Newsletter No. 113
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Free Pint
"Helping 49,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 30th May 2002 No.113
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
From Steven M. Cohen
FREE PINT BAR & STUDENT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
JOBS
Information Assistant
Content Manager
Director, Knowledge Management
Business Analyst
TIPS ARTICLE
"Trade Unions on the Net"
By Jane Taylor
BOOKSHELF
"The Internet Weather"
Reviewed by Charles Oppenheim
FEATURE ARTICLE
"The Future of Mobile Telephony"
By Nick Mackenzie
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/300502.htm>
ADOBE ACROBAT VERSION WITH NEWSLETTER FORMATTING
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>>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<<
Free Pint is an online community of information researchers. Members
receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips on
finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet.
Joining is free at <http://www.freepint.com/> and provides access to
the substantial archive of articles, book reviews, jobs, industry news
& events, with answers to your research questions and networking at
the Free Pint Bar. Pay to upgrade your membership and also receive the
weekly Free Pint Pub Crawl current awareness newsletter.
Please circulate this newsletter which is best read when printed out.
To receive the Adobe Acrobat version as an attachment or a brief
notification when it's online, visit <http://www.freepint.com/member>.
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EDITORIAL
'Exchange' is what Free Pint is all about. As a community, we all
share details of good quality Web resources through the Free Pint
Newsletter and Bar.
We know the Newsletter is popular because we're about to welcome our
50,000th member. The Bar works, since there have been 15,000 questions
and answers, and 8,500 people get the Bar Digest thrice weekly.
However, sharing knowledge 'offline' is something we've never really
tried. Do Free Pinters want to get together face-to-face? Can Free
Pint act as a facilitator for personal development and networking?
To test the waters, we announced our first 'Free Pint Exchange'
seminar on Content Management in the last Free Pint Newsletter. This
was published on the Thursday and the session was full by Friday. We
had to close bookings after only one day.
This was a revelation to us. We didn't survey our members to see
if it's something they might be interested in. We stuck our neck out
to test the response, and it's been a very positive one indeed.
We've therefore added July 1st as a second date for Martin White's
'Content Management Exchange', and there are also a number of other
new sessions we've been working on for a while.
I'm running two Exchanges in July on developing an email publication.
I'll be looking at issues like content, technology and finance, using
my experiences at Free Pint and in creating a list hosting system.
Paul Pedley worked on the development of the Economist Group's new
intranet. His Exchange will therefore cover the practical issues
involved in building and running a global intranet (implementation,
taxonomy, knowledge sharing).
The basis for all of these Exchange events is sharing practical
experience, and delegates will be encouraged to share what has worked
for them, and what hasn't. Find out more and book a place at:
http://www.freepint.com/exchange
This is an exciting time for Free Pint, encouraging our members to get
together and learn from each other. If you have ideas for events we
should be organising where you are, then please do contact me.
Back to today, and we bring you a super resource-packed article on
trade union sites. The future of mobile telephony and the Internet is
discussed, and there is the usual eclectic mix of tips and reviews.
I hope you enjoy today's Free Pint, and I look forward to possibly
meeting you at a future Free Pint Exchange event.
Cheers
William
William Hann, Founder and Managing Editor
Email: <william@freepint.com> Tel: +44 (0)1784 420044
Free Pint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (c) 1997-2002
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>>> POPULAR PUB CRAWL PERUSES PUBLICATIONS <<<
The 'Free Pint Pub Crawl' is a great tool for keeping an eye on
what's new in a vast range of publications and their Web sites.
You can trial this invaluable weekly newsletter by visiting:
<http://www.freepint.com/pubcrawl>
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
From Steven M. Cohen
* Infominder <http://www.infominder.com> - Infominder is a free web
product that will inform the user of new additions to any web site
via e-mail. Infominder will provide a link back to the site with
the additions highlighted.
* The Shifted Librarian <http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com> -
Jenny Levine runs this weblog on going from "pursuing information
to receiving information and how they will affect libraries". She
points to other weblogs and news articles on her quest to become
more "shifted". Also a big fan of RSS feeds.
* Bloglet <http://www.bloglet.com> - Bloglet is a newsletter client
specifically tailored toward the weblogging community. Simply place
a piece of code in the weblog and users can sign up right from the
site. Each morning, Bloglet will scrape the content from weblog and
deliver it via e-mail. Many options are available.
* Newzcrawler <http://newzcrawler.ugt.ru/> - This very easy to
install free software enables the user to subscribe to RSS feeds and
read them directly via a built in browser. When a feed is updated,
a box pops up to inform the reader of the title. A very useful
tool to keep current.
* LLRX Newstand <http://www.llrx.com/newstand/index.htm> - Compiled
and Edited by Sabrina I. Pacifici, this resource provides annotated
links of news and web sites regarding technology, libraries, and the
law.
* Syndic8 <http://www.syndica8.com> - One of the best places to find
RSS feeds. Syndic8 also provides an RSS version of the Open
Directory Project and Newsisfree (another RSS Feed Directory)
topics. Users can also read posts from sites that have incorporated
RSS feeds.
* Rocket News <http://www.rocketnews.com> - Rocket News is one of
the best news engines available on the public web because of the
size of the database and the currency of the results. Users can
also utilize the "launch monitor" which rests on the desktop and
continuously searches throughout the day.
Steven M. Cohen is assistant librarian at the law firm of Rivkin
Radler, LLP, and the creator of Library Stuff, a library and
information science weblog <http://www.librarystuff.net>.
Email your top five favourite Web sites to <simon@freepint.com> or
see the guidelines at <http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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FREE PINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
Reviewed by Simon Collery
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/300502.htm#bar>
Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
-------------------------------------------
[Note: To read a Bar posting enter the message number in place
of XXXXX in the address http://www.freepint.com/go/bXXXXX ]
We've heard a lot over the years about the Nigerian scams that plague
our email inboxes. A regular in the Bar has pointed to an article
about scam victims fighting back. If lots of people engage the
scammers in an email exchange they'll waste hours of the culprits'
time, as well as their own, but the scammers will find it impossible
to know which replies to follow up (17902). Be warned, though, don't
get involved unless you know what you are doing!
And let's face it, most of us have better things to do, such as
researching the use of audio visual materials in teaching (17767),
developing a weekly rota (17918), wheelchair suspensions (17712),
metal baseball bats (17770), London Underground air vents (17904) and
a checklist of licenses you'll need when setting up a business
(17917). All these queries still need some answers, so if you know
about these things, do get in touch.
Other research issues include short and long term fund raising
techniques (17727), putting together email lists (17717), collecting
contact details for FTSE100 companies (17800) and getting in touch
with a particular company (17875). These postings have all received
some response but you may wish to put your oar in or to find out the
answers to the same questions.
Just in case anyone forgets about all the good things you can find on
the Web, we have had many recommendations of online resources
covering intranet and knowledge management blogs (17769), news
delivery services and alerts (17838, 17801), Internet advertising
terminology (17734), automatic keyword searching and other current
awareness tools (17821), and Gary Price's blog, which is now hosted by
Free Pint (17709). Tipplewise, I reviewed a handy visual search tool
(17808) and an excellent site that lists the best economics sites
around (17908).
There were several interesting UK library related postings in the
past couple of weeks. Many have been concerned with the results of
the audit commission's recent report into public libraries (17796)
and wonder how it will affect future policy changes. Concern has also
been expressed over the British Library's Patent Express service,
which has been discontinued (17733). Yet another correspondent wants
to know if the government is really committed to getting all
libraries online by the end of this year or is it all just puff
(17910). Surely not!
Quantitative data is sought covering the PC industry's 2001 figures
(17903), the cost of project engineers as a percentage of revenue
(17848), pharmaceutical data, presumably for the UK (17732), US
supermarket and drugstore sales figures (17715), software industry
data (17776), UK music and video retail sales (17754) and French
company rankings (17831).
There are several unanswered technical questions concerning the BBC
search engine (17720), adding contacts in Outlook Express (17836),
word processing in Arabic (17749), CD-ROM networking (17723),
database software reviews (17802, 17834), choosing spreadsheet
software (17697) and printing out lists of favourites (17919).
There were further questions about explanations of escrow (17718),
reinstalling AOL (17892), storing Web pages in a database (17862) and
using Access for a bibliographic database (17816).
Finally, there have been miscellaneous queries about freelance rates
(17871), buying laptops (17747), getting a recording of a TV
programme (17771), alternatives to sodium lauryl sulphate (17867),
finding the source of a quotation (17823) and what countries Free
Pinters come from (17805). It was suggested that one should ask what
countries have no Free Pinters and I suspect that list would be far
shorter!
[Note: To read a Bar posting enter the message number in place
of XXXXX in the address http://www.freepint.com/go/bXXXXX ]
Free Pint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>
-------------------------------------------------------
[Note: To read a Student Bar posting enter the message number in
place of XXXX in the address <http://www.freepint.com/go/sXXXX>]
Students have been researching political activity in various
professional librarians' institutions (2505), UK interactive
multimedia courses (2508), the effects of ICT on employment levels
(2514), writing research proposals (2515) and musicologists' use of
the Internet (2518).
[Note: To read a Student Bar posting enter the message number in
place of XXXX in the address <http://www.freepint.com/go/sXXXX>]
Simon Collery, Content Developer <simon@freepint.com>
If you have a tricky research question or can help other Free Pinters
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FREE PINT JOBS
<http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
There have been some changes to the UK regions in the Free Pint Jobs
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'London - Outer', 'West', 'South Coast', 'M4 Corridor' and 'Eire'.
As well as the selected listings below, check out the weekly Bar
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This week's can be found at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b17916>
and last week's at <http://www.freepint.com/go/b17814>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Information Assistant <http://www.freepint.com/go/j1801>
New post created to support the work of the information and
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again if you responded before.
Recruiter: ASH (Action on Smoking & Health) Scotland
Content Manager <http://www.freepint.com/go/j1816>
Use your content & project mgt skills at educational portal site,
draw in content & links & forge relationships with providers.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
Director, Knowledge Management <http://www.freepint.com/go/j1818>
For intl corporate, to create/manage knowledge assets, processes and
global strategy for the organisation's intranet. London base. To 73k.
Recruiter: Recruit Media
Business Analyst <http://www.freepint.com/go/j1820>
Telecoms Business Analyst (2-5 years experience) for Strategic
Consultancy. In-depth Analysis and report-writing. 32-38k p.a.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
[The above jobs are paid listings]
Free Pint Jobs is a great place for finding and advertising
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Find out more today at <http://www.freepint.com/jobs>
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/300502.htm#tips>
"Trade Unions on the Net"
By Jane Taylor
Introduction
============
The Trades Union Congress has 69 affiliated unions representing nearly
6.8 million members. A majority of those 69 unions have a website.
I have looked at most of them on and off over the years and most have
become sophisticated sites, providing a wealth of information for both
their members and any other interested parties.
There are a number of features that are common to union sites. Most
have a members only section, almost all have either an application
form online, or the facility to request an information pack and most,
but not all, have a search facility.
Trade union sites are good sources for news about what is happening in
their sector. Some confine themselves to what the union is doing,
others will comment on wider issues.
More and more unions are providing online access to their internal and
external documents. Some only provide access to their journals, but
others put a full range of their documents online. These are often
the most interesting as they tend to be responses to government
proposals, briefings on changes in employment legislation and
briefings around the issues facing their members, whether they be
teachers or postal workers.
I have looked in detail at sites of TUC-affiliated unions with more
than 100,000 members and have given basic details of the rest.
But the most useful site for the general public is the Trades Union
Congress site itself <http://www.tuc.org.uk>. The TUC have a policy
of publishing all their documents online and you can also buy paper
copies of the more substantial documents online.
General Unions
==============
UNISON <http://www.unison.org.uk/> is the largest union in the country
with nearly 1.3 million members in local government, healthcare, the
water, gas and electricity industries, education, transport, voluntary
sector and police support staff.
The site is unusual in that, in addition to all the usual facilities,
it has a discussion forum which is open to all users. The site also
provides excellent resources for officials to use in local bargaining.
However it does not have a general search facility.
Amicus was recently formed from a merger of the Amalgamated
Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) <http://www.aeeu.org.uk> and
the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union (MSF)
<http://www.msf.org.uk>. They represent people working in a myriad of
sectors, including manufacturing, engineering, IT, chemicals and
pharmaceuticals, education, financial services, voluntary sector and
the National Health Service.
The union does not yet have a site of its own. Both the old sites are
still available, but the AEEU site doesn't appear to have been updated
since July 2001.
The Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) <http://www.tgwu.org.uk>
represents administrative, clerical, technical and supervisory workers
in a variety of blue collar sectors, such as construction,
manufacturing, transport and public services.
The site is currently being revamped for a launch in Summer 2002, but
the old site has a members only section, search facility and online
versions of some paper publications.
The General and Municipal Boilermakers Union (GMB)
<http://www.gmb.org.uk> has nearly 700,000 members in transport,
defence, retail, food industries, local government, the NHS,
education, utilities, etc.
The GMB site is one of the few to have a 'click to enter' screen, but
once you have got into the site you can access a range of their
documents, from a long A-Z list. They have separate sections on the
site for various categories of member and a FAQ section covering such
general employment issues as maternity and parental rights, contracts
of employment and pay, health and safety, etc.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) <http://www.pcs.org.uk>
represents people in government departments and agencies, public
bodies, private sector information technology and other service
companies.
The site has news and information about its campaigns on the front
page and publications are grouped within the relevant sections, e.g.
Parliamentary. The PCS library has its own section on the site.
Prospect <http://www.prospect.org.uk> is a new union, formed on 1st
November 2001 after the merger of the Engineering Managers Association
(EMA) and the Institution of Professionals, Managers and Specialists
(IPMS). They represent workers in engineering, managerial and
professional staff in agriculture, defence, energy, environment,
health & safety, heritage, law and order, shipbuilding, and transport.
The new site is mostly just news dating from the merger of the two
unions, but the old EMA <http://www.ema.org.uk> and IPMS
<http://www.ipms.org.uk> sites still exist, providing archived
information.
Specialist Unions
=================
In addition to the general unions who also represent members in a
variety of sectors there are the following specialist unions.
Banking
-------
UNIFI <http://www.unifi.org.uk>, the largest banking union, represents
around 160,000 members. The site has news on the front page, with
publications in the relevant section. The site has no search
facility, but it does have full contact details, including
photographs, for its research officers.
The Abbey National Group Union (ANGU) - as you might expect -
represents staff employed in the Abbey National Group. Their site at
<http://www.angu.org.uk> is under construction.
The Britannia Staff Union (BSU) <http://www.britanniasu.org.uk>
represents staff working in Britannia Building Society and its group
of companies, the Independent Union of Halifax Staff (IUHS)
<http://www.iuhs.org> represents all staff within HBOS plc and the
Nationwide Group Staff Union (NGSU) <http://www.ngsu.org.uk> as their
name suggests, represents people working for the Nationwide Group.
Construction
------------
The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT)
<http://www.ucatt.org.uk> is another union that has a 'click to enter'
page. The main front page is devoted to recent news about the union
and its sector, but the rest of the site is either undated material on
general issues, or the pages are awaiting updating.
Education
---------
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) <http://www.teachers.org.uk> is
the largest teaching union, with around 200,000 members.
The site has an advanced search facility and gives teachers the
opportunity to calculate their new pay taking into account the various
allowances now payable. It has campaigns and news on the front page
and a special section for newly qualified teachers. Publications are
within the relevant section rather than in a specific publications
section.
The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers
(NASUWT) <http://www.teachersunion.org.uk> has a separate
publications section in addition to its thematic section. It also has
a members only section.
Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) <http://www.askatl.org.uk>
represents staff in nursery, primary, secondary schools, sixth form
and further education colleges. In addition to the general search
facility on the site it has an assisted search function allowing users
to search for Key Areas and Key Concerns.
The University & College Lecturers' Union (NATFHE)
<http://www.natfhe.org.uk> represents people working in post school
education, lecturers in prisons, adult education, further education,
higher education and universities. The Association of University
Teachers (AUT) <http://www.aut.org.uk> represents academic and related
staff in higher education.
The Association for College Management (ACM) <http://www.acm.uk.com>
is a trade union and professional association and represents managers
in post 16 education.
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) <http://www.eis.org.uk>
represents staff in Nursery, Primary, Special, Secondary and Further
and Higher Education in Scotland and Undeb Cenedlaethol Athrawon Cymru
(UCAC) <http://www.ucac.ndirect.co.uk> represents teachers and
lecturers in Wales. This is a Welsh language site.
The Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP)
<http://www.aep.org.uk> represents educational psychologists in local
authorities and other organisations. The site was last updated in July
2001.
The Community and Youth Workers' Union (CYWU) <http://www.cywu.org.uk>
represents youth workers, workers in youth theatre, community
education, outdoor education, play and personal advisers/mentors.
The National Association of Educational Inspectors, Advisers and
Consultants (NAEIAC) <http://www.naeiac.co.uk> represents inspectors,
advisors and consultants in education.
Health
------
The British Dietetic Association (BDA) <http://www.bda.uk.com>
represents people involved in the science of dietetics in the private
and public sector.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) <http://www.csp.org.uk>
represents chartered physiotherapists, physiotherapy students and
physiotherapy assistants.
The Community and District Nursing Association (CDNA)
<http://www.cdna.tvu.ac.uk> is for community nurses.
The Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA)
<http://www.hcsa.com> represents Consultants, Associate Specialists,
Specialist Registrars and Staff Grade Doctors.
The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists (SCP)
<http://www.scpod.org> represents State Registered chiropodists and
podiatrists.
The Society of Radiographers (SoR) <http://www.sor.org> represents
Radiographers and associated grades.
The British Orthoptic Society (BOS) site
<http://www.orthoptics.org.uk> was under construction until recently.
Manufacturing
-------------
The Ceramic and Allied Trades Union (CATU) <http://www.catu.org.uk>
represents members in all areas of the ceramics industry.
ISTC - The Community Union <http://www.istc-tu.org> represents people
working in the industries in and around steel and metal communities.
The site has not been updated recently.
The National Union of Domestic Appliances and General Operatives
(NUDAGO) <http://www.gftu.org.uk/html/nudago.html> represents people
working in the domestic appliance industries, engineering, foundries
and electronics. The site is a single page on the General Federation
of Trade Unions (GFTU) site at <http://www.gftu.org.uk>.
The National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades (KFAT)
<http://www.kfat.org.uk> represents workers in textiles and other
apparel industries. The site has not been updated since August 2001.
Media
-----
The Graphical, Paper and Media Union (GPMU) <http://www.gpmu.org.uk>
represents workers in paper and board making, ink making, graphic
design, graphic reproduction, printing, packaging, bookbinding and
print finishing. It also represents clerical, administration and
production workers in all areas of printing, publishing and allied
trades, multi-media and information technology.
This is one of the sites with a 'click here to enter' screen. Where a
document is not available online the site provides contact email
addresses for the person responsible for it.
The Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union
(BECTU) <http://www.bectu.org.uk> represents people working in
broadcasting, film, video, theatre, cinema and related sectors.
EQUITY <http://www.equity.org.uk> is for performance workers in
theatre, film television, radio and variety.
The Musicians' Union (MU) <http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk>
represents performers engaged in the music profession including music
writers and instrumental music teachers.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) <http://www.nuj.org.uk>
naturally represents journalists. Their official site was launched in
March 2002, prior to this they had an unofficial site at
<http://media.gn.apc.org/nuj.html> which was maintained by London
Freelance Branch and which still exists as a branch site.
Posts and Telecommunications
----------------------------
The Communication Workers Union represents people employed in the Post
Office, British Telecom, Cable and Wireless, Cable TV, National
Girobank and related industries. Our site <http://www.cwu.org>
follows the pattern that many trade union sites follow, with
information about our campaigns, a news section and general
information about the union and its work in the public section of the
site. We also have a members only section which contains a very
lively discussion forum. This is particularly useful for gauging how
members feel about a specific issue.
Connect <http://www.connectuk.org> is one of our sister unions. They
mainly represent managers in telecommunications, information
technology and related industries. I particularly like their FAQ
section, but they also put their publications online. An innovation
in the trade union movement is their recruitment consultancy OPUS2,
details of which are on the site.
The Communication Managers Association (CMA)
<http://www.cmatu.org.uk/> is also a sister union. They represent
managerial grades in postal services and are now part of Amicus.
Research papers and publications are available online and their
opening page gives a run down of what's been happening in the industry
in the past year.
Public Services
---------------
FDA <http://www.fda.org.uk> is the union and professional body for
Britain's senior public servants.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) <http://www.fbu.org.uk> represents
people working for local authority fire brigades.
Napo <http://www.napo.org.uk> is the Trade Union and Professional
Association for Family Court and Probation Staff and the Prison
Officers Association (POA) <http://www.poauk.org.uk> represents people
employed in any penal or secure establishment or special hospital
including prison officers, nursing grades, non-industrial stores
grades and special hospitals staff.
Retail and Distribution
-----------------------
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW)
<http://www.usdaw.org.uk> represents people working in retail,
distributive, food processing and manufacturing and call centres. It
is one of the few unions that is not based in London.
The site has a publications section, a special interest groups section
(for gay and lesbian members, women members, disabled members, etc.)
and a members only section.
Transport
---------
The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) <http://www.afalhr.org.uk>
represents airline cabin crew whilst the British Air Line Pilots
Association (BALPA) <http://www.balpa.org.uk> represents commercial
airline pilots and flight engineers.
The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF)
<http://www.aslef.org.uk> represents train drivers, operational
supervisors and other staff and the National Union of Rail, Maritime
and Transport Workers (RMT) <http://www.rmt.org.uk> represents people
working in railways and shipping, underground and road transport.
The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA)
<http://www.tssa.org.uk> represents administrative, clerical,
supervisory, managerial, professional and technical employees in rail,
road and water transport. They also represent employees in the travel
trade, hotel and catering industries, whilst the National Union of
Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers (NUMAST)
<http://www.numast.org> represents people in the merchant navy and all
related areas. This site is a single page, which was last updated in
May 2001.
Miscellaneous
-------------
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU)
<http://www.bfawu.org> represents workers in the food industry.
The British Association of Colliery Management - Technical, Energy and
Administrative Management (BACM-TEAM) <http://www.bacmteam.org.uk>
represents colliery managers as well as members in finance,
distribution, manufacturing, technical administration and utilities.
And finally the Professional Footballers Association (PFA)
<http://www.givemefootball.com/html/pfa.cfm> represents professional
footballers. The site is part of the givemefootball.com site.
How to Find Trade Union Sites
=============================
The best place to start is the TUC Directory at
<http://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/unions_list.cfm>. The list, of TUC-
affiliated unions only, is correct as at Autumn 2001 and is updated
annually.
DMOZ - the open directory project also has a list of trade unions at
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- Publication Date: 29th May 2002
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