Subject: Free Pint No.27 - Management Case Studies & Online 98 Free Pint "Helping 17,000 people use the Web for their work" http://www.freepint.co.uk/ ISSN 1460-7239 26 November 1998 #27 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL TIPS AND TECHNIQUES "Business Management Case Studies" by Diana Grimwood-Jones FEATURE ARTICLE "Online Information 98 Preview" by Katherine Allen FREE PINT FACT FREE PINT FEEDBACK "Locating a company by just its name" "Daily news search engines" "Year 2000" "Internet access costs" CONTACT INFORMATION ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/261198.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ARE YOU LOOKING FOR PRIVATE COMPANY INFORMATION FOR THE UK AND EUROPE? Try our user-driven solutions, FAME and AMADEUS - now available on CD-ROM and the Internet. All versions have full searching and analysis functionality. Call 0171 839 2266 or email marketing@bvd.co.uk for your free trial. www.bvd.co.uk/freepint for more information. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [bv271] EDITORIAL >>> Free Pint Comes To Online Information 98 <<< Want to meet the Free Pint team? Have questions for our authors? Fancy winning some Christmas hampers or getting some freebies? Then you need to visit the "Free Pint Forum" on stand 414 at "Online Information 98". More than ten Free Pint authors will be on hand during the show to answer your questions, and there will be a large wall for you to post your thoughts, suggestions and of course criticisms about a wide range of subjects. Full details, free show tickets, and timetable of author availability can be found online at: http://www.freepint.co.uk/forum.htm If you can't make it to the show then send your comments by email to and we will put them on the wall for you ... you can have a voice at the show without even being there! The discussion topics can be found on the above page, and make sure you check back regularly as the information will be constantly updated. SO WHY NOT GET INVOLVED ... IS THIS THE WORLD'S LARGEST VIRTUAL FORUM?! We start this issue with a super look at how to find case studies on the Web to help your business decision making. This is then followed by a preview of "Online Information 98" from the person who has overall responsibility for organising the whole event! You might like to consider printing this issue of Free Pint - it will take about 13 pages, but this is still much cheaper than having to buy a magazine. May I now invite you to read and enjoy your twenty seventh Free Pint! Kind regards, William William Hann MIInfSc, Managing Editor e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436 PS: To see the index of past issues arranged by subject, visit the "Free Pint Community" page at http://www.freepint.com/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** DO YOUR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING ONLINE!! *** ShopGuide is the The UK Online Shopping Directory where you will find hundreds of secure UK based online shops reviewed and rated. Buy music, books, videos, software, clothes, computers, flowers, electrical goods, gifts, flights, concert tickets and much more. No crowds, no parking problems, no hassle, just surf and shop. Visit http://www.shopguide.co.uk/index.html?pid=freepint > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [fd272] >>> YOUR SERVICES ANNOUNCED TO 17,000 INTERNET WORKERS <<< Isn't it time YOU advertised in Free Pint? http://www.freepint.co.uk/advert.htm or email > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = MEET INSTANT LIBRARY AT ONLINE INFORMATION 98! Instant Library offers clients a complete facilities-managed information service. It also allows in-house library and information staff to juggle their resources and buy in services for projects or for ongoing support. And if you're recruiting, Instant Library Recruitment is the first place to call! So if you are looking for a new job or reviewing your information services visit Instant Library on Stand 15 (or visit our website on http://www.instant-library.com/) and find out what we can do for you. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =[il273] TIPS AND TECHNIQUES "Business Management Case Studies" by Diana Grimwood-Jones When faced with a problem, a common human response is to try to find someone else who has already confronted something similar and resolved it - or at least who has some advice to offer from which we can learn. This can apply to an individual in a particular situation, or a business facing up to the need for change, and seeking guidance on the key issues to address, likely pitfalls, and maybe a map to take it through all stages of the process. Case studies are always popular where they occur in the printed management literature and on training courses: closely tied to concepts such as best practice, and organisational learning and excellence, they can provide insights into how the most successful companies have carried through particular ideas from strategy formulation to implementation. However, as a category they are often difficult to track down, and nowhere is this more evident than in trying to locate useful and up-to-date sites on the Web. In an environment where simply looking for "case studies" can generate hundreds of thousands of hits from the major search engines, this brief article will do no more than scratch the surface, indicating some of the main sites which may be of use to a business needing to tackle a particular problem, the consultancy advising that business, or to students pursuing MBA and other business courses. A good starting point for European or US searchers is the European Case Clearing House (ECCH) at http://www.ecch.cranfield.ac.uk/. Established almost 25 years ago, ECCH has a stock of over 14,000 titles emanating from the world's leading business schools including not only case studies but teaching and technical notes, industry background notes and videos. Links are provided from the site to organisations such as Harvard Business School (http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/) the London Business School (http://www.lbs.lon.ac.uk/) and INSEAD (http://www.insead.fr/). You can access abstracts of the case studies through COLIS (Case Online Information System), which claims to be the most comprehensive electronic bibliography of management case study materials in the world. Its free-text retrieval system allows searching on any set of characters in the textbase. A sample search combining 'China' and 'marketing' produced 28 hits, one on 'Internet' or 'Web' for 1997 or later gave 20 hits (including some false drops). About 100 cases are added monthly. The cases themselves - some of which are substantial documents - can be obtained from Cranfield at a modest charge either individually or on subscription. The Asia Pacific region is also well served, through Melbourne Case Study Services (MCSS) (http://www.mbs.unimelb.edu.au/Services.htm). At the time of writing, the site is still under development, but you can browse the 1996 Australian Case Catalogue, which contains details of 360 case studies. There are 15 subject categories, including Accounting, Employee Relations, Operations Management and Organisational Behaviour. While you're in the area, visit the Centre for Management of Information Technology site (http://www.mbs.unimelb.edu.au/mbsresea/kctm/kctmcase.htm) This has details of cases from 1991 to 1998, and includes topics such as refocussing the Information Resources Department in BHP Petroleum's Australia Division and using mobile technology at Hewlett Packard. All cases are obtainable via MCSS. The Expert Marketplace (http://www.expert-market.com/client/), developed in cooperation with Dun & Bradstreet, is a resource geared to consultancy firms or companies needing consultants. Click on 'Business Improvement Centers' to access business case studies and articles in a variety of focus areas which include Engineering Services, Construction and Real Estate in addition to the usual finance, HR, IT and marketing mixture. Don't expect an unbiased view - the cases are created by satisfied clients of the consultants who carried out the work, whose details are prominently displayed - but the range of problems is interesting and varied, and you do get access to the case itself, rather than just an abstract. You can also subscribe to a free Business Case Study Alert Service. Where the Expert Marketplace has an American flavour, Bnet: business on the Internet (http://www.bnet.co.uk/), developed in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry, promotes itself as the UK's leading source of business management information. An annual subscription is 50 UK pounds, though the service is free to business students. Case studies is one category of materials offered. The site simply lists a topic (e.g. 'Innovation, research & support', 'Quality standards and benchmarking') followed by a list of the company names involved in the case study. Many of these are household names - Tesco, Kodak, Ind Coope - but there are also smaller organisations such as Macclesfield Health Authority and Falcon Cycles. Off at a slight tangent, the Innovation Institute (http://www.servicesector.iwaynet.net/nc.htm) offers bulletins delivered by e-mail, which "illuminate a new practice, product, process or strategy just introduced at one of today's leading-edge firms". The example given is that of Nissan, who galvanised its flagging design team into creative action by means of an extended lunch which included a showing of 'Silence of the Lambs'. As a Nissan driver, I'm not sure I like this story ... The above are general sites, covering a whole range of business topics. More specialised are the sites relating to use of the Web itself, or Web technology, as business tools. In issue no. 22 of Free Pint, Martin White examined resources available in e-commerce, and listed the main sites. To add to his list, there are a couple of sites which contain case studies. Web Marketing Today from Wilson Internet Services ("The largest collection of e-commerce resources any place on planet Earth") has two sites. Business Models and Case Studies (non-sales) are available at http://www.wilsonweb.com/webmarket/bizmodels.htm, and include details of a range of journal articles covering the problems and benefits of a Web presence from such disparate organisations as Kansas City Power and Light, museums, non-profit organisations and the New England film community. Subscriber-only access is offered to Direct Sales Business Models and Case Studies. As Martin White noted, IBM has been one of the leaders in the e-commerce field. It has a site of e-business case studies at http://www.europe.ibm.com/nc/customer/ which is searchable by customer (several dozen are given from all over Europe), industry (e.g. banking, distribution, government, travel and transportation) or opportunity (e.g. collaboration, customer service, security). From Internet to intranet. CIO WebBusiness devotes a site to Intranet Case Studies (http://www.cio.com/WebMaster/wm_cases.html) derived from issues of CIO WebBusiness and WebMaster. Companies include Harley Davidson, Ford, Wang and Digital. One entry is entitled 'Librarians at the Gate' - swapping their search engines for siege engines, perhaps... Internet specialist NTG International offers an Intranet Handbook online (http://www.ntgi.net/ntg/intra_hb/). This is still under development, but excerpts are available, which include the full text of some 14 case studies. The inexorable rise of Knowledge Management has seen KM sites proliferating, but for the case study searcher, they are disappointing. The NTG International site mentioned above (which used to offer a KM space) appears to have dropped all mention of it. A Business Researcher's Interests (BRINT) (http://www.brint.com/), described as a 'one-stop resource' for business, management and technology research has what it calls a WWW Virtual Library on KM. It certainly includes articles and papers, but case studies as such are difficult to tease out. Given the ongoing popularity of the KM concept, this is a gap expected to be filled very soon. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Diana Grimwood-Jones provides independent consultancy advice on strategic and operational issues in information resources management. Recent project work has focussed on business research and database development. She can be contacted at Artemis Consulting on (tel./fax) 0171 249 3181 or diana@artemisconsult.demon.co.uk > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** DO YOU NEED TO STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY? *** If so, then you should be reading Information World Review. With key coverage of online, Internet, intranet and CD-ROM content worldwide, IWR is all you need to stay informed. To receive all this every month for only 38 pounds UK/ 45 pounds ROW please visit www.learned.co.uk or email: customerservice@learned.co.uk > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [li274] >>> RECOMMEND FREE PINT <<< Free Pint can only remain free if you continue to recommend it to colleagues and friends ... This is easy at http://www.freepint.co.uk/reco.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FEATURE ARTICLE "Online Information 98 Preview" by Katherine Allen It's that time of year again, and the Online Information conference and exhibition are fast approaching. Most Free Pint readers have no doubt already diary-dated 8-10 December and will arrive at Olympia to be greeted by the usual array of impressive stands and presentations, not to mention the wide-ranging programme of conference sessions and satellite events. This will be my first year as Event Director at Learned Information, although I have worked on the show since 1989, back in the days when you had to explain what a CD-ROM was. The show itself has been around since 1976, when 15 'table-top' exhibitors showed their wares - and yes, some of these inaugural exhibitors are still with us. Take a bow, British Library, Information Access Company, Dialog Corporation, Inspec/IEE and CAB International, who despite mergers, acquisitions and ongoing name-changes have been represented at all 22 shows. At the other end of the spectrum, an unprecedented number of first-time exhibitors this year includes International Market Research Mall, new kids on the block Northern Light, and of course "Free Pint". What goes on behind the scenes to make sure that Online Information happens? The best analogy I can make is to putting on a play, where enormous amounts of preparation, careful planning, plenty of experience, inspiration, teamwork, late nights, and frayed nerves eventually translate into a successful show. There are the same pre-opening jitters, the same last minute panics, and sometimes the same backstage emergencies that go unnoticed by exhibitors or visitors front of house. And at the end of it all, the same conviction that all the hard work was worthwhile as visitors go away full of new ideas and inspiration. As you would expect for so large an event, the planning for next year's show begins even before the current year's event takes place. Preparation starts in earnest in January, with evaluation of feedback from exhibition visitors, conference delegates and exhibitors. These comments, opinions and ideas are then incorporated into the plans for the show. The pace really steps up in September, when all 300 exhibitors come back from their summer holidays and put their Online Information hats on. It continues unabated through registration of 1000+ conference delegates and 17,000 exhibition visitors. As we move through November, there is a myriad of questions to address. Where shall we put the doughnut man? Can an airship be tethered to the outside of Olympia? What about hanging a banner over the Hammersmith Road? Are there any tube station closures that we need to pre-warn visitors about? Can an exhibitor sponsor the plates in the cafe? Two camera crews want to film at the same time - how shall we fit them in? Can we get a conference speaker on to Radio 4's 'Today' programme and still get him to Olympia in time? Or will they send the radio car? Through the year, we keep a close eye on developments in the information industry, so that these can be incorporated into the conference programme, or new features can be added to the exhibition floor which will appeal to both seasoned visitors and first-time attendees. This year, for example, 40 minute Technical Tutorials on the show floor will cover topics such as 'Creating Your Own Web Pages using Microsoft FrontPage', 'Ecommerce: Setting Up Shop on Your Web Site' and 'Getting the best from search engines'. Another new feature this year, 'Ask the Experts', offers pre-bookable one-to-one consultancy slots on the vital topics of Information Audits, Careers in the Information Industry, and Knowledge Management. And free lunchtime lectures in the Conference Centre give you the chance to hear Hubert St Onge, reknowned knowledge management guru discuss 'Building Capability through Knowledge', or Cynthia Hill of Sun Microsystems Inc giving the annual UKOLUG lecture on the development of the SunLibrary intranet. Visitors who want to make the most of their time at the show often ask me for tips. The best advice I can give is to take time to plan. Ideally, visit the Online Information website htttp://www.online-information.co.uk/ before you come. You can review the exhibitor list and check out the special features, including booking yourself a seat for a Technical Tutorial or reserving your 'Ask the Experts' consultancy slot. We have also devised 'Information Trails' which list exhibitors with specific expertise - this year, our trails are Accountancy and Finance, Sales and Marketing, Health and Pharmaceutical, Investment and Securities, Scientific Technical and Medical, Legal and Government, Knowledge Management, and Digital Publishing Technologies. You will find a page in the Event Guide dedicated to each of these trails. When you arrive at the show it's worth taking a few moments to review the Event Guide itself to familiarise yourself with the layout of the exhibit halls. The Event Guide also features a useful Products and Services index which will help you find companies that interest you. And the UK Online User Group will once again be providing a helpdesk which is an invaluable starting point for visitors. I've got some great memories of past Online Information events. Tony Benn came one year, and introduced himself with the words 'Hello, you must be Katherine, I'm Tony Benn', both statements undeniably true, yet I didn't know that he was coming and had never met him before. It turned out he was supposed to be meeting another Catherine. At another event, I received a call from the registration desk saying that Mick Jagger had just come in, and naturally enough dismissed it as a wind-up - only to be confronted with Mick and his entourage on the show floor (he was thinking of investing in one of the exhibitors). And there are other memories - the information science students we welcomed as stewards over the years who are now playing important roles in their own information departments, the new companies who exhibited with us in their early years and are now pivotal in the industry, the conference delegates who return year after year to meet and network with international colleagues. It's incredible to think that the show has been around for twenty-two years, and the fact that we have a record-breaking number of new exhibitors in 1998 convinces me that the industry has successfully conquered the ups and downs of recent years and is entering the new millennium in really good shape. Now, where are we going to put that doughnut man? Katherine > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Katherine Allen is Event Director at Learned Information. Online Information 98 is the largest event of its kind in the world and, in 1998, will be bigger and better than ever, providing a unique meeting place for international business professionals interested in accessing, distributing and providing information. Taking place at the National Hall & Olympia Conference Centre from 8 -10 December, Online Information 98 will keep information professionals and the growing number of end-users abreast of the latest developments. With the launch of four new shows under its umbrella and an extensive three day conference programme, including a whole day dedicated to the key issues surrounding knowledge management, the event promises to be the leading-edge platform for the launch of new technologies and for the discussion of industry trends. Visit www.online-information.co.uk for further details, or phone the Online Information 98 ticket hotline on +44 (0)1923 690665. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = REGISTER AND OWN A ".CO.UK" DOMAIN FOR 45 POUNDS including all local fees for two years http://www.willco.co.uk/service/domreg.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [wc275] FREE PINT FACT Following excellent press reviews, Free Pint has gained 400 new subscribers EVERY DAY during the last week and a half. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Seminar: 'The Information Professional in the Internet Age' Has the Internet turned your professional life upside down? Are you bewildered, insecure, and even a little paranoid about your current and future role as an information professional? Do you need help to structure and improve your career in today's uncertain Internet dominated environment? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, this new half-day seminar is for you. Friday 11 December 98, Novotel, Hammersmith. Cost: 153.19 pounds + VAT. Visit www.online-information.co.uk or call +44 (0)1865 388000 for more info. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [li276] FREE PINT FEEDBACK > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Subject: Locating a company by just its name From: Various In the last issue we had the following request from Steve Rickaby of WordMongers Ltd.: "I have a specific query. Do any readers know of any web resource that will allow me to find the location of a UK business from only it's name?" As usual, our ever helpful readership have come up trumps, and I have summarised the responses here for the benefit of all [William]: "The smart way to have found it was to have mentioned the company name in the letter, and I'm sure all us info people who love to show off our skills would have inundated you with answers (and their accounts, average shoe size, etc). But if you want to do it yourself, try Yell, yellow pages on the Web (http://www.eyp.co.uk/ takes you straight there). Or alternatively, if you can battle your way through, go to http://www.dunandbrad.co.uk/ Dun & Bradstreet have a database of companies world-wide. The results only give address details unless you feel brave enough to put your credit card number in to buy the fuller record. But then if you've got the name and address, you can always ring directory enquiries! It has 19 million companies world-wide. However whilst we're in the D&B books and on the CD's, I couldn't find us ... Kelly's isn't bad either at http://www.kellys.co.uk/ or try and find a site related to their industry. Happy hunting Steve!" Gareth Lodge, Information Manager, The Technology Exchange Ltd http://www.uktech.net/ "Here in the British Library Business Information Service we have found the Dun & Bradstreet site very useful for this purpose. It gives access to the D&B Direct Marketing Database. The database can be searched by a number of parameters, including business name. The only slight drawback is that the records on this particular D&B file do not contain telephone numbers. If anyone has this particular type of enquiry, they can always try ringing our telephone enquiry point - the British Library Lloyds TSB Business Line on 0171 412 7454 - and we will check it out for them. Looking forward to the next issue." Phil Ruston, British Library Business Information Service "Thomas Register of European Manufacturers http://www.tipcoeurope.be/ UK Business Directory http://www.milfac.co.uk/milfac/bisindex.html " Roddy MacLeod, Senior Faculty Librarian, Heriot-Watt University "Mamma's search engine, has a UK business section which is available at http://www.infospace.com/info.mamma/intldb/intl-uk.html Hope the business card turns up Steve! Maybe one day people will actually put their snail mail addresses on their websites" Jenny Gristock "I would suggest Infospace a good place to start. The UK URL is: http://www.infospace.com/intldb/intl-uk.html It is possible to search for a business by Business Name, or part of the name if you can't remember all of it. You'll get not only the full postal address but the telephone number too." Sue Black, Systems Librarian, Middlesex University "Try Yellow Pages (http://www.yell.co.uk/) or Scoot (http://www.scoot.co.uk/ or 0800 192192). Also the Thompson Business Directory has a web site but I can't recall it off the top of my head." Andrew Shuttleworth [The site is ThomWeb at http://www.infospace.com/uk.thomw/ WH] "A comment on Steve Rickaby's question as to how to locate a firm with only the name. Here in the USA there are many resources to support that, and I suspect similar ones exist in the UK. National phone listings are available on CD, so it is possible to search on the company name and get address and phone number (or for that matter name and address from a number, or name and number from an address). Another reference is 'Thomas Registry' - often referred to as the 'tomcat' This lists all industrial firms in the US, as well as their products and locations. Barrons and Moodys each publish financial listings of firms for investors, and these list contact information too. Finally, a perusal of old phone bills should disclose the phone number with a little work, and some research should reveal the location (city code at least). There is also a resource called a 'Fictitious Names Registry' which relates the corporate name to the names of the officers of a company. With this you can determine - if you plan to sue a company for example - who the responsible parties are. I suspect that there must be something similar in the UK. And lastly, if you sent them a check the cancelled check should have the bank clearance information on it, and you can determine their address from their bank." Henry Laguillon "I've used Applegate to locate companies very quickly at http://www.apgate.com/ ... well set out and free." Ian Hamer "Check out http://www.eyp.co.uk/ - this is the electronic version of the Yellow Pages. Many times, I've used them to find the contact information of companies. EYP.com lists the companies by type and location. You should be able to find the address of the company you are interested in easily." Charles Tang, Action Marketing, http://www.marketing-tips.net/ "Tell Steve Rickaby to phone, or visit, the Business/Commercial Department of any large city reference library (e.g. Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham). They will have a stack of up-to-date directories plus their own devious ways of winkling information out of a whole range of sources. The Web is not always the answer!" Tony Walker [Librarian, as if you hadn't guessed] Thanks also to Chris Wooff and T Kirby for their suggestions which are incorporated above. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Subject: Daily news search engines From: Various Date: Friday 13th November 1998 "Dear Free Pint, In response to a mystery reader's question in issue #26 regarding daily search engines, I've been enjoying several free services that I rely on to feed me information for my own weekly newsletter. TracerLock http://www.peacefire.org/tracerlock/ has been invading my inbox daily with valuable information. TracerLock is an engine that watches keywords on AltaVista and lets you know when new sites are indexed containing your keywords. The service is free, but you need to visit to open an account. Once you have your free account and password, log in to your User page. There you can select up to five keywords or phrases to monitor in the AltaVista database, and an additional five that you can monitor in the Usenet listings. Every night, TracerLock searches for your keywords on AltaVista and sends you the listings of the first 10 new listings it finds in AltaVista and also in the Usenet discussions. This is one of the handiest free services I have seen, but be warned, choose your keywords carefully. Don't be too general in your keyword selection. For example I typed in "literature" without being really specific and received a post of no relevance to me: it is a follow up message explaining how burning a complete manuscript, may have improved this particular writer's sex life. There is another similar service called The Informant at http://informant.dartmouth.edu/ It is every bit as useful as TracerLock. The Informant lets you register up to three keywords/phrases and at intervals selected by you, it searches Lycos, AltaVista, Excite, and Infoseek for any new sites that appear in the top 10 results from each of those engines and sends you an email to let you know to visit the Informant sites to view your results. Every time you visit, the Informant logs your visit and the next time it informs you, it doesn't show you any sites that you have already seen. I have also found some press release services useful. Though you will have to pay for some of these services listed, and there is a heavy American influence: PR Newswire - http://www.prnewswire.com/ Internet Wire - http://www.internetwire.com/ NewsBytes - http://www.newsbytes.com/ PR Web - http://www.prweb.com/ Internet News Bureau - http://www.newsbureau.com/ Andover Net. - http://andovernews.com/ Hope this helps to make better use of the 48 hour ruling?" Gary Crucefix, Editor Fiction House, http://www.fictionhouse.com/ "I'd love to see keyword specific e-mail notification for TV programmes. A few sites have promised to do keyword searches and the one that currently claims to does not work whenever I try it. Perhaps you could put this query to the Free Pint populace." Andrew Shuttleworth > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Subject: Year 2000 From: Olly Ogg Date: Tuesday 24th November 1998 Well I feel that I have known about the problems with Y2K for a few years now, so I guess the professionals have known for much longer. It is interesting that many of the Y2K jobs are advertised through agencies - do you think that is to protect the company? For example if you saw your bank advertise for a Y2K position 'ASAP' and an inflated high salary wouldn't you get worried? Railtrack has just signed up a massive (10 million pounds) Y2K contract with Logica. This gets me worried. It is only a year to 2000 and the Y2K problem doesn't just mean Jan 1st. There are a few dates before and after the millennium which can cause problems. Can one imagine that the British rail system could get any worse.... Olly Ogg http://rochesterchoirs.home.ml.org/ William Hann replies: What do other readers feel about the Y2K problem as it relates to the Web? Is it a SERIOUS problem for the Internet? Are there any Y2K consultants who can shed a little light on what really might happen? > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Subject: Internet access costs From: Various Date: Thursday 25th November 1998 Following debate in earlier issues about the cost of accessing the Internet around the world, we summarise some more feedback here about exactly what is charged for and when. "I am responding to the issue concerning Phone Charges In The US. I hope I provide some insight into exactly how we are billed here stateside. I understand that some terms - such as LATA (Local Access Telephone Area) or PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) - may be foreign to many of you, so I will avoid using them as much as possible. Also, as I cannot seem to locate my itemized phone bill at this exact moment, I will be using estimates for some of the charges. Here in the US, phones are billed such that you effectively pay for phone _access_ as opposed to phone _service_; that is, as long as you pay your bill, you have access to the phones to make as many local calls within your area code (a.k.a. "city code" outside the US and Canada, etc.) as you wish. So, basically, yes, local calls in the US are free. Exceptions: a) if you select a "low-cost" calling plan; those limit you to 30 free local calls. After that, you are billed per call (35 cents; almost as much as you would pay at a phone booth) b) if you select the normal plan, but exceed 500 calls. This may not be as far-fetched as it sounds if you redial often and/or have (many?) other people using your phone. Again, you are billed per call. c) if you are making a call well beyond your immediate vicinity (LATA; see above) but within your area code; these are actually known as "long-distance local calls". When making these calls, you dial the area code you are in, and then the exchange, along with the rest of your phone number. The call is billed as a "zone call" (an additional charge - again, it seems to be 35 cents). This is because some area codes are very large, and the phone companies - publicly regulated monopolies, but companies nonetheless - have found an excuse to add an additional charge for "maintaining the lines" or something like that. Some area codes cover entire states of the US ! d) if you are a business. Businesses are charged for every little thing, including a small fee per call. Not exactly by the minute, but an additional charge nonetheless. e) (rare) if you call a business that charges an additional toll. Believe it or not, companies have the option of charging the caller an additional toll for calling them. It is very rare. I work at a job where I make quite a few outgoing calls. In seven months, I've seen this once - when I had to call a collection agency. Yes, I get paid to call collection agencies, amongst other things - but more on that another day. The only time one is billed per minute in the US (or Canada, etc.) is: a) long distance phone calls, and b) 900/976 numbers. These are special toll numbers that allow the business to bill you however they see fit. The businesses that use these most often are dating services, phone sex lines, and psychic hotlines that bill you, e.g. $3.95 the first minute, and 95 cents each additional. I am quite sure those fall into the "Only In America" category, but the only foreign country I have been to is Canada, and they utilize the same PSTN (see above); as does Bermuda and the Caribbean. Hopefully, I have answered some questions you were asking (and plenty you weren't, I'm sure !) And I would be very interested in knowing how the phone system in the UK works." Damien Calloway "Recently there was an item on BBC Radio 4 about the cost of using the internet. There was a call for a day's boycott of the internet in Germany on Sunday 1st November, to protest about the telephone charges there. It was mentioned that a similar boycott might be arranged in the UK for 'around December 12th'. A spokesman said that 'people in the UK are being ripped off but are too apathetic to do anything about it'. BT declined to comment." Lynn Robertson, Aberystwyth University "I recently moved to Japan, where I no longer have the luxury of flat- rate service. Like my understanding of the phone system in the UK, I must pay a per-minute charge for phone service in addition to the line fees, and my phone bills are higher now than they were when I was in the USA. It is true that phone service in the USA is probably cheaper than in most other parts of the world -- many things in the USA are. However, to say that phone service is "free" is a misunderstanding. Rather than complain that the cost of phone service is too low in the USA, I complain that the cost of phone service is too high in the rest of the world, including where I am now!" Timothy D. Lee http://www.bigfoot.com/~theLAMP/ Thanks also to Mary Kindred and Henry Laguillon for their contributions which have been covered above. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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 by email to remembering to include your name, title and company or organisation. 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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