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Articles that help raise the value of information in your organisation, available through a Jinfo Subscription.

Articles are now being published as Jinfo Reports.

Turning complaints into compliments in a city library service
31st August 2010

'Putting customers first' is a core value for service organisations and what better way to do this than by addressing their issues before they have raised them formally? Twitter is awash with enquiries and complaints and, if these can be tracked down and addressed in a proactive way, it will leave the customers with a very positive feeling about that organisation. Graham Mainds describes how Edinburgh City Libraries turned complaints into compliments by setting up Twitter alerts.

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Treasuring Twitter: The why and how of preserving tweets
31st August 2010

Twitter started as method of exchanging 'inconsequential' information between individuals but is increasingly being seen as significant communication and marketing tool for organisations, so much so that they should be considering a preservation strategy for their tweets. Marieke Guy looks at why tweets should be preserved and what tools are available.

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Transferring zeroes and ones - getting around file format issues
31st August 2010

It is the seemingly small problems that can irritate us the most and take up a disproportionate amount of time to fix, like not being able to open a file because you have the wrong version of the software, or not being able to send a large file by email because of size restrictions. So these tips from Martin Belam will help to calm those frustrations.

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Finding Expertise Inside the Organisation
3rd August 2010

There are many reasons why we might be looking for someone who has knowledge of a particular subject in our organisation but, whatever the reason, it can prove more difficult to track this person down than you might imagine. If you are really lucky a staff expertise directory will provide a quick answer but, for those without this magic bullet, Connie Crosby provides a detailed plan of action for tracking down that expert.

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How is SharePoint used in Libraries?
3rd August 2010

SharePoint offers librarians the ability to program without coding. In other words, to customise a site... provided they can find the time! Lorette Weldon outlines the possibilities for librarians and, using the results of a survey, looks at integrating SharePoint with library management systems.

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iPhone apps for researchers
3rd August 2010

With over 244,000 apps available for Apple's iPhone and iTouch, are there any which can help business researchers? Patrice Curtis examines a range of apps for finding news, reputation monitoring, productivity and reference, and answers three simple questions for each: is it easy to use; can a researcher use it to share findings with colleagues; and will it allow a researcher to help an internal/external client achieve their goal(s)?

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A short look at URL Shorteners
3rd August 2010

Although URL shortening services first started in 2002 with the introduction of tinyurl.com, it is the increasing use of the social media, particularly those with restricted message lengths, that has led to an explosion in their use. Martin Belam looks at how these services work and explores the advantages and disadvantages of using them.

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Wolfram|Alpha: Simple and Not So Simple Computations in One Click
4th July 2010

Wolfram|Alpha offers a useful alternative to the more popular search engines in that it can be used in computations. It accepts free-form linguistic queries, which can take some time to get right, but when you do it returns the exact result desired without the need to click additional links.

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Putting the office into our pockets
4th July 2010

With the increasing ease with which users can access consumer data via their mobile devices, the pressure is now on companies to provide business data and applications to staff this way. Marcus Austin looks at the double whammy this presents to companies in that not only do they have to open up their networks to the outside world, they also have to deal with the challenges presented by the range of mobile devices being used.

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Part 2: How Do THEY Use Information? Investigating the user information process
4th July 2010

Using two corporate users as case studies, Scott Brown sheds light on the black hole into which the hard work of information professionals often seems to fall, and answers the external, and perplexing, question: ‘what do users DO with the information we give them?

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