Newsletter No. 125
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ISSN 1460-7239 14th November 2002 No.125
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IN THIS ISSUE
EDITORIAL
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By John Farmer
FREE PINT BAR
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JOBS
Senior Researcher
Junior Researcher/Analyst
Information Co-ordinator
TIPS ARTICLE
"Teaching In China"
By Karen Huber
BOOKSHELF
"Safety Net: Protecting Your Business on the Internet"
Reviewed by Paul Pedley
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Free Pint talks to Jakob Nielsen"
By Tim Houghton
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
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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
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EDITORIAL
Voting has now finished for the Online Information/Free Pint Customer
Service Award. There were over 150 nominations and we're now sifting
through the votes. We'll announce the award winner in the next issue,
before presenting it at the Gala Awards Dinner during show week.
Talking of which, it's only three weeks until Online Information 2002
at London's Olympia. We're all really looking forward to it as it's the
big event of the year for the information world. We'll be there, of
course, in Free Pint's usual spot (stand 292) and you can get your free
ticket to the show by visiting <http://www.online-information.co.uk/>.
We're organising a number of Information Masterclasses during the week
<http://www.online-information.co.uk/online/exh_edu_info.asp>. These
join a whole range of free seminars which make attending even more
worthwhile. I really hope you will come to the show to help make it as
much of a success as previous years. As well as being lots to learn,
it's great fun and there's a real buzz. I always feel it's a super way
to celebrate the past year and to welcome the challenges of the next.
Talking of education, it reminds me that we're celebrating Free Pint's
fifth birthday today, the age for starting school. I do still feel,
however, that we're right at the beginning of learning with Free Pint.
I mentioned this at the recent CILIP awards ceremony, noting that both
Free Pint and the Institute have tremendous opportunities ahead of
them. Thanks to CILIP for a smashing day at a great venue
<http://www.freepint.com/press/cilip.htm>.
We have a real coup in today's newsletter, interviewing usability guru
Jakob Nielsen. This alongside the usual mixed bag of articles and
reviews should mean that there's something of interest to everyone.
Don't forget to check out the fully formatted Adobe Acrobat version of
this newsletter <http://www.freepint.com/issues/>. You can have that
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We hope you enjoy today's issue, and will help spread the word about
Free Pint by forwarding this edition to your colleagues.
Cheers
William
William Hann BSc(Hons) MCLIP, Founder and Managing Editor
Email: <william@freepint.com> Tel: +44 (0)1784 420044
Free Pint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2002
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By John Farmer
* Internet Archive <http://www.archive.org/> - Step back in time to
re-visit the web sites of yesteryear! A great resource for tracing
past web sites and collating information on companies.
* ClickZ <http://www.clickz.com/> - Comprehensive news and article
resource, translating many of the key principles of marketing into
the various digital media now available.
* Wireless World Forum <http://www.w2forum.com> - Case studies,
reviews, and analysis of commercial opportunities in the wireless
world.
* Club Nokia <http://www.clubnokia.com> - Insights into what we'll
soon be able to do with our mobile phones, including movies, music
and games.
* CamVista <http://www.camvista.com/> - For moments of escapism from
the office I use these webcams as a window on the rest of the world.
Personal favourite is the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
John Farmer is the co-founder of mobile services and applications
company Carbon Partners <http://www.carbonpartners.co.uk>. He regularly
speaks and contributes to articles on the opportunities for companies
to use mobile services to communicate with their customers and open new
revenue streams.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/141102.htm#tips>
"Teaching In China"
By Karen Huber
I went to China for three weeks this summer to teach with 32 other
people and used the Internet for information to help me prepare for
the job and the culture. We taught in Taian, Shandong province for two
weeks and went sightseeing in Beijing for four days afterwards.
Education is about providing information and we teachers were to
provide information about the US culture and to teach some English.
There were around 400 children ranging in age from 10 to 19; none of
us knew what age group we would have before the trip. I chose
information, activities, and lessons that could easily be modified
into easier or more difficult material. I also visited sites that gave
country background, government, travel, and health information.
I hope those interested in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL)
will find these sites useful, particularly if they are planning on
visiting China or working overseas.
Chinese students learn English in school from elementary school. Most
are proficient when they reach high school. I taught high school-aged
children for the two weeks, so my job was easier than that of some of
my colleagues who were assigned the elementary children. I taught new
vocabulary, corrected language problems, and led discussions about
social issues. Behavior of the Chinese students socially is much like
that of their US counterparts, but in general they were more polite
and obedient.
The first sites I investigated before I went to China were those that
one trip leader suggested from china-sd.net:
Information on Taian City
<http://www.china-sd.net/eng/sdcities/taian/survey.asp>
An overview of historical and modern Taian.
Map of Shandong
<http://www.china-sd.net/eng/sdcities/map/sd.asp>
Shandong Province on the Internet
<http://www.china-sd.net/eng/default.asp>
An overview of modern Shandong Province.
CIA Factbook
<http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html>
This site gives an overview of many countries of the world and
covers detailed aspects of life in any country.
I visited the site of the US Embassy in Beijing
<http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/> so I could register my passport
online. I also visited <http://travel.state.gov/china.html> which is a
consular information sheet about China, up to date and very thorough.
Another helpful site is <http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/index.html>
which includes information about relations between China and the US. I
also found a China Travel Guide <http://www.travelchinaguide.com/>
which covers the culture of China, geography, history, cuisine,
languages, maps, attractions and more in detail.
For health purposes I visited the Center for Disease Control as well
as that of my health care provider, Blue Cross
<http://www.bluecares.com/healthtravel/worldwide.html>, which lists
hospitals in Beijing, the nearest to where we were staying, and has
downloadable claim forms. CDC has a menu on the left side of the
page <http://www.cdc.gov/> and I clicked on Traveler's Health. There
is a pull-down menu in which to choose the area where you will travel
and underneath are several links of concern to travelers, including
vaccinations, diseases, outbreaks, traveling with children, pets,
and/or those with special needs, precautions to take with food,
emergency preparations and reference materials. There are links to
current health news, other health organizations, and airport and
airline security.
I went to several sites for ideas, forms, and educational games. The
elementary ideas and games can always be modified to suit older
students. You will need easier activities when teaching students who
do not know English as well.
The Teacher Information network <http://www.teacher.com/> is a
comprehensive site which contains reviews of several good educational
sites, organizations, resources, schools on the Internet, links to
federal and state departments of education, and sites divided into age
group for kids and sites for parents.
Sites for Teachers <http://www.sitesforteachers.com/> contains fifteen
pages of links to educational sites, a search engine for them, and
some subject related links.
Teachnet.com <http://www.teachnet.com/> is a site full of activities,
lesson plans and ideas. I found blank bingo cards here under
'Power Tools'. Lessons are divided according to subject, there are
conference boards, a store, a newsletter, instructions, even cartoons.
Another of our instructors suggested this site: 4th of July Lesson
Planning Links <http://www.amonco.org/july4.html>. Here are links to
lessons, activities, games, recipes, other sites, a bookstore, a
message board, and newsletters online. I liked this site because it
had many Language Arts activities that could be used with any age
group.
Jan Brett's Home Page <http://www.janbrett.com/> is maintained by Jan
Brett, an American author who also does the illustrations for her
books. There are many resources here appropriate for ESL learning on
the activities page as well as numerous other activities. There are
flashcards, word lists, and educational games from which I got ideas
for my trip. In addition, there are recipes, many elementary age
activities, printable cards and many other ideas all linked through
a central index.
Teachervision.com <http://www.teachervision.com/> is another great
site that covers many aspects of education. There are free teachers
tools, lesson planning center, classroom management, and professional
development resources. There are four free newsletters, resources for
special needs, even ecards to send. There is free software (shipping
& handling fee) and a teacher store.
Although The Graphic Organizer <http://graphic.org/goindex.html> has a
software advertisement on its homepage, it is one of my favorites. The
first link on the left goes right to the index which features
different types of organizers in a chart. The links underneath go to
explanations of how information is used in graphic organizers. The
homepage links to classroom examples how some organizers were used,
along with guidelines.
Teach-nology <http://www.teach-nology.com/>, my favorite, has a full
navigation bar of links:
"> Best Sites > Free Sites > Message Board > Rubrics > Teaching Themes
> Downloads > Games > Motivator > Student Search > Tutorials
> Free Email > Home > Net Secrets > Teaching Ideas > Worksheets
> Free Drive > Lesson Plans > Newsletters > Teacher Tools > Worksheet
Makers" (this is from their home page)
Under this bar are topics of interest that include Current Trends,
Literature in Education, Law and Education, and Professional
Development. There are enough activities and links here to keep
anyone interested busy for quite awhile. There are rubrics makers,
word searches (which I used), calendars, discussions, educational
games; definitely a site worth visiting.
There were also some ESL sites that our other trip leader
suggested to us.
OWL, the Online Writing Lab, put online by Purdue University, is at
<http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/> for ESL Resources,
Handouts and Exercises. The Resource pages take you to links for with
students or teachers. The Handouts section covers several detailed
aspects of teaching English, wonderful for ideas too, and the
Exercises section contains links to parts of speech, numbers, subject
and verb agreement, spelling, appositives, and articles; very
comprehensive.
The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse on
Assessment and Evaluation, ERICAE.NET, was a source of several helpful
articles on ESL. A keyword search for 'esl' under the 'Practical
Assessment, Research & Evaluation' link in the 'Library' section
brought up the informative articles:
Alcala, Angelo (2000). A framework for developing an effective
instructional program for limited English proficient students with
limited formal schooling. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation,
7(9). Available online: <http://ericae.net/pare/getvn.asp?v=7&n=9>.
Mullane, Jennifer & Stuart J. McKelvie (2001). Effects of removing the
time limit on first and second language intelligence test
performance. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(23).
Available online: <http://ericae.net/pare/getvn.asp?v=7&n=23>.
A simple page query for 'esl' under the 'ERIC Digests' link brought up
48 articles. The 'Library' section alone is very large and contains
links to full text, journals, FAQs, How-To articles, digests, and
e-journals.
The search link at the top of the homepage leads to an advanced
search engine, information on the ERIC system, related sites,
sponsors, and the ERIC thesaurus. Links to the test locator, the
ERIC system, Educational Resources Information Center, assessment
resources, and a site map, lead to large, organized amounts of
educational information.
The particular articles we read to prepare for the teaching trip were
the educational digests available by searching under 'Digests' or at
the following links. The article by Dame I found after we came back
and was of interest to me because I am a school librarian.
Coballes-Vega, Carmen
Considerations in Teaching Culturally Diverse Children. ERIC Digest.
1992. <http://ericae.net/edo/ED341648.htm>
Dame, Melvina Azar. Serving Linguistically and Culturally Diverse
Students: Strategies for the School Librarian. ERIC Digest. 1995.
<http://ericae.net/edo/ED390283.htm>
Domke, Darla. Creative Activities for Teaching English as a Foreign
Language. ERIC Digest. 1991. <http://ericae.net/edo/ED333713.htm>
Gasparro, Marie and Bernadette Falletta. Creating Drama with Poetry:
Teaching English as a Second Language through Dramatization and
Improvisation. ERIC Digest. 1994.
<http://ericae.net/edo/ED368214.htm>
Hudelson, Sarah. Children's Writing in ESL. ERIC Digest. 1988.
<http://ericae.net/edo/ED303046.htm>
Kagan, Spencer. We Can Talk: Cooperative Learning in the Elementary
ESL Classroom. ERIC Digest. 1995.
<http://ericae.net/edo/ED382035.htm>
Kerka, Sandra. Family and Intergenerational Literacy. ERIC Digest
No. 111. 1991. <http://ericae.net/edo/ED334467.htm>
The following article can be found by clicking the ERIC system, going
to the ERIC system directory, then clicking 'Languages and
Linguistics'. Since there are 16 ERIC databases, it is easier to
become familiar with the system by doing some searches and finding
information by clicking the links.
Rebecca Oxford, University of Maryland. Integrated Skills in the
ESL/EFL Classroom.
There is a link on the top of the page that links to other ESL
articles. All of these articles are digests, freely distributed from
the system.
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Karen Huber has been a high school librarian in Lewistown,
Pennsylvania, for 5 years. She likes reading, learning new computer
technology, collecting Internet sites, spending time with her cat,
Phoenix (who is really a person in disguise). She also like aerobics,
walking, and working on her house.
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Related Free Pint links:
* 'Education' resources in the Free Pint Portal
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* Post a message to the author, Karen Huber, or suggest further
resources at the Free Pint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/141102.htm#feature>
* Access the entire archive of Free Pint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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Arlene Christou and David Wilkinson will be pleased to meet any past,
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FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Safety Net: Protecting Your Business on the Internet"
Reviewed by Paul Pedley
Safety net outlines a number of potential threats to online businesses
such as fraud, sabotage, espionage, piracy or identity theft, and it
notes that all manner of organisations are candidates for intruders,
whether they be business enterprises, not-for-profit organizations or
government agencies.
One chapter is entitled "the insecure employee" and looks at how
the computer systems of enterprises are assaulted by insiders. Indeed,
it points out that in some cases employees can unwittingly access,
modify, and erase proprietary data or disclose sensitive information.
Safety net recognises that security breaches are costly both in terms
of hard costs such as monetary and productivity losses; but also in
terms of public relations where damage is expressed through customer
and reputation losses.
The threats can involve not just online financial fraud. Companies can
also experience theft of proprietary information and corporate
secrets. One section, for example, looks at intellectual property
security or digital rights management.
The whole purpose of the book is to make the reader aware of the
potential threats that exist. It aims to provide practical solutions
to counter those online security threats as it runs through
prevention, detection and recovery counter-measures. It lists a top
ten of common mistakes that organizations make, such as failing to
install updates or patches when security holes are found. This book
also deals with how to undertake security risk assessments for your
organisation and how to create an effective security policy.
Kathleen Sindell notes that companies can acquire a competitive
advantage by ensuring that each customer feels that his or her
consumer rights and privacy are protected online; and one of the
book's fourteen chapters is devoted to the topic of safeguarding your
customer's privacy.
Ms Sindell quotes surveys which show that the majority of businesses
have encountered computer breaches, many indeed experience a number of
such breaches. She devotes one chapter to the question of how to
handle public relations after a cyber attack including preparing and
planning for crisis communication, inspiring confidence after an
attack, and the question of whether or not to report a cyber-crime.
The book is written in plain English, and remains technically accurate
without being full of jargon. It is 329 pages long, is clearly set out
and there are illustrations throughout such as flow charts or
matrices. There are also a number of checklists, for example for web
server security, and an 'after the hack attack' checklist. There is a
glossary, and also a 'resource center' which groups together a number
of web-based sources of information under themes such as encryption
information or intrusion detection.
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Paul Pedley is Head of Research at the Economist Intelligence Unit. He
is the author of four books published through Aslib, and writes and
trains on legal issues relating to information matters and also on
searching the web. Paul is currently writing a book for Facet
Publishing - "Essential law for information professionals".
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Related Free Pint links:
* Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/safety.htm>
* Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471079626/freepint0c>
or Amazon.com
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471079626/freepint00>
* "Safety Net: Protecting Your Business on the Internet"
ISBN 0471079626, published by John Wiley & Sons Inc, written by
Kathleen Sindell
* Search for and purchase any book from Amazon via the Free Pint
Bookshelf at <http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
* Read about other Internet Strategy books on the Free Pint Bookshelf
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf/strategy.htm>
To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to <bookshelf@freepint.com>.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/141102.htm#feature>
"Free Pint talks to Jakob Nielsen"
By Tim Houghton
Getting access to Web-based information can be a time-consuming and
frustrating experience even for the comparatively expert members of
the Free Pint community. If you have impaired sight or other
disabilities it can be a nightmare. Jakob Nielsen, a principal of
Nielsen Norman Group, has made it his mission to enhance the usability
of the Web. Lecturing, writing and teaching on the subject have made
him probably the best known Web usability expert around.
Recently, UsableNet and the Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) released
software called LIFT, that promised to enhance Website usability and
accessibility. I caught up with Jakob on behalf of Free Pint and asked
him to tell me more. But first, let's clarify what we mean by
'accessibility' and 'usability'.
Jakob was at pains to point out that these are not really separate
topics but two sides of the same coin. "Accessibility is the technical
means of getting to the information. Usability determines how easy it
is to do something with it. Simple accessible sites tend to be highly
usable also". If one takes a real world example, an accessible library
would have decent access ramps and a usable one a decent book index.
Whilst I think we can all recognise the moral argument for allowing as
many people as possible to benefit from the Web, is this appeal to
altruism enough in the midst of tough economic conditions? Jakob is
well aware of the issue. "There has been an increased recognition of
the importance of accessibility on the Internet. But interest does not
always translate into action". By way of analogy he continues:
"Imagine the progress of Web accessibility as a cart pulled by a
donkey. There are two basic ways to get the donkey to move the cart, a
carrot or a stick".
"The stick approach involves more rules, more lawsuits, more
regulation. It's not an approach we're in favour of at NNG. We much
prefer the carrot approach. Better accessibility means more customers,
more customers means more sales. Also, as these customers are often
not targeted by competitors, they are more likely to be loyal and to
promote your site to others". The numbers are probably substantial. In
the UK alone there were 158,000 adults registered as blind in March
2000 and the number of partially sighted is likely to be several times
higher than this. But even this vastly understates the market; Users
accessing sites via a WAP phone or a PDA also have a 'partial view' of
the Web. It's hard to derive exact numbers but it seems likely that
the segment is of a size to interest even the most self-interested
Website owner.
So, if it's worth making your site more accessible, how do you do it?
To assist Web developers in their task, various 'standards' have been
drawn up that provide guidelines on how Web pages should be structured
in order to be readable by the maximum number of potential users. The
two best known are the so-called Section 508 rules
<http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm> and the W3C guidelines (of which
there is a subset known as the Web Accessibility Initiative which
relate specifically to accessibility <http://www.w3.org/WAI/>).
Section 508 refers to laws in the US applying to access to information
for federal agencies, but these laws are increasingly seen as best
practice in the corporate sector as well. There are UK and EU guidelines
too. See <http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk> and <http://www.techdis.ac.uk/>
for more details.
Whilst the standards are useful, compliance with them is
time-consuming and the training required for Web developers is costly.
To return to our donkey and cart: "Even with this carrot (commercial
self-interest) we found that the donkey still found it difficult
to pull the cart. So we developed LIFT: it provides the cart with ball
bearings. Suddenly those developers that want to build in
accessibility to their sites can do so more easily."
The software comes in three flavours. It can be bought as an add-on
for Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Frontpage or you can submit your
site for online checking. It costs from $299 to $449, via Usablenet
<http://www.usablenet.com>. LIFT certainly doesn't have a monopoly on
providing a checking facility. SSB technologies provide a checker
called AskAlice <http://askalice.ssbtechnologies.com:8080/askalice/index.html>
and Bobby, another online checking utility has been around since 1996
<http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp>. However LIFT's
integration with existing Web authoring packages, detailed
documentation and 'fix wizards', make the process of amending code
less arduous.
Making a Website usable is, however, not simply a matter of complying
with standards. It requires inspiration as well as perspiration. I
suggested that the software could lead to developers not thinking
deeply enough about site design. Jakob agreed that it was a risk, but
reckoned this concern was overdone. "Take two examples; I'm old enough
to remember the introduction of the pocket calculator in schools.
There were fears at the time that it would lead to a collapse in
numeracy. It hasn't happened. There were similar fears about literacy
with regard to the spellchecker in Microsoft Word. In fact seeing your
mistakes highlighted as you type can actually be a powerful
educational tool. LIFT operates on a similar 'just in time' learning
principle. I actually think that the educational aspect of the
software is its greatest benefit. This isn't the reason most people
will buy it, but hopefully they'll still get the benefit anyway!".
A couple of the team at our firm, Parallel54, have been testing the
package and it was interesting that both of them commented on how much
they learned about the details of usability and accessibility by
working with it. But they did also highlight that it wasn't much use
for those working with broadband content (video and audio-rich sites
for example). Jakob conceded this point. "We are at an early stage and
we simply haven't got the sufficient user test data yet to develop a
product. However we have already started working with Macromedia to
enhance the usability of Flash content so it is something we are
working on" <http://www.nngroup.com/events/uw2002/tutorial_1.html>.
So, who does Jakob think is going to buy the software? He highlights
four principle segments: Educational institutions, as a learning tool;
government and local authorities, especially local authorities as they
often don't have the budget to send staff on expensive courses. medium
sized enterprises, especially those that target "silver surfers"
(older Web users); and larger companies for their Intranets. "We've
seen LIFT being used as a tool to make Intranets more accessible for
employees". This makes sense. Businesses in most countries have to
make 'reasonable' efforts to ensure those with disabilities can do the
same jobs as others. I imagine making information accessible probably
falls within this.
Overall, I think the product does merit consideration. It provides a
useful tool for Web developers both to diagnose and to correct HTML
code and should cut down the hours spent on the more mechanistic
aspects of accessibility. However it is an increasingly competitive
marketplace so it will be interesting to see how it performs.
On a broader level how does Jakob see the state of Web design
currently? Are we getting more usable and accessible Websites?
"Well, to take another analogy, it's like the half full or half empty
glass. On the one hand there are still a lot of Websites being built
and launched without any user testing at all. There's still an awful
lot of bad design around. But on the other hand five years ago no-one
was doing any testing. Now, more companies are using usability groups
and more intranets are being constructed around user needs rather than
departmental or functional hierarchies". Amazon's heavy use of user
testing comes in for especial praise. See their separate 'accessible'
site as an example of this type of user centric approach
<http://www.amazon.com/access>.
I must admit, in advance of our conversation I had a few doubts about
the software. Was it just an attempt to cash in on legislative
changes? However, I am now persuaded that this product, and others
like it, do have a role in the Web developer's toolkit. Hopefully we
can look at this whole topic further in future articles. For those
wishing to hear more from Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group host
regular conferences on both sides of the Atlantic
<http://www.nngroup.com/events/>.
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Tim Houghton is a Director of Parallel54; an online research firm that
specialises in monitoring Web site content and reporting on Web site
usability. The firm's Website is located at <http://www.parallel54.com>.
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Related Free Pint links:
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FREE PINT GOLD
This time last year, Sam Vaknin wrote a tips article about digital
content on the Web. Alison Turner wrote a feature about finding
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* Free Pint No.100 15th November 2001. "Digital Content on the Web"
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* Free Pint No.75, 16th November 2000. "Music and the Internet
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In 1999, Susan Alcock covered water industry sites and Huw Owen took
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* Free Pint No.50, 18th November 1999. "Information on tap - Web
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Four years ago, Free Pint's William Hann wrote an article on how to
attract as many visitors to a Web site as possible, and Phil Bradley
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* Free Pint No.26, 12th November 1998. "Web Site Promotion Ideas" and
"CD-ROMs and the Web" <http://www.freepint.com/issues/121198.htm>
Penny <penny@freepint.com>
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Many thanks for reading today's Free Pint. I hope you will join me
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See you in two weeks!
William Hann, Managing Editor
<william@freepint.com>
(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2002 <http://www.freepint.com/>
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