FreePint Newsletter 192 - Business Information > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = View the fully formatted version free at: > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FreePint "Helping 75,000 people use the Web for their work" http://www.freepint.com/ ISSN 1460-7239 13th October 2005 No.192 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IN THIS ISSUE ------------- EDITORIAL By William Hann MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES By Richard S. Gaston FREEPINT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION Senior Researcher (Private Equity) Information Manager Knowledge Management Officer Library Management System Trainers Librarian Lead Search Specialist TIPS ARTICLE "Pulse on Germany - German sources of business information on the World Wide Web" By Helen Clegg BOOKSHELF "Enterprise Search Guidebook" Reviewed by Helen Day FEATURE ARTICLE "Trends in business information, provision and use" By Pam Foster EVENTS, GOLD AND FORTHCOMING ARTICLES CONTACT INFORMATION ONLINE VERSION WITH ACTIVATED HYPERLINKS FULLY FORMATTED VERSION > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = = IS JOB SATISFACTION IMPORTANT TO YOU? At CILIP we believe that job satisfaction comes from doing a job to the best of your ability. By investing in CILIP membership you can benefit from a range of services, including new online content, which will help you do your job better and enhance your career prospects. Join in October and get 15 months' membership for the price of 12. Visit today. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ci1921] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Enterprise Search Guidebook" ISBN 1-904769-10-1 - September 2005 This report sets out the principles and practice of specifying and selecting intranet or enterprise search software. "It is a complex and serious business and this report clearly explains so, while at the same time giving you a practical road map to success." > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** ABOUT FREEPINT *** FreePint is an online network of information searchers. Members receive this free newsletter twice a month: it is packed with tips on finding quality and reliable business information on the Internet. Joining is free at and provides access to a substantial archive of articles, reviews, jobs and events, with answers to research questions and networking at the FreePint Bar. Please circulate this newsletter, which is best read when printed out. To receive a fully formatted version as an attachment or a brief notification when it's online, visit . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EDITORIAL By William Hann It's happened to me a few times recently: people who work in fields unrelated to information ask me "What business are you in?". My immediate response of "I'm in the information business" instantly causes an unmistakable look of blankness to wash across their face. Even when I try to explain that you can buy information to help you make better business decisions, they still don't really get what I'm talking about. I always have to fall back on: "Well, you know how you can waste a lot of time searching the Internet, well there are professionals who know how to search properly, and there is information you can buy which isn't freely accessible". Only then do they start to understand the world I work within. But hold on. These are business people I'm talking to. They are employed in money-making organisations, and so surely must be aware of the importance and value of 'business information'. Only one local person I've talked to recently knew you could buy information on companies, and he was an accountant. He has the permanent I-know-something-you-don't look of a man who guards his 'privileged' access to information on companies and company directors. This issue of FreePint is dedicated to non-accountant business people everywhere, who would really benefit from access to quality business information. In today's newsletter, Pam Foster, Editor of FreePint's sister publication VIP , talks us through the latest trends in the business information world. For example, purchases of pay-as-you-go access to premium content are on the increase: traditional information vendors are continuing to move away from just providing access to aggregated databases of premium content. As well as pay-as-you-go, I think another driver of the information industry is the building of a sense of community. Online communities bring customers together from around the world, and place the community operator at the centre of that network. One provider, Alacra, is doing this through the recent launch of Alacra Wiki , an online resource all about the business information world, detailing its publications, databases, people and publishers. Users are encouraged to contribute, and forums are to follow. I'll be talking about building business through online community myself soon, too, at the Online Information conference in November . We have been looking at other exemplary information providers with the nominations made for the 'best customer service team' award . The winner will be announced at Online Information's information industry gala awards dinner. So, as we welcome the 75,000th member to the FreePint community, we are confident that there is a growing awareness of the value of paid-for information. With the widespread availability of broadband connections, and an ever-increasing reliance on the Web as a source of information, the information business has a lot of growth potential. William Hann Managing Editor and Founder, FreePint e: william.hann@freepint.com t: 0870 141 7474 i: +44 870 141 7474 FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2005 > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** Factiva Keeps Your Skills Sharp *** With Factiva's monthly newsletter, "InfoPro Intelligence", you get the latest search tips, research tools and new sources. Register today for the resources you need to stay up-to-date. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [fa1922] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** VIP compares prospectus databases *** The latest issue of VIP reviews and compares two of the best known prospectus databases - prospectus+ from Europrospectus and Perfect Information's Perfect DEBT. October's issue will review LexisNexis' new platform together with CI-Newsdesk from Moreover. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = MY FAVOURITE TIPPLES By Richard S. Gaston * Stock Markets of the World - An Index of International Stock Market Websites - a great resource for tracking down free capital markets data. * Stands4 - an acronym decoder and particularly helpful for talking with IT professionals on their own terms. * Governments on the WWW - sadly ageing but a useful starting point for that elusive piece of legislation. * The World Clock - Time Zones - essential for timing research calls to international sources, and for working with colleagues around the globe. * Baroque Music - contexts for some of the most intensely beautiful (and usefully calming!) music ever composed. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Richard Gaston works in London as a business information researcher for an investment bank. He writes for FreePint in a personal capacity. Submit your top five favourite Web sites. See the guidelines at . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = ADVERTISEMENT = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ** Revolutionise the way you work with LexisNexis ** Gain access to the most comprehensive and authoritative online news and business information. With simple navigation, quick searching and rapid results delivered directly to your desktop, LexisNexis speeds up the way you work. Visit for further information or email quoting 'FreePint' for a no obligation trial. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = [ln1923] > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Google Legacy -- How Google's Internet Search is Transforming Application Software" September 2005 This unique 290-page report places Google under a microscope, dissects Google's technology, evaluates its potential and determines that Google's future lies beyond search. "An extremely well analysed and brilliantly presented book - must read for all interested". > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREEPINT BAR In Association with Factiva a Dow Jones & Reuters Company What exactly is the information industry? Who is all the research for? What are the pay scales within the industry? These questions were asked by a history graduate at the FreePint Bar. Ironically, he is having trouble finding the information - perhaps you can help? . Do you subscribe to the Public Private Finance Newsletter? Is it value for money? . Or perhaps you know of a magazine covering investment banking industry news? . Can you recommend any good companies to work for? This FreePinter is writing a book on 'Employers of Choice' and needs your help . How does one find the top 10 outplacement agencies? Any ideas? . What about rankings of architectural practices in France, Germany or Italy? . The FreePint Events page is bursting with conferences, courses and seminars from all over the world. Why not have a browse or add your own free event listing? . An index for all issues of VIP Eye is online. It includes the names of all the products, vendors and publishers, covered in VIP Eye so far this year . Do you know of any software that provides a walk-through of a product through screen-capture of a site? . This posting hasn't had any replies yet: "is there a known problem with accessing pubmed via proxy servers?" and this FreePinter is looking for statistics on fair trade in the UK . Is there a list of all the UK accident black spots somewhere? . What about finding out who owns a painting or piece of artwork? . There are many more topics at the FreePint Bar so do remember to visit . Thank you to everyone who has posted. Penny Hann FreePint > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky research questions Help with study for information-related courses is available at the FreePint Student Bar . Twice-weekly email digests of the latest postings can be requested at . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** Just a few days left: nominate an information vendor today *** This is your last chance to reward excellence by nominating the online information vendor who, in your opinion, has provided you with outstanding customer service. Cast your vote for this year's "Online Information / FreePint Award for Best Customer Service Team": > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = JINFO :: JOBS IN INFORMATION The Jinfo service enables you to search for and advertise information-related job vacancies. The Jinfo Newsletter is published free every two weeks, and contains a list of the latest vacancies along with job-seeking advice. The latest editorial is entitled "How to give yourself the best chance of making it to interview". Read it online and subscribe at . Here are some of the latest featured jobs: Information Manager Put your data management, Excel and Access skills to use to produce reports/statistics at leading property firm in Edinburgh. Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment Knowledge Management Officer - Guildford HQ Your role will be to support the Information Manager and IM Team on many information related initiatives. Recruiter: Surrey Police Senior Researcher (Private Equity) Excellent opportunity for Senior Researcher to set up and develop research service for expanding Private Equity organisation. Recruiter: Glen Recruitment Library Management System Trainers OU is seeking to recruit five energetic trainers for one year posts during the implementation of the new Library Management System. Recruiter: Oxford University Library Service Librarian The Librarian is responsible for managing all aspects of the Library's operations, including cataloguing and classifying. Recruiter: The Buddhist Society Lead Search Specialist Conduct a wide range of searches for our R&D teams and stay up-to-date with industry developments. Recruiter: Syngenta NB: There are 36 other jobs in the current edition of the Jinfo Newsletter and over 100 in the Jinfo database . [The above jobs are paid listings] Jinfo -- the best place for information-related job vacancies. * JOB SEARCHING? -- Free search and sign up to the Jinfo Newsletter. * RECRUITING? -- Complete the form and advertise a vacancy for only GBP195 . 50% discount for registered charities and universities. 10% discount for agencies. Find out more today at > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = TIPS ARTICLE "Pulse on Germany - German sources of business information on the World Wide Web" By Helen Clegg Introduction ------------ Germany is the European Union's largest economy, so where do you start if you're looking for reliable information about it on the World Wide Web? This article takes a look at some German company, industry and economic sources of information and points out a few tips to help you locate some not-so-obvious sources. Note that, as many information sources appear to be moving towards a cost-based model, some sources mentioned here are not free. Company sources --------------- These days, the obvious place to start researching a company is its website. Many of the large German companies have an English version of their site, but what you need to remember is that, in some cases not all the information on the German site gets translated into English. This can be particularly frustrating if you're doing an in-depth competitor analysis, so it's always worth checking out the German version. If it's a large company you're researching, the chances are that there will be a PDF version of the annual report on its website. However, you need to bear in mind that over ninety per cent of companies in Germany do not publish annual accounts. All German companies are registered at over 150 local judicial registers (Handelsregister) and these institutions do not have the power to order the compulsory filing of annual accounts. Given this, financial information on German companies can be hard to come by. Any changes in the company's status must be filed with the Handelsregister, so go to this site to find out if there's any recent news concerning new directors, a change of ownership or other insights. For regular users of the Handelsregister, there is an annual charge of EUR 150, plus EUR 4.00 for each online download. If you're an occasional user, then there's no annual charge, but each online download costs EUR 8.00 instead. There are two excellent commercial German language databases available via the Web - Genios and GBI . Genios and GBI are primarily aimed at professional researchers whose organizations are likely to have subscriptions with these information providers. However, they also offer a pay-as-you-go product for ad-hoc researchers, enabling their content to reach a wider audience and providing them with an additional revenue stream. Genios offers you access to company profiles and information provided by Creditreform and Dun & Bradstreet. Coverage includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as smaller, lesser-known providers, for example ISIS (software company profiles) and Convensys (company profiles including IPO information and shareholder structure). Use Genios to search for recent press- and trade-literature articles about the company you're researching too. Genios covers a wide spectrum of press sources, spanning local, regional, national and international levels. If you're looking for charts, tables and graphics to illustrate a specific point, then check out Genios's chart library in its "Graphics, Facts and Studies" section. Ad-hoc researches are available through the "Research Shop". Although prices per download are slightly higher than the "Classic/Premium" research offering, you just pay for the information you want. Payment options include credit card, web.de, Firstgate Click & Buy and T-pay. If you think you'll be using Genios rather more frequently, then it may be worth registering for the "Classic/Premium" research option. With this option, there's a monthly minimum charge of EUR 9.00 but prices per download are then cheaper. GBI - which bills itself as "the contentmachine", also gives you access to Dun & Bradstreet and Creditreform, as well as other national company information sources, for example, Hoppenstedt and the Bundesanzeiger. However, it appears that access to Creditreform is restricted to registered users of GBI. If you don't have time to research a particular company, how about using GBI's company dossier offering? GBI will put together a dossier in PDF format on the company for you within two to three working days. You can search for relevant press articles in GBI too - the database contains the full text of over 250 magazines, as well as over 40 daily and weekly papers. The price you'll pay for your ad-hoc research depends on the source you download from and there's a minimum charge of EUR 4.64. Payment options include credit card, T-pay and Firstgate Click & Buy. Regular searchers for German company information might want to consider subscribing to one of the product offerings from Hoppenstedt . This information provider has been extending its coverage over the last ten years and now offers a wide range of company information products. The Hoppenstedt Firmendatenbank contains detailed company information on all German companies, including banks and insurance companies, that have a turnover of over EUR 1 million or over 20 employees. There are twelve search criteria which can be used with Boolean operators and the database is available either on CD or via the Internet. If you are only interested in banks or insurance companies or mid-size German companies (Mittelstand), then these sectors are available to purchase separately. Hoppenstedt is well known for its stock price charts too and has them on over 345 companies going back to the early 1970's. These are available in A3 format. If you're doing some competitive intelligence digging on a German company, it's also worth pinpointing the local newspaper that covers the location of the company. This can be especially useful if the company isn't covered by GBI or Genios and for users who don't have access to these two commercial databases. There's a comprehensive list of German local and regional newspapers at . The list is in alphabetical order of title, but it's a fair bet that the local newspaper's title begins with the name of its main town. The main newspaper covering Oldenburg, for example, is called the "Oldenburger Nachrichten". Many of these local newspaper sites have archives which are worth searching. If you don't have any luck, call up the newspaper's archive and ask whether they have any articles on the company you're looking for. If they do, they may even send you them for free. Industry sources ---------------- There are various approaches you can take to track down authoritative and factual industry information. Apart from GBI and Genios, a useful source is the relevant trade association. There are hundreds of trade associations in Germany and many of them have websites with free reports or overviews of the industry which they represent. If you don't know the trade association's website, go to and click on "Verbaende finden". This takes you to a search page, where you can type in the name of the industry. For example if you type "Druck" (print), the search function retrieves 44 trade associations, all related to the printing industry and displays their contact details. By following the hyperlink to the website of the Bundesverband Druck und Medien (German Printing Association), you can navigate to an overview of the industry as well as the most recent facts and figures. Another example is the textile industry, which is currently under so much pressure in Western Europe. Type "Textil" into the search function and you'll get 80 hits - that's 80 trade associations which are all related to the textile industry. I clicked on the link to the Bundesverband Kleidungsindustrie BV (national clothing industry association) and found a great PDF document giving a thorough overview of the textile and clothing industry in Germany, including information on production and productivity, regional structure of the industry, cost structure and turnover. Don't forget the importance of trade fairs in Germany. You'll find information on German tradefairs on M + A Messedatenbank's website at . The website is also available in English. To search, click on "Messen" - this takes you to a page where you can search by industry or by title of the trade fair if you know it. The database actually covers trade fairs in many other countries too. The search function retrieves a list of relevant trade fairs and provides hyperlinks to their websites for more information. In many cases, you can just click through to this website, but in some cases you have to register with M + A first. Another reliable source for industry information is the Commerzbank website . The Commerzbank produces a number of industry reports. To navigate to them, click on "Research", "Economic Research" then "Branchen Deutschland". Here you can download the free "Branchen Report" in PDF format. At the time of writing, this is a 20-page report, dated September 2005, with China as its main theme. The report covers food and tobacco, chemicals, rubber and plastics, metal, machinery, electricals and textiles. The section on economic research also has a good report in PDF format on the prices of raw materials, which is free. Have you ever thought about checking whether any of the major management consultancies have a free report on the industry you're researching? Consultancies sometimes post free industry analyses or overviews on their websites to advertise their thought-leadership. The best way of tracking down relevant industry reports for Germany is to start with the consultancy's German language website and navigate to their publications page, if there is one. Taking PriceWaterhouseCoopers as an example , there's a link to "Publikationen" and then to "Studien & Analysen". Here there's a report entitled "German entertainment and media outlook 2004 - 2008" in PDF format. It is free, but you have to register with PwC first in order to download it. Still, if it's what you're looking for, it's worth it. If you go to Bain's German website and navigate to "Studien", there's a study on automotive suppliers. An excerpt of the study is available in PDF format and if you want the full study, which is free, you just have to register. Economic sources ---------------- Germany's federal statistics office is the place to go for production statistics and high-level industry statistics. For more in-depth statistics, check out the statistics shop, where all of the publications are available to download free of charge. The DIHK (Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag) is the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, and is the central organization for the 81 chambers in Germany. Its website is full of good information on the German economy, and the most important political topics in Germany, such as tax and social reforms. The DIHK regularly makes its opinions known on many topics. For example, there is currently a thought-piece on the high rate of unemployment in Germany. Innovation is also a hot topic these days, as companies know that only by constantly innovating will they survive and retain their competitive advantage. The DIHK has a section on innovation under "Innovation und Umwelt" and produces a free, regular report on innovation in PDF format. The German Economics Institute in Cologne (Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft Koeln) also has an in-depth report on innovation available for free download on its website. This private economic research institute publishes a quarterly bulletin called IW-Trends, in which a number of current economic themes are addressed. For example, at the time of writing, the latest bulletin has an interesting article on comparing German industrial labour costs with other countries. To reach the publications section, click on the "Publikationen" tab at the top of the home page and then click on "IW-Trends" in the "Wissenschaftliche Publikationen" section. In the "IW-Trends" section, you can also use the search function (easy and advanced options), to search for a topic of your choice. The Hamburg Institute of International Economics, known as the HWWA (Hamburgisches Welt Wirtschaftsarchiv) is another good place to look for in-depth commentary on the state of the German economy. The HWWA doesn't just cover Germany, but reports on economic trends affecting Europe as a whole. There are sections covering finance, migration, prices of raw materials, trade and development and climate change. Many of the institute's publications can be downloaded free in PDF format, but there is a charge for some, such as the index of raw materials prices, which is updated daily. Other web sources for Germany ----------------------------- started out as a list of hyperlinks aimed at journalists. It was created by Malte Heynen, editor of "Galileo", one of ProSieben's magazines. This webpage lists search engines, Internet catalogues, news websites and archives. Links include non-German sources as well. Check out as well - this bills itself as Germany's largest web catalogue. I did a search on textiles using its search function, and although it only retrieved two hits, one was a link to "Wer Liefert Was?", a well-known directory of German suppliers, which I hadn't thought to search. Conclusion ---------- As ever, there is a wealth of information on the World Wide Web covering all aspects of German business and industry. For speed, quality and accuracy of information, it's worth paying for ad-hoc searches in either Genios or GBI - you can always supplement these with the free business information from the other websites mentioned in this article. Remember too, that you could be restricting your search if you don't search in German, as not everything gets translated into English, even though we assume it's the universal language! > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Helen Clegg is Procurement Solutions Knowledge Manager for Europe with international management consultancy A.T. Kearney Ltd and is based in London. She writes here in a personal capacity. Helen has over 15 years of business research experience both in the UK and in Germany, France and the Netherlands with strategic consultancies and two European manufacturing companies. She is a Board Member of SLA Europe and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related FreePint links: * 'Information and Libraries' articles in the FreePint Portal * Post a message to the author, Helen Clegg, or suggest further resources at the FreePint Bar * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Access the entire archive of FreePint content > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = *** DigBig saves lives: don't just take our word for it *** "We use DigBig everyday to make shorter links to include in our email newsletters. It's much easier for readers to be able to click on a short link instead of getting frustrated with long links that break and lead to error pages. I've noticed when my readers write to me now, they often use DigBig too! DigBig is a life-saver! Thanks for providing DigBig for free." > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREEPINT BOOKSHELF "Enterprise Search Guidebook" Reviewed by Helen Day Martin White has many years experience in information management and intranets and is the Managing Director of Intranet Focus Ltd. In this field he is perhaps most widely known for his expertise in the content management arena (and since we are about to discuss 'search' here - a Google search on 'Martin White' and 'intranet' demonstrates this clearly!). In this new report, White shows enterprise search to be another area of extensive experience and sound advice. If you are in the middle of such a project, about to embark on one, or just want to understand more about this subject area, this guidebook provides a concise, clear and refreshingly not-too-technical view of enterprise search. White describes the need for a cross-functional project team, with varied specialities, to deliver an enterprise search project. Such a team could use this concise report as an excellent starting point. If everyone read this, they would all start talking the same language and have a common understanding of the different project challenges. This alone is worth the investment. White starts the Enterprise Search Guidebook by stating 'The overall awareness of search by many managers has been limited to the experience of using Google ... and there is little understanding of the differences between web search and intranet/enterprise search'. This is a reflection of the current situation in many organisations, and yet the same organisations have managers asking for 'a simple search box that will help me find corporate content'. As a reader, you first review different types of search, which helps you to understand true enterprise search. The following chapter runs through the technology aspects you need to consider. Don't be frightened off by this (I admit I started this chapter with some trepidation) - it's an excellent introduction and will arm you with enough detail to have sensible and meaningful conversations with your more technical colleagues. Next is a step-by-step process for specifying your enterprise search requirements. This includes how to understand the types of content to be searched and, importantly, understand the requirements of the searcher. This latter area is sometimes missed in other literature. You are then taken through the processes of business case development, vendor selection and implementation, all good project management skills - but here described in the specific context of delivering an enterprise search solution. A report of this size could be seen as skimming the surface of such a deep and diverse area. However, enough information is given for most needs, and the plethora of links to Internet resources allows the reader to delve into any area further if required. Implementing enterprise search is not easy. People's preconceptions can hinder you from the start. It is a complex and serious business and this report clearly explains so, while at the same time giving you a practical road map to success. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Helen Day is an independent consultant. She is an information professional with 15 years blue-chip experience in marketing research, information provision & procurement and intranet development. Helen has implemented a content management system, migrating seven intranets into one, while delivering targeted content to different business audiences. Most recently, she has been developing a portal for retail stores, targeting content to different roles and locations within the high street store environment. She has also led the building of the governance model and ongoing management structure to support this portal going forward. > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related FreePint links: * "Enterprise Search Guidebook" ISBN 1-904769-10-1, published by FreePint. * Find out more about this report online at the FreePint Shop * Search for and purchase any report from FreePint at: To propose an information-related book for review, send details to . To propose a report topic of your own see the notes at > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = What is ResourceShelf? ResourceShelf is a free daily update containing news of interest to information professionals around the world. Topics include the latest news with web search engines, research tips, new web resources, and much more. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FEATURE ARTICLE "Trends in business information, provision and use" By Pam Foster The VIP publications, VIP and VIP Eye, are concerned with the business information industry - its products, its providers and its users. An analysis of their content for the third quarter of 2005 reveals a number of emerging trends: Aggregators are moving away from traditional role ------------------------------------------------- Information aggregators are increasingly moving away from their traditional role of providing premium information to developing added-value products for the business market. Both LexisNexis and Factiva have expanded their relationships with other companies in order to launch reputation management tools. Additionally, LexisNexis has partnered with iParadigms to develop an intellectual property protection product. LexisNexis and Biz360 have jointly launched LexisNexis MarketImpact which measures global reputation and brand management. The new product claims to provide companies with insight into how their company, products and competitors are perceived in the market. It does this by aggregating, analysing and measuring news and business information from nearly 20,000 sources, covering all types of media such as online, print, broadcast and radio. Individual source types include newspapers, trade mags, newswires, press wires, broadcast media, transcripts, and market and analyst reports. LexisNexis adds value by analysing content from blogs, news sites and message boards. The text analytics capabilities of LexisNexis MarketImpact are based on Market360, Biz360's market intelligence application. LexisNexis MarketImpact was launched about a month after Factiva released its delayed Insight Reputation Management tool. Although planned for launch earlier this year, the product was held up because of problems with Factiva's development partner IBM WebFountain. Factiva subsequently changed strategy by ending the WebFountain partnership, and acquiring 2B Reputation Intelligence Ltd and Benchmarking Solutions Ltd, a consulting business specialising in media monitoring and reputation management. At the same time, Factiva created alliances with Moreover, and Hill & Knowlton. Moreover provides timely news and blog content, an essential component of effective media monitoring and reputation management. Communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton is providing Factiva with text mining and visualisation tools, to track and manage issues and trends affecting reputation. LexisNexis has also developed a relationship with iParadigms in order to develop LexisNexis CopyGuard, a new text analytics product, designed to protect intellectual property by detecting plagiarism and copyright infringements. CopyGuard searches the more than 6.1 billion continuously updated documents that are available on the LexisNexis service, and up to five years of archived web pages from iParadigms. Whenever a document is submitted, CopyGuard uses pattern matching technology to identify suspect passages. A similarity index indicates the percentage of the document containing text originating elsewhere. LexisNexis is expecting the product to appeal to publishers, media companies, news agencies, corporations, law firms and non-profit entities. More information on the new LexisNexis and Factiva products is available in VIP Eye, No. 39, 17 August 2005 and No. 40, 31 August 2005. Content is becoming increasingly available on a pay-as-you-go basis ------------------------------------------------------------------- Premium business content is becoming increasing available on a pay-a-you-go basis, with most of the major hosts/aggregators offering credit-card purchase options. The latest aggregator to provide an eCommerce option is Alacra. The Alacra Store , which is still in beta mode, provides access to reports from more than 30 of Alacra's premium content partners. The reports, most of which are available in a PDF format, cover company profiles and financials, economic data and analysis, investment research, market research, news, share ownership, and executives. Most of the reports were previously only available via subscription. Content providers available on the Alacra Store include: CreditSights; D&B; Datamonitor (Company/Country/Industry Profiles); EDGAR Charts; Fitch Ratings; Forrester Research; Freedonia Focus; Gale (Business & Industry; Company Profiles; TableBase; Hemscott (Company Reports; Director Reports); IBISWorld; Oxford Analytica; Reed Business Information; SharkRepellent.net; Snapshot series; SNL Financial; Softbase; SourceMedia; and Thomson (Ownership; StreetEvents; TF Market Research). Alacra is planning to add dozens of new publishers over the coming months. Pricing depends on the content downloaded. Alacra has plans to make the product as user-friendly as possible. Providing users with information on what they are about to buy is a top priority. At the very least, Alacra will provide abstracts of each report. A 'search inside this report' option, similar to that offered by Amazon that enables would-be customers to view sample pages, is another consideration for the future. Further information and analysis on Alacra Store is available in VIP Eye, No. 40, 31 August 2005. The December issue of VIP will compare pay-as-you-go services offered by Alacra, Dialog, Factiva and LexisNexis . Acquisitions strengthen major product lines ------------------------------------------- Although it's been a fairly quiet period for the sector in terms of M&A activity, the last couple of months have seen a couple of significant acquisitions - Datamonitor's purchase of Verdict, and the acquisition of Analyst Direct and Analyst Views by Northern Light. Both sets of acquisitions have significantly enhanced the product lines of Datamonitor and Northern Light. Datamonitor provides research and analysis across six vertical markets: automotive and logistics, consumer markets, energy, financial services, healthcare, and technology. Retail analyst company Verdict offers analysis and opinion across the retail industry, providing specialist coverage for the clothing & footwear, DIY, homewares, grocery, furniture, health & beauty, and electrical goods retail sectors. Verdict's clients use the research to enhance the performance of their product lines, store portfolios and brand reach. The acquisition will both enhance Datamonitor's presence in the consumer goods sector and, at the same time, provide Verdict with opportunities for growth in the international market. Northern Light has strengthened its existing product portfolio by acquiring Analyst Direct and Analyst Views from TechTarget . Analyst Direct provides portals that index subscription-based market research from IT research firms, together with internal market research reports, into customised databases, which can be accessed via a single search. It will greatly enhance Northern Light's SinglePoint brand, which operates custom market research portals for technology and professional services companies. Similarly, Analyst Views, which is a search and current awareness tool that provides single-source access to a database of IT analyst research metadata, complements Northern Light's Business Research Engine. Northern Light will add this new content set to its products and custom market research portals. For further information and analysis on the Datamonitor/Verdict acquisition please see VIP Eye, No. 42, 30 September 2005. More information on Northern Light's latest acquisitions is available in VIP Eye, No. 39, 16 August 2005. Still room for niche products ----------------------------- Business information publishers are constantly on the look-out for gaps in the market. Three new niche products have just been launched: IRN Research, together with Key Note, has made available a new series of research reports; a new free financial newspaper has been launched in London; and Euromonitor has published a new directory title covering international spending patterns. Bonnier Group companies IRN Research and Key Note have jointly developed SEPTEMBER, a new series of research reports aimed at helping companies build future scenarios, by outlining the forces affecting the environment for an individual market. The name SEPTEMBER reflects the analysis each report provides for an individual sector: * (S) Societal Developments * (E) Economic Forces * (P) Political Climate * (T) Technological Developments * (E) Ecological Developments * (M) Market Forecasts * (B) Buying Groups * (E) Equilibrium of Power * (R) Regulatory Framework The new reports cover all of the sectors covered by Key Note, which currently publishes over 700 reports across 27 industry sectors. Each report reviews the market factors and key issues that affect a market. Each report highlights the general trends within the market as a whole, and then moves on to a more in-depth review of a market by using the SEPTEMBER analysis. IRN Research will also compile bespoke SEPTEMBER reports for any sector not covered by Key Note. A SEPTEMBER report on the fast food industry is available as a free download on the Key Note site at . CityAM is a new free, daily financial newspaper, launched in parts of London, in September 2005. It's edited by David Parsley, previously Business Editor of the Sunday Express; Claire Oldfield, previously City News Editor for the Daily mail, is the deputy editor. Backing for the new venture is provided by two former executives of Metro International which publishes free newspapers in 18 countries. CityAM is handed out to individuals as they arrive in the City and Canary Wharf, each morning. Circulation is expected to reach 85,000 this month, rising to 100,000 in December 2005. Critics are divided on the potential success of the new paper. Some believe that commuters won't have time to read the newspaper as they only receive it at the end of their journey, between the tube station and their place of work. The paper has also been criticised for its narrow geographic distribution. However, others are predicting that it has the potential to take on the Financial Times, because it has a later deadline (12.30 am) which makes it more current. Plus, its coverage of small companies is better than that of the FT. Euromonitor's new directory, Who Buys What, identifies international spending patterns by lifestyle group. It looks at how gender, age, life stage and education impact on consumer spending across 66 sectors, in 35 developed and developing countries. The data which is extracted from official sources, is presented in over 1,200 tables, dating from 1998-2004. Euromonitor's newly enhanced Global Market Information Database (GMID) will be reviewed in the November issue of VIP , as will Euromonitor's new product which will be launched at this years' Online Information show, to be held in London on 29 November - 1 December 2005 . Further information about the SEPTEMBER reports is available in VIP Eye, No. 39, 16 August 2005. More information about CityAM and Who Buys What is available in VIP Eye, No. 41, 14 September 2005 . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pam Foster is the Editor of VIP and VIP Eye , and has been actively involved in the business information industry as a writer and reviewer for nearly twenty years. Pam previously 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 by email to . > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Related FreePint links: * For business information, reviews and news analysis, visit VIP * 'Information and Libraries' articles in the FreePint Portal * Post a message to the author, Pam Foster, or suggest further resources at the FreePint Bar * Read this article online, with activated hyperlinks * Access the entire archive of FreePint content > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FORTHCOMING EVENTS United Kingdom: * "Edinburgh Networking Evening" 19th October * "The Invisible Web" 19th October * "Maximising your Quantitative Research Skills & Results" 26th October * "Training the Trainer" 26th October * "Managing Intranets and Using Weblogs" 2nd November Australia and Territories: * "3rd International Evidence Based Librarianship: Call for Contributions" 16th - 19th October * "ACTKM Conference" 26th - 27th October * "Australian IPv6 Summit" 31st October - 1st November * "New Directions in Special Librarianship" 3rd - 4th November 2005 United States: * "Internet Librarian" 24th - 26th October * "The Market Research Event" 6th - 10th November * "VRD 2005 Digital Reference Conference" 14th - 15th November Denmark: * "Content Management Forum Annual Conference" 8th - 10th November These are just a selection of the 52 global events listed on the FreePint Website at . Submit your event for free promotion: Penny > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREEPINT GOLD A look back at what FreePint covered at this time in previous years: * FreePint No.169 14th October 2004. "Web Accessibility: Ensuring Access for All" and "Trends in business information, provision and use" * FreePint No.147 16th October 2003. "Insurance: a review of websites" and "Out of sight but not out of mind: virtual meetings" * Free Pint No.123 17th October 2002. "Is your site slow, medium or fast, and does it really matter? Essential Sources for Web Performance Analysis and Improvement" and "Taking the Plunge into the Entrepreneurial World of the Independent Information Professional" * Free Pint No.98, 18th October 2001. "WAP Sites and the Mobile Internet" and "Working in Information in the UK Voluntary Sector" * Free Pint No.73, 19th October 2000. "Geology On The Web" and "European Document Delivery Suppliers and Resources On The World Wide Web" * Free Pint No.48, 21st October 1999. "Notes on the Net: A trawl around the Music Sites" and "Unblocking the Web: digital technology and the telephone line" * Free Pint No.24, 15th October 1999. "How to select and optimise your PC Internet modem" and "A guide to Consumer Health Information on the 'Net" Penny > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = FREEPINT FORTHCOMING ARTICLES [Provisional] * Social exclusion * VOIP * * KM and blogging * Extreme sports * * Implementing new library management systems * * Accidental library management * CD to online publishing * * Engineering portals measuring public relations * * Managing change * If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write for FreePint, then please contact or sign up for the Author Update at . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = CONTACT INFORMATION Address: Free Pint Limited 4-6 Station Approach Ashford, Middlesex TW15 2QN, United Kingdom Telephone: UK: 0870 141 7474 Int: +44 870 141 7474 Directions and maps: Contributors to this issue: William Hann (Managing Editor, FreePint), Penny Hann (Production Editor, FreePint), Pam Foster (Editor, VIP), Helen Clegg, Richard Gaston, Helen Day, Plain Text (proofreading). Advertisers/Sponsors: Factiva, Syngenta, The Buddhist Society, Surrey Police, Lexis Nexis, CILIP, ResourceShelf, Sue Hill Recruitment, Glen Recruitment, Willco, VIP. Web Authors Advertising Subscriptions, Letters & Comments FreePint Suggestion Box > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = (c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2005 Technology by Willco To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your subscriptions or password, visit or email . For details about contributing, advertising or to see past issues, please visit the Web site at or email . Please note: FreePint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a registered trademark of, and published by, Free Pint Limited. The publishers will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any other company or organisation. The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers. Write to William Hann, Managing Editor, for more details. Product names used in FreePint are for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. FreePint disclaims any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved. > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = This edition has been sent to <{EMAIL}>. To change your subscriptions, visit or send an email to .