Using FreePint to Support Skills Upgrades
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

Robin Neidorf examines data on FreePint Subscribers' sharing patterns with their colleagues and identifies the articles on "sources" which have been most shared and how FreePint articles can help staff upgrade their skills in the area of truth, falsehood and free. A variety of Subscriber levels cater for all needs and there's also the option to order bespoke reports or white-labelled versions.

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When we at FreePint implemented the ability to share individual articles a few months ago, I was excited that I could start looking at usage data, to better support editorial planning. Articles with lots of shares would mean that we should commission MORE on similar topics. (What can I say? I'm a data girl.)

But what's been just as fascinating as the volume of shares is to see how subscribers share articles. What we see in the data supports what customers tell us about their organisations' needs: everyone in an organisation needs to develop information skills, be aware of the potential pitfalls (and benefits) of self-service research, integrate collaborative and social tools effectively while minimising risk, and enhance their experience with information tools of all kinds. 

Sharing FreePint articles enables what we think of as the "information champion" (someone like you, perhaps?) to support skills development easily and cost-effectively, throughout their organisation.

Let's consider a few examples, pulled right from our usage data:

Can You Trust Your Sources?

In the autumn of 2012 we published a number of articles that related to the trustworthiness of information. Sharing patterns of these articles suggested that FreePint Subscribers were using them to build awareness and skills beyond the information centre for activities we know are taking place on the desktop, particularly searches via free search engines.

Cynthia Lesky's article, Three Fundamentals for Business Research in the Post-Truth Era, was passed along first within information teams, as researchers discussed and validated with each other Cynthia's advice regarding common pitfalls in data presentation and effective ways to interrogate an author's underlying assumptions. Then the article was shared more broadly, with more junior staff, administrative assistants and other staff members who would regularly be using the internet.

Chapters from Africa Hands' and my report on The Big Free Three for News also saw significant sharing when published in September. The chapter titled Caveat Searcher in particular, with discussion of the risks involved when searchers do not attend to the terms and conditions of sites, surfaced through free web searching and was passed to department heads.

Finally, my article, Interpretation of Images: Why News Analysis Matters, published in November, was shared with quite a number of colleagues in researcher roles. I contacted a couple of our customers to find out more about why they shared this particular piece. They told me that the analysis of how smart curation and editorial framing created important value within premium news services was very helpful to them, as they made the business case for purchasing or renewing licences for news content. Making sure all their researchers had seen the article meant that those researchers could speak effectively to the value that premium databases bring the organisation.

The learning result: practical knowledge to raise awareness of truth, falsehood, and the cost of free in today's information-rich environment.

More Ad Hoc Learning Tips

Read about more ways to share FreePint articles and gain ad hoc learning on important business information skills:

• Stop the Intranet and PowerPoint Insanity
• In An Era of Constant Change

Request Bespoke Versions

Did you know that you can order bespoke reports created from FreePint articles? Request fully white-labelled versions for your internal use. Tell us your learning objectives, and we'll recommend content. Or make your own selections from all FreePint articles.

Included in your FreePint Subscription:

• Enterprise-Level Subscriptions: unlimited bespoke reports
• Organisation-Level Subscriptions: up to 6 per year included
• Team-Level Subscriptions: up to 3 per year included
• Professional-Level Subscriptions: 1 per year included.

Request information now.

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