FreePint Newsletter 225 - Business Information Trends + Red Tape
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FreePint
"Helping 79,000 people find, use, manage
and share work-related information"
ISSN 1460-7239 8th March 2007 No.225
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ONLINE FORMATTED HTML VERSION
IN THIS ISSUE
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EDITORIAL
By Monique Cuvelier, Editor, FreePint
MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Ekta Sapra
FREEPINT BAR
In Association with Factiva, from Dow Jones
JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
Researcher
Assistant Knowledge Manager
KM Officer
Graduate Trainee Librarian/Information Assistant
Senior Researcher - Consultancy
Records Officer
TIPS ARTICLE
"All tied up? Escaping the Tangle of Red Tape"
Written by Richard Morris
REVIEW
"Risk Management Report and Tool Kit"
Written by Jela Webb
Reviewed by Mandy Webster
FEATURE ARTICLE
"Business Information Trends: The Times They Are a-Changin'"
By Pam Foster
EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
CONTACT INFORMATION
ONLINE FORMATTED HTML VERSION
FULLY FORMATTED PDF VERSION
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Reliable, relevant information for hard-to-research countries and
markets ISI Emerging Markets
One-stop Internet access to mission-critical information direct from
Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and
Africa from over 13,000 publications.
Request a free trial of any of our exclusive databases including our
Islamic Finance Shariah Supervisory Database.
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Learn more about the fastest growing global region with an in-depth
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Subscribe or purchase single issues:
Customer comments:
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"An invaluable resource for keeping abreast of developments in the
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*** ABOUT FREEPINT ***
FreePint is a global network of people who find, use, manage and share
work-related information. Members receive this free twice-monthly
newsletter, which is packed with tips, features and resources.
Joining FreePint is free at and connects
information practitioners around the world with resources, events and
answers to their tricky research and information questions at the
FreePint Bar, our free online forum: .
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EDITORIAL
By Monique Cuvelier, Editor, FreePint
My father's story is sad but not uncommon. He worked for a printing
company for 30 years before it sold out to a new company that promptly
let him go just months before his retirement. Dad was of the
generation of loyal employees who figured that in exchange for a
lifetime of servitude, a company would provide a gold watch and
generous retirement package.
That was many years ago, and now Dad is happily living out his
retirement watching old John Wayne movies. But it marked the dawn of a
new age of super-fast mergers, takeovers and new ventures. As you read
this, hundreds - thousands - of companies are shape-shifting with
surprising speed.
Just in the last few months, two of the most prominent in the business
information industry - Thomson Business Intelligence and Factiva -
have surprised insiders with split-ups and pull-outs. Pam Foster,
editor of VIP , tries to make sense of it in
her feature "Business Information Trends: The Times They Are a-
Changin'".
While companies are breaking apart and re-forming faster than ever,
business owners are chewing their fingernails and wondering how the
next shake-up will affect them. At least, the smart ones are. And for
them, we have two articles that will help them mitigate risk.
Richard Morris explains how to navigate and avoid red tape in his
article "All Tied Up? Escaping the Tangle of Red Tape". Frequent
FreePint contributor Mandy Webster reviews Jela Webb's new FUMSI
report "Risk Management Report and Tool Kit". And, of course, you can
keep your eyes on the FreePint Bar for
water-cooler chat that may give you an indication of what's next for
information companies.
Meanwhile, we'll do our best to report what we hear in this
newsletter. Keep reading.
Sincerely,
Monique Cuvelier
Editor, FreePint
e: monique.cuvelier@freepint.com
w:
FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2007
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Library + information Show, 18-19 April 2007, NEC, Birmingham
LiS is the only national event designed specifically for the library
community. Whichever sector of the library and information world you
work in, LiS has something to offer you. With over 125 exhibitors, a
programme of free professional seminars and a one day Library 2.0
Forum, this is an event you just cannot afford to miss.
For more information and to register visit
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*** FreePint FUMSI Reports: Get the Know-How ***
Find, Use, Manage or Share Information:
Get expert guidance and hands-on tools
Now available: Risk Management Report and Tool Kit
Share your knowledge; propose a FUMSI report:
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MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES
By Ekta Sapra
* ChemIndustry.com is a website
directory that gives the latest goings-on in the global chemicals
industry. It has links for chemical suppliers, lab and scientific
equipment, software, industrial equipment and more.
* The statistics guide at StatSoft
is an exhaustive
site for all the tools and information required for statistical
analysis.
* Finance Site List
is a long list of finance-related sites, such as finance journals,
papers, investments and assets pricing.
* GeoHive is useful for researching
geographic and country data, demographic info and global trends.
* Infomine is a scholarly Internet research
collection of business and economics topics, medical sciences, e-
journals and government information.
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Ekta has an MBA from Goa Institute of Management in India and is a
Senior Business Analyst with Evalueserve
. She has been working with Evalueserve
for nearly three years, handling multiple client relationships in the
UK and US, managing business research projects ranging from financial
benchmarking to market entry and feasibility studies.
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* Less Can Be More: Put Information Overload in Its Place *
Factiva's unique text mining and data visualisation technologies make
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Words," and learn how Factiva can give you a competitive advantage.
Download your copy at
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FREEPINT BAR
By Monique Cuvelier, Editor, FreePint
In Association with Factiva, from Dow Jones
Finding answers to tricky research questions is ordinarily a challenge
- just try finding a directory of German national standards translated
into English on your own. But the job is made easier with the FreePint
Bar . Highlights from current
conversations below.
* DIN standards, a list of German national standards published by
Deutsches Institut fur Normung, aren't always available in English
translation - at least not at a reasonable price. While not all
documents are translated into English as a matter of course and
would need to be commissioned, a few Bar members share some
worthwhile resources .
* You may live in Nappy Valley or Twixt the Commons, but that doesn't
mean your neighbourhood will appear on any official map. These
informal local names for areas are causing grief for one Bar-ista
who's having difficulty finding a listing of council and local
areas. But a few members have inventive advice on how one might
uncover these regions. Read more:
.
(Government agencies are notorious for hiding all types of data - not
just maps. You can learn how to cut down on red tape in this issue's
feature "All Tied Up? Escaping the Tangle of Red Tape", by Richard
Morris.)
* More and more libraries are setting up free wi-fi networks for
patrons, but finding documented details on benefits and drawbacks
are hard to come by. Share your ideas about financial commitments,
security issues, increased custom and logistics <
http://www.freepint.com/go/b107374>.
* New interest is suddenly sparking in an old conversation about a
company called N2 Check that provides credit check and company
report information . FreePint's
sister publication VIP presents
evaluations of similar products and services on a monthly basis.
Check in for in-depth reviews.
* FreePint has covered issues surrounding deep linking in the past
("Deep Linking", by Paul Pedley
). But one
FreePinter is looking for any new research on the subject so that he
might complete a review for an information production department.
Share your thoughts .
Like what you see here? Share the wealth by telling your colleagues to
join the FreePint Network today.
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Monique Cuvelier is Editor of the FreePint Newsletter. She has served
as editor of several publications and her writing has appeared in
Publish, USA Today, Bankrate and many others. Learn more about her at
.
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The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky
research and information questions .
Help with study for information-related courses is available at the
FreePint Student Bar .
Subscribe to the twice-weekly email digests at
.
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*** Through Their Eyes: CVs from a Recruiter's Perspective ***
Current Jinfo Newsletter feature: "Reasons why people don't get the
job." Read it now & subscribe for free:
Get the Weekly update of the latest jobs, or search the online
database at any time for great jobs at all levels of experience:
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JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION
The Jinfo service enables you to search and advertise information-
related job vacancies.
The newly redesigned Jinfo Newsletter now features a CV Makeover, in
which a job seeker's CV is critiqued and revised by specialists in the
field. Read the latest edition and learn how to submit your CV for
review.
Subscribe free at .
Here is a selection of the latest featured entries in the Jinfo
database:
Researcher
Business information research role, could be based in either
Manchester or Birmingham, online source skills needed.
Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited
Country: United Kingdom
Assistant Knowledge Manager
Experienced information worker to support the Knowledge Management
team as they develop, implement, drive and champion KM activities.
Recruiter: MDU Services Ltd
Country: United Kingdom
Graduate Trainee Librarian/Information Assistant
Graduate Trainee required by Ruskin College, Oxford, to spend one
year working in the Library in preparation for Postgraduate Lib.
Recruiter: Ruskin College
Country: United Kingdom
KM Officer
Legal research experience for specialist research, current awareness
and general knowledge management support for a practice group.
Recruiter: Instant Library Recruitment (Tribal Group Plc)
Country: United Kingdom
Senior Researcher - Consultancy
Newly created vacancy to provide in-depth research for global
Consultancy based in Central London offices.
Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
Country: United Kingdom
Records Officer
A government agency for 6 months. The role will involve dealing with
case records, inputting data as well as retrieval and archiving.
Recruiter: TFPL Ltd.
Country: United Kingdom
[The above jobs are paid listings]
NB: These are just a selection of information-related jobs in the
Jinfo database . Receive the latest job
listings weekly with the free Jinfo Update. Free to subscribe at
Jinfo -- the best place for information-related job vacancies.
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TIPS ARTICLE
"All tied up? Escaping the Tangle of Red Tape"
Written by Richard Morris
'It doesn't affect me.'
'If I ignore it, maybe it will go away.'
'I don't have time for it.'
These are just a few of the claims that I have been treated to whilst
working with this most unpopular of topics, handling policy and
compliance for a number of organisations. Unfortunately none of this
is actually true, regardless of the size, type or purpose of your
business.
For those who haven't caught on, I'm talking about one of businesses'
least favourite issues: red tape.
But there are three realities you must accept when facing bureaucratic
entanglements:
1. Regulations are necessary. You wouldn't intentionally discriminate
against an employee because of their sex, disability or race, but
sometimes people can feel discriminated against even if no offence
was intended. Regulations protect them.
2. Red tape is here to stay. This is the hardest message to get
across. The government should be praised for its pledge to reduce
red tape, but regulations will never completely disappear. Many
pieces of legislation may be simplified but few will be removed.
3. The only way to avoid getting tied up in red tape is to deal with
it. Wishing it away, ignoring it or pretending it isn't there will
only cause you problems in the future.
Understanding these three points will help you to beat the burden of
red tape. However there are two more obstacles to your dealing with
legislation.
The first is to be aware of the regulations that affect you. This is
crucial. If you don't know that laws exist then how are you supposed
to comply with them?
The second is to understand how the regulations affect your business
and what you need to do to comply. It is vital to know what laws apply
to you, but useless if you don't understand any of them.
Fortunately, free help is at hand. Our mission at Red Tape Team <
http://www.red-tape.org/> is to provide free, impartial advice and
guidance for businesses on issues of red tape.
So what do we do?
-----------------
We do the work that no one else wants to do. Our aim is to help
businesses fight their way through the maze of red tape. What is red
tape? Red tape is the form-filling, the changes in law, the
requirements put on your back by government and other organisations
that take your time away from running your business. Whether it's the
new equality law protecting workers from discrimination on the grounds
of age, or new regulations putting responsibility on businesses for
their own fire safety, red tape is the legislation that must be
followed.
We research the legislation that affects businesses and produce free,
easy-to-read fact sheets that outline what you need to know.
Here's one anecdote that shows how we help businesses: a small
business owner contacted us several months ago and requested fact
sheets on discipline and grievance procedures. From this the company
made sure that their policies were up to date.
We got a phone call a few weeks ago from the same owner thanking us.
He had just had to discipline and ultimately sack a member of staff
who had repeatedly stolen from the office. The member of staff had
tried to take the company to a tribunal, and if the policies had not
been put in place, the dismissal could have been automatically unfair.
This would have left the firm having to award the employee
compensation, which could easily have been thousands of pounds.
A simple bit of information was all that was required to avoid a
possible problem turning into a costly blow to the business.
How do we do it? When a piece of legislation is about to come into
force, we read and research it so that we know how it will affect
businesses. Instead of writing guidance filled with rhetoric and
incomprehensible sentences, we write it in our own words, as we would
want to read it.
Tips for avoiding red tape
--------------------------
Different regulations affect you in different ways, but by doing the
groundwork from the word 'go,' you can make sure you are complying and
save time, hassle and money in the future. Here are a few tips that
get you started.
* Take a step back from your business and look at it as an outsider.
You will find you can identify many potential problems before they
get serious. Noticing things like possible health and safety risks,
potential fire safety risks and stressed employees can help you to
stop a risk becoming a problem.
* Don't do or say anything on impulse - think before you act. It is
very easy to react to an explosive situation. Nothing demonstrates
your power more than screaming, 'You're fired!' across the yard
after Bill from the warehouse is late for the third time this week.
But before you do this, think of the implications. Bill could
actually take you to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal,
not because he didn't deserve it, but because you didn't follow the
right procedure. All these procedures that you have to follow take
time from the day to day running of your business and this adds up
to red tape.
* Know the law. You would never dream of making a decision on a five-
or six-figure contract without all of the available information, so
you shouldn't make decisions without knowing what to do when dealing
with legislation. Although understanding the law won't make you any
money, early preparation and understanding will save you time and
money in the future. The costs of failing to know the law can be
far higher than you think. When you are making decisions about
employees or your company, make sure you know the law behind your
decision first. This will protect you if anything goes wrong.
* Treat employees as you would want to be treated. As a general rule
if you treat those who work for you as you would want to be treated,
you are likely to find far fewer problems cropping up.
* No jokes please! Although 'banter' in the office may be an everyday
occurrence that you take as part of the daily routine, you could be
offending someone. Even if jokes are not meant to cause offence and
are not directed at a person, they could be construed as
discrimination. People often say 'I didn't mean it to be offensive,'
but it is the person who feels discriminated against who decides
what is and what is not offensive. The law covers employees against
direct and indirect discrimination.
Reinforcements for battle
-------------------------
No matter how prepared you are to deal with red tape, you'll
eventually have to face some part of it. But the battle can be more
bearable with help. Below is a list of free resources that can give
you support conquering it. You can access all of the guides below from
.
* Get a copy of The Acas Model Workplace, which 'provides you with a
yardstick against which you can measure the effectiveness of your
employment relationships and can help you to identify areas for
development.' Ninety per cent of the queries that businesses come to
us with surround employment issues such as discrimination, and
maternity and paternity rights. The Model Workplace is an excellent
reference source if you employ staff.
* Download Business Link's "The No-Nonsense Guide to Government Rules
and Regulations for Setting Up Your Business". This is a very useful
guide when starting out in business. It covers in simple terms those
things a business needs to know about taxes, health and safety
regulations, data protection and more.
* Read HM Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) new guide for employers thinking
of taking on a member of staff for the first time, outlining their
tax obligations.
* A tool kit giving guidance and advice on how to avoid online
business crime from the Fraud Advisory Panel.
* Get your hands on "The Lights are On", the free training DVD offered
by the Information Commissioners Office (request it here:
). The DVD can help you comply with the
Data Protection Act and also educate your staff.
* Companies concerned about computer security can now get free advice
on protecting their IT systems. The Fraud Advisory Panel and the
Institute for Chartered Accountants for England and Wales (ICAEW)
have launched a guide entitled "Protecting Your IT Systems: A Guide
for SMEs"
.
* Do you have problems with staff taking unauthorized time off? The
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), working
with HSE and Acas, have launched a free online toolkit to help
managers with absence management. Find the Absence Management
Toolkit here .
Moving targets
--------------
Free support helps deal with red tape, but it is a moving target.
Several significant changes in legislation over the past 10 years
ensure there are always new issues to deal with. We have made over 60
fact sheets on the most common regulatory problems faced by
businesses. We keep records of how many fact sheets people download
from our website and request over the phone, which gives an indication
of regulatory changes.
The following is a list of the items that have caused the highest
number of requests for fact sheets.
* Changes to fire safety legislation. Major changes have removed the
need for fire safety certificates, and put the responsibility on the
owner of a company/management to ensure a premises is safe from
fire.
* Age discrimination. This new regulation is there to prevent people
getting less favourable treatment because of their age. Thinking of
taking your team out to the pub to celebrate a good month - think
again if you employ someone under the age of 18!
* Changes to maternity, paternity and adoption pay. Fathers are now
entitled to more paid leave dependent on how long the mother takes
off work.
* Carrying out a risk assessment. Guidance on how to carry out a risk
assessment in your premises helps you make sure you comply with
health and safety laws and protect your staff from illness and
injury.
* Changes to National Minimum Wage. Are you paying your staff enough?
You could be fined if you aren't.
* Holidays and holiday pay. Just how many holiday days are your staff
entitled to, and how much pay should they get? Are you ready for the
changes in October? At the moment you only have to give your staff
20 days holiday and this can include bank holidays. From October
this goes up to 24 days, with a further rise to 28 days set for
October 2008.
* Discipline and grievance procedures. Claims to employment tribunals
are increasing every year. What would you do if you want to
discipline a member of staff? What would you do if an employee said
that they thought their supervisor was being overly strict on them
and not anyone else? This might be a grievance!
* Disability discrimination. Just how far do you have to go to make
your premises accessible for disabled staff and customers?
Regulations came into force in 2005 and affect all businesses
* Changes to asbestos regulations. Did you know that if your building
was built before the year 2000 you have to assume that it contains
asbestos (unless you know differently)?
* Employing workers from abroad. Bulgaria and Romania have become the
newest additions to the European Union (EU), joining another 24
countries. Citizens from EU countries can apply to work in the UK,
but their right to work here depends on whether they joined before
or after 1 May 2004.
Here for help
-------------
At the start of this article I mentioned three things that you must
accept in dealing with red tape: most regulations are necessary, they
won't go away and the only way to get round them is to tackle them
head on.
We can't cut through the red tape for you, but this article will
provide you with some of the tools you need to run your business more
efficiently, and you can find more by checking in at
.
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Richard Morris has worked with a vast range of companies across the
country, and has been involved with the formation of laws from their
inception in consultation. At this point he was responsible for
advising government departments on how to tailor new laws to ease the
impact on business. He developed his skills working for one of the
largest Chambers of Commerce in Europe, before being involved in
consultancy and finally landing with the Red Tape Team. Find out more
from or 0845 050 0080.
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Related FreePint links:
* "Home Pages: Websites for the Homeworker" By Sara Ellis
* "Small Business Websites that Work: Get Online to Grow Your Company"
Written by Sean McManus. Reviewed by Clive Hawkins
* "Business Information for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises"
By Diana Grimwood-Jones
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** Love Books? Write FreePint Book Reviews **
Keep up-to-date on your professional reading and serve the FreePint
community. Contact us with your suggestions for books to review --
new publications and classics in the field welcome.
Send your suggestions and queries to
For guidelines on writing book reviews click here:
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ResourceShelf Resource of the Week: Motherlode of Iraq Maps
Explore the latest posts in mobile search, search engine news,
podcasting and more.
Visit to subscribe to the free weekly
newsletter, capture the RSS feeds and search the database.
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REVIEW
"Risk Management Report and Tool Kit"
Written by Jela Webb
Reviewed by Mandy Webster
Businesses have always faced varying degrees of risk, and either
evolved their own strategies for dealing with those risks or paid the
ultimate price of ceasing to exist for choosing to ignore them. Only
since scandals such as Barings Bank and Enron has the idea of managing
risk captured wider public attention. The increasingly litigious
nature of society creates an imperative for minimising the risks of
expensive claims as a central part of good business practice.
The FUMSI report "Risk Management Report and Tool Kit", written by
Jela Webb, forms a highly-readable and practical introduction to
developing and implementing a risk-management (RM) strategy. Tasks are
given context throughout the report and then linked to the excellent
tool kit, which gives exercises that can be used independently or as a
refresher at a later date. It is often difficult for businesses to
apply case studies, as all businesses face different risks or view
them differently. But this report supplies short, helpful
illustrations that could mitigate these issues, particularly in the
Managing Risks chapter.
Risk management is closely allied with knowledge management (KM). The
report provides practical advice on developing an RM strategy as a
natural add-on to a KM strategy and a learning organisation culture of
sharing experiences. Good communication lies at the heart of all of
these initiatives, and illustrations of adapting techniques for RM
work well, although a little more coverage of the problematic area of
evaluating the effectiveness of RM policies would be helpful.
A minor omission is a checklist of features to look for in buying RM
software. Different types of RM software are listed with single-line
explanations of what they provide, but a checklist would help
companies to build a specification. It would also complement the tool
kit and the detailed job description for a Chief Risk Officer. The
list of further reading and useful websites is brief but of good
quality, yet surprisingly does not include the JISC overview and
introduction to RM with its useful budgeting and business-case guides
.
The most valuable part of the report is the 9-page tool kit because of
the easy-to-use practicality and comprehensive checklists, such as the
after-action review. The slight inconsistency of giving sample answers
to illustrate how to use some parts and leaving others completely
blank does not detract significantly from its usefulness.
RM is a vital tool for any business, with implications for its
customers as well as for regulators or insurers, who may give credit
in reduced premiums or lighter regulatory regimes for a demonstrably
robust RM policy. This report provides an excellent starting point for
businesses seeking to implement such an important policy. The tool kit
is a step-by-step guide to identifying, assessing and minimising risks
in an easily adaptable and practical format and should be read by all
senior managers.
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Mandy Webster is Library & Information Services Manager at Browne
Jacobson and co-author of "BIALL Handbook of Legal Information
Management" and "Knowledge Management: Social, cultural and
theoretical perspectives", along with many articles and reviews.
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Related FreePint links:
* "Risk Management Report and Tool Kit"
* "Risk Management: An Additional Axis For Information Professionals?"
By Terry Kendrick
Related links:
* JISC Risk Management infoKit
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On the Ticker: Use DocuTicker for Full-Text Resources
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charities and other public interest organisations. Recent additions:
* Employment-Based Health Benefits: Access and Coverage, 1988-2005
* REAL ID Proposed Guidelines Issued
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FEATURE ARTICLE
"Business Information Trends: The Times They Are a-Changin'"
By Pam Foster
There's something of a seismic shift occurring in the ownership
structure of a couple of our best-known information companies. The
news that Thomson Business Intelligence is to be broken up and that
Reuters is pulling out of Factiva has rocked the business-information
world. At the same time, information companies and information workers
are increasingly entering parallel universes to peddle their wares and
talents. If all this is slightly bewildering, take heart, because it
seems that we still trust traditional media best.
Thomson breaks up Business Intelligence services
------------------------------------------------
Thomson Business Intelligence is being split up with parts of it being
sold off, discontinued or moved to another platform. News Research
will be discontinued at the end of 2007, Market Research (Profound)
and NewsEdge are to be sold off and Broker Research and Insite are to
be aligned with Thomson Financial.
Providers of general business news are finding it an increasingly
crowded space, and Thomson has always faced stiff competition from
Factiva and LexisNexis, as well as from free Web services such as
Google News Archive. Now that Dow Jones has 100 per cent ownership of
Factiva, it presents an even greater threat to competing companies,
bringing together, as it does, the content of Dow Jones with the
technologies developed by Factiva - a powerful combination. While
Thomson has embraced technology for offering workflow products to its
scientific and financial communities, it has certainly lagged behind
the likes of Factiva and LexisNexis in developing products that
integrate content into the business user's most critical decisions. It
seems likely that Thomson wants to concentrate on growing its more
specialised news services for the investment banking and investment
management communities.
Profound is one of the best-known and oldest established sources of
market-research data. It grew out of the MAID service, created by Dan
Wagner who later went on to purchase Dialog in 1997, before selling it
to Thomson in 2000. Looking back, it's fairly obvious that the service
hasn't been a priority for Thomson for some years. A review in VIP,
carried out last year, stated, 'Approximately 40 per cent of the
overall content is more than two years old, which suggests that some
sources are no longer updated and are retained for historical research
only,' . Thomson claims that
discussions with potential purchasers of Profound are underway.
Broker Research provides insight from 800 analysts covering nearly
38,000 companies worldwide, while Insite provides premium content from
more than 2,500 key trade publications, business and popular
magazines, newsletters, newspapers, newswires, analyst reports and
more. Customers of both are being moved over to Thomson Financial,
which is puzzling as Broker Research comprises the same data as the
well know Investext database which is available as a Thomson Financial
product. Insite data will also overlap with Thomson Financial data.
The decision to break up Thomson Business Intelligence appears to be
part of a large-scale realignment strategy. Last October, the company
announced that it was selling its Thomson Learning businesses, and at
the same time announced that from 1 January 2007 it was reorganising
its operations into six existing Strategic Business Units: North
American Legal, Financial, Scientific, International Legal &
Regulatory, Tax & Accounting and Healthcare.
These units don't make much sense to the business-information
community as they dump business information into either Thomson
Scientific or the North American Legal Group. Once again, with the
benefit of hindsight, maybe the signs were there - Thomson was
concentrating on financial, rather than business information, in its
overall future strategy.
Further analysis of Thomson's strategy is published in the January
2007 (38) issue of VIP . VIP will
continue to monitor and report on the future of the Thomson Business
Intelligence products as and when they are sold.
One owner for Factiva
---------------------
Dow Jones & Company has acquired Reuters' 50-per cent interest in
Factiva, bringing Dow Jones ownership of Factiva to 100 per cent.
Factiva has been integrated into the Dow Jones Enterprise Media Group,
which is managed by Clare Hart, who served as Factiva's CEO from 2000
until her appointment as President, Dow Jones' Enterprise Media Group
in February 2006. Reuters will continue to supply its news to Factiva
under an agreement as a paid supplier, and will enter into or continue
a number of commercial arrangements with Factiva and Dow Jones.
Factiva was founded in 1999 as a 50/50 joint venture between Dow Jones
and Reuters. Originally known as Dow Jones Reuters Business
Interactive, it brought together two of the best known business
information products of the time - Reuters Business Briefing, which
was renowned for its European content and Dow Jones Interactive with
its emphasis on US content. The companies changed the product name to
Factiva later that year.
The acquisition will ultimately benefit both Dow Jones and Reuters. It
will remove certain joint venture conditions that limit Factiva's
business opportunities in its core enterprise market and enable it to
develop licensing deals with Reuters' rivals. Reuters too is now free
to pursue other markets and compete with Dow Jones in developing
specialist products for professionals.
Further news and analysis of the Factiva change of ownership and Dow
Jones restructuring, including news of job losses, is published in the
January 2007 (38) issue of VIP .
Parallel universes need information too
---------------------------------------
We're all aware of the impact China and India are likely to have on
the world economy, but what about Second Life, one of fastest emerging
markets that isn't even real? Second Life is a three-dimensional,
multi-user online digital world that is being created by its
residents, who create characters (known as avatars), scenarios and
living situations. It has its own virtual economy for transacting
millions of dollars worth of virtual goods and services, using the
Second Life virtual currency, known as Linden Dollars, which can be
sold for real US dollars. It already has a couple of stock exchanges,
banks and other financial institutions.
Businesses, retailers, universities and others are moving into Second
Life, acquiring land, building offices, holding office hours,
providing services, and treating Second Life as seriously as the real
world. Next month (March 2007) there's a conference planned, in New
York, for Fortune 500 companies who need helping devising a virtual
world strategy. Virtual Worlds Conference 2007 is aimed at businesses
seeking to understand and maximise marketing and business strategies
within virtual worlds.
The number of organisations involved in Second Life grows each day and
currently includes Reuters, Talis, IBM, Nissan, Wall Street Journal,
Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Sun Microsystems, Adidas, Toyota, American
Apparel, MTV, US Centers for Disease Control, the State Library of
Kansas and many others. For some, the benefits are in marketing, while
others benefit from the ability to collaborate. IBM has 1,000 of its
senior executives involved and is using Second Life as a mentoring
community. The company has built a connection environment, a social-
networking tool, where avatars profile themselves, then meet in Second
Life.
All universes, whether real or parallel, need information, and Reuters
was quick to jump in to open what it claims to be the world's first
virtual-news bureau . Reuters' tech
and media reporter Adam Pasick, who is known as Adam Reuters in Second
Life, serves as a virtual bureau chief covering financial news that
transpires within the online virtual world. Second Life residents can
keep up with the latest news by using the Reuters News Center, similar
to a real world mobile device. In addition, residents can visit a
virtual Reuters building - the Reuters Atrium - a town hall community
centre, where they can meet to discuss events, see the latest images
and videos of the day, or just chat with their friends.
There is a strong presence from the library and information community
in Second Life. Libraries have purchased two land masses (Info Island
and Info Island II), built several libraries and created services.
Talis has spearheaded the development of Cybrary City, which provides
services to Second Life residents and to librarians. You can follow
some of the activities of librarians through the Second Life Library
2.0 Blog at .
Corporate interest in virtual universes, as well as other Web services
such as MySpace.com is part of a second Internet boom. Second Life may
seem a bizarre choice for traditional companies like Reuters, but it
offers a great way for the company to get involved in a 3-D virtual
world and connect with a new generation of users. It's too early to
assess the full impact Second Life will have on the real world but, in
the meantime, it's safe to say that it will have an impact on you,
either directly or indirectly.
Jill Hurst-Wahl of Hurst Associates
is an information consultant, speaker, author/blogger and avatar. Read
about her experiences in Second Life in the article 'Why Second Life
Matters', published in the December issue of VIP <
http://web.vivavip.com/go/vip/37>.
And yet ...
-----------
Traditional news media are the most trusted for reporting significant
events. According to a survey conduced by LexisNexis <
http://digbig.com/4rmwf>, it seems that people would prefer to turn to
newspapers, magazines, television and radio, rather than emerging
media sources created by citizen journalists, including Internet-only
publications, blogs and podcasts, to get the latest news and analysis
of important events.
Half of those surveyed said that they would turn to network television
for immediate news information in such situations, while the next most
popular source was the radio (42 per cent). Findings show that
approximately a third of consumers (37 per cent) would use daily local
newspapers or cable news or business networks (33 per cent), and a
quarter of those interviewed would rely on Internet sites of print and
broadcast media. In contrast, emerging media like Internet user
groups, blogs and chat rooms would be used by (6 per cent) surveyed.
Before traditional publishers become too complacent, however,
responders also said that emerging media is beginning to play an
increasingly important role in people's lives. In the future, more
than half (52 per cent) of the consumers surveyed anticipate they will
continue to mostly trust and rely on traditional news sources.
However, more than a third (35 per cent) expect they will trust and
rely on both emerging news and traditional news in the future, and
more than one in 10 (13 per cent) anticipate they will trust and rely
mostly on emerging media.
A reliance on print has been further borne out by WAN, the World
Association of Newspapers, which has announced that global newspaper
circulation is growing, and that new newspapers are being launched at
a remarkable rate. Even in North America and Europe, where negative
assumptions about the industry are widespread, both circulation and
the number of new titles have increased. What's more, Larry Page and
Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, have endorsed the claim that
newspapers have a bright future and will not be killed off by the
Internet. The pair were speaking at the World Economic Forum, held in
Davos in January 2007.
Google is helping newspapers sell print advertising to bidders.
Advertisers log into Google AdWords which offers a list of
participating papers and the sorts of ads that are available.
Advertisers then enter a bid for an advertisement and newspapers in
turn accept the ones they want. Advertisements are restricted to small
display ads. Google certainly has a large network of online
advertisers, plus the project aims to attract small advertisers, many
of whom have been priced out of newspapers. But analysts are cautious
about the outlook for print advertising and research suggests that
online ad spending is set to increase at the expense of traditional
print adverts. Further reporting and analysis of the future of
newspapers is published in the February issue of VIP.
There's no doubt that the future of news organisations will be largely
dependent on their attitudes towards digital media. Those who embrace
it and adapt will still be around in years to come; those who refuse
to take it on board will eventually die.
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Pam Foster is the Editor of VIP , and has
been actively involved in the business information industry as a
writer and reviewer for nearly 20 years. Pam 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 .
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Related FreePint links:
* VIP
* My Favourite Tipples, By Pam Foster
* "Online Business Sourcebook 2003" Edited by Pam Foster
Reviewed by Arthur Weiss
* "Trends in business information, provision and use" By Pam Foster
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
It is free to search and advertise information-related gatherings
in FreePint Events .
Premium listings
----------------
These events are hosted by our partner organisations and/or
advertisers:
* "SIIA Content Forum" - Gain the tools, tactics, and best
practices necessary to build, enable and sell content at the 4th
annual Software & Information Industry Summit (SIIA) Content Forum
& Codie Awards Gala in San Francisco on 15 - 17 April
* "Library + information Show" - LiS is the only national event
designed specifically for the library community. Taking place at the
NEC in Birmingham on the 18 - 19 April.
* "PI Conference 2007 - Staying Relevant in a Constantly Evolving
Environment - What's Next for the Information Professional?
Organised by Perfect Information. Taking place at the MacDonald
Bath Spa Hotel, Bath on 1 - 3 May
Free listings
-------------
Spain:
* "7th ONLINE EDUCA MADRID" 7 - 9 May
United Kingdom:
* "JISC Conference 2007" 13 March
* "WIFI in Libraries Conference 2007" 13 March
* "STN Patent Forum" 28 March
* "Property Information managers Society Conference" 3 April
* "UKSG Conference 2007 and Exhibition" 16 - 18 April
Sweden:
* "The 13th Nordic Conference on Information and Documentation 2007"
18 - 19 June
United States:
* "ASIDIC Spring 2007 Meeting" 11 - 13 March
* "AIIP 21st Annual conference" 18 - 22 April
NB: This is just a selection of information-related event listings
in the FreePint Events database .
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FREEPINT GOLD
A look back at what FreePint covered at this time in previous years:
* FreePint No.201 2nd March 2006. "Purchasing and using market
research services: some starting points on the Web" and "MP3s,
Podcasts and all that"
* FreePint No.178 10th March 2005. "Health Information Sources for
Non-Health Professionals" and "Tracking Youth Trends On The Web"
* FreePint No.155 4th March 2004. "Taking control of your PC" and
"Librarians and The War On Terror"
* FreePint No.132 6th March 2003. "And the winner is ... Our
experience with selecting a CMS" and "Information Literacy in a
Corporate Environment"
* FreePint No.107, 7th March 2002. "Fossicking for Information ... or
... What to do on Sixpence" and "The Death of the Intranet. Long
Live the Corporate Portal Quantifying ROI"
* FreePint No.82, 1st March 2001. "Electric Power Information Sources
on the Web" and "Putting your money where your mouse is - online
charities"
* FreePint No.57, 2nd March 2000. "Travel related websites" and
"Chemistry Webzines - How to find the right news for you"
* FreePint No.33, 4th March 1999. "12 Offline Ways of Promoting Your
URL" and "Data Privacy Web Sites"
* FreePint No.9, 5th March 1998. "But what is it good for?" and
"Market Research Information On The Internet"
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FREEPINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES
[Provisional]
* Researching the EU * Web writing *
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If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write
for FreePint, then please contact FreePint's Editor Monique Cuvelier,
or read the notes for authors at
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Address:
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Contributors to this issue:
Monique Cuvelier (Editor, FreePint), Ekta Sapra, Richard Morris,
Mandy Webster, Robin Neidorf (General Manager, FreePint), Pam Foster
(Editor, VIP), Shirl Kennedy (Senior Editor, ResourceShelf and
DocuTicker), William Hann (Managing Editor, FreePint), Penny Hann
(Production Editor, FreePint), Douglas Brown (Proofreader).
Advertisers/Sponsors:
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Ltd, TFPL, Instant Library Recruitment, Glen Recruitment, Sue Hill
Recruitment, Factiva, VIP, ResourceShelf, Researcha, DocuTicker,
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