NewsLink Issue 46/August 2003 =========================================================================== NewsLink is a free weekly e-mail newsletter featuring news and resources for the information industry. If you are receiving this issue as a forward and would like to become a subscriber, please visit our Web site at https://www.infotoday.com or send a blank e-mail to join-infotoday@lists.infotoday.com. =========================================================================== SPONSOR ProQuest =========================================================================== 50 years ago today ... The Christian Science Monitor reported on the trend of libraries shelving more than just books. The New York Times told of a patent issued for a robotic umpire. And, according to The Washington Post, Ike was whipping Pentagon staff into shape. History in the making. Read all about it. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. --> https://www.infotoday.com/newslink/proquest080103.htm =========================================================================== IN THIS ISSUE =========================================================================== 1) WELCOME 2) ITI SNAP POLL 3) NEWSLINK MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT 4) NEWSBREAKS 5) FEATURED ARTICLES 6) CONFERENCE CONNECTION 7) BOOKSHELF =========================================================================== 1) WELCOME =========================================================================== Welcome to the August 2003 issue of NewsLink, Information Today, Inc.'s FREE e-mail newsletter for library and information professionals. In this month's spotlight article, Paula Hane takes a look at Hoover's Online and some recent changes to its service. Business researchers may have expressed concern when D&B acquired Hoover's in March, but that concern appears to be unwarranted as Paula indicates the new changes to the product offer some significant upgrades. It's August already? As the summer passes by in a blur, everyone at ITI seems to be focused on the fall and the upcoming events we'll be hosting. WebSearch University, KMWorld & Intranets, Streaming Media CA, and Internet Librarian are all coming up in the near future. The programs for all of these conferences are now available online. If you're interested in attending, please visit https://www.infotoday.com for more information. If you have any comments or suggestions on any special content you would like to see covered or on how to improve this newsletter and the information held in it, please reply to newslink@infotoday.com. Best Wishes, Tom Hogan, Jr. =========================================================================== 2) ITI SNAP POLL =========================================================================== Have you implemented (or are you planning to implement) a blog within your organization? Please comment at https://www.infotoday.com/default.shtml. =========================================================================== 3) NEWSLINK MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT =========================================================================== Hoover's Gets Even Better By Paula J. Hane When I need to get up to speed quickly on an unfamiliar company, I frequently turn to Hoover's company profiles, which list an overview and history, key financials, top executives, products, industry information (including SIC and NAICS codes), competitors, and continually updated news from NewsEdge (Dialog). Over the years, Hoover's has established a reputation for its authoritative, up-to-date, proprietary information on public and private companies. The tag line on the Hoover's Online home page reads "The Business Information Authority." The company has developed a large and loyal audience. Its content, which has been a favorite of business researchers, is not only available on the Hoover's site but also through distribution by more than 30 other services, including Factiva, LexisNexis, and America Online. When D&B announced its intended purchase of Hoover's, searchers worried about what might happen to Hoover's products under the new ownership. Rest assured, things are just fine. After a year and a half of research and planning, the company recently launched a newly redesigned site. The previous site was developed in 1999 with limited user input. It was built to support advertising and page-view metrics. The new strategy is to quickly lead users to content through a more intuitive site, but does not concentrate on generating a lot of page views. The changes are customer-driven enhancements, gleaned from careful research and an iterative design process that focused on actual user experiences. The redesigned Hoover's Online is not just a pretty new interface, though it's clearer and cleaner with improved organization and navigation. The primary changes include new site architecture, simplified company records, new tools and content, and an expanded industry taxonomy system. The most obvious change, however, is the separation of the free and subscriber sites. Russell Secker, Hoover's executive vice president of marketing, said, "We like free users, but we want them to clearly see the value of our content and subscribe." Users of the free site (http://www.hoovers.com/free) will now have no doubt about what isn't available to them, as they're given helpful opportunities to activate a subscription. A green sidebar on the left side that provides search options and user tools clearly indicates the choices available to Pro and Pro Plus subscribers. Many advanced search capabilities are not offered to users of the free site. Hoover's no longer features the well-known company "capsules" and "profiles." Michael Reiff, Hoover's executive producer/director of products, said these offerings were actually confusing for users and not well-organized. The new design provides a simplified "basic" record for free and an "in-depth" record for subscribers. New industry records offer basic information, news, and industry codes. The industry taxonomy has expanded from 300 to more than 600 industries and now has three tiers, rather than two, to provide more granularity for the content. Subscribers also have a new industry keyword search capability. For example, a search for the keyword "chips" will show all industry category matches, such as networking chips, construction materials, and snack foods. A new "reverse" search capability for subscribers called "Find Similar Companies" locates companies with similar attributes, including location, key numbers, and other criteria. Links to external content are now clearly identified and open in a new browser window so users won't lose their place. For both the free and subscriber sites, all of the content offered for sale by "trusted partners," such as credit or industry reports or books, is now collected in a boxed list at the end of a record and is clearly marked. Users had complained about the previous clutter in records and the lack of differentiation between Hoover's and third-party content. The free site has larger ads and more of them, but it's the price users have to pay for getting free access. Subscribers see only a single skyscraper ad on the right side. Subscribers should also be pleased to learn that pricing has remained the same. Hoover's says its mission is to be the leading provider of business information to the SMB market-Sales, Marketing, and Business development professionals in Small and Medium Businesses. Hoover's in-depth proprietary database of 18,500 public and private companies, updated in real time, is supplemented by databases (from providers like its parent company, D&B) that deliver additional information on 13 million companies. According to Secker, Hoover's plans to add more D&B content. One nice extra offered by Hoover's is its free newsletters. Anyone can sign up to receive any of the company's seven e-mail newsletters, such as Week at a Glance, which provides the week's top business news, IPO activity, and new company coverage; Hoover's @ Work: Sales & Marketing Edition, which offers tips and tools for sales and marketing professionals; and several industry digests. Gary Hoover founded The Reference Press in 1990, which was renamed Hoover's in 1996. D&B purchased the company in March 2003. It's great to see an important resource offer an improved product and greater value for subscribers. Paula J. Hane is Information Today, Inc.'s news bureau chief and editor of NewsBreaks. Her e-mail address is phane@infotoday.com. =========================================================================== 4) NEWSBREAKS =========================================================================== For a complete listing of previous NewsBreaks visit the Information Today, Inc. Web site at https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks. NewsBreaks from Monday, July 28, 2003 ------------------------ LexisNexis Nearing Completion on a New Platform By Marydee Ojala LexisNexis has announced that it is "nearing completion" in its efforts to create a platform that will standardize the delivery of its legal, business, and news information using a single technology. According to Jim Peck, senior vice president and global product officer, the project has been in development for 2 years and stems from the strong desire of LexisNexis management to present a truly global interface to its worldwide customer base. The single technology platform is expected to roll out in France, Germany, and Australia toward the end of 2003. A preliminary version is now available in Germany. "Our objective," says Peck, "is to enable all LexisNexis assets to be delivered to all users." --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb030728-1.shtml ------------------------ EIU Launches Market Indicators and Forecasts Database By Barbara Quint The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has introduced the third product component in its "strategy to provide a single source of timely global industry analysis for executives managing cross border businesses," to quote Lou Celi, EIU's publishing director. The EIU Market Indicators and Forecasts is a Web-based service that presents extensive industry statistics on market size and forecast data for growth potential in 60 leading country markets, five regions, and 11 regional aggregations (e.g., economies in transition, G7 countries, East-Central Europe). --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb030728-2.shtml ------------------------------------------ NewsBreaks Weekly News Digest ------------------------------------------ MuseGlobal Announces Two New Partners EBSCO Introduces Reference Linking MarketWatch.com to Acquire Pinnacor --> https://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/wnd030728.shtml =========================================================================== 5) FEATURED ARTICLES =========================================================================== For full-text coverage of the following articles please use the hotlinks provided. ------------------------ INFORMATION TODAY 17th Annual AIIP Conference By Susanne Bjorner This meeting allows independent information professionals to share experiences with other solo business practitioners. --> https://www.infotoday.com/it/jul03/bjorner.shtml ------------------------ ONLINE Magazine Open Access and the Case for Public Good: The Scientists' Perspective By Michelle Romero The 2-day International Symposium on Open Access and the Public Domain in Digital Data and Information for Science focused on the flow of scientific information between its creators and users and the threats posed to it by legal, commercial, and technical pressures. --> https://www.infotoday.com/online/jul03/romero.shtml ------------------------ COMPUTERS IN LIBRARIES ***SPECIAL OFFER TO NEWSLINK SUBSCRIBERS ONLY*** Get a FREE copy of the 2003 Computers in Libraries Buyer's Guide and Consultants Directory. Inside the issue you'll find reliable information on companies and consultants and everything they offer to libraries. Offer good while supplies last, so hurry! Your FREE copy is waiting for you at https://www.infotoday.com/newslink/bgrequest.htm. ------------------------ SEARCHER Magazine Tribunes and Tribulation: The Top 100 Newspaper Archives (Or Lack Thereof) By Larry Krumenaker Krumenaker looks at the big players - and some of the medium to small-ranged ones - in the newspaper business and reports on whether the industry has finally figured out how to compete digitally without losing print subscribers. --> https://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jul03/krumenaker.shtml ------------------------ LINK-UP DIGITAL Restoring a Classic Car? Head Down the Information Superhighway By Linda C. Allardice For as many classic cars that are still on the road today, there are about as many Web sites dedicated to them. There are even more sites dedicated to putting these babies back together. --> https://www.infotoday.com/linkup/lud080103-allardice.htm =========================================================================== 6) CONFERENCE CONNECTION =========================================================================== Get the latest event information available for the library and information fields in the Conference Connection. The Conference Report/Update gives you an inside look at the most recent information industry events, while the Conference Calendar is updated monthly to provide you with important contact information for up-and-coming industry events. CONFERENCE REPORT/UPDATE ------------------------ COMPUTERS IN LIBRARIES CALL FOR SPEAKERS SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL TODAY! Is technology your partner? Think about sharing your experiences! ITI is currently looking for speakers for the Computers in Libraries 2004 conference to be held March 10-12 in Washington, D.C. A list of possible session topics for the programming theme "Charting Our Course: Partnering with Technology" and submission guidelines can be found at https://www.infotoday.com/cil2004/CallForPapers.htm Lessons learned in the field can be the most valuable learning experiences--don't be shy--submit a speaking proposal for Computers in Libraries 2004 today! CONFERENCE CALENDAR ------------------- August 18-24 SOCIETY OF AMERICAN ARCHIVISTS (SAA), Los Angeles, CA Contact: http://www.archivists.org September 8-9 WEBSEARCH UNIVERSITY, Washington, DC Contact: http://www.websearchu.com September 16-18 PC EXPO, New York, NY Contact: http://www.techxny.com October 14-16 KMWORLD & INTRANETS, Santa Clara, CA Contact: http://www.kmworld-intranets.com November 3-5 INTERNET LIBRARIAN, Monterey, CA Contact: https://www.infotoday.com/il2003 For the complete Conference Calendar visit https://www.infotoday.com/calendar.shtml. =========================================================================== 7) BOOKSHELF =========================================================================== Net Effects: How Librarians Can Manage the Unintended Consequences of the Internet Edited by Marylaine Block The Internet is a mixed blessing for libraries and librarians. On the one hand, it provides opportunities to add services and expand collections; on the other, it has increased user expectations and contributed to techno stress. Today, the Net is challenging librarians' ability to select, threatening the survival of the book, necessitating continuous retraining, presenting new problems of access and preservation, putting new demands on budgets, and embroiling information professionals in legal controversies. In Net Effects, librarian, journalist, and Internet guru Marylaine Block examines the issues and brings together a wealth of insights, war stories, and solutions. Almost 50 articles by dozens of imaginative librarians-expertly selected, annotated, and integrated by the editor-suggest practical and creative ways to deal with the range of Internet "side effects," regain control of the library, and avoid being blindsided by technology again. Order your copy today! https://books.infotoday.com/books/NetEffects.shtml ------------------- Available: September 1, 2003/hardbound ISBN 1-57387-171-0 Price: $39.50 =========================================================================== SPONSOR ProQuest =========================================================================== 50 years ago today ... The Christian Science Monitor reported on the trend of libraries shelving more than just books. The New York Times told of a patent issued for a robotic umpire. And, according to The Washington Post, Ike was whipping Pentagon staff into shape. History in the making. Read all about it. ProQuest Historical Newspapers. --> https://www.infotoday.com/newslink/proquest080103.htm =========================================================================== ©2003 Information Today, Inc. all rights reserved. This newsletter is published by Information Today, Inc. Editor in Chief: Tom Hogan, Jr. Managing Editor: Stacey Sochacki Phone: 609-654-6266 Fax: 609-654-4309 Web site: https://www.infotoday.com E-mail: newslink@infotoday.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-infotoday-9382643Q@lists.infotoday.com.