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Newsletter No. 44


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                             Free Pint
         "Helping 24,000 people use the Web for their work"
                    http://www.freepint.co.uk/
ISSN 1460-7239                                    5th August 1999 #44
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                           IN THIS ISSUE

                             EDITORIAL

                        TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
              "Interview:  Reva Basch, Super Searcher"
                        by Marylaine Block

                             BOOKSHELF
                            "Net Worth"
                     Reviewed by Phil Bradley

                          FEATURE ARTICLE
            "How will we survive Information Overload?"
                    By Dr. Pita Enriquez Harris

                     FREE PINT FEEDBACK AND BAR
              "What's happening at the Free Pint Bar?"
                      "Smart card Web search"
              "Web catalogue data protection enquiry"
                 "Dialup versus LAN use of email"
                "Alternative to Net2Phone for India"

                   FREE PINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES

                        CONTACT INFORMATION

              ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS
            http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/050899.htm

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THE BRITISH LIBRARY'S EVENINGS WITH THE EDITORS  - 29.38 PER SESSION

August 18th - `Promoting your Web Site' (on a budget!) with William 
Hann, Managing Editor of Free Pint. September 1st - `It's never too 
late to start: The Internet for Beginners' with Danny Sullivan, Editor 
of Search Engine Watch. The British Library, St Pancras, central 
London. Contact Peter Sherwood, tel. 0171-412 7471, e-mail 
peter.sherwood@bl.uk  Web http://www.bl.uk/services/stb/seminars.html

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   >>>  EVERYONE ELSE IS ADVERTISING HERE ... WHY AREN'T YOU?  <<<
                http://www.freepint.co.uk/advert.htm

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                             EDITORIAL

If you ask for help, then you'll generally get it ... especially if 
you're a member of the Free Pint readership.  This is what I've learnt
by watching the development of the Free Pint Bar on the Web site
http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar.  It is proving to be a very popular 
haunt for all your tricky Web-related questions, and I do encourage 
you to continue making the most of it ... it's your resource for 
tapping into the wealth of knowledge of our 24,000+ readers.
Remember, if you want a summary of new postings sent to you by email
every other weekday then send a blank email to digest@freepint.co.uk.

In this issue we have our first ever interview with a true super 
searcher ... and I've picked up some great new research tools from it.
I think the idea of an interview works really well in Free Pint and 
so I'm keen to bring you more in the future.

The feature article examines information overload and the future of 
information literacy.  The feedback section includes a summary of some
of the many postings to the Bar, and a handful of your letters from 
around the world.

If you'd like to make a proposal to Free Pint (perhaps for an article,
interview, advertising, or whatever) then please do drop me a line.
I'm always keen to hear new ideas for continually improving the 
usefulness of Free Pint to our community of readers.

As usual, we're having a summer break next issue but will return 
revitalised on the 9th of the 9th '99!

Kind regards,
William

William Hann BSc MIInfSc, Managing Editor
e: william@freepint.co.uk
w: http://www.freepint.co.uk/
t: +44 (0)1784 455435
f: +44 (0)1784 455436
                                        "Free Pint" is a trademark of
                              Willco Limited http://www.willco.co.uk/

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    A COMPLETE OVERVIEW OF THE UK IT INDUSTRY ? CSS ONLINE 2000

Computer Services & Software Online, produced in association with 
The British Computer Society, is a fully searchable database of over 
5,500 software companies, 3,700 IT service providers and 12,000 
software products.  For further details, subscription information and
to conduct free test searches, visit http://www.cssonline.co.uk/

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           >>>  VISIT THE FREE PINT WEB SITE TODAY  <<<

               Bar - http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
             Guide - http://www.freepint.co.uk/guide
            Search - http://www.freepint.co.uk/search
         Bookshelf - http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf
     Issue archive - http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/issues.htm

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                         TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

              "Interview:  Reva Basch, Super Searcher"
                         by Marylaine Block

[Reva Basch is the author of Secrets of the Super Net Searchers and 
Researching Online For Dummies, and is the (W)rap Columnist for 
ONLINE magazine.]


Marylaine
---------
How do you stay current with new developments in research and 
technology?  What do you read, what sites do you routinely visit, 
what list serves or discussion groups, etc.?

Reva
----
I subscribe to several e-newsletters and daily or semi-weekly news
updates. Years ago, I signed up for half a dozen or so publications 
in HTML through Netscape's Inbox Direct. I've dropped some of them, 
but I'm still getting Wired News and C|Net News, as well as the New 
York Times' Technology update. I also get half a dozen or so 
newsletters in ASCII, including Edupage, NewsScan (a spinoff by the 
former editors of Edupage), Bob Seidman's Online Insider, and a very 
interesting one called The Rapidly Changing Face of Computing, put 
out by a fellow named Jeff Harrow (I think; I don't have a copy at 
hand to verify) at Compaq. 

Of course I subscribe to Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Report; and
that reminds me periodically to go take a look at Greg Notess' site
http://www.notess.com, and occasionally I go back to Danny's Search
Engine Watch site for more detailed information on something he's
written about http://www.searchenginewatch.com/. I also read 
Outsell's e-Brief http://www.outsellinc.com/ for news about the 
online industry. 

One pub that I enjoy just for fun is Netsurfer Digest 
http://www.netsurf.com/nsd/index.html; it covers some weird and/or 
interesting sites in an intelligent, funny, and non-hyped way. I 
used to subscribe to Net-Happenings, but I just couldn't keep up. 
Same thing with BUSLIB-L; the volume is just so great that it quickly 
gets out of hand. I actually don't follow many listservs anymore; the 
signal-to-noise ratio is so low on many of them. I do subscribe to a 
computer book writers list, and to my professional association's 
listserv, AIIP-L, which is restricted to members of the Association 
of Independent Information Professionals http://www.aiip.org/. 

I pick up a lot of information about new sources and technologies on 
The WELL http://www.well.com/, an online community I've been a part
of since 1988. Folks there are exceedingly well informed about both 
current technologies and emerging trends; in fact, a lot of 
trend-MAKERS hang out there, and you can eavesdrop on their 
conversations, so to speak, or pick their brains informally. 

As for print pubs, I read Online, Database (now eContent) 
http://www.onlineinc.com, Searcher, and Information Today 
http://www.infotoday.com/, and the CyberSkeptic's Guide to Internet 
Research http://www.bibliodata.com/skeptic/skepdata.html, as well as
PriceWatcher, Bibliodata's new newsletter about online pricing 
http://www.bibliodata.com/pw/pwdata.html. I look at The Information 
Advisor newsletter http://www.findsvp.com/publications/infoadvisor/;
I used to be a contributing editor. I still read WIRED 
http://www.wired.com/, though it no longer feels, to me, like it's 
on the bleeding edge of technology. I look at Upside 
http://www.upside.com/ for the Silicon Valley business perspective,
and Brill's Content, which covers media issues in general but devotes
a considerable chunk of space to the web and electronic content. I 
used to subscribe to Fast Company and The Industry Standard, but 
dropped them both -- information overload. I also look at the Special
Libraries Association's monthly Information Outlook 
http://www.sla.org/, and at a Canadian journal called Information 
Highways http://www.flexnet.com/~infohiwy/. I'm sure I'm 
forgetting something!

Marylaine
---------
In overseeing your new series of Super Searcher books, what are
the most interesting things you've learned from the Super Searchers?

Reva
----
It's hard to summarize. The first book in the new series, Super 
Searchers Do Business, by Mary Ellen Bates, is about business 
searching and was just published in June. The second one, by 
T.R. Halvorson, an attorney and legal researcher, is called Law of 
the Super Searchers and will be out in the fall. We have titles 
on finance and investment, medical and healthcare information, and 
news and current events lined up after that. Information Today, Inc. 
is the publisher, and they're very excited about and extremely 
supportive of the series. 

I'd say that the single most interesting thing I've learned from the
"new" super searchers so far is that -- despite the rise of the web 
and all the other technological changes that the web has brought 
about, not to mention the tremendous expansion in content and in our 
options for accessing that content -- the skills required to be a 
successful researcher really have not changed. It still takes 
creativity, above all, a flexible approach to problem-solving, a good
command of language, the ability to discern subtle connections and to 
make intuitive leaps instead of just proceeding down an orderly, 
linear path. Those skills -- or maybe they're characteristics one is 
born with -- still define a virtuoso searcher, as they did when I 
published the original Secrets of the Super Searchers in 1993, and 
Secrets of the Super Net Searchers in 1996. I feel strongly that they 
will continue to do so. Yes, you can take training and learn on the 
job, but to be more than a merely competent researcher -- to be an 
INSPIRED one --  you really have to have it inside you. It isn't 
something you learn. 

Marylaine
---------
Of all the new developments in search technologies, which ones
do you think librarians need to pay most attention to?  

Reva
----
Natural language querying and search processing, XML and other 
meta-data schemes, and whatever enhancements the next generation of 
search engines comes up with. We're seeing a lot of differentiation 
among search engines today, especially in how they present the data 
to us. Northern Lights with its Custom Folders is just one example. 
I'm also interested in new algorithms for retrieving and ranking 
search results. With Boolean searching, we usually defaulted to date, 
most recent first. Web engines generally rank by relevance. Now we 
see experiments in collaborative filtering, where the position of an 
item on your hit list is determined by what other people thought of 
that resource, or how many other sites (especially sites generally 
regarded as important or authoritative) link to it, or its popularity 
as measured by the amount of traffic to it. It's a fascinating idea, 
and worth keeping an eye on. 

Marylaine
---------
In a world where patrons want and expect full-text when they sit down
at a computer, what do you think will happen with traditional 
databases which have only citations and abstracts?  

Reva
----
And indexing, too, I assume. That's such an interesting question, 
because abstract-and-index databases add so much control and 
precision to searching, and do so much to streamline the evaluation 
of search results. I started life -- my professional life, 
anyway -- as an engineering librarian. I loved to search Ei 
Compendex, NTIS, Inspec, all those technology databases. But if a 
database record you're interested in stops with a cite and an 
abstract, you're faced with the document delivery problem. As your 
question implies, that's archaic. I think the solution lies in hybrid 
databases where you can elect to do a controlled vocabulary search or 
confine your search to the abstract where the most important concepts 
are likely to appear, then search the full text if you haven't found 
what you want. In any event, the full text should be there, or a
hyperlink away, whether on the web or on a CD-ROM or wherever. 

Marylaine
---------
Do you think publishers will continue to offer small, highly targeted 
databases, or do you think the future belongs to large aggregated
databases?

Reva
----
Your questions are so good!  I still mourn the demise of Coffeeline 
on Dialog. If small, highly targeted databases die out, it won't be 
for lack of interest or utility, but because of economics and the 
fiercely competitive struggle for attention in today's information 
marketplace. Important, research-intensive segments of the 
economy -- biomedical researchers, chemists, financial analysts and 
investment bankers, for example -- are well served by specialized 
information providers using systems and software that no general 
vendor of aggregated databases could possibly match. For now, at 
least, although there are signs of aggregation on the web, the nature 
of the beast is working against it. What I think MIGHT happen is that 
search engines -- or maybe bots, software entities that we program to 
keep abreast of our research interests -- will become so 
sophisticated that we can present them with our research request and
they'll go out and check all the appropriate databases, small and 
large, aggregated and un-, using whatever query language each 
individual database understands, and taking advantage of all the 
special features they offer, and return to us with the answer or data 
sets we need: Voila!   But then, I've always been a technology 
optimist.

Marylaine
---------
Thanks Reva.  I learned so much from you in your presentations
at Nylink and Internet Librarians that I was delighted to have the 
chance to pass it on to Free Pint's readers.

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Marylaine Block is a writer, Internet trainer, and librarian without 
walls (formerly  a librarian at St. Ambrose University where she 
created a web site called Best Information on the Net).  Find out 
more at http://marylaine.com/.

Marylaine produces ExLibris: a weekly e-zine for librarians and other
information junkies, which poses questions, issues, and possible 
solutions or directions, for librarians and other users of 
information technologies.

Reva Basch, Aubergine Information Services, is the author of Secrets 
of the Super Net Searchers and Researching Online For Dummies, and
is the (W)rap Columnist for ONLINE magazine. Reva can be contacted by
email reva@well.com or at http://www.well.com/user/reva.

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Admission to the new seminar and case study programmes at
e-business (99) is free if you pre-register before the end of August.
Highlights include e-commerce development case studies from Heinz, 
Hamleys, PACE, Currant Bun and Toyota. See e-business in action with 
some of the world's largest brands by registering for your free 
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                        FREE PINT BOOKSHELF
                http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf

                            "Net Worth"
                     Reviewed by Phil Bradley

Net Worth is a follow-up title to Net Gain: Expanding markets through
Virtual Communities. The emphasis of this particular title is on ways
in which the customer or buyer of products over the Internet is going 
to be able to exert considerable control over the organisations 
attempting to sell products to them. Both this title and the previous 
one concentrate on the potential to build new business models using 
virtual communities, rather than simply attempting to do the same 
thing faster and cheaper. Consequently the title will be of 
considerable interest to large corporations who are, or wish to 
become, involved with Internet commerce. At first glance, it appears 
to have less immediate relevance to information professionals, but it 
is not difficult to extrapolate the authors arguments into a model 
relating to the provision of information ... [continued]

         ... read Phil's full review on the Web site at ...

          http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf/networth.htm

Find out about the other great Web-related books we're reading at
http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf.

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                          FEATURE ARTICLE

            "How will we survive Information Overload?"
                    By Dr. Pita Enriquez Harris

Northern Light has a new advertisement, which makes ample use of white
space, stating simply, in the centre of an almost empty page: "You're
a corporate librarian.  Obviously, you're in it for the glory."

It is meant ironically. (I'm guessing.)

Would you believe it if I told you I think it's true?

Think about it.  On the one hand we've got management gurus like Peter
Drucker telling us that because of the massive shift from manual work
to knowledge work, information challenges and the productivity of the
knowledge worker will be the key indicators of future economic
success.  On the other hand, we have those surveys from Reuters that
warn of the dire consequences of an executive workforce suffering from
information overload, not to mention regular articles in the
broadsheets making the same point (only, more stridently).

How we deal with issues of information overload and information
literacy therefore, has become one of the chief challenges of economic
growth.  And information professionals, including corporate
librarians, have an opportunity to lead the way.

We tend to think of machines as being good at processing information.
This is true for processes that can be expressed as a mathematical
algorithm and which are repetitive.  What machines aren't yet very
good at is mimicking the human power of making the types of complex
decisions like "Is this relevant" and "Why?" and "Who should know
this, and why?" and "Who would know more about this?" and "What
information is missing here?"  Human brains are relatively amazing at
processing information in this way.  It'll be a very long time before
a computer can write "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."  But
we can't parallel-process or multi-task the way computers can.  And
we get tired after a few hours and need to nap and watch "Star Trek"
to get our minds off the information.

Learning and processing information are, like any human function,
grounded in physiological processes.  If we knew exactly what these
were, we might be able to manipulate them with drugs.  There is
already some indication that the nicotine in cigarettes can aid
learning - you learn faster when you're taking a drag!  But there
would probably be a cost to manipulating the brain in this way - you
might get tired faster, for example.

If we want to get better quickly at handling information overload in
the near future, we have only two realistic options.  One is to get
better at producing information.  The second is to use software
intelligently, without expecting that it alone will solve all the
problems.

You could argue that contrary to popular opinion, we are not, in fact,
demonstrating the limits of our ability to process information.  That
'information overload' is caused primarily by an abundance of
unusable, irrelevant information.  We can plan to tackle this problem
by investing millions to develop software that can filter out the
trash.  We could also tackle the problem at the other end, improving
the quality of the information we produce so that there isn't so much
trash, and teaching people from an early age how to do information
research efficiently.

Noreen Mac Morrow of Strathclyde Business School, agrees that
information overload is as much a cultural as technological issue.
"We gather more and more information but allow ourselves less and less
time to actually absorb it. Part of the problem is finding that
reflective time to be able to put the pieces together in a way that is
meaningful."

Dr. Michael Stein, a Commissioning Editor with Blackwell Science tells
me;  "The problem with information overload is that people are unable
to make a coherent story out of it.  They try to bring in all this
disparate information but what really makes a good story, or a good
textbook, is a distillation of wisdom.  All our best teachers have the
story-telling skill."

If the transfer of the written word from the page to the screen is
relatively non-revolutionary, the invention of hypertext is.  It
introduces a whole new perspective to the story-telling paradigm of
human communication - the story that is bifurcating, labyrinthine, and
always unique.

Dr. Stein reflects on the implications of this. "The problem with the
Internet is all the amazing amounts of information.  Certain people
have the ability to navigate through that and create their own story.
But most people aren't actually that creative.  They want to be told,
they want to hear stories."

Now, even Big Business seems to be embracing this idea.  In his paper
to the 1999 Knowledge Management Conference and Exhibition (held in
London, March 1999), David Snowden of IBM Global Services spoke about
a new KM practice of collecting and storing the kind of anecdotes
about the business and using this database of stories to the advantage
of the company.  If adopted generally as a 'KM Technique', this will
represent a realistic, duplicable approach to the problem of how to
capitalize on the tacit knowledge within an organization. As Thomas
Stewart writes in an article for Fortune,   "Nothing serves a leader
better than a knack for narrative. Stories anoint role models, impart
values, and show how to execute indescribably complex tasks."

Free Pint is using this technique also.  William Hann has facilitated
the creation of a virtual community, with storytellers at the heart
of the movement.  The Free Pint writers weave stories around a
handful of carefully chosen Web addresses, picked for their ability
to add value to the experience of going onto the Web.  Without the
story, we'd be left with fragmentary information, and little evidence
of the human mind behind the plan.

Finally, here's some ammunition to use to persuade your managers to
take information overload seriously and plan for training and software
solutions.

Surveys on information overload:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Subway/7854/abs.htm
The Implementation of Intranet Technology as a Solution to Information
Overload in the Top 100 Commercial Organisations in the United Kingdom
by Steve Parker of Queen Mary University College, Edinburgh.

http://www.reuters.com/rbb/research/overloadframe.htm
http://www.reuters.com/rbb/research/newresframe.htm
"Dying for information" and "Out of the Abyss" - the
Reuters-commissioned survey which sparked the furore and the follow-up
which shows that although there are improvements, we still have a way
to go.  Also useful is the Reuters Guide to Good Information Strategy
at http://www.reuters.com/rbb/research/gisframe.htm

Why search engines aren't good enough:
http://www.anchordesk.com/a/adt0708ba/3594
"Search Stinks!  But you don't have to take it"
Jesse Berst's comments on the latest research findings (published in
Nature) of search engines and how well (or not) they cover the Web.

Learn about upcoming software tools that use visualization to help
make sense of huge volumes of information: The Information Refinery
(http://tir.tasc.com/) I2 (http://www.i2.co.uk) Harlequin
(http://www.harlequin.co.uk)

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Dr. Pita Enriquez Harris is one of the founders of The Oxford
Knowledge Company, which is dedicated to helping companies tackle
information overload.  They offer training, software and custom 
research and current awareness services to assist people to make the 
best use of external information.  A more comprehensive version of 
this article will be published in ASLIB's Millenium book; "i in the
sky: Visions of the Information Future" edited by Alison Scammell. 
Publication date is December, orders via Portland Press, 
Tel  01206 796 351, email sales@portlandpress.co.uk.
Other articles by Dr. Harris can be found on the company Web site at:
http://www.oxford-knowledge.co.uk/ You can also download a trial copy
of award-winning Web search software BullsEye from
http://www.oxford-knowledge.co.uk/bullseye.htm
Email: pita@oxford-knowledge.com


 [Chat to the author now at the Bar http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar]

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          >>>  EASY ACCESS TO THE WHOLE OF FREE PINT  <<<
                  http://www.freepint.co.uk/guide

    Visit our Yahoo-like guide to all past articles by subject

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     ***e-business (99) THE FUSION OF BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY***
Redman Media's e-business event will mark its 5th anniversary at the
NEC on the 14th of September. The 3 day show features an exhibition
with 120 worldwide standholders, a complimentary conference and a host
of special features for developing and implementing an online business
strategy. Don't miss the programme of corporate intranet case studies,
online CRM theatre and free one-to-one consultancy on a whole range of
topics. To register for a free ticket visit www.redman.co.uk or call
+44 (0) 1923 269944

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                    FREE PINT FEEDBACK AND BAR

This issue's feedback subject index:

  * What's happening at the Free Pint Bar?
  * RE: Smart card Web search (Free Pint No.43)
  * RE: Web catalogue data protection enquiry (Free Pint No.43)
  * RE: Dialup versus LAN use of email (Free Pint No.43)
  * Alternative to Net2Phone for India

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Subject: What's happening at the Free Pint Bar?

The Free Pint Bar is really flying now with so many different 
discussions and requests for information.  It's great just sit back 
watch how requests for information prompt immediate replies with 
links to invaluable Web sites.

                  http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar

Hundreds of you have now signed up for the Bar Digest - an email 
summary of the latest postings sent every other day.  If you would
like to receive this then simply send a blank email to
digest@freepint.co.uk.

I've summarised below links to some of the major themes at the Bar,
but please do visit today to access the many other interesting
subjects being covered or to post your own comments or questions.

William


New requests for information and discussions ...

UK jobs
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=308
  Request and discussion regarding UK job Web sites

Calling cultural sector consultants and freelances
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=310
  Where does these people meet online?

Chat within web site
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=319
  Information request and discussion regarding implementation of chat

Editor required for Web newsletter
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=339
  Request for the above, followed by suggestions

Smart card technology for government applications
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=347
  Request for information, and pointer to a knowledgeable source

Locating people in the UK
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=358
  Request and suggestions for finding addresses and telephone numbers

Article contributions welcomed
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=289
  Call to potential authors for contributions to Free Pint


Developing and interesting discussions following the last issue ...

Communities and links for the broadcast and film industry
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=214
  A selection of good replies which should make a starting point

R&D and IP
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=232
  Some super discussion around how to link the Research and 
  Development functions with those of Intellectual Property.

Free education for adults
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=268
  Some starting points suggested

E-journals and tables of content
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=272
  A whole range of suggestions on this topic

Distance volunteering
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=280
  Useful links to begin looking

Recruitment industry sites (Scientific and/or healthcare particularly)
  http://www.freepint.co.uk/cgi-bin/webbbs/config.pl?read=286
  Lots of links and suggestions coming forth

If you have something to discuss or have a request for information
then post your message now ...

                   http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar

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Subject: RE: Smart card Web search (Free Pint No.43)
From:    Various


"It would be unusual for companies putting smart card requirements out
to tender directly.  They are more likely to use a brokerage service
such as the OJEC or Contrax Weekly or others.  These publications can
cost approximately 500 pounds per year to subscribe to.  Specialist 
agencies such as ours offer a bureau service which builds a profile 
of your requirements.  Because we are constantly seeking out tenders 
and export sales opportunities & JVs, it is likely that the cost of 
subscribing to the service (average cost 50 pounds per month) is paid 
back in double time.

As a gesture to Free Pint, if Sarah Garcia contacts us direct, we
will give her all the contacts we have on our books for smartcards 
free of charge."

  Stuart Finch sdfassist@btinternet.com
  SDF-ASSIST, Tender Search Service


"You might like to try the identification, smart card and security 
division of the company I work for.  I'm sorry, I know nothing about 
the issues. Their site is http://www.and.com/  I hope this is 
of some help.

I do work with information retrieval and internet search tools, so if
you give me more details about the type of searches you wish to carry
out, I might be able to help there."

  Simon Collery, S.Collery@andtech.co.uk

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           Send your letter to feedback@freepint.co.uk
      or discuss it online at http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
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Subject: RE: Web catalogue data protection enquiry (Free Pint No.43)
From:    Dorren Broom, Data Administrator, Scottish Borders Council
Date:    Friday 23rd July 1999

I note you refer to the Data Protection Act applying in England and
Wales - it does in Scotland too.  The only thing which differs in
Scotland is our implementation of the Freedom of Information Bill 
which I believe is to be different.  Under the English system - DPA 
takes precedence over the Freedom of Information Act but whether that 
will be the case in Scotland I am not quite sure.

While we are on this topic - I wrote to the Home Office Website three
months ago to ask if the Crime and Disorder Act affected Scotland 
too - to date I have not received a reply.  My view is that any Act 
is an Act which affects the whole of the UK - the only difference 
with the Crime and Disorder Act is that the law in Scotland is 
slightly different to that of England and Wales - can anyone 
clarify for me please?

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           Send your letter to feedback@freepint.co.uk
      or discuss it online at http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Subject: RE: Dialup versus LAN use of email (Free Pint No.43)
From:    Jennie Farnell
Date:    Friday 23rd July 1999

In response to Matt Hurst's letter regarding netiquette, I must agree
with his observation.  I find that those correspondents with a LAN 
based connection use their e-mail as a conversation tool, almost as 
if you were speaking on the telephone.  Those with a dial up seem to 
perceive it more like a fax communication - a one way transmission 
meant to communicate information only.

I rely heavily on e-mail correspondence throughout the day, but have
learned to distinguish between those contacts with a dial up network 
versus a LAN.  I will tend to call those with a dial up if I have an 
urgent question or a time sensitive issue, so I am assured a quick 
response.

It appears to me that e-mail is not a truly efficient means of 
communication without a LAN; although it is often more convenient for
the sender, it is not for the user who must dial up, and is therefore 
utilized less frequently.

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Subject: Alternative to Net2Phone for India
From:    Neeraj Batra, India
Date:    30th July 1999

I want to find out about a company similar to Net2Phone for making 
long distance PC-to-phone calls from India. I came across it once but 
have forgotten now, and can't find it after searching for many hours.

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             DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION, COMMENT OR REPLY?

Let us know your feedback or favourite site by sending an email to 
the Free Pint team now to feedback@freepint.co.uk or post your
message at the Free Pint Bar http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar.

[NOTE: Remember to include your name, title and company or 
organisation, and let us know if you wish your contact details to 
be withheld. Please note, if you write to us we may publish your 
letter in whole or part for the interest of our subscribers unless 
you request otherwise at the time of writing.]

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As you can see below, we have a whole range of exciting articles
coming soon to Free Pint.  In the meantime I hope you can join us at
the Web site, and continue to spread the word to your contacts.

                      See you in four weeks!

                           Kind regards,
                   William Hann, Managing Editor
                      william@freepint.co.uk
                    http://www.freepint.co.uk/

(c) Willco Limited 1999
http://www.willco.co.uk/

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                   FREE PINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES

      * Intranets * Unified messaging * Searching for files *
 * Legal Information * British Sites overseas * European Information *
 * Getting good references * Financial Sites * Architectural sources *
     * Animal health * Music Sites * Associate/Affiliate Programs *
              * Data Protection and Web sites *

                                                        [Provisional]
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                        CONTACT INFORMATION

William Hann BSc MIInfSc, Managing Editor
e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436

Rex Cooke FIInfSc FRSA, Editor
e: rex@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436

Jane, Administrator e: jane@freepint.co.uk

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Free Pint (ISSN 1460-7239 is a free newsletter written by information 
professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information
on the Internet.  Useful to anyone who uses the Web for their work, it
is published every two weeks by email.

To subscribe, unsubscribe, find details about contributing, 
advertising or to see past issues, please visit the Web site at 
http://www.freepint.co.uk/ or call +44 (0)1784 455 435.

Please note: Free Pint is a trademark of, and published by, the 
Internet consultancy Willco Limited http://www.willco.co.uk/ ...
providers of consultancy, training and publishing services. The 
publishers will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any 
other company or organisation.

The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the
sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care
has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the
publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.

This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its
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Product names used in Free Pint are for identification purposes only,
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any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved.

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