Subject: Free Pint No.64 - Insurance, Invisible, Riches and ESLY Free Pint "Helping 28,000 people use the Web for their work" http://www.freepint.co.uk/ ISSN 1460-7239 8th June 2000 No.64 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IN THIS ISSUE EDITORIAL MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Josette Crane TIPS AND TECHNIQUES "Understanding Insurance" By Samantha Crown and Howard Knight BOOKSHELF "StrikingItRich.Com: Profiles of 23 Incredibly Successful Websites That You've Probably Never Heard Of" Reviewed by Anne Ku FEATURE ARTICLE "The Invisible Web" By Chris Sherman FREE PINT BAR by Simon Collery EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES CONTACT INFORMATION ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/080600.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = INVESTMENT RESEARCH MADE EASY FT.com's free Interactive Charting Tool is a great place to carry out investment research. This easy to use tool will produce informative charts that will help you analyse company stock performance over pre-selected periods. http://www.marketprices.ft.com/ftpages/mp_bigchartOKIE.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ft641] >>> ABOUT FREE PINT <<< Free Pint is a community of business professionals who use the Web for their work. Members receive this free newsletter every two weeks packed with tips and articles by information professionals who share how they find quality and reliable information on the Internet. Sign up at for free access to the substantial archive of articles, book reviews, industry news and events, and have your research questions answered at the "Free Pint Bar". > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EDITORIAL I have two pieces of great news to share with you in this issue ... Firstly, I'm delighted to announce that Free Pint has won formal recognition within the information industry. I'm off shortly to pick up the award as "European Special Librarian of the Year" (ESLY) at the Special Libraries Association's annual conference in Philadelphia. The award is sponsored by Factiva and I think it's a real credit to the tremendous commitment and hard work by the team here as well as to all the wonderful authors and contributors to the Bar. To find out more then please read the formal announcement at . Secondly, after many hours of development and testing we have now completed the membership system. This is very exciting because it means that you will be able to log in to your account next time you visit the Web site and change your subscriptions or registered details as required. Every user has been assigned a unique password and there are simple instructions on how to retrieve it when you go to login. As a registered member you will begin to notice a number of member- only benefits on the site, such as being able to have past issues emailed to you immediately from the archive at . This provides us with a fantastic foundation for developing a wide range of exciting new personalised services and so I do encourage you to log in next time you visit the Web site. In today's articles you can find out about the intricacies of the insurance industry as well as how to search the massive amount of material which is hidden to search engines. The title of the book we review makes it sound like another addition to dotcom mania, however this book is really quite rare in that it uses genuine examples of small Web site success (avoiding the hype) uniquely including actual revenue, profit and sales figures. I have read the book and would indeed recommend it if you're trying to translate success in the traditional economy onto the Web. With the usual mix of tips and reviews of what's been happening on the Web site I'm sure you'll find something of value in today's edition. If you can help us spread the word then that would be great and please do give us your feedback either directly by email or at the Bar. Kind regards, William William Hann BSc MIInfSc Founder and Managing Editor, Free Pint e: william@freepint.co.uk t: +44 (0)1784 455435 f: +44 (0)1784 455436 Free Pint is a trademark of Free Pint Limited http://www.freepint.co.uk/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = THE PREMIER SOURCE FOR FREE NEWS ARTICLES ON THE WEB FT.com's Global Archive brings together over eight million articles from leading business publications worldwide. The database is fully searchable and over 75% of the content is free. Frequently updated, today's news is online now. http://www.globalarchive.ft.com > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ft642] >>> SPECIAL OFFER: UP TO 60% DISCOUNT FOR ADVERTISERS <<< If you've considered advertising with Free Pint then find out about the latest special offers by subscribing to the monthly "Advertiser's Update" available now at: > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES from Josette Crane * My current preferred metasearch engine is Ixquick which ranks results using stars. * I am often asked how many people use the Internet. For this and other Net statistics look at . * For business travel the country reports prepared annually by U.S. embassies are an invaluable travel companion: . * The annual reports of publicly listed UK companies can be ordered free on-line from the Financial Times at . * To track a Web site try Netmind . You specify which pages to follow and an e-mail is sent to you whenever the pages are altered. Josette Crane enjoys working at home as an Internet Researcher for Wessex Water in England, providing searching, training and current awareness services. To submit your top five favourite tipples see the guidelines at or email > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = BUSINESS INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET - 27 June 2000 A one day workshop from the British Library with plenty of opportunity for practice and feedback. In this course one of the country's foremost Internet lecturers shows you how to cut through the maze of Internet sources and gives delegates pointers to the essential retrieval and browsing tools and how to get the best out of them. Contact Tony Catarinicchia 020 7412 7915 or visit our website at www.bl.uk/services/stb/courses.html for further details. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [bl643] >>> TODAY'S NEWS IN 200+ CATEGORIES <<< All Free Pint members receive unlimited access to the live newsfeed of headlines from around the world. Why not check it out today and every day at: http://www.freepint.co.uk/news > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = TIPS AND TECHNIQUES http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/080600.htm#tips "Understanding Insurance" By Samantha Crown and Howard Knight After a hesitant start, particularly in the United Kingdom, the insurance industry is taking to the Internet with enthusiasm. The following sites provide a general introduction to the industry, focussing primarily on the UK market. Portal Sites ------------ home of Insurance-links.com, a portal site for insurance and insurance-related web sites. Another portal, (with a strong US bias) enables you to dip your feet into specific insurance topics such as earthquakes and insurance history. Regulation ---------- The new regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has overall responsibility for the UK insurance industry. Its web site at provides general information on the role of the FSA, copies of consultation documents (including those concerning insurance), press releases and information for consumers. The General Insurance Standards Council (GISC) is a new, independent, self-regulating and non-statutory body set up to supervise the selling of general insurance in the UK. Content on the web site is sparse at present (general information about the GISC, press releases and a consultation paper) but will undoubtedly grow as the GISC gets into its stride. Professional Bodies ------------------- A good starting point for queries regarding the UK insurance market is the Association of British Insurers. It represents the majority of companies in the UK market and at maintains a comprehensive site with useful information for industry members and consumers alike. For example, you can access ABI codes of practice, policy statements, relevant political news, a catalogue of publications and information on purchasing insurance. The FAQ section provides information for consumers on different types of insurance such as pensions, home, motor and holiday. Answers are supported by codes of practice, guidance notes and information sheets that clarify the questions you should ask when buying insurance. The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) is the leading professional and educational body for UK insurance practitioners. provides background information on the Institute, its work at home and abroad, and information on careers and professional qualifications. The Insurance Institute of London supports the work of the CII and is well known for its lecture series. Copies of speeches can be viewed on the site. The web site of the British Insurance Brokers Association allows buyers of insurance to find registered brokers in their area. Additional information includes news, services for members and training for brokers. Other trade bodies with a web presence: The International Underwriting Association of London which represents insurance/reinsurance companies in the London market. The Association of Insurance and Risk Managers. The Institute of Risk Management. The Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters. The Faculty and Institute of Actuaries. To find insurance associations in other countries, try the Faculty and Institute of Actuaries web site, the Insurance Information Institute at , or Insurance-links.com at . Lloyd's/Insurance Company Information ------------------------------------- The London Insurance Market is a world leader in internationally traded insurance and reinsurance comprising mainly overseas, but also UK, non-life large and high exposure risks. Lloyd's accounts for over half of the total London market premium. Your global gateway to participants in the Lloyd's market is at . Lloyd's unique structure and history are explained and the Market Gateway offers comprehensive information about all the syndicates, managing agents and Lloyd's brokers who constitute the Lloyd's market. Lloyd's MarketView contains a table of all syndicates/managing agents' web sites with a search engine that enables searching across these sites. A similar system is in place for Lloyd's brokers. has a Members search that provides basic company contact information, including links through to respective web sites where available. On a global level a great tool for both investors and strategic marketing is . Independent financial strength ratings and basic company profiles for more than 5,000 insurance companies allows benchmarking and provides an indication as to likely future performance. Further widely recognised insurance ratings can be found at and . Industry News ------------- Brief news headlines from the current issue of Insurance Day can be found at . Access to online versions of Lloyd's List and Insurance Day is available on subscription. Post Magazine and Insurance Times are two leading weekly trade journals in the UK. The Post Magazine site at provides the latest news and stories from the current print version of the magazine. There is a searchable archive of articles (back to 1998), vacancy lists and links to the electronic editions of its sister publications, Professional Broking and Reinsurance. The Insurance Times site at provides news, links to other industry web sites and the aforementioned job section. Insurance Age Electronic at provides an archive of articles but, sadly, not a search facility. For news from the US insurance sector go to the Business Insurance web site at . The Review at has current news, an archive of articles (1997 onwards) and a search facility. Other electronic insurance journals may be found using one of the portal sites mentioned at the beginning of this article. Statistical Information ----------------------- Aside from company data, contains a wide range of insurance publications on topics ranging from natural catastrophes to alternative risk financing (freely downloadable and often available in a selection of languages). One publication worth a browse is Sigma. Published approximately eight times a year, it examines developments and trends in the non-life, life and health sectors of international insurance markets. Articles are thoroughly researched and comprehensive, marrying insurance theory with practical application and analysis. Nottingham Insurance School, in the guise of the Centre for Risk and Insurance Studies, contains total premium data (1997 onwards) for the top ten UK insurance companies. The information is from company annual reports. Business Insurance produces a number of sector rankings throughout the year on a world and US basis. See . Publishers ---------- LLP Ltd , Witherby & Co. and A. M. Best are all leading insurance publishers. They provide catalogues of publications on their web sites. A. M. Best is a US publisher but is expanding throughout the UK and Europe with products aimed at local markets. Web access to some LLP publications is available on subscription. Careers/Jobs ------------ If you think insurance is the life for you but want to find out more, then the CII's site at is a good place to start. It hosts a lot of information concerning careers and professional qualifications. For job vacancies, go to . LLP places a large selection of job ads in its trade newspaper Insurance Day and these are included on the site. Other trade journals featuring job sections are Post Magazine and Insurance Times. The electronic editions, at and respectively, include vacancy details. That concludes our brief tour of selected insurance web sites. We hope you find them as useful as we have. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Howard Knight has worked in a variety of information roles within the City since 1992 and has an MLib in Librarianship from the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth to supplement his initial BLib in Librarianship and International Politics. He presently heads up the Business Intelligence Centre at Lloyd's of London, a library and information service that seeks to meet the business information needs of the wider Lloyd's community. Samantha Crown is an information officer in the Business Intelligence Centre at Lloyd's of London. She has worked in the information industry for four years since graduating with a BSc in Information Studies from Loughborough University. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Discuss this article with the author now at the Free Pint Bar > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Low Cost Web Hosting on Unix, NT, Mac http://www.globalgold.co.uk/?affid=14 Global Gold offers Web site hosting and domain name registration at affordable prices. Instant name registration starts at just 19.99 pounds for .uk and 39.99 pounds for .com, .net and .org. Hosting packages start at just 6 pounds a month for our basic accounts. Check your domain or find out more at http://www.globalgold.co.uk/?affid=14 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [gg644] >>> FREE PINT FACT <<< To try to guess another Free Pint user's password you'd have to try 256,000,000 word combinations. Also, to make it even more difficult, we change it automatically every third incorrect attempt. Oh well. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BOOKSHELF http://www.freepint.co.uk/bookshelf "StrikingItRich.Com: Profiles of 23 Incredibly Successful Websites That You've Probably Never Heard Of" Reviewed by Anne Ku The Los Angeles Times columnist and feature writer Jaclyn Easton interviewed these 23 highly successful but relatively unknown companies on the secrets of their success. These small companies all started their web-based businesses early, way before the rest of us have even heard of the Internet. In that sense, they all have the first-mover advantage. Although widely different, these niche sites fall into two categories: content or transaction. A content-based website makes money off advertisers as the information provided on the site attracts a high volume of traffic, like Free Pint. A transaction-based website makes money from the sale of merchandise, like Amazon.com. Each case study is written like a short story, with hard facts to show profitability of the business, details of problems encountered, tips and advice from the owners, and a personal side. Easton makes it easy to relate to the owners by her crafty storytelling of the triumphs and tribulations of setting up and growing a web-based business. As such, they are highly comforting and encouraging for anyone starting their own web-based business. You don't have to be big to be successful. You don't have to have lots of money. You don't have to be in your twenties. (In fact, the average age is 40.) You don't have to be well- known. You don't have to have lots of snazzy javascripts and Shockwave gimmicks on your site. The main message is: be yourself. You just have to believe in and love what you're doing. Although the companies are all US-based, the stories reveal that they almost all want to expand internationally. One can copy Easton's example and interview incredibly successful web-based businesses in Europe and Asia. Like the 23 in the book, they are probably unheard of. To fully make use of the book, one almost has to use a highlighter pen to bring out the generic secrets of success that can be transported elsewhere. There is no final chapter summarising such useful insights. Neither is it available on the companion website. Instead, you have to read the entire book yourself and take notes. Perhaps that is why you have to purchase rather than borrow it (like I did!) Amazon.com has several lengthy editorial reviews and 51 customer reviews (at last count) which vary from overwhelming praise to a waste of money. To determine that yourself, read the sample chapter on Discount Games. More promotional information about the book can be obtained from the website, which contains editorial reviews, full extracts of two chapters from the book (Ask the Builder and I Go Golf), one-paragraph teasers about each story, and updates on each of the companies since publication of the book. Easton also makes fully available other articles she has written: a simple 3-step guide to putting a small business on the web, affiliate programs, cross-selling on the web, search engine secrets, impulse purchasing, misuse of the term "hits", and revenue alternative to ads on niche sites. After thoroughly digesting her site, I felt very compelled to contribute. Sure enough, there is a section on success tips divided into four categories: sales and marketing, site design and hosting, great content, and customer service. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Anne Ku came across Striking It Rich.Com while perusing the London Business School library for books on the Internet. After writing her own review at , she was contacted by Free Pint to write a longer review for the newsletter. This book has inspired Anne to build content to build traffic to build revenue. Her content-based website "analyticalQ presents a platform for self-expression, world travel, and flexibility" at contains original music, art, and writing. Readers are invited to visit and give suggestions for improvement. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Find out more about this book online at the Free Pint Bookshelf * Read about other Internet strategy books on the Free Pint Bookshelf * Read customer comments and buy this book at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com * Search for any other book from Amazon via the Bookshelf homepage To propose a business-Web-related book for review, send details to . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> THE LATEST FROM THE FREE PINT BAR <<< If you'd like to receive the latest postings from the Bar by email every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then please sign up to the "Free Pint Bar Digest" at . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FEATURE ARTICLE http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/080600.htm#feature "The Invisible Web" By Chris Sherman There's a big problem with most search engines, and it's one many people aren't even aware of. The problem is that vast expanses of the Web are completely invisible to general purpose search engines like AltaVista, HotBot and Google. Even worse, this "Invisible Web" is in all likelihood growing significantly faster than the visible Web you're familiar with. So what is this Invisible Web and why aren't search engines indexing it? To answer this question, it's important to first define the "visible" Web, and describe how search engines compile their indexes. The Web was created a little over ten years ago by Tim Berners-Lee, a researcher at the CERN high-energy physics laboratory in Switzerland. Berners-Lee designed the Web to be platform-independent, so that researchers at CERN could share materials residing on any type of computer system, avoiding cumbersome and potentially costly conversion issues. To enable this cross-platform capability, Berners-Lee created HTML, or HyperText Markup Language - essentially a dramatically simplified version of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language). HTML documents are simple: they consist of a "head" portion, with a title and perhaps some additional meta data describing the document, and a "body" portion, the actual document itself. The simplicity of this format makes it easy for search engines to retrieve HTML documents, index every word on every page, and store them in huge databases that can be searched on demand. What's less easy is the task of actually finding all the pages on the Web. Search engines use automated programs called spiders or robots to "crawl" the Web and retrieve pages. Spiders function much like a hyper-caffeinated Web browser - they rely on links to take them from page to page. Crawling is a resource-intensive operation. It also puts a certain amount of demand on the host computers being crawled. For these reasons, search engines will often limit the number of pages they retrieve and index from any given Web site. It's tempting to think that these unretrieved pages are part of the Invisible Web, but they aren't. They are visible and indexable, but the search engines have made a conscious decision not to index them. In recent months, much has been made of these overlooked pages. Many of the major engines are making serious efforts to include them and make their indexes more comprehensive. Unfortunately, the engines have also discovered through their "deep crawls" that there's a tremendous amount of duplication and spam on the Web. Current estimates put the Web at about 1.2 to 1.5 billion indexable pages. Both Inktomi and AltaVista have claimed that they've spidered most of these documents, but have been forced to cull their indexes to cope with duplicates and spam. Inktomi puts the size of the distilled Web at about 500 million pages; AltaVista at about 350 million. But these numbers don't include Web pages that can't be indexed, or information that's available via the Web but isn't accessible by the search engines. This is the stuff of the Invisible Web. Why can't some pages be indexed? The most basic reason is that there are no links pointing to a page that a search engine spider can follow. Or, a page may be made up of data types that search engines don't index - graphics, CGI scripts, Macromedia flash or PDF files, for example. But the biggest part of the Invisible Web is made up of information stored in databases. When an indexing spider comes across a database, it's as if it has run smack into the entrance of a massive library with securely bolted doors. Spiders can record the library's address, but can tell you nothing about the books, magazines or other documents it contains. There are thousands - perhaps millions - of databases containing high-quality information that are accessible via the Web. But in order to search them, you typically must visit the Web site that provides an interface to the database. The advantage to this direct approach is that you can use search tools that were specifically designed to retrieve the best results from the database. The disadvantage is that you need to find the database in the first place, a task the search engines may or may not be able to help you with. Another problem is that content in some databases isn't designed to be directly searchable. Instead, Web developers are taking advantage of database technology to offer customized content that's often assembled on the fly. Search engine results pages are an example of this type of dynamically generated content - so are services like My Excite and My Yahoo. As Web sites get more complex and users demand more personalization, this trend toward dynamically generated content will accelerate, making it even harder for search engines to create comprehensive Web indexes. In a nutshell, the Invisible Web is made up of unindexable content that search engines either can't or won't index. It's a huge part of the Web, and it's growing. Fortunately, there are several reasonably thorough guides to the Invisible Web. Gary Price, Reference Librarian at the Gelman Library at George Washington University, is considered one of the foremost authorities on online databases and other invaluable search resources on the Invisible Web. Price has assembled a massive collection of links to Invisible Web resources at his Direct Search page . "A good librarian would not start looking for a phone number (specialized, Invisible Web info) by searching the Encyclopaedia Britannica (general knowledge resource)," says Price. "Both professional and casual searchers should at least be aware that they could be missing some information or wasting time finding what could be found more easily if the right tool for the job is easily accessible. This is very similar to a good reference librarian 'knowing' the major reference tools in his or her collection." What kinds of databases does Price consider to be essential Invisible Web search tools? He names four as examples: - The many databases that make up GPO Access. - Any of the telephone directory databases such as Anywho , Switchboard , and Phone Net U.K. . And two that are crucial to the business searcher: - Any of the many flavors of EDGAR, particularly the 10K Wizard. - The Mercury Center searchable version of the PricewaterhouseCoopers Money Tree Survey of venture capital made available by the San Jose Mercury News. "In addition to text media, the Internet is serving up many other formats. "One that interests me a great deal is streaming media. One experimental project that is noteworthy is the Speechbot engine that is being developed and tested by Compaq," says Price. Two other Invisible Web resources Price maintains are his NewsCenter , which focuses on sources providing up to the minute news stories on any subject imaginable, and his Web Audio Current Awareness Resources page , with links to hundreds of live and recorded audio/video news and public affairs programming on the Web. "By the way, do not mistake an interest in the Invisible Web as a slam on the general search engines because it is NOT," says Price. "General search tools are still 100% essential for accessing material on the Internet." One of the largest gateways to the Invisible Web is the aptly named Invisibleweb.com from Intelliseek. "Invisible Web sources are critical because they provide users with specific, targeted information, not just static text or HTML pages," says Sundar Kadayam, CTO and Co-Founder, Intelliseek. "InvisibleWeb.com is a Yahoo-like directory. It is a high quality, human edited and indexed, collection of highly targeted databases that contain specific answers to specific questions," says Kadayam. Intelliseek also makes BullsEye, a desktop based meta search engine that can also access many of the sites included in InvisibleWeb.com. More information can be found at . Other notable Invisible Web resources include: AlphaSearch AlphaSearch is an extremely useful directory of "gateway" sites that collect and organize Web sites that focus on a particular subject. Created and maintained by the Hekman Library at Calvin College, it's both searchable and browsable by either subject discipline or descriptor. The Big Hub The Big Hub maintains a directory of over 1,500 subject specific searchable databases in over 300 categories. Listings for each database feature both annotations and search forms to directly access the database. While these are useful for quick and dirty searches, Big Hub's search forms omit most advanced searching features offered by each database on their own site. Infomine Multiple Database Search Infomine might be called an "academic" search engine, focusing on scholarly resource collections, electronic journals and books, online library card catalogs, and directories of researchers. Unlike many Invisible Web search tools, Infomine allows simultaneous searching of multiple databases. WebData.com WebData is a database portal, specializing in finding, categorizing and organizing online databases, and providing annotated links with quality rankings. As fast as the Web has been growing over the past ten years, it's likely that its growth rate is accelerating, perhaps exponentially. Speaking at the NetWorld+Interop conference in May 2000, Inktomi CEO David Peterschmidt said he expected the Web to grow to more than 8 billion documents by the end of the year - more than a fivefold increase from its current size. The major search engines have done a creditable job of scaling with the visible Web. For the foreseeable future, however, valuable resources that are part of the Invisible Web will be beyond their reach. Fortunately, we have other workmanlike tools that can help us navigate the portion of the Web that the search engines can't see. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Chris Sherman is the Web Search Guide for About.com, . Chris holds an MA from Stanford University in Interactive Educational Technology and has worked in the Internet/Multimedia industry for two decades, currently as President of Searchwise.net, a Web consulting and training firm. He's a frequent contributor to information industry trade publications including Online Magazine and Information Today. His email address is websearch.guide@about.com. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related Free Pint links: * Respond to this article and chat to the author now at the Bar * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> PLEASE LINK TO FREE PINT <<< If you'd like to show your support for Free Pint then please consider adding a small graphic to your Web site. Simply copy the HTML code from the page at http://www.freepint.co.uk/linktous.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT BAR by Simon Collery http://www.freepint.co.uk/bar Here is your summary of what's been happening at the Free Pint Bar over the last couple of weeks. To read a discussion thread you can access this summary online with activated hyperlinks , visit the Bar itself or add the message number to the end of . Those responsible for online content feel particularly vulnerable to plagiarism, as the legal issues involved here haven't all been fully thrashed out yet. Therefore copyright resources were the subject of one of our Tipples this week (3495). And bad practices in general do nothing to improve the Web's reputation, so another Tipple was about a site which completely fails to contribute to the general good (3482). But otherwise the purpose of our Daily Tipples at the Bar is to highlight some great resource which would probably be of value to every Web user. We have reviewed some excellent search facilities, covering reference data (3400), art resources (3424), accounts of how things work (3434), DIY resources (3449) and Web developer resources (3369). If you feel we have left anything out, do say. Those who were on the edge of their stools or quaking in their boots wondering what spam clusters are, need quake nor wonder no longer (3441). Information was also supplied on accredited universities (3374), pesticides (3390), email newsletters (3407), electronic theses (3418), criminal records (3427), IT services in SMEs (3442) and addresses of government and administrative offices (3489). Statistical information has been very much in demand recently. It has been forthcoming in some cases. Queries about Yahoo! usage figures (3417), teenagers on the Net (3486) and the online training market (3491) have had a response. But statistics on SMEs and independent software vendors (3359), capital investment (3425) and environmental training (3426) are still wanting, so if you know anything about these subjects, please post your tuppence worth. We would also welcome information on commercial property Web sites in Italy (3410). On the job front, someone looking for a change in direction was given a lead (3373), editors, researchers and question writers are in demand (3429), and there is an opening for a freelance PR person in IT (3460). There are always some queries about software, the last fortnight being no exception. These requests ranged from room booking software (3367) to translation software (3384) and message board software (3471) to Web traffic analysis tools (3488). And a Free Pinter converting paper records to electronic format is looking for something suitable for holding counselling records securely (3493). Searching and search tools, being a vital part of our day to day tasks, also crop up a lot. We know from today's feature article that there are large parts of the Web, sometimes called the invisible Web, which are not accessible using conventional search tools. And several facilities for exploring the invisible Web were highlighted in the Bar last week (3366). We also reviewed a new meta search engine and found it to be unextraordinary (3465). The method of ranking hits employed by a search engine can make all the difference to the quality of its results (3433) and the frequent question about how to promote your site on search engines came up again too (3473). Promoting your intranet is no less of a problem, and some words of advice were imparted on this subject too (3494). When the search tool Kenjin was released, there was a lot of media attention (3436), with much emphasis on the fact that it relies on a theorem developed a long time ago. Less easy to find is a detailed analysis of the product and whether it is a significant breakthrough in search technology. Yes, it's clever, but is it useful? So if anyone has any direct experience of it, do let us know. Simon Collery, Business Development, Free Pint Remember, to read this summary with activated hyperlinks visit ... > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bar: Do you have a research question or Web-related comment? It's easy to post a message at Digest: To have the latest Free Pint Bar postings sent to you every other day, send a blank email to Archive: Dormant postings older than 45 days are moved to Email: To write to the Free Pint team, please send your email to > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = >>> HELP PLEASE <<< For help with any aspect of Free Pint or your account please visit or email > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FORTHCOMING EVENTS http://www.freepint.co.uk/events I'm sure many Free Pinters will be attending the Special Libraries Association event in Philadelphia. On the other side of the world the Australian World Wide Web Conference will be taking place, while the Internet World conference and exhibition will be held in Chicago. Here in the UK the Information for Empowerment event will be back to back with the Business Intelligence for the Web-Empowered Enterprise conference. The Canadian Library Association will be holding its Information Communities at the Turn of the Century conference in Edmonton. And finally, the NECC will be holding its event on technology in education in Georgia. Full details of these and many other forthcoming conferences and exhibitions in the online-information and Internet industry can be found on the Free Pint Events page at http://www.freepint.co.uk/events > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT GOLD This time last year Free Pint ran an article on the wealth of resources available for checking weather forecasts anywhere in the world, and some records of weather in the past. We also had an article on the business models which have evolved for search tools in the years since they first started to appear. Two years ago one of the subjects under discussion was the techniques employed by Web site owners for getting your site high up on a search engine's list of hits. Running surveys and polls on the Web was the subject of the second article, collecting together the best resources, tools and tricks available. Free Pint one year ago ... * Free Pint No.40 10th June 1999 "Weather Sources on the Web" and "Searching for Mammon - Search engine business models" http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/100699.htm Free Pint two years ago ... * Free Pint No.16, 11th June 1998 "Web Site Marketing - How do they do that?"" and "Web Site Marketing - How do they do that?"" http://www.freepint.co.uk/issues/110698.htm > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREE PINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES * Corporate Web sites * Space Science and Engineering * * Legal Information * Aeronautics * Researching for TV * * Web sites for SMEs * Genealogy and the Web * * Web sources for handheld computers * Surveillance * * Internet Intelligence * ICQ * Reflexology Sources * * Puppetry and Animation * [Provisional] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = We do hope you've enjoyed this edition of Free Pint. 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