dataresources

Feature Review -
Hoovers - Filling a Vacuum

Feature Review  -
FT.COM - in the Pink
In the early 1980s, spurred on by Danny Wagner’s MAID initiative, World Reporter was launched. It carried, for the first time, the full-text of many of the broadsheet newspapers and eventually became FT Profile. In the mid-1980s the full-text version of the FT was published by FT Profile on CD-ROM with the then-advanced Personal Librarian search software. FT Profile was eventually absorbed by Lexis-Nexis. All three major news aggregators – Factiva, Lexis-Nexis and Thomson Dialog - carry the full-text of the FT. In recent times, however, the FT, having created their own website, has embargoed third party distributors for 24 hours.

The only way to get full-text articles from the Financial Times as they are published is by signing up to FT.com.

FT.com is much more than the editorial content of the newspaper. It is a whole box of (financial) tricks that is a must for the serious watcher of all things financial, political and economic in the world. In this review it is my aim to show readers just how much you get for your money and, possibly, explode a few myths. In the same way that a film is much more than a book so FT.com is very much more than a newspaper ......

Feature Review  -
OneSource - the Ultimate Aggregator!
Before I start any evaluation I try to clear my mind of any preconceptions and concentrate on a small number of basic principles. The uniqueness of individual information services lies in either or both their content and, most importantly with online services, their design. These two features underpin the “value” of these services. Having as much relevant content in one place saves time – the essence of value. Ensuring that the content is signposted / indexed for ease of retrieval saves more time. Good, i.e. highly intuitive, design of the retrieval and presentation features saves even more time.

How OneSource stack ups against these exacting criteria is what this evaluation is all about ....
 

Feature Review  -
No Holes In This Mint – BvD’s Mint

BvD Mint databases are aimed at the end user. As end users are highly likely to have used Google, BvD have designed the first page of their Companies section accordingly (see figure). BvD and Factiva are the two most innovative online information providers. They have both recognised the reality of the Internet and Google’s search dominance. BvD have created Mint and, in a similar vein, Factiva have created Factiva Salesworks.

However, the meeting of like minds goes beyond this.

Just as Mint is more than just the company financial data (BvD’s trump card), Factiva’s Salesworks is much more than news – Factiva’s trump card. Both have created “one-stop shops” for company and industry information. The great joy for users is that they are sufficiently different to make it worthwhile to have both!

Feature editorial  -
The Last Word on “Knowledge Management”

For many years I have harangued you, the readers, with my sometimes strident views on the knotty topic of what is usually called Knowledge Management. You have been very patient but the time has now come to bring the many strands of my erstwhile jumble of thoughts together, to say what I have to say and to shut up.

Here goes.

Getting straight to the point you CANNOT manage knowledge. It is about as practical as herding cats. Knowledge is in people’s heads and I have yet to read of a method of thought control that produces the rich thoughts and ideas that make the world move, albeit haltingly, onwards and upwards.

You CAN, however, manage a knowledge-sharingenvironment.

What about all those document management systems, you say, that store and index so-called “explicit” knowledge. They are a con trick! As Liz Orna wrote “information is knowledge made visible”. Explicit knowledge is information – why change the practice of centuries!  .....................

Feature Reviews -
Russlana - the New Face of Bureau van Dijk

.... One major component of the current tide is design. In this the electronic publishing industry is not that far from the fashion or rag trade. A few leaders dictate and others have to follow as quickly as their web teams can write code. Content is taken for granted as is timeliness. Users not only expect premium sources and fast updates but also, possibly even more, excellent functionality and attractive presentation.

One company that is making a huge leap forward in design is Bureau van Dijk (BvD).  Despite already being the market leader in the provision of company financial data they have introduced a new design with their newest database Ruslana that puts them not only on the top of the winner’s podium but far ahead of the pack...........

Factiva 2.0 - the Future of News Searching

Way back in the 1980s launches of new products and product enhancements were much more trainingoriented.  More along the lines of “this is the new way to do ….” Search systems have now become so much more intuitive and with fixed-prices the “smash and grab” or taxi-meter mentality has all but disappeared.

Searching is a more leisurely persuit these days – akin to a “voyage of discovery”.  This is the main theme of Factiva’s Version 2.0 application. The entry of
search terms is much more of a “door opener” than an action leading directly to an anticipated result. Once through the door searchers are provided with a number of “switches and leavers” to navigate their way through and around the data retrieved................