Introducing the Series Producers - FreePint Topic Series "News, and Other Commodities"
Jinfo Blog

By Robin Neidorf

Abstract

The FreePint Topic Series "News, and Other Commodities" launches this month, we ask three of the co-producers what their background and experience will bring to the Series and what the Series will offer in terms of helping to make a judgement on "value" when applied to news, basic company information, basic "people" information and the like.

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The FreePint Topic Series "News, and Other Commodities" launches this month.

Each year we tackle a different aspect of news in a quarterly focus. This year we're turning our focus on those news products which are essential and yet seem hard to differentiate between. We're aiming to shed light on how you can make a judgement on "value" when applied to news, basic company information, basic "people" information and the like.

We've asked five subject experts to work with us as co-producers to bring their unique insights and experience. In this blog we ask three of the co-producers about their background and what they think the series will offer information professionals.

FreePint: What's your background?

Eileen Steer (expert in financial information): I have been working in the information world for too many years to mention, mostly in research libraries within corporate finance and investment management and I've seen and experienced the different pressures that researchers and information managers face on a day-to-day basis. It feels as though I have used almost every database available from vendors over the years, so I hope this knowledge can bring a different perspective to the Topic Series.

Anja Thygesen (expert in industry information): I've been involved in many business research projects for local and international clients. I regularly carry out strategic market analysis, competitor analysis and research into the impact of factors such as technology and macro-economic trends. The whole question on how to stay updated, add value and develop our professions (there are many flavours of information professional and researcher) is very interesting and something I have been following for many years. I hope to contribute to the series with my experience and views on how and what we can do to influence this. 

Andrew Grave (expert in business information): I have a background in business research and vendor management with a large accountancy firm and a small business support agency. As an independent information professional, I now undertake business research and analysis projects and provide training to both information professionals and non-information professionals.

What has kept me interested in business research tools over this time has been the continuous changes that providers have made and the ease with which it is possible to undertake sophisticated research very quickly. In 2013 I was the series producer for the News Series "Beyond Aggregation" and am looking forward to revisiting this important area.

FreePint: What will the Series bring to readers?

Eileen Steer: The Topic Series "News, and Other Commodities" will provide insightful and engaging articles on where the value really lies for the information professional when providing news and company information to our clients. With the abundance of information now available we will be looking closely at the "how", "where" and "when" element of providing the information to our end-users and the best ways to do this.

Anja Thygesen: I think the "News, and Other Commodities" Series will be very interesting in two ways; first of all it will give the readers an update on the new products and trends we are seeing from the data and technology providers, secondly it will give different perspectives on the direction our profession is heading in terms of the transformation from being information/data providers to something else. Our own skills and ambitions combined with what we can access/use has a tremendous impact on the way we define our professional identities today and in the future. I find this fascinating but also challenging.

Andrew Grave: The "News, and Other Commodities" Series will provide useful commentary and analysis on the key issues that information managers face when using and deploying these popular research resources. I am particularly interested in how vendors are incorporating non-traditional media like Twitter into their products and in the use of non-traditional media for research purposes. I am also looking forward to seeing examples of providers strongly differentiating their offerings from free services.

I hope that readers of the Topic Series will find it stimulating and will help them tackle some of the issues that they are facing in their own organisations.

The FreePint Topic Series "News, and Other Commodities" runs from October- December 2015.

Register your interest now, and you'll get regular email updates as the Series progresses and an Index Report from the Series when it's published at Series-end.

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