Newsletter No. 98
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Free Pint
"Helping 42,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 18th October 2001 No.98
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Sinead Williams
FREE PINT BAR & STUDENT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
JOBS
Researcher
Information Specialist
FREE PINT REGULARS
TIPS ARTICLE
"WAP Sites and the Mobile Internet"
By Duncan Parry
BOOKSHELF
"Super Searchers on Wall Street -
Top Investment Professionals Share Their Online Research Secrets"
Reviewed by Sheila Webber
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Working in Information in the UK Voluntary Sector"
By Helen Bilton
FACT, EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
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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". Free Pint Regulars (paid
members) also receive a weekly current awareness newsletter, discounts
and publicity. Please circulate this newsletter which is best read
when printed out and viewed in a Courier font.
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EDITORIAL
The new version of Free Pint in Adobe Acrobat format seems to have
gone down extremely well and we've received some great feedback about
it. Many of you have contacted us, both by email and at the Bar, to
tell us you like the newsletter-style formatting and find it much
clearer to read, print and pass to colleagues.
"I much prefer the Acrobat version. It is easier to take away to
read, more friendly on the eye, and less paper has to be a good
thing"
"Much easier for train reading"
"Love the PDF format. A lot easier to find information, great to
show to friends!"
"I actually got to read it all this time - and as a consequence I
got a lot more out of it."
I'm particularly pleased about this last comment since we do
understand that the text version of the newsletter can be quite
daunting to read all the way through. We will therefore now be
publishing the Free Pint newsletter by email, HTML (on the Web site)
and in Acrobat format at <http://www.freepint.com/issues/181001.pdf>.
Our UK company research gateway has just been significantly enhanced
with the addition of individual company director reports. These
reports give a lot of information about individual directors,
including details of nationality, birth date, address and a list of
all their live and resigned directorships of trading companies,
dissolved companies and those with insolvency proceedings.
The reports cost just 8 pounds (about US$11) and an example can be
seen at <http://www.freepint.com/icc/sample/sample.htm>.
In today's Free Pint we bring you the usual mix of tips and site
reviews, with articles on WAP resources and working in information in
the voluntary sector. There is also news of further enhancements to
the upgraded "Regular" membership, which I would encourage you to
consider if you haven't yet signed up. As a Regular you will receive
our popular weekly current awareness newsletter and your paid
support really does help us to enhance the Free Pint service. More
details at <http://www.freepint.com/regular/>.
If you enjoy today's edition of Free Pint then do pass it on to
your colleagues and friends.
Cheers
William
William Hann, Founder and Managing Editor
Email: <william@freepint.com> Tel: +44 (0)1784 455435
Free Pint is a registered trademark of Free Pint Limited (c) 1997-2001
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
from Sinead Williams
* I like to read newspapers like the Guardian and the Ham & High, not
readily available in Melbourne <http://www.ecola.com/news/press/>.
* <http://www.profusion.com/> - My favourite Invisible Web site, that
can even find items in the State Library of Victoria's Images
Database.
* To find PDF files for reports, conference papers and "grey
literature" I use either <http://searchpdf.adobe.com/> or put
"search term inurl:pdf" in the search bar in Google
<http://www.google.com/>.
* <http://www.corporateinformation.com/> - My favourite all-purpose
business site where I can get company information, country profiles
and nice neat combinations of country/industry profiles.
* Looking for a site you saw advertised somewhere or heard of, but
can't remember the exact name? Simply go to <http://www.amnesi.com>
and type in the name the best you can remember. Even if the name is
spelt incorrectly the search engine will try to match names in the
database and give you a list of similar names.
Sinead Williams is Information Research Coordinator at WMC Resources
in Melbourne. Before moving to Australia in 1991 she was with Bain &
Co. (1988-1990) and First Contact (1991) in London.
Tell us about your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm> and email <simon@freepint.com>.
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GET MORE FROM INFORMATION BY USING FACTIVA'S NEW KNOWLEDGE NETWORK
This new community has resources that illustrate how various types of
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>>> STUDYING FOR AN INFORMATION-RELATED QUALIFICATION? <<<
If you're stuck on a project and want to draw on the experience
of the international Free Pint readership, then post a message to
the Student Bar. It's a great free resource, and we wish there'd been
something like it when we were studying for our information degrees.
<http://www.freepint.com/student/>
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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/181001.htm#bar>
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As the remaining leaves on the trees turn a deeper golden, Free
Pinters' thoughts turn to business matters. Their thoughts range from
trying to raise capital (13307, 13150), costing projects (13329),
getting advice on running an ebusiness (13157) and keeping track of
European IPOs (13290). There were also questions about writing
business plans (13340) and evaluating an online business research site
(13168).
The business of online content has been aired with postings about
copyright law as it relates to digital maps (13285), protecting
online financial news (13214), locating Korean media sites (13306)
and selecting a press cuttings agency (13191). Someone is also
looking for a free source of patent specs delivered by email (13332).
Researchers have been enquiring about knowledge management in the
financial services sector (13299), biometric technologies, with
special reference to fingerprint readers (13264), finding credit card
details on individuals in Germany (13263) and population data for
Eastern European cities (13374).
There have been resources proffered in the Bar covering library
related web logs (13377), taxonomy and classification software
(13201) and recruitment agencies (13224). And there have been
requests for sources of information on US and UK public policy
(13381) and a 2002 calendar of world events (13379).
I'm glad to see that the number of technical questions has not
declined much, though. Free Pinters have been looking for free online
SAGE tutorials (13222), circuit diagrams for ICL VE17C monitors
(13289), off the shelf portals (13342), bulk fiche printing services
(13160) and bulk emailing software (13167). And there was a query
about knowledge management technologies used specifically in
libraries (13322).
Other technical questions involved programming in Outlook 2000
(13380), Windows keyboard shortcuts (13256, 13364), re-registering
domain names (13255), backing up Outlook (13314), searching tables in
Access (13158) and slow-down problems in Windows (13163). There was
also a question about exporting an Access database into a comma-
delimited file and back again (13267).
Finally, the more miscellaneous messages have been about purchasing
cost effective telephone cards (13319), getting work in Germany
(13227), finding some chemical algorithms (13336), defining some
computing terms (13234) and linking UK electoral ward data to postal
codes (13159).
Free Pinters also wondered about translating some Latin phrases
(13166, 13230), installing ADSL at half the usual cost (13383),
pinpointing a generation, exactly (13265), estimating the annual
turnover of the UK angling market (13282) and finding team building
activities, aside from survival exercises (13183). For what it's
worth, I'd recommend choral singing as a paradigm of teamwork. Just
try singing out of tune in a choir and you'll see what I mean.
Free Pint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>
-------------------------------------------------------
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Students have been researching the benefits of joining professional
associations (1880), Web based business strategies (1896) and job
fairs for library and information professionals (1898). There
were also questions about health information centres (1881) and
property management companies (1886). And I posted some information
on US university ranking data (1894), as that seems to be a popular
topic.
Simon Collery, Content Developer <simon@freepint.com>
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>>> NEW: DETAILED REPORTS ON INDIVIDUAL COMPANY DIRECTORS <<<
So, who exactly is this company director you've been reading about?
For just 8 pounds you can find out all about them, including
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Free Pint Jobs has details of many information-related vacancies.
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The Pub Crawl has quickly become a must-read in the information world,
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We will also shortly be introducing a voucher referral scheme. If you
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/181001.htm#tips>
"WAP Sites and the Mobile Internet"
By Duncan Parry
When WAP enabled devices and mobile phones began to appear, the usual
amount of hype filled the technology sections of the press. It seemed
as if everyone would be walking around accessing e-mail on the move,
ordering that must-have CD from the bus queue and checking the markets
whilst walking the dog.
In fact, whilst mobile phone sales remained buoyant following the
introduction of WAP, the number of WAP phone owners who access the
Internet is debatable. In September of 2000 the BBC reported that
in the UK less than 1% of users accessed the Internet via WAP - and
then reported in the January of 2001 that BT Genie's WAP service saw
traffic rise 513% to the end of December.
Debates about user numbers aside, I'll try and highlight some of the
useful WAP sites and services available in this article, and provide
guidance on how to view them without paying for the mobile phone call.
WAP via the Desktop
-------------------
There are several free emulators available that allow you to view WAP
sites on your computer. As the cost of the call to a WAP service can
be quite high, this can be a cost effective way of finding useful WAP
services without running up a high telephone bill.
Gelon <http://www.gelon.net/> allows you to type in a WAP site address
and view it via your site - and usefully offers a directory of WAP
sites too. You can also add it to your own site for free.
M3Gate <http://www.m3gate.com/> works by installing a WAP browser onto
your computer and displaying WAP sites in that, and will automatically
open any WAP links you click on in your normal (Internet Explorer or
Netscape) browser. This is what I've used to research this article.
Klondike <http://www.apachesoftware.com/> also offer a WAP browser to
download, with versions for both the PC and Pocket PC.
Finding WAP Sites via the Web
-----------------------------
When looking for WAP sites via my normal browser, my first thought was
to try one of the big name search engines or portals and use their WAP
directory.
Lycos UK <http://mobileportal.lycos.co.uk/wap/index.jsp?page=m> offers
a WAP site directory focused on the UK, with a search option, the
ability to view sites via their emulator and store bookmarks. Lycos
US offer a similar service <http://pinpoint.lycos.com/>.
Yahoo also offer a WAP directory
<http://mobile.yahoo.com/wireless/home> and the ability to add the WAP
link to a list of bookmarks. You can then add to your WAP device via
Yahoo's WAP service. This could be useful - but it also ties you into
storing bookmarks with Yahoo.
Looksmart <http://www.wapls.com/ls/lsc> also offer a directory. This
isn't as extensive as some of the other directories, but the sites are
reviewed by Looksmart's editors so the quality is good. I expect this
will grow quickly and appear on sites like MSN, Excite and others that
use Looksmart's content (if it hasn't already).
Beyond the 'big names' of searching, there are several prominent
specialist sites that focus just on providing WAP site directories.
Awooga <http://www.awooga.com/> offers a category based directory of
some 4000+ WAP sites. The sites are accompanied by descriptions, a
star rating, comments from users and an indication of how many Awooga
users have bookmarked each site - which can be a good indication of
quality. You can also preview sites using Awooga's built in emulator.
The problem with this site is that the directory structure only exists
at the top level; a full directory structure would place sites in
subcategories according to topic, region etc. Instead, you are
presented with a long list of links over several pages.
There are numerous other WAP directories - you can find some of these
here on Lycos UK, as well as mobile phone and SMS sites -
<http://www.lycos.co.uk/dir/Telecommunications_and_Internet/Mobiles__SMS_and_WAP/>.
Finding WAP sites with your WAP device
--------------------------------------
Of course, finding useful WAP sites via your computer is all very well
when you have time to spare, but what services are available to find
sites via your WAP device?
Google offers a WAP search facility for use of WAP devices
<http://wap.google.com>. Interestingly, Google don't have a WAP page
directory on their main (HTML) site - probably because the Google
directory is based on the Open Directory, which doesn't have one.
Google's WAP search offers a unique (as far as I know) feature - the
ability to search normal web pages and convert their content from HTML
to WML for reading on your WAP device. It sounds like such a good
idea I had to put it through it's paces.
First off I couldn't access the WAP service via M3Gate, which I was
using to look at WAP sites via my PC - this shows that WAP emulators
aren't 100% accurate; Gelon.net's emulator loaded Google okay. To
start I tried searching simply for 'Free Pint'- and hit another
problem: the 'page requested' couldn't be found (i.e. a broken link).
After several tries I gave up on the Google WAP search - I'm pretty
sure it works okay, but that the emulators simply couldn't understand
it. I tried another emulator just in case - this was convinced the
page was HTML. Frustrating, to say the least. If anybody has
successfully used this service, maybe they could share their
experiences on the Free Pint Bar?
Lycos US also offer a WAP based service <http://wap.lycos.com/>. This
one struck me as particularly useful (yes, I do work for Lycos, but in
the UK, so I'd never seen this before). You can set up a personal 'My
Lycos' page of news headlines, etc., on the Lycos.com site and access
it via your WAP device too - including email according to the options
I was presented with. There's also a directory of WAP sites with
popular topics including News, Sport and Stocks, which seemed
extensive enough to provide basic information like headlines, results,
prices, etc. This site did work okay most of the time - there seemed
to be some broken links, though.
Gelon <http://wap.gelon.net> offer a directory and a search option.
Some quick searches on this convinced me it's quite useful and a
worthy competitor to the WAP presences of the big name search engines.
The sites I found via it worked okay and matched my searches quite
well.
Awooga <http://wap.awooga.com> offer a WAP based version of their
site - with a WAP directory, news headlines and a top ten of WAP
sites. The same categories are available as on the HTML site, and
again the category system only exists for the top level, without a
search option. However most of the links I sampled worked and the
sites were of a reasonable quality and range of topics - I found
myself playing Hangman, reading the financial news and researching a 3
Star Hotel in Milan.
Popular Sites
-------------
From this limited sample of sites it's obvious that there are useful
WAP sites available - problems with the technology notwithstanding.
So which stand out from the crowd?
Awooga list the top ten sites visited via their directory - when I
visited, number one was Crash.net, a motor sports news and results
site covering Nascar, F1, Superbikes etc.
Next on Awooga's chart was WAP88.com <http://wap88.com>. This service
offers users access to ICQ via their device and the ability to pick up
e-mail from existing accounts that support POP3. Useful in concept -
although there was little help information on either the WAP or HTML
site.
Third was Ents24.com <http://ents24.com> a UK focused entertainment
site - you enter your postcode and it will list clubs, theatres, and
other venues for a night out. I have to say I was impressed with the
list it presented for my area - in fact there were a couple of places
I hadn't heard of. Clicking a venue displays their telephone and
address details, so on a hastily planned night out this could be very
useful.
Moving away from Awooga's chart, news site Ananova's WAP site
<http://wap.ananova.com/> offers news for the UK, World, business and
Entertainment, including topic specific headlines (e.g. Foot and
Mouth) and each story is followed by links to related pieces. You can
also get breaking news alerts sent to your device - overall a very
useful news site.
WAP - Does it Work?
-------------------
My opinion of WAP remains unchanged after writing this article; there
are some useful WAP sites out there, but the potential of mobile
access to the Internet is constrained by the basic nature of WML and
WAP devices: black and white text and static, low resolution graphics
on small screens. Unless you specifically need to use a service
offered via WAP, it can be a frustrating and expensive way of
accessing the Internet.
No doubt there are Free Pint readers out there who disagree - a new
thread in the Free Pint Bar, perhaps? I do believe, however, that the
third generation of mobile phones with improved displays and
developments in standards will start to deliver a more useful mobile
Internet - as long as the cost of accessing it doesn't become
prohibitively high. And do I have a WAP phone now? Yes. Do I use it?
No, not a lot.
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Duncan Parry is a directory editor for Lycos UK, responsible for
Computers, Technology, Internet and Telecommunications.
<http://www.lycos.co.uk/> He also undertakes freelance work.
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Related Free Pint links:
* "WAP Technology and Services" article in Free Pint No.65
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/220600.htm>
* "Telecommunications" articles and resources in the Free Pint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p134>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/181001.htm#tips>
* Post a message to the author, Duncan Parry, or suggest further
resources, at the Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Access the entire archive of Free Pint articles and issues
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
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"Super Searchers on Wall Street -
Top Investment Professionals Share Their Online Research Secrets"
Written by Amelia Kassel and Reva Basch (Editor)
Reviewed by Sheila Webber
"Sounds like a cross between a computer game and an Enid Blyton novel"
remarked a friend. Although there could be room for a spin-off cartoon
("Supersearchers to the rescue! Planet saved weekly by quartet of
teenage infopros with their cute-but-deadly pets!") at the moment the
Super Searchers series consists of interviews with collections of
information professionals.
In this case, as the title says, it is North American specialists in
investment information. Ten people (one per chapter) are asked similar
questions. For example, do they have tips on searching SEC data; how
do they stay up to date; are some investment sources more reliable,
what does their job entail? In addition, there is an index, a useful
glossary of US investment terminology and a list of 242 sources. There
is an online version of this list freely available at
<http://www.infotoday.com/supersearchers/superwall.htm> (bookmark it
now!).
As with the other Super Searchers books, the interest comes from
reading about the interviewees' advice on search strategy and sources.
You may also get some background about a searcher whose writing or
website you admire. In my case, I was interested to learn more about
Gary Klein (business librarian at Willamette University), who it turns
out was making money on the stock markets from a tender age.
The interviewees come from a variety of backgrounds and institutions,
which provides some contrast. For example, investment magazine editor
and columnist Tish Williams says that she finds "almost all the
information I need on the Web" (p48). "I want to be able to just type
in what I need at a URL and get what I need quickly" (p49). However,
others point out problems with free web-based material. Klein
highlights the dubious nature of advice on bulletin boards. Martha
DiVittorio, Information Services Manager at Oliver Wyman, emphasises
that her time is billed to clients, so a quick priced search may be
cheaper than a lengthy "free" web search.
A key point that comes through is to check and cross check data,
wherever it comes from, and to look for clear statements about exactly
what is included and how the data has been manipulated.
This book is definitely worth getting if you regularly need to find US
company and investment data. Those doing investment work in other
countries will also find advice on strategy and source types
interesting, though when it comes to detail, there is little about the
non-US scene. If you want to work in this area, or teach those that
do, then the interviews have value as case studies. Others will
probably not see the book as a must-have, because of its specialist
nature and US bias.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sheila Webber <s.webber@sheffield.ac.uk> is a lecturer in the
Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield, UK. She
has recently relocated and updated her sites on *Information literacy*
(now at <http://dis.shef.ac.uk/literacy/>) and *Marketing of
information* (now at <http://dis.shef.ac.uk/sheila/marketing/>).
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Related Free Pint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/wallstreet.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965420/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0910965420/freepint00>
* "Super Searchers on Wall Street - Top Investment Professionals Share
Their Online Research Secrets" ISBN 0910965420 published by Cyberage
Books and written by Amelia Kassel and Reva Basch (Editor).
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Free Pint
Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
* Read about other Internet searching books on the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/searching.htm>
To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to <bookshelf@freepint.com>.
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>>> TRYING TO FILL AN INFORMATION-RELATED POST? <<<
Free Pint Jobs is a great place to list your vacancy. It will
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included in the Free Pint Newsletter for a small fee.
If you're not having much luck through the traditional channels,
then try: <http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/181001.htm#feature>
"Working in Information in the UK Voluntary Sector"
By Helen Bilton
Introduction
------------
Information work is not traditionally associated with the voluntary
sector. However, today there are plenty of opportunities as the sector
rapidly catches on to the need to exploit information. The aim of this
article is to offer some pointers and places to look for vacancies and
advice.
The UK Voluntary Sector
-----------------------
The UK voluntary sector (also known as the charity, 'third' or not-
for-profit sector) is large and wide-ranging. The definition of a
'voluntary' organisation simply indicates that the Management
Committee and Trustees are unpaid volunteers. This means that whilst a
large proportion of sector members are small groups run entirely by
volunteers, there are also plenty of paid posts in a range of
professional areas.
Information in the UK Voluntary Sector
--------------------------------------
Most voluntary organisations depend heavily on information to
function. For those which provide advice and information on a
particular subject or to a particular group it is the very purpose of
their existence. For others it is a fundamental resource, and in many
cases they are only just starting to realise the benefits of managing
it properly. The following quote, from a 1999 report by Burt and
Taylor on ICT and the Voluntary Sector, illustrates the current
situation perfectly:
As the sector engages with the information society - its
complex networks, its customer focus, its emphasis on service
quality, and its increasingly competitive nature - the
capability of voluntary organisations, not just to move
information around existing channels, but actively to exploit
information flows and to innovate around these, becomes
crucial.
So, lots of opportunities for information workers! However, locating
the posts may not be as easy as it perhaps is in other sectors. One
thing to bear in mind is that the voluntary sector usually relies on
vacancy advertising and until fairly recently not many jobs were
available through agencies. Another is that often organisations are
not aware that what they really need is someone with information
skills.
Where and how to look for vacancies
-----------------------------------
As indicated, finding an information job in the voluntary sector
involves mainly looking at vacancy adverts - and looking hard because
what you want may be well hidden. Most organisations need to minimise
recruitment costs and will often save a number of vacancies and place
one big advert, say once a month. Your dream job may well be hidden
between an advert for a Head of Operations and a cleaner.
The biggest problem, though, is in finding the right keywords.
'Information' is very broad but narrowing it to 'information officer',
'librarian', etc., would cut out many potential jobs. Most jobs will
appear somewhere on the Internet, but relying on an alert or saved
search is unlikely to produce useful results. You will have to do the
leg work yourself.
There are two basic kinds of information jobs in the voluntary sector,
although you will often see job descriptions which mix both:
- External facing jobs i.e. those which deal with the provision of
information to the public. Many organisations are primarily in
existence to provide public information on a particular topic and
most others will have some kind of publicity, marketing or
campaigning function. Keywords to look for would be 'advice',
'helpline', 'information service', 'web', 'research', as well as
the obvious 'information officer/manager'.
- Internal jobs dealing with the organisation's management information
and in-house collections. These jobs can be very wide- ranging and
often include elements of external-facing work. Keywords to look for
would be as above plus 'performance', 'monitoring', 'quality',
'policy' and 'intranet'. Keep an eye on posts categorised as
administrative as well - on careful reading these can often turn
out to have a very hefty information component.
Sources of vacancies
--------------------
The Guardian Society jobs section on Wednesdays (also at
<http://society.guardian.co.uk/jobs/charities/0,10353,503164,00.html>)
is probably the most useful UK source for information jobs in the
voluntary sector. Currently there are 10-15 information jobs a week
advertised, although this number includes government/public sector
jobs too. There are some voluntary sector specific websites, but no
one single source and you may find you have to do a lot of browsing.
The most useful are listed below.
Charity People at <http://www.charitypeople.com> is a useful, well-
known site with plenty of vacancies but no categories so you'll have
to hit lucky with guessing a job title.
Charityopps.com at <http://www.charityopps.com/home.htm> has
categories but no obvious home for information work and they don't
seem to have many jobs in their database. Their sister site
<http://www.charityrecruitment.co.uk/home.html> covers their work as a
recruitment agency.
Jobs in Charities at <http://www.jobsincharities.co.uk/public>
does have a category for 'Info, Policy and Research' and vacancies are
clearly presented.
CharityJob at <http://www.charityjob.co.uk> has no obvious
category - information jobs are in 'Other'. Some basic advice for
young people thinking of a career is at
<http://www.charityjob.co.uk/StartingOut.htm>.
CharityJobs.co.uk at <http://www.charityjobs.co.uk/> is a bit
hard to use and seems to have a limited collection. You can really
only search by geography as it doesn't recognise 'information' as a
skill.
Charity Action Recruitment at
<http://www.lwts.org.uk/car/Index.htm> are primarily a recruitment
agency but vacancies are advertised on the site and they appear to
have some interesting ones.
Not for Profit Jobs at
<http://www.conferencehouse.co.uk/nfpjobs/index.htm> offers the chance
to have all their jobs e-mailed to you, but again there is no specific
category for 'information'.
Many charities will also post job vacancies on their own
website, but this is really only any use if you want to target a
specific organisation.
Finally, there are the usual sources of information jobs -
particularly useful if you want to give the agency route a try.
The trade press (LA Record, Managing Information, etc.) rarely
carry voluntary sector jobs - but there have been a few interesting
ones recently.
Free Pint Jobs at <http://www.freepint.com/jobs> - is useful because
it allows you to choose the public sector option and they seem to have
a good quantity.
Sue Hill <http://www.suehill.com> have a range of public sector jobs.
Other agencies tend not to be able to list all of the jobs they
currently have in the voluntary sector (e.g. at TFPL you have to look
through them all) - but they never have many.
What is working in the Voluntary Sector like?
---------------------------------------------
The good bits:
- The chance to work in a not-for-profit environment where you
can really make a difference to people's lives through your work.
- Plenty of scope for innovation and great opportunities to practise
your skills. Voluntary sector cultures are traditionally fairly
forgiving of errors, supportive and willing to let individuals take
the initiative.
- There are often compensations for poor pay structures such as
flexible working, longer holidays, pensions etc.
The not-so-good bits:
- The pay can be poor, but not necessarily any worse than the
rest of the information sector.
- It can feel a bit isolated, you may be one of just a handful of
people in an organisation who understand information. It is common
to find yourself managed by someone with no information background
who is doing a completely different job.
- Career progression may be a problem.
- Few posts are available outside London - although this is changing.
Where to look for advice
------------------------
The following resources are useful starting points to find out about
working in the voluntary sector in general.
Guardian Society's section on careers in the voluntary and
public sectors - this is an excellent resource with plenty of
interesting articles <http://www.societyguardian.co.uk/careers>.
VolResource's page on working in the sector
<http://www.volresource.org.uk/workopps/worksect.htm>.
Working for a Charity at< http://www.wfac.org.uk/>.
CharityOpps produce a booklet answering some basic questions
which can be downloaded as a .pdf from
<http://www.charityopps.com/booklet.PDF>.
An overview of the current issues facing the sector can be
found at the NCVO <http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk>.
Worth keeping an eye on is the forthcoming first ever careers
fair for the sector at < http://www.forum3.co.uk>.
Conclusion
----------
It is definitely an exciting time to work in information in the UK
voluntary sector and new opportunities are opening up all the time.
You may find that the jobs are hard to spot and there may be an
element of making it up as you go along when you get there but take it
from someone who's doing it - the rewards are worth it.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Helen Bilton works as an Information Officer for St Mungo's, a large
London homelessness agency. She has worked there for three and a half
years and is also studying part-time for an MSc in Information Science
at City University.
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Related Free Pint links:
* "Nonprofits" articles and links in the Free Pint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p179>
* Post a message to the author, Helen Bilton, or suggest further
resources, at the Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
<http://www.freepint.com/events>
The National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, are organising the
"International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications
2001" from the 22nd of October in Tokyo, Japan. To find out what the
"Dublin Core" is, see the introduction in Free Pint No.36
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/150499.htm#tips>.
Stateside there are a few meetings at the end of this month and the
beginning of November. "KMWorld" from Information Today is in Santa
Clara, California, and their "Internet Librarian" conference takes
place in Pasadena, California. The American Society for Information
Science and Technology (ASIST) have their Annual Meeting in
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Provisional details of forthcoming conferences and exhibitions in the
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FREE PINT GOLD
This time last year we looked at Web sites with geological
information, focusing on mineral exploration. Of interest to
information professionals around the world, the feature article
pointed to key European document delivery suppliers.
* Free Pint No.73, 19th October 2000 "Geology On The Web" and
"European Document Delivery Suppliers and Resources On The World
Wide Web". <http://www.freepint.com/issues/191000.htm>
Free Pint two years ago covered modern music sites, from fanzines
to music industry sources. The feature introduced us to ADSL, which we
are big fans of in the Free Pint office.
* Free Pint No.48, 21st October 1999 "Notes on the Net: A trawl around
the Music Sites" and "Unblocking the Web: digital technology and the
telephone line". <http://www.freepint.com/issues/211099.htm>
Sticking with comms, three years ago there was detailed information on
setting up a modem. This was followed by a discussion about the
availability of consumer health information on the Web.
* Free Pint No.24, 15th October 1998 "How to select and optimise your
PC Internet modem" and "A guide to Consumer Health Information on
the 'Net". <http://www.freepint.com/issues/151098.htm>
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GOODBYE
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Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a free newsletter written by information
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- Publication Date: 17th October 2001
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