Newsletter No. 180
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FreePint
"Helping 72,000 people use the Web for their work"
http://www.freepint.com/
ISSN 1460-7239 7th April 2005 No.180
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Fully-formatted full-colour edition available at:
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070405.htm>
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IN THIS ISSUE
-------------
EDITORIAL
By William Hann
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Kim Dammers
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
Records Manager
Information Scientist
Business Researcher (with European language)
TIPS ARTICLE
"Quality assuring health information resources"
By Carolyn Eager
BOOKSHELF
"Information Auditing - A Guide for Information Managers"
Written by Steve Wood
Reviewed by Martin White
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Trends in business information, provision and use"
By Pam Foster
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070405.htm>
FULLY FORMATTED VERSION
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070405.pdf>
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Library + information Show, 20-21 April 2005, NEC, Birmingham
PRE-REGISTER TO VISIT FREE AT:
<http://www.lishow.co.uk/promo/freepintn2>
With so many new exhibitors, a new venue, and an even more
comprehensive seminar programme than previous years, LiS is a must
attend event for library + information professionals across the
workplace, public, school, and academic sectors from around the UK.
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"Complying with Freedom of Information legislation:
a guide for practitioners"
This report is written for practitioners in jobs focused on,
or in roles influenced by, freedom of information legislation.
"Interesting and informative. I would and have
recommended the publication to colleagues."
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
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*** ABOUT FREEPINT ***
FreePint is an online network of information searchers. Members
receive this free newsletter twice a month: it is 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
a substantial archive of articles, reviews, jobs and events, with
answers to research questions and networking at the FreePint Bar.
Please circulate this newsletter, which is best read when printed out.
To receive a fully formatted version as an attachment or a brief
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EDITORIAL
By William Hann
I spoke in the last FreePint about the tremendous energy there is in
the information profession <http://www.freepint.com/go/n179>. It's
fabulous to work in an industry where the primary aim is to help other
people locate and use good quality information.
However, a common misconception outside the information industry is
that the profession purely helps people find free information that
they could easily find themselves, given enough time. Most people's
experience of 'information research' is visiting their local library
or searching Google.
The educational element of information work is indeed crucial, as we
help people evaluate resources. We have an article in today's FreePint
about evaluating Web sites -- yes, the title mentions health
information resources, but the twenty-point checklist will help you
evaluate Web sites for any topic.
By definition, however, there can't be an 'information industry' based
solely around free information resources. Something has to be produced
and sold; there has to be a commercial proposition. Paid-for
information content takes many forms, and in today's second article we
look at the latest trends in business information.
At best, therefore, the information content industry is 'cloudy'. Take
FreePint, for example -- it sits on both the 'free' and 'paid-for'
sides of the fence.
On the 'free' side we've now published over a million words in the
FreePint newsletter alone, and emailed over six and a half million
copies of the newsletter. On the 'paid-for' side we're selling reviews
of business information products through VIP, and reports on
information management topics, like the one which is reviewed here
today. Somewhere in the middle of these extremes lies advertising and
sponsorship, and the benefits of cross-promotion of other sites within
the network.
Many information people talk about 'free versus fee information' --
that one side is pitted against the other. I strongly believe that the
most exciting things happen when you mix together *three* elements of
'information' -- free, paid-for and promotion. Everyone benefits when
there's a judicious mix of all of these elements. Ignore any one of
them and the magic is lost.
If you have a comment on how best to blend together elements of
the 'information mix', then please post them to the Bar
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31805> or why not write an article about
your experience for FreePint? <http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
William Hann
Managing Editor and Founder, FreePint
e: william.hann@freepint.com
t: 0870 141 7474
i: +44 870 141 7474
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2005
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Kim Dammers
* "Let the Net Work" <http://www.letthenetwork.de> is a German-
language portal to lists and specialized search engines arranged
hierarchically.
* "Wer Weiss Was" <http://www.werweisswas.de> is the German
counterpart to the recently suggested 'AnswerBank' in Britain.
It's a fun and conscientious group.
* KVK <http://www.ubka.uni-karlsruhe.de/hylib/en/kvk.html> is a great
tool for searching in hundreds of library catalogues world-wide
simultaneously. There is an English GUI.
* CIA: The World Factbook
<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/>. The CIA has the
goods on every country in the world. Here is everything from maps
to economics and languages and religion and beyond.
* Library Humour (definitely NOT German):
<http://www.ifla.org/I/humour/humour.htm>
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Kim Dammers is the translator for the Web pages of the Goettingen
State and University Library where great sites are listed under many
links <http://www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/index-e.html>.
Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at
<http://www.freepint.com/author.htm>.
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>>> SIGN UP TO FACTIVA'S NEWSLETTER <<<
Keep up to date on Factiva and information industry trends by signing
up for the free InfoPro Alliance newsletter. This monthly email will
provide you with tips on how to better use Factiva, more information
about Factiva sources, and link you to other items of interest to
global information professionals.
Go to <http://www.factiva.com/infopro/register> and sign up today!
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*** Why do YOU use DigBig? ***
<http://www.DigBig.com/>
"Preparing a current awareness bulletin is time consuming;
being able to use DigBig to shorten URLs is great, to have
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definitely represents added value. Thankyou." Librarian (Feb 2005)
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FREEPINT BAR
<http://www.freepint.com/bar>
In Association with Factiva
a Dow Jones & Reuters Company
A very mixed bag of postings at the Bar over the last couple of weeks.
Here's a selection of the unanswered ones.
The old 'building a library catalogue in Access' chestnut has cropped
up again <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31770>. There seems little good
reason to want to do this from scratch.
Can you give advice on getting good search engine rankings for a
person's name, when they're now trading as a company?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31773>. Is there comprehensive
information on how "international/US/Australian law is
reacting to e-Commerce and jurisdictional issues"?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31772>. Does anyone use 'Yahoo 360'
and know if it offers posting categorisation?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31755>.
Any good free Websites with economic information to test a new search
engine? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31744>. Can any Sage experts
help with a specific problem? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31745>.
The latest Jinfo Newsletter has some great suggestions of things to
clarify in an interview when asked 'Do you have any questions?', and
some things not to ask <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31768>. The latest
issue of the excellent Internet Resources Newsletter is now online
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31764>. A free sample of VIP Eye from
March 2005 shows the new "Editor's Comment" section
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31717>.
Finally, a couple of miscellaneous items: is there an index of job
titles in engineering? <http://www.freepint.com/go/b31786>; is there
an annual survey of university publications?
<http://www.freepint.com/go/b31718>.
Don't forget to sign up for the Bar Digest if you aren't one of the
14,000 FreePinters who receive it by email twice-weekly. You can
subscribe at <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>.
William Hann <william.hann@freepint.com>
Founder and Managing Editor, FreePint
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The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky
research questions <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
Help with study for information-related courses is available at the
FreePint Student Bar <http://www.freepint.com/student>.
Twice-weekly email digests of the latest postings can be requested
at <http://www.freepint.com/subs/>.
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quickly and comprehensively so you can truly 'Know Your Customer'.
Providing online legal, tax, regulatory and news and business content,
LexisNexis is your indispensable information partner. For further
details, please email response@lexisnexis.co.uk quoting KYC.
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JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
<http://www.jinfo.com/>
Jinfo is a database of information-related job vacancies.
The Jinfo Newsletter is published free every two weeks, and contains
a list of the latest vacancies along with job seeking advice. The
latest editorial is entitled "Do You Have any Questions?".
To read the latest Jinfo Newsletter and to subscribe to receive it
twice-monthly by email, visit <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/>.
Here are some of the latest featured jobs:
Records Manager
Become the Records Manager at a local council in the
Midlands - good salary on offer.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3872>
Information Scientist
Celltech/UCB Pharma are looking for an experienced Information
Scientist to support the work of our dedicated research team.
Recruiter: UCB
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3941>
Business Researcher (with European language)
Excellent opportunity for a very bright Researcher with fluency
in a second European language and online database skills.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
<http://www.freepint.com/go/j3949>
NB: There are 23 other jobs in the current edition of the Jinfo
Newsletter <http://www.jinfo.com/newsletter/> and over 70 in the
Jinfo database <http://www.jinfo.com/>.
[The above jobs are paid listings]
Jinfo -- the best place for information-related job vacancies.
* JOB SEARCHING -- Free search and sign up to the Jinfo Newsletter.
* RECRUITING -- Complete the form and advertise a vacancy for
only GBP195 <http://www.jinfo.com/recruit/>.
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TIPS ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070405.htm#tips>
"Quality assuring health information resources"
By Carolyn Eager
Introduction
------------
We all read FreePint because we know that it highlights some of the
quality resources out there on the Internet. This is a good way of
finding useful websites but some of us need a more structured approach
to make sure that the websites we use are reliable sources of
information and knowledge. We need to know how to sort out the good
from the bad and the ugly for ourselves. In my organisation, we needed
a list of the websites containing health information to read out to
callers or to send to members of the public. In the course of your
work you may need to compile a list of links for your website, or
recommend resources to users; you may want to use a piece of
information found on a website in a report or paper, or to answer an
enquiry. In all these cases we need to assess the information to make
sure it is of good quality.
Why do we need quality-assured websites?
----------------------------------------
We need information that is reliable and will uphold the reputation of
our organisations. We can't rely on Google to find good information
quickly. Google, as we know, is great but it doesn't filter out the
bad or wrong stuff. Under the pressure of an enquiry, it's hard enough
to find the right subject, never mind then trying to decide if the
information is good quality. We need a list of the websites that have
already been assessed as being of good quality, leaving us to focus on
finding the actual information needed.
Finding quality sites
---------------------
Finding websites that contain health information is easy - a search on
Google for 'health information uk' turns up 29 million hits! Finding
quality sites requires a structured approach. To start, you should
compile a list of contenders. Recommendations are a good way forward -
you can take recommendations from users, other members of staff,
portals and gateways, journals, mailing lists or other professionals.
There is also a benefit to just surfing. Once you have found likely
sites then you can apply the approvals process below.
How to approve sites
--------------------
It is important to work all the way through your assessment criteria
before approving a site - using a form or tick list is helpful.
Curiously, it is easier to reject a website than it is to approve it -
once you have found a 'showstopper', there is no point continuing. To
approve, you have to assess everything.
The following is a list of the kind of issues you will need to
consider when assessing health information websites. The list is
easily adaptable to suit other subject areas.
* Reputation - the organisation should be reputable and have the
interest of the reader at heart, not their own commercial interest.
* Advertising - the site should not endorse products or services. Any
advertising should be separate from health information. Quality
information is always impartial.
* Audience - the information must be aimed at the appropriate
geographical audience. For us as a national organisation, this is
Scottish or UK-based sites, not English or local.
* Target audience - this should be clearly stated and the content
should be appropriate to the stated target audience. For us this is
information written for patients/general public.
* Contact information - they must have a phone number and postal
address. Reputable organisations have no problem with you knowing
their address.
* Quality assurance - the organisation should have QA process.
* Production - the website should look good and read well; it should
be easy to navigate and search and the structure should be logical.
A sloppily presented website suggests that the content is sloppy
too.
* Maintenance - the website must be kept up to date. The best
indication of this is dates on the pages, although beware of sites
that automatically insert today's date. If there are no dates, look
for other indications that it is up to date, like mention of recent
legislation changes for example. A website that is not up to date is
of little value.
* Domain - it should be recognisable (com, org, co.uk, org.uk, gov.uk,
ac.uk, nhs.uk). It doesn't cost much to register a domain name and a
reputable organisation should have no problem with this.
* Scope and aims - the front page should state what the website is
about and content should match this. It should be relevant and
should not be very controversial. Health information websites should
state that the information is not a replacement for professional
medical advice.
* Presentation of information - the information should be original,
balanced, neutral, easy to read and understand, and up to date
(probably not more than three years old). There should be a range of
referenced sources. Development and evaluation of the site should
have independent professional and user input.
* Writers - they should be named, along with a note of their
qualification to write on this subject.
* References - references should be given for factual information.
* Feedback - the authors of the site should invite and enable
comments.
* Topic/disease/condition - they should be clearly explained and well
written. The level of writing needs to be appropriate: we choose
sites aimed at the general public, someone else may choose sites
aimed at health professionals.
* Treatment/management - all available options should be discussed
including non-intervention.
* Outcomes/benefits/risks - these should be explained for all
treatment/management options.
* Uncertainties - they should be addressed if relevant.
* Decision-making - the site should suggest things to discuss with
family, friends, health professionals.
* Jargon - jargon should be explained in context or in a glossary.
* Access - the site should offer alternative formats and languages.
* Diversity - the articles should address needs of different cultures
and beliefs.
* Further information - the site should have useful links and reading
material.
This is a lot of criteria and this list sets a very high standard.
Obviously, if a website is perfect then great -- but it's unrealistic
to expect every website to come up to this standard. However, each
website should meet a good many of the requirements to be acceptable.
There will always be showstoppers. For us it's product endorsement,
information about a service only, no author/source of the information,
too old, not UK based; you will know what's unacceptable to you.
Guidelines to use
-----------------
There are many websites on the internet which discuss quality for
health information. These include CHIQ - Centre for Health Information
Quality <http://www.hfht.org/chiq/>, HON - Health on the Net
Foundation <http://www.hon.ch/> and Judge: web sites for health
<http://www.judgehealth.org.uk/>. Others discuss quality processes for
their own purposes which can give useful insights. The main one here
is BIOME <http://biome.ac.uk/guidelines/eval/>. Obviously, the
websites themselves would have to be assessed for quality before you
trusted what they had to say - but if they are into quality enough
to publish guidelines then they're probably a pretty safe bet!
Quality assuring your own websites
----------------------------------
By now you should have a good idea of how to quality-assure websites.
The key message is to have a structured approach: set your standards
and then uphold them. Why don't you start your quality assurance
process with your own organisation's website? Would you approve it?
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Carolyn Eager works as a Health
Information Officer for NHS 24. NHS 24 is the nurse triage and health
information service for Scotland. During working hours Carolyn manages
the presentation of information to nurses, call handlers and health
information advisors, trains staff on information skills, quality
assures websites, edits a weekly bulletin and still finds time to help
on a major project to procure a Knowledge Management System. Out of
hours Carolyn goes on cycle rides, plays games and reads stories with
her 3 year-old daughter.
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Related FreePint links:
* 'Healthcare and Medicine' articles in the FreePint Portal
<http://www.freepint.com/go/p64>
* Post a message to the author, Carolyn Eager, or suggest further
resources at the FreePint Bar <http://www.freepint.com/bar>
* Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070405.htm#tips>
* Access the entire archive of FreePint content
<http://www.freepint.com/portal/content/>
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What is ResourceShelf?
<http://www.resourceshelf.com>
ResourceShelf is a free daily update containing news of interest
to information professionals around the world.
Topics include the latest news with web search engines, research
tips, new web resources, and much more.
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*** VIP Wire :: Free current-awareness tool ***
The VIP Wire is *the* place to search and post announcements and
press releases about business information products and services.
Subscribe to the free weekly 'Wire Digest' and receive
news of the latest postings automatically by email.
<http://www.vivaVIP.com/>
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FREEPINT BOOKSHELF
<http://www.freepint.com/bookshelf>
"Information Auditing - A Guide for Information Managers"
Reviewed by Martin White
Written by Steve Wood
Although the consensus is that carrying out an information audit is an
essential precursor to the development of any information, intranet or
records management strategy, until the publication of this report
there has been a dearth of practical advice. Steve Wood has a
background as an intranet manager in the public sector but is now
Senior Lecturer in Information Management at the School of Business
Information, Liverpool John Moores University. The result is a report
that is an adroit blend of academic rigour and practical insight.
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
By book standards it's quite a slim publication, just 40 pages in
length, but that matters little when the quality is so high. The main
sections deal with setting the scene, defining the purpose, scope and
objectives, the purposes that require an information audit, a brief
discussion on the difference between information and knowledge
auditing, and then a detailed description of good practice in
information auditing. There is even advice on how to present an
information audit report. Some software tools that can be used to
support an information audit are profiled and there is a useful
bibliography that illustrates how little published information there
is on the subject.
Indeed despite the importance of a reliable information audit the only
other book that I am aware of is Susan Henczel's book The Information
Audit, (K.G. Saur, 2001). One document that seems to have escaped
Steve's diligent research efforts is the Information Management Audit
Guidelines developed by the Department of Commerce of the New South
Wales state government in Australia <http://digbig.com/4dcdn>, which
covers more than IM issues.
The merit of Steve's report is the clarity with which it is written,
enabling anyone in an organization tasked with carrying out an
information audit to do so with excellent results. Many of the
sections contain useful checklists. As a result, the guide will be of
value not only to information professionals and intranet managers, but
also to business managers who have been asked to carry out an audit
for compliance, risk management or records management purposes and
have no idea of where to start. If there is an omission, it is that I
would like to have seen a reference to the problems of conducting
content audits of web and (especially!) intranet sites.
The publishers offer a corporate licence so that the report can be
added to an intranet. Overall, highly recommended, and I can't see how
any organization trying to maximize the benefit from its information
resources can justify not buying a copy.
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
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Martin White is Managing Director of Intranet Focus Limited
<http://www.intranetfocus.com>.
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Related FreePint links:
* Find out more about this report online at the FreePint Shop
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
* "Information auditing: a guide for information managers"
ISBN 1-904769-08-X, published by FreePint.
* Search for and purchase any report from FreePint at:
<http://www.freepint.com/shop/report/>
To propose an information-related book for review, send details
to <support@freepint.com>.
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*** Jinfo :: Search and advertise information jobs ***
Jinfo is a great resource for locating and
promoting information-related job vacancies.
Subscribe to the free twice-monthly 'Jinfo Newsletter' and
receive the latest postings and career advice by email.
<http://www.Jinfo.com/>
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FEATURE ARTICLE
<http://www.freepint.com/issues/070405.htm#feature>
"Trends in business information, provision and use"
By Pam Foster
The VIP publications, VIP and VIP Eye, are concerned with the business
information industry - its products, its providers and its users
<http://www.vivaVIP.com>. An overview of their content for the first
quarter of 2005 reveals that the period was relatively quiet in terms
of major new alliances and mergers. However, when it comes to product
development, the same period witnessed the launch of a number of new
and important products, particularly covering China and Asia.
New products and co-operative agreements focus on China
-------------------------------------------------------
The increasing importance of the growing Chinese economy is
influencing the demand for English-language Chinese intelligence.
Established information companies are seeking new alliances with
Chinese information companies and a lot of product development is
concentrating on the region. At the same time, the demand by Chinese
domestic companies for access to regulatory information and the like
has led to some information companies developing Chinese-language
services. LexisNexis China Online <http://research.lexisnexis.com.cn>
is one such new Chinese-language service. It provides data on
legislative and regulatory issues for legal and professional services
firms, as well as international companies. The service was created in
part through the acquisition of PRCInvestment.com, a Chinese tax and
financial information provider.
In Europe, VNU Business Media <http://www.vnu.com> has signed a
strategic co-operation agreement with Shanghai Media Group
<http://www.smg.sh.cn/english/>, in order to jointly develop database
and marketing information, and cross-media models for the business
information market.
A new Asian news service is currently being developed by Market News
International (MSI), in response to demands for information on Asian
markets, particularly China. The new service will complement the
company's existing European and North American news services. Its
development is a logical extension of MNI's acquisition by Xinhua
Finance <http://www.xfnn.com>, a Chinese financial services and media
company. Xinhau Finance is becoming increasingly dominant. Last year,
it acquired Mergent, one of the US's oldest information companies. At
the end of 2004, Xinhau became a public company.
Dow Jones has launched The Wall Street Journal Briefing
<http://briefing.wsj.com>, a new series of newsletters focussing on
business in China. The series has launched with two fortnightly
executive briefings, China Manufacturing and China Business. China
Manufacturing provides news of major and minor industries, companies,
factories and the people who run them, trade and currency news, legal
and regulatory developments affecting manufacturing and export, and
much more. Its sister title, China Business, covers company news
concerning acquisitions, CEO appointments, investment deals and
earnings, trade and currency news, banking updates, investment
summaries, briefings on changes to regulatory laws, details and
analysis of changes in key economic indicators, and briefings on
political developments that affect the business environment.
Accoona <http://www.accoona.com> claims to offer the most extensive
listing of Chinese companies available online. This claim is made
possible through a 20 year agreement with China Daily Information
Company to be the official search partner for its China Daily news
portal. Accoona has recently enhanced its service by offering
QuickProfiles which provide free summaries of company information, and
include contact details, name of primary contact, country, sales
volume and size.
ISI Emerging Markets <http://www.securities.com> has enhanced its data
by acquiring CEIC Holdings, a leading provider of Asian times series
economic data. Data is aggregated from 500 primary sources including
national statistical offices, central banks and local exchanges. CEIC
has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Kula Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta,
Manila and Bangkok. The deal not only enables ISI to extend its data
offering but also enhances its position in the Asian market. VIP plans
to publish an in-depth review of ISI Emerging Markets in the May 2004
issue.
All of these items are covered in more detail in VIP Eye, issues 26,
29 and 30 <http://www.vivaVIP.com/eye/>.
Information companies increasingly targeting new markets
--------------------------------------------------------
Major information companies are increasingly targeting new or niche
markets. Both OneSource and Factiva have launched new products for
different markets. OneSource <http://www.onesource.com> has switched
its attention away from larger corporations to small and medium-sized
firms (SMEs) with the launch of OneSource Express. The new service
provides company and executive data, news alerts and corporate family
hierarchies to sales and marketing professionals. The product has
already been launched in the US and OneSource is planning to launch
something similar for the European market during the summer. OneSource
Express looks set to compete directly with Hoover's. Hoover's will be
reviewed in this month's (April) issue of VIP. OneSource Express will
feature as soon as the European product becomes available.
Factiva <http://www.factiva.com> is targeting sales and marketing
professionals with the launch of two new products, Factiva SalesWorks
and Factiva Companies & Executives. Factiva SalesWorks has been
designed specifically for sales professions, while Factiva Companies &
Executives offers more flexibility and is aimed at relationship
managers, marketing, and business and information professionals.
Content is provided by well-known providers such as Bureau van Dijk
Electronic Publishing, D&B, Datamonitor, Hoover's, Reuters and many
others. The interface on both products is available in English, French
and German and this will shortly be extended to include six other
languages - Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Italian, Japanese,
Russian and Spanish.
An in-depth review of Factiva SalesWorks and Factiva Companies &
Executives, published in the February 2005 issue of VIP
<http://www.vivaVIP.com/vip>, found that both products are easy to use.
The review specifically notes that creating prospecting lists is very
easy, as are peer comparisons which are useful in assessing the
potential for new products, sales campaigns and marketing activities.
Reputation management is an expanding area
------------------------------------------
Products that monitor web conversations, press items and news content
for mentions of a company and its competitors are being developed for
launch later this year.
Factiva <http://www.factiva.com> is developing a corporate
reputation-management tool based on human expertise, technology and content, that
will allow corporate communications and management professionals to
understand the trends and patterns that affect their organisations. In
order to accelerate its strategy for developing the tools, Factiva has
forged alliances with new companies and has also acquired London-based
2B Reputation Intelligence Ltd. and Benchmarking Solutions Ltd., a
consulting business specialising in media monitoring and reputation
management. In order to increase its web coverage, Factiva has signed
an agreement to integrate content from Moreover Technologies
<http://www.moreover.com> into its reputation products. At the same
time, Factiva also announced a global partnership with communications
consultancy Hill & Knowlton.
Trendum <http://www.trendum.com> is also in the business of developing
monitoring tools. Well known for its PropheSEE product which measures
which TV shows are being talked about on the Internet, the Israeli-
based company has just raised $6 million in its first round of
financing. Investors included international media company VNU. The
financing will be used to develop new products that monitor
information from conversations in chat rooms, news groups, blogs and
other information, in order to analyse what is being said about
products, companies and people.
Further details of the development of the Factiva and Trendum products
are available in VIP Eye, issues 27 and 28
<http://www.vivaVIP.com/eye>.
US compliance issues proving burdensome for some European companies
-------------------------------------------------------------------
US compliance issues are proving burdensome for some European
companies. Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, in particular, doesn't fit well
with the different corporate regulations employed across European
countries. Additionally, the legislation is such that some European
companies are worried that they may be breaching European data
protection regulations.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which came into effect in 2002, requires
executives, boards of directors and auditors to adhere to certain
measures designed to bring about greater corporate accountability and
transparency. Non-US companies that are registered on US exchanges
need to comply with the Act. The costs involved in maintaining a US
listing are already high and when combined with the extra expense
involved in complying with Sarbanes-Oxley, some companies are
wondering whether a US listing is worth it.
Also in the US, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)
<http://www.sec.gov> has implemented a voluntary programme whereby
companies are invited to submit eXtensible Business Reporting Language
(XBRL) data on specified EDGAR filings. If the experiment is
successful, XBRL data is likely to become mandatory. EDGAR is adapting
to XBRL and has recently demonstrated its new product, EDGAR Online
I-Metrics Excel Add-In <http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml>, which enables
Excel users to access public company financial data without leaving
Excel.
Supporters of XBRL claim that it will lead to financial information
being more widely distributed and understood. However, there also
appears to be confusion amongst some executives as to what XBRL is and
what it can do for their companies. If the format does become
mandatory then companies that are in the business of collecting and
distributing financial data, such as Bloomberg, Thomson Financial and
Standard & Poor's Compustat, will have to adapt.
Some VIP subscribers have indicated that they find compliance a tricky
and complex area. In response, VIP is planning to publish an item on
compliance issues and sources of information later in the year.
Increasing need to balance privacy with access to critical data
---------------------------------------------------------------
An increase in the number of identity thefts, plus concerns about
international security, means that information companies increasingly
have to balance privacy policies with the demand for critical data.
The dilemma has been highlighted by the recent fraudulent use of
passwords, stolen from LexisNexis customers, to access the personal
details of 32,000 Americans. The type of information accessed included
individuals' names, addresses, and social security and driving
licence numbers. LexisNexis <http://www.lexisnexis.com> has responded
by increasing customer security requirements, and restricting the
display of social security and driving licence numbers.
In the US, there are calls for information brokers who compile and
sell personal data to be more tightly regulated. While better security
measures may be required to protect personal information from
unauthorized users, any new legislation also has to be set against the
need by authorised organisations to access identifying data required
for purposes such as detecting and preventing fraud. Getting this
balance right may prove difficult in the US where personal data
protection laws aren't as rigid as those in Europe.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Pam Foster is the Editor of VIP and VIP Eye <http://www.vivaVIP.com/>,
and has been actively involved in the business information industry
as a writer and reviewer for nearly 20 years.
Pam previously played a major role in Headland Business Information
since its inception, as editor of its newsletters and directories.
More recently, she has acted as a consultant to several large
information companies.
She has an extensive network of contacts in the international business
information sector amongst producers and users. A qualified
information professional, Pam also has a social science degree.
Contact Pam Foster by email to <pam.foster@vivavip.com>.
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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