Subscription Update - What's New and What's Coming
Jinfo Blog

By Catherine Dhanjal

Abstract

Find out what's new and upcoming in FreePint's Content, Community, and Consulting - including recent articles, webinars and Community of Practice sessions from the Topic Series "Best Practices in Information Skills Development", and an insight into key themes emerging from FreePint's research division and consulting services.

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Content (Articles, Reports and Webinars)

Anyone who interacts with information at work (and isn't that just about everyone?) can benefit from developing their information skills. The latest articles in the Topic Series, "Best Practices in Information Skills Development" provide practical tips for more effective approaches to supporting development:

• Go for embedded experiences rather than standalone training
• Try video (it's easier than you think)
• Think holistically about what it means to "go digital".

We ran the FreePint Webinar, "Getting Started with Distance Learning" early in June. If you missed it, and you have a Subscription, you can view the recording here.

Upcoming articles in this Topic Series will add to your tool kit with:

• Discussion of open access resources
• Creating a skills development strategy
• Getting started with distance learning
• Full analysis of our survey on skills development

... so stay informed by registering here.

Other recent resources focus on vendors:

• Our ever-popular Source Updates on Factiva, ProQuest and Nexis

• Coverage of three vendors that all address the need to blend different sources and streams of information: Q&As with EditorEye and Alteryx, plus a full review of Linex Systems.

Blending content streams is increasingly important to customers, and we're working on additional product reviews, as well as research-based coverage in the upcoming Topic Series, "All About Usage: From Content Sharing to Data Mining". Register your interest if this is an area of concern for you.

Community

The Topic Series on skills development has provided a number of terrific opportunities for peer-based discussion:

• The teleconference, "Getting Information Skills Development on the Strategic Agenda" drew a lively crowd early in June, and a second session is running on 25th June
  
  
• We also ran "Turning Content into Curricula" in June - if you missed it and are interested in having this one offered again, please contact our director of research, Robin Neidorf, at robin.neidorf@freepint.com

The SLA Annual Conference in Boston offered an opportunity for an in-person Communities of Practice session. A group of nearly 20 discussed "Driving the Future of Information", based on our observations about what barriers prevent optimising and raising the value of information. 

Due to demand, we're also offering this session in teleconference format on 6th and 8th July. Learn more and register here. 

Consulting

SLA also offered the chance to sit down in person with many of our Consulting-level customers to brainstorm about their emerging needs and how we can help them. Among the ideas we're now pursuing in partnership with customers:

• Developing a quarterly "product" or touchpoint that the information centre can feed upwards to the C-suite

• Exploring with business units the difference workflow products make, to try to identify measurable outcomes relating to efficiency

• Comparison of buyer perceptions of main providers of scientific and technical databases

• Facilitation of customer roundtable discussions in New York, Washington and London.

If you have a project in mind, or questions about consulting services, please contact our director of research, Robin Neidorf at robin.neidorf@freepint.com

Find out more about a FreePint Subscription, which at the Content level gives access to all FreePint articles, reports and webinars, at the Community level gives access to all FreePint Communities of Practice (as well as all FreePint Content), and at the Consulting level adds a credit for up to six hours of annual consulting time.

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