Fair Use vs Free Ride - Meltwater Loses US Copyright Battle
3rd April 2013

The debate over copyright in the digital sphere continues with the recent ruling in the Meltwater/Associated Press battle. Central to the decision was whether or not Meltwater was driving subscribers to third-party news sites or acting as a source in itself, and how much free information constitutes "too much".

Read

Source Update April 2013: What's Happening with Nexis?
3rd April 2013

This month's additions and takedowns in Nexis, researched and compiled by Anne Jordan.

Read

Data Visualisation with AuthorMapper - Making Sense of Scientific Data
2nd April 2013

Yulia Aspinall offers a glimpse into AuthorMapper, a data visualisation tool for the scientific community which allows users to view the geographical locations of authors, subjects or other keyword searches based on data from the Springer Journals and Springer Books collections plus SpringerLink. One of the few free data visualisation tools, it can also help researchers to identify scientific trends using timeline graphs, statistics and regional data.

Read

Source Update April 2013: What's Happening with Factiva?
2nd April 2013

This month's additions and takedowns in Factiva, researched and compiled by Anne Jordan.

Read

Mini Review: Datamyne
28th March 2013

Helen Clegg reviews the Datamyne database, an authoritative source of trade data which covers the cross-border commerce of 50 countries. Aggregated and transactional data is available and there is a range of output options along with in-depth reports. The search options range from simple search to more complex options such as querying just "House" or just "Master" bill-of-lading data - Datamyne is currently the only provider of international trade data on the market that allows this distinction.

Read

Mixed Messages on Big Data
28th March 2013

Is big data headed for the hype cycle's Trough of Disillusionment, as Gartner suggests? If it is, that might weed out some of the over-sold technological solutions, leaving the survivors to develop in a maturing market. But challenges still remain - including skill shortages among data scientists and the need for a change of corporate structure, says the Economist Intelligence Unit. And although much of the concern about exploiting big data has centred on privacy hitherto, law firm Pinsent Masons contends that intellectual property rights are just as important - an opportunity on which info pros may be able to capitalise.

Read

Security - Appraise the Doomsayers but Believe the Authorities?
28th March 2013

Risks from the Bring Your Own Device movement or email phishing attacks inevitably attract their fair share of security scare stories from vendors keen to peddle their own solutions. Recently there have been BYOD warnings from Dell and Varonis and a phishing scare seized upon by Proofpoint. Technological solutions such as mobile device management (MDM), encryption or sender authentication may provide a short term fix - but recent reports from Britain’s Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the European Network & Information Security Agency (ENISA) suggest that human behaviour matters too.

Read

Online Education Services - the Market is Getting Crowded
28th March 2013

Online learning, tutoring and education are big business with some predicting the sector to be worth $220 billion by 2017. It’s not just the traditional academic publishers supplying the elearning field, online specialists such as the Khan Academy and the increasingly-popular MOOC (massive open online courses) are also in the mix. Penny Crossland investigates the key players and drivers in the market.

Read

FreePint Report: Information Services Management Monthly Update (March 2013)
28th March 2013

Read

Product Review of just-auto's QUBE: Executive Summary
26th March 2013

QUBE is a recently introduced database from just-auto that is focused on the automotive industry. It features a mix of news, market, competitive and technological content. QUBE differs from many traditional tools by virtue of its real-time updates and the capability offered to users to create their own PDF reports by selecting content of interest from various reports whilst online. The full review looks at the attributes, strengths and weaknesses associated with QUBE and provides a detailed view of the value it offers to automotive industry researchers and analysts.

Read