152). It may be of
interest to language enthusiasts that Google supports Pig Latin,
Klingon, Borkborkbork and many others.
Another flavour recently has been environmental issues, with questions
about building schools on landfill sites (10143), disposing of
audio/video tapes (9934), objections to new port developments in the
UK (10034) and waste sites in general (9966).
And SMS (short message services), known to many as text messages, keep
popping up too (9884, 9895, 10047). As usual, there have been plenty
of other technical questions, such as ones about credit control
applications (10048), FAS 52 templates (9902), fax software (10183),
image bank software (10119), personal finance software (10182), Web
cams (10195), and portable email address books (10108).
Further technical questions include converting Pagemaker files into
Word (10186), implementing the Google site search (10171), Windows
3.11 (9961, 9943), Word macros (10099), fax to email and email to fax
software (10036), Google's advanced features (10105), the ILOR search
tool (10025), using MS Outlook for contacts management (10037) and
referencing software (10101).
But new subjects do arise too. Quantitative data has been requested
on the backpacking market in the UK (10071), the electron beam emitter
market (10043), UK disposable income by age and alcohol off sales
figures (10086), the average age of GPs in the UK (10102), top
companies' spending on IT (10142), UK vehicle and road tax statistics
(10138), sources of Web statistics (10125) and the LAN and WAN market
in India (10187).
Business researchers have been looking for German media companies
(9965), Norwegian biotechnology companies (10111), US company
registration (10135), European and US company information (10053),
Asian business codes (9956), charity business plans (9939), business
administration resources (10000), and a cheap source of Glow Sticks
(9945). And someone has recommended a site which pokes fun at jargon
(10178). It's quite amusing if you have the time to check it out.
Returning to the familiar for a moment, we've had another question
about working in Switzerland (10031). Then back to queries about
business mentors (10167), jobs in ecommerce systems design (10145), CV
tips (10194), information and library job sites for the UK and Ireland
(9940), working for a charity (9950), job sites for museum curators
(9952) and advice on finding home work (9955).
Those looking for learning have been asking about Lexis Nexis training
(10035), how to write article summaries (9920) and education and
training in Japan (10066). There were also miscellaneous requests for
information on alerts for academic articles (10064), old copies of
Tolley's Tax Planning (10137), music in TV adverts (10018, 10021),
European criminal records (9949, 10013), entertainment calendars
(9893), serial subscription suppliers (9901) and Thomas Paine (9922).
We have heard about resources covering accommodation all around the
world (10006), postal information for most countries (10175), an
online Periodic Table of the Elements (10060), UK trade union
information (10173) and places where you may be able to buy original
space hoppers (10001).
Research is being carried out into the leisure activities of
professionals to see if there are any interesting trends (10170),
library automation (10024), the history of library catalogues (9900),
publications on manufacturing in general (9927), motor fleet insurance
(10019), monitoring of Internet use by employers (9960), innovation
resources (9887) and locating people in Germany (9998).
Finally, there has been a rash of viruses in the past couple of weeks.
I've had several sent to me, none of which were picked up by my virus
software. One doing the rounds at the moment is a very successful
hoax (10088). The only way to prevent such hoaxes from spreading
virally is to delete them without sending them on to friends. And
don't open attachments until you are sure they are legitimate. That
way, the viruses shouldn't give you any bother.
Free Pint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>
-------------------------------------------------------
[Note: To read a posting enter the message number in place of XXXX in
the address <http://www.freepint.com/go/sXXXX>]
College and university rankings have been dominating the Student Bar
in the past couple of weeks (1447, 1452, 1458, 1459, 1464, 1471, 1474,
1475). There have also been enquiries about PhDs in business
management (1462), courses in design (1454) and online LIS courses
(1443, 1457).
Students have been researching the reactions of employees to intranets
(1444), urban poverty and waste (1461), stock auditing companies
(1466), linguistics databases (1468) and marketing communications in
the IT sector (1469). And we are still looking for a complete list of
animals, including insects, birds, fish, etc (1463).
Simon Collery, Content Developer <simon@freepint.com>
If you have a tricky research question or can help other Free Pinters
then do post a message at the Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar> or
the Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>.
To have the latest Free Pint Bar postings sent to you every other day,
send a blank email to <digest@freepint.com>. For the Student Bar
Digest send an email to <studentdigest@freepint.com>.
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FREE PINT JOBS
<http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
Free Pint Jobs has details of many information-related vacancies.
The following are a selection of featured jobs:
Information and Publications Officer
The Humbul Humanities Hub seeks an Information and
Publications Officer
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j134>
Information Development Officer
Tax isn't always boring - and certainly not when it combines
Knowledge Management with Enquiry work.
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j135>
Researcher
Use your fluent German! In management consultancy or banking
(perm/temp) London or Frankfurt.
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j136>
[The above jobs are paid listings]
It is free to search Free Pint Jobs and you can set up a profile to be
notified by email of relevant new vacancies.
Listing jobs is also free, or you can pay to receive significant
further publicity including coverage in this newsletter. Recruitment
agencies can also automatically upload all their jobs.
Find out more today at <http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070601.htm#tips>
"Conference Information and the Internet"
By Alison McNab
The Internet can provide a wealth of information in relation to
conferences. Whether you are planning a conference, looking for a
future event in order to submit a paper, or need to retrieve
information about the papers presented at a past conference. The
resources below can assist in all of these activities.
Identifying Forthcoming Conferences
-----------------------------------
The Conferences, Workshops and Meetings section
<http://www.niss.ac.uk/cr/events/conf.html> of the NISS Information
Gateway is a good starting point for conferences and training events
of interest to the UK academic community. Broad categories are
included for all academic disciplines, and it also provides a link to
the events diaries <http://www.niss.ac.uk/cr/events/sig.html> of
organisations, special interest groups, and professional societies.
The Community of Science produces a multidisciplinary Meetings and
Conferences service
. This covers all
academic disciplines (not just science!) and is searchable by topic
area, discipline, and society name. COS Meetings and Conferences is
accessed via the COS Workbench - a customised Web site for access to
all products and services. This is a free service which requires
registration. Once you have logged in to your Workbench, you can
access the COS Meetings and Conferences database from the "Research
and Reference" module or through the "Meetings and Conferences" module
directly.
The Scholarly Societies Project provides links to Meeting/Conference
Announcement Lists
<http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/meetings.html>.
These listings have been compiled by scholarly societies and normally
include meetings and conferences sponsored by many agencies, not just
those of the society that compiled the list.
worldMEET <http://www.thescientificworld.com/worldmeet/> is a meeting
resource for scientists, featuring a comprehensive and searchable
database of worldwide scientific conferences, symposia, workshops, and
business and science events. For instant notification of events
matching your profile, you can sign up to the PuPAlert
<http://www.thescientificworld.com/pup/create.asp> section of the
Personal user Profile form.
Yahoo! <http://www.yahoo.com/> can be a useful source of information
about forthcoming conferences. Searching on "conferences" from the top
screen on Yahoo! will result in too many hits. You need to narrow it
down, so you should first select the category that you are interested
in (e.g. Education or Science), then type "conferences" into the
search box within that category. If funding restricts you to
attending national conferences then using a Local/World Yahoo!
<http://docs.yahoo.com/docs/family/more.html#wy>
will result in a more targetted results listing.
Specialist Sources
------------------
In addition to the general listings noted above, there are many
conference/events listings which focus on a particular subject area.
Library and information science
Free Pint hosts an events listing <http://www.freepint.com/events/>
for the online information and Internet world. BUBLNews Events
<http://bubl.ac.uk/news/events/> lists conferences and courses in
library and information science. ICT and Knowledge Management events
<http://www.cddc.vt.edu/knownet/internetinfo-events.html> are listed
by the KnowNet Initiative. PADI events
<http://www.nla.gov.au/padi/format/conf.html> lists events related to
preserving access to digital information.
Science, technology & medicine
AgCal <http://www.agnic.org/mtg/> is an agricultural conferences,
meetings, seminars calendar. ChemSoc
<http://www.chemsoc.org/events/conhome.htm> provides conference and
events information for chemistry. The CINAHL clearinghouse
<http://www.cinahl.com/library/conferences/index.htm> lists
conferences related to nursing, allied health and health sciences
librarianship. EEVL Events
is a conference/meetings
announcements service for engineering. The American Mathematical
Society co-ordinates a mathematics calendar
<http://www.ams.org/mathcal/>. Medicalconferences.com
<http://www.medicalconferences.com/> is a conference portal for
medical and health-care professionals. PhysicsWeb provides a calendar
service <http://physicsweb.org/events/> on behalf of the European
Physical Society. The psci-com (Public COMmunication of SCIence)
website provides a calendar of events
<http://www.psci-com.org.uk/calendar/>. Techexpo lists technical and
science conference calendar information, as well as calls for papers
<http://www.techexpo.com/events/evnts-p1.html>.
Business, humanities and social sciences
AccountingEducation.com <http://accountingeducation.com/events/> lists
academic and professional accounting conferences around the world.
Education-line provides an education conference listings service
<http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/conflist.htm>.
Financial-Conferences.com <http://www.financial-conferences.com/>
lists training courses and conferences for the financial sector. The
Conference of University Teachers of German has a forthcoming events
service <http://www.cutg.ac.uk/events.htm>. The Human Kinetics website
<http://www.humankinetics.com/events/index.cfm> lists conferences and
other events in the physical activity field around the world. The
HUMBUL conference diary <http://www.humbul.ac.uk/cgi-bin/diary.pl>
lists humanities conferences. The Leisuretourism.com calendar of events
<http://www.leisuretourism.com/Calendar/index.asp> lists leisure,
recreation, sport & tourism events. Forthcoming conferences in music
<http://www.sun.rhbnc.ac.uk/Music/Conferences/> has calls for papers
and information about conferences in musicology and related
disciplines. Social Sciences conferences
<http://www.sosig.ac.uk/grapevine/Query?view=confBySubjectIndex> are
listed in SOSIG. The Institute for Tourism and Leisure Studies lists
tourism and leisure oriented conferences
<http://tourism.wu-wien.ac.at/cgi-bin/ift.pl?pr/events/resinfo/tkonfere.html>.
Urban design events <http://www2.rudi.net/diary.html> are listed on
RUDI.
The British Library provides a fee-based Conference Profiling service
<http://www.bl.uk/services/bsds/dsc/infoserv.html#Conference>.
Planning a Conference
---------------------
Locating a conference venue is one aspect of conference planning where
much preliminary work can be done via the Internet. The directory of
conference facilities at UK higher education institutions
<http://www.niss.ac.uk/cr/events/conf_acc.html> is available online,
which provides the opportunity to compare facilities. Other major
conference facilities, such as the National Exhibition Centre
<http://www.necgroup.co.uk/> frequently have their own website. The
Association for Conferences and Events website
<http://www.martex.co.uk/ace/> can provide useful contact information
on these.
Your delegates can compare the different means of transport to your
event at the A2bTravel.com <http://www.a2btravel.com/> website. For
UK-based conferences you may wish to include a map of the location
linked from <http://www.streetmap.co.uk/>.
If your meeting relies on invited speakers, you may be able to track
down their contact details from their company or institutional
website. However, if a call for papers is to be issued, relevant
discussion lists (see below) can be used to circulate this, as well as
the Meeting/Conference Announcement Lists
<http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/society/meetings.html> section of the
Scholarly Societies Project website.
Publicity
---------
Finally, the Internet is used for publicising conferences and
meetings. Electronic discussion lists are regularly used to distribute
information about events; however, it is recommended that you "lurk"
on a list for some time before posting to it to ensure that your
message is appropriate. Relevant discussion lists can be identified
through The Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences
<http://www.n2h2.com/KOVACS/>,
Tile.Net <http://Tile.net> or Topica <http://www.topica.com/>.
Many of the sites identified above offer the facility for individuals
and groups to register their event in a searchable database or
chronological list.
General services:
NISS's Events Service <http://www.niss.ac.uk/cr/events/about.html>
Community of Science <http://meetings.cos.com/cgi-bin/SubmitMeeting>
WorldMEET <http://www.thescientificworld.com/worldmeet/organizers.asp>
Agriculture: AgCal <http://www.agnic.org/mtg/agcalfrm.html>
Chemistry: ChemSoc <http://www.chemsoc.org/CFCONF/createdetails.cfm>
Digital information: PADI <http://www.nla.gov.au/padi/contribute.html>
Education: Education-line <http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/confnot.htm>
Information industry: Free Pint
<http://www.freepint.com/events/submit.htm>
Leisure, recreation, sport & tourism: leisuretourism.com
<http://www.leisuretourism.com/Calendar/suggest.asp>
Mathematics: American Mathematical Society
<http://www.ams.org/mathcal/mathcal-form.html>
Medicine: Medicalconferences.com
<http://www.medicalconferences.com/register.html>
Physical education/exercise science: Human Kinetics
<http://www.humankinetics.com/events/submit.cfm>
Physics: PhysicsWeb <http://physicsweb.org/events/newconfentry.phtml>
Science: Psci-com <http://www.psci-com.org.uk/submit-url/event.html>
Technology: TechExpo <http://www.techexpo.com/eventnew.html>
Tracing Conference Papers and Reports
-------------------------------------
Papers presented at conferences can be very significant, sometimes
reporting on new research for the first time. Reports and conference
proceedings can normally be traced through subscription databases such
as Web of Science Proceedings or the British Library's inside or ZETOC
services. In addition to these commercial databases several
specialised free resources are available:
Regard <http://www.regard.ac.uk/regard/home/> is a searchable
bibliographic database for publications and other research associated
with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The CORDIS RTD-
Publications Database
<http://www.cordis.lu/en/src/d_011_en.htm> can be searched for
bibliographic references and abstracts to studies, reports and
scientific papers resulting from EU research. The GrayLit Network
<http://www.osti.gov/graylit/> gives access to the "grey literature"
(reports, and other non-conventional sources) of the U.S.Federal
Agencies.
Proceedings are also published online by AgCal
<http://www.agnic.org/mtg/abs.html>; BioMedNet
<http://news.bmn.com/conferences/info>, which offers live daily
coverage of top biomedical conferences (registration required);
Education-line
<http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/confser.htm>; and WorldMeet
<http://www.thescientificworld.com/worldmeet/organizers.asp>.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alison McNab is Academic Services Manager at Loughborough University
Library <http://www.lboro.ac.uk/library/>. Links to many of the
resources discussed above are included on the Keeping your research up
to date - current awareness services website
<http://www.lboro.ac.uk/library/aware/conf.html> she has maintained
for the last five years. Alison will be joining the JISC as
Collections Manager for the Distributed National Electronic Resource
(DNER) <http://www.jisc.ac.uk/dner/> in July 2001.
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"Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality:
Methods for Reducing Costs and Increasing Profits"
Reviewed by Ralph Adam
This morning, a man rang from a well-known information company asking
if I wanted to remain on their mailing list. As I hadn't heard from
them for some time, I asked which address he had for me. It's not
surprising that I never receive anything: the record he read out
contained a Harrow street name, Northampton as the post town and a
Leicester post code. And this from a company specialising in data
accuracy! They obviously economise by not employing someone to check
their file-cleaning.
Then, I read an article by the editor of an information security
magazine. He had moved and notified the bank of the new address, yet
some items continued to go to the old office. Nine months later, he
has worked out that the bank has three separate customer databases -
one of which its IT department appears to know nothing about (and,
therefore, cannot amend)!
Imagine how many orders, and how much potential income, are lost by
such inaccurate record keeping (not to mention lost-letter management
costs for the Post Office or breaches of data protection legislation).
You can find similar examples of inaccurate and misleading information
everywhere. Yet, few consider the costs that result from it (this is
an under-researched area - students looking for dissertation/research
topics, please note). It is, therefore, timely that Larry English has
produced this book. One reviewer described it as the information
quality Bible for the information age!
English is passionate about data quality. He is a well-known lecturer,
consultant and writer on the subject, with several awards to his
credit. His heart is certainly in the right place!
This book, which describes itself as a concept book, a textbook, a
reference book and a practitioners' guide all rolled into one, is full
of encouraging quotations ("It takes less time to do a thing right
than it does to explain why you did it wrong" - Longfellow; "One
accurate measurement is worth a thousand opinions" - Admiral Hopper).
It starts from the premise that a high proportion of businesses skimp
on information quality, through inaccurate and missing data. Not only
do they lose out substantially as a result, but such inaccuracies
corrupt data warehouses which consequently fail. The book's aim is to
be a 'one stop' source for helping businesses to reduce costs and
increase profits by showing them how to measure the quality of their
information resources, as well as how to cleanse their data and keep
it clean. It comes with a guarantee: the author promises to refund
personally the cost of the book to any reader whose organisation does
not get a substantial benefit from following its recommendations. You
can't say better than that!
I haven't tested the guarantee, but I have studied the book. It's a
fairly hefty tome, of the sort you often find in the States: full of
experts' tips, lots of 'how-tos' and lists of evaluation tools. The
book is very well organised and logical, and it contains much
excellent advice (I can think of a few railway companies that would
benefit from reading the section on capturing, and acting on,
customers' complaints!). Nevertheless, I found it a bit daunting, a
little heavy-going and tended to forget what I had already covered.
But, rather than depend on my describing the book in detail, you can
see a summary of the nine-page list of contents and download the
first chapter from the accompanying web site
<http://www.infoimpact.com/>, where there are also reviews. There is
much more on the site, too: case studies, newsletters, articles by
other writers, lists of information quality techniques, products,
conference dates and a forum.
The book has a detailed index (it passed my test!) and two appendices:
a substantial glossary (with such terms as: 'accuracy to a surrogate
source', 'house of quality' and 'information preventive maintenance')
and a twelve-page bibliography.
Why not give it a try? After all, if it doesn't improve your 'bottom
line', you'll get your money back!
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* "Improving Data Warehouse and Business Information Quality".
Details: ISBN 0471253839 published by John Wiley & Sons and written
by Larry P. English
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471253839/freepint0c
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070601.htm#feature>
"Dyslexia Resources"
By Lillian McMaster and Chris Norcombe
Did you hear about the Dyslexic Witch?
What is dyslexia? Ask non-dyslexics and they will probably tell you it
is a problem with reading and spelling. Ask a group of dyslexics the
same question and you will probably get a different, although related,
answer from each one. This is because the condition manifests itself
differently for each individual.
Certainly for some dyslexics it is an inability to read or write at a
level appropriate for their age and background. For others it
manifests itself as an inability with regard to comprehension, that
is, the person can read the words themselves but cannot understand
what they actually mean. Yet another manifestation can occur during
conversation. We have all experienced losing the thread of a
conversation. Can you imagine how this feels when it happens on a
regular basis?
As always, statistics vary, but some sources state that as many as one
in five of the population suffers from dyslexia or associated
problems. So for the 7,000 or so Free Pinters who may be affected
(especially if they don't know it for sure, or won't admit it) here
are some information sites. There is plenty of information on the web
although a lot of it is duplicated, and many sites link to each other.
Therefore we have been fairly selective about the sites that are
discussed here.
It should also be born in mind that they were looked
at in two ways, one being the provision of information and other being
the ease of use or navigation by a dyslexic, i.e. the people they are
trying to represent.
Dyslexia Sites
--------------
The Dyslexia Testing Service <http://dyslexia-testing.com>
Good visual site (homepage). Buttons down side of page about testing.
Downloadable assessment questionnaire. Also link to list of fees for
assessment, which are quite reasonable, measured against DI fees. The
list shows several different currencies so caters for more than one
country.
Michigan Dyslexia Institute Inc. Dyslexia Association Of America
<http://www.dyslexia.net>
This is an informative site with short paragraphs, making it easy for
dyslexics to read. There are links, clearly labelled, to further
information. They also produce a newsletter (The Potential) and have
two articles, which can be accessed through links. However it appears
that the site has not been updated since 1998, which may render it out
of date.
Dyslexia Teacher - sharing information about helping pupils and
teachers <http://dyslexia-teacher.com>
Addresses of 'Dyslexia Teacher' in several different countries,
including UK. There are links to many more sites, covering a whole
range of issues related to dyslexia.
On the site you can: subscribe to a free mailing list to get up to
date information; find a test for dyslexia; recommend a book for
inclusion of the site, and many more things. A very, very good site,
recommended to anyone with any sort of interest in dyslexia. Copying
of material is allowed as long as their web address is mentioned in
any material used.
Reading From Scratch (RfS) <http://dyslexia.org>
Several links to other pages and sites, clearly labelled, which
contain relevant information about dyslexia. Includes 'Helpful Hints
for Teachers'. Easy to read and navigate through this site, it has very
good graphics. It is mainly about remedial teaching for people with
reading difficulties, as the title suggests. However it also has
interesting information about dyslexia.
Processing And Cognitive Enhancement (PACE) <http://learninginfo.com>
The home page is geared towards children with dyslexia, however there
is a clear link to a page geared towards adults with dyslexia. This
explains, on several pages, what dyslexia is and how to overcome
personal problems associated with dyslexia. It is very easy to read
and understand. I found this site informative and easy to navigate
through. The bottom line is they are trying to sell the test kit and
video but it is well worth considering as it is reasonably priced and
there is a guarantee of a full refund of any returned unused material.
Handihams Courage - Amateur Radio and Technology for People with
Disabilities <http://www.mtn.org/handiham/>
Seems to be a site for disabled people by disabled people.
Informative, lots of links, not just for dyslexic people. Ability to
'search for something', also direct link to GOOGLE at foot of page.
Dyslexic page has several links to other dyslexia sites. Easy to
navigate.
DYXI <http://www.dyxi.com> "A site for dyslexics written by dyslexics"
Colour, text and graphics very easy to read and understand. Fairly
easy to navigate, with icons. Use of graphic icons, with minimal text
easy to understand. Plenty of resources for dyslexics, the site was
set up by a dyslexic with the aim being to educate dyslexic people.
There is a fee to pay to become a member of this site. They announce
there will soon be a virtual classroom with visual and voice control.
Parts of the site are still under construction. Worth keeping an eye
on this site.
British Dyslexics <http://dyslexia.uk.com>
Another national organisation aimed at giving help to children and
teenagers. Their introduction says they make no charges for their
services, unlike the BDA and DI. Lots of information on several
related topics. Set up and run by dyslexics. Site states they are
building a database to connect students to Equal Opportunity
Employers. This site has attitude. We have often commented that
dyslexics could do more to help themselves, rather than just accepting
what is given to them. Maybe this is the start of the fight back.
Dyslexic.Com <http://dyslexic.com>
Home page has good graphics and text, it includes information for
professionals teachers, librarians and lots of links to other sites.
Very funny humour page. This is a business site, primarily selling
computers, with software designed for dyslexic users. There is a lot
of other information and links to relevant pages for dyslexics of all
ages.
British Dyslexia Association <http://bda-dyslexia.org.uk>
This is a potentially useful source of information although the site
is not really aimed at dyslexics. As a dyslexic myself I found this
site difficult to read. There is a keyword search option but this
leads to BDA publications and the links to their information sources
was not available at this time. There was no problem with links
regarding donations or selling goods. We were excited to find that
Real Player.WAV files were included as an alternative to the heavy
text pages. Eagerly clicked on this for information. Very
disappointed, after waiting for download (about 5 mins.) to hear
someone reading exactly what was on the hyperlink. For example,
clicking on NEWS category, voice saying 'Latest Dyslexia News'. The
cliche 'sledgehammer to a nut' seems to apply here. Rather ironic for
an association that claims it is 'The Voice of Dyslexic People'.
Dyslexia Institute <http://www.dyslexia-inst.org.uk>
Eye catching homepage, with links to other relevant articles.
Different colours and short paragraphs make it easier for dyslexics to
follow. Unlike the BDA site, Fund Raising, Materials and Sales are
segregated and clearly labelled. States that materials can be copied
and made use of as long as reference is made to source. This site is
very informative and easy to navigate between links. Although it is
primarily written for dyslexics or teachers of dyslexics, there is
lots of useful background information. There is no search facility
but links have buttons which are clearly labelled. Most of the links
do stand out from the page.
Dyslexia-Net <http://www.dyslexia-net.co.uk>
Independent on-line community catering for dyslexic teenagers, set up
by a dyslexic student. This is a fairly new site which is certainly
improving. It features on-line chats from people such as Professor
Stein from Oxford University and Ben Way 1999/2000 Young Entrepreneur
of the Year. The site has some way to go but could prove to be of
enormous benefit to young dyslexics as they can chat to their
contemporaries about their problems. Somewhat light on information but
perhaps the greatest asset is its potential as a mutual support
community. They are developing two new sites, dyslexicpeople.com, for
adults to meet and talk to other adults, and dyslexicdiscount.com, an
on-line shopping site for dyslexics.
Fulcrum Dyslexia Awareness Ltd. <http://www.fulcrumonline.demon.co.uk>
This organisation states "Here to help organisations develop the full
potential of their dyslexic employees." "Here to empower people with
dyslexia realise their ambitions." There is a nice use of colour, text
and fonts, which made it very easy to view. There are clearly labelled
links to other information. Provides what appears to be useful
training information for both employers and their employees. The
Managing Director is connected with the BDA. It's a pity they didn't
ask his advice when constructing their own web site. This is a site
primarily selling a service as opposed to providing information.
However, one highly significant factor is that it promotes dyslexics
in an extremely positive way.
Department for Education and Employment <http://www.dfee.gov.uk>
This is a government site covering education and employment. It has
links to specific areas of education and contains a lot of
information. There is a link, at the foot of the page under
'disability ' which links it to the Disability Rights Commission page.
Disability Rights Commission (DRC) <http://www.disability.gov.uk>
The Disability Rights Commission covers all disabilities including
dyslexia. It is also accessible through the DfEE website.
Recognition
-----------
At this point, if not before, some people will have said to themselves
that dyslexia does not exist. Therefore it is worth pointing out that
dyslexia was officially recognised in the UK as a disability, under
the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and therefore UK employers have
an obligation under the law. It is difficult for a dyslexic, filling
in an application form or attending an interview, to decide when or
whether to mention their condition. At the application stage, are they
going to jeopardise their chances of being considered for interview?
Should they say nothing until the interview? Or should they await the
offer of a position? Prejudice does exist and many employers do think
that a dyslexic will be less capable. Information for employers can be
found on the DRC website.
Employment
----------
So why then should you employ a dyslexic? 1) Because of writing
difficulties, any reports you ask for will be concise and to the
point. 2) Dyslexics are widely regarded as creative people, because
their condition makes them see things differently. 3) Sure, dyslexics
have difficulty concentrating on one topic or situation for a long
time and therefore tend to spend shorter periods on several things,
dealing with them by rote. This would seem to be as good a definition
of multi-tasking as any.
Having said all this, in practical terms employers may have to do very
little to accommodate dyslexics, bearing in mind that dyslexics are
individuals too. Almost certainly, explanations/instructions will have
to be repeated (please note that repeating the same phrase over and
over again does not count as an explanation, in the same way that
spending nothing does not equal value for money).
Another answer may be as simple as printing on coloured paper rather
than white. Including more diagrams or tables may be helpful.
Dyslexia is a highly complex subject and we have only just scratched
the surface in an article of this length. Please feel free to post
your query in the Free Pint Bar. We will respond to all queries.
Oh, and the dyslexic witch? She sold her soul to Santa!
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Lillian McMaster has a degree in Information Management and works as
a librarian in a Sixth Form College. She is dyslexic. Chris Norcombe
also has a degree in Information Management and works in the library
at an FE College. Together they have formed the Red Panda Partnership
<redpandainfo@yahoo.co.uk>.
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For the first couple of years of Free Pint's life, we were welcoming
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The Web site usage was also a record breaker in May with twice as many
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Towards the end of June you can visit London to attend the "Fourth
International Conference on Virtual Communities" from Infonortics or
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Further north, the Society of Indexers are holding their conference in
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FREE PINT GOLD
This time last year we ran an article about UK insurance industry
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which has subsequently become a hot search-related topic.
* Free Pint No.64, 8th June 2000 "Understanding Insurance" and "The
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Two years ago was had two articles from two popular authors. The first
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out how search engine companies could survive. Worth re-reading the
author's predictions at the end of the article two years on.
* Free Pint No.40, 10th June 1999. "Weather Sources on the Web" and
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<http://www.freepint.com/issues/100699.htm>
In Free Pint three years ago we talked about the golden rules to free
Web site promotion, and I took a look at how to run an online survey.
* Free Pint No.16, 11th June 1998 "Web Site Marketing - How do they do
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<http://www.freepint.com/issues/110698.htm>
William Hann, Managing Editor <william@freepint.com>
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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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
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About this Newsletter
- Publication Date: 6th June 2001
- Plain text
- Link: https://www.jinfo.com/go/newsletter/89
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