Quick Access to Relevant Content in FreePint's Product Reviews
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

Product reviews help researchers and information managers compare and contrast the resources available to them. Lengthy PDF documents provide depth but present challenges for time-stressed workers. Shorter articles are easier to scan but cannot provide the level of detail FreePint values. A hybrid approach to publishing sections as stand-alone articles then pulling them together into a comprehensive report makes FreePint's product reviews both convenient and comprehensive.

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FreePint's in-depth product reviews are often an important reason for customers to take a FreePint Subscription.

Our format for publishing these reviews caters to the needs of a busy professional who needs "just enough" information 90 percent of the time... and comprehensive information the other 10 percent:

• Each section of an in-depth review is first published as a stand-alone HTML article
• These articles are then pulled together as chapters of the full PDF report.

Recent Example -- Review of InsideView

The separate HTML articles that make up the full report are these:

• Introduction and FreePint's View
• Sources, Content and Coverage
• Search and Tools
• Outputs, Customer Support and Pricing

These different chapters are pulled together in the PDF report full review of InsideView.

Also supporting the publication of this review are:

• The Executive Summary, a stand-alone HTML article documenting high-level results
• The HTML Features article, highlighting the reviewer's key observations.

This approach has helped a great deal with the usability of product reviews and also enables us to make comparisons across similar products of these variables.

The challenge of satisfying the need for "just enough" as well as comprehensive information is one we discussed for a long time with customers before finding this solution. If you have suggestions for other enhancements or a way you'd like to use FreePint content that isn't (yet) supported by our publishing format, please share your suggestions now.

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