BlogBridge Feed Library: a shop window for feeds

BlogBridge, publisher of a most excellent aggregator (I moved to it a couple of weeks ago after two years with NewsGator) has another very interesting product for information professionals: its Feed Library. This is a place where specialists can share their links and feeds to key information sources in a very friendly and non-techie way.

Here's a partial screenshot - click on it to visit my own evolving experimental Feed Library:

As you may be able to see from the above, each feed shows a miniature representation of the feed source. Each segment can contain a maximum of sixteen feeds (optionally shown four at a time) and any of these can be sub-folders, although I've not shown any in the above image.

On each orange folder bar, you might be able to discern a blue OPML icon. This provides users with a link to the whole folder. And, underneath each individual feed, you might be able to see the orange RSS feed icon. Both make it so easy for users to transfer interesting links into their own aggregators.

Users can click on a page icon to visit its source. If they get in the habit of picking up their RSS feeds from the Feed Library page, this automatically increases the popularity rating of the feed which is then reflected in the top ten (or top 100) feeds shown in the right sidebar.

Multiple authors can contribute to the Feed Library and it's possible to control access by organisational membership. Different pricing models exist, starting at free. And you can either self-host or let BlogBridge do the hosting.

As a footnote, I should mention that Pito Salas, the man behind BlogBridge, has a long history in
professional software development and this really shows in the way Feed
Library and BlogBridge itself are being put together.

Countdown to 2007: 1

Another key question as we head into the new year…

1: Does Microsoft hold the IM key?

The past year saw some serious consolidation in the enterprise content management market - Stellent was bought by Oracle earlier this month, Filenet by IBM in August, OpenText merged with Hummingbird, and Interwoven has been cosying up to Microsoft (though there's no talk of marriage there yet). But as the IT giants come lumbering into the information management industry, can anyone hear the sound of a culture clash? The information industry (in which content is king) is being forced into alliances with technology and communications companies (for whom data delivery is king). The two do not make easy partners. In 2007, the information industry will have to come to terms with the fact that most users want easier, cheaper access to information, while the IT industry will need to better understand new groups of users – information professionals, content managers, compliance officers and many others – who want to control and regulate information. The two are opposing forces, and for most people involved in the information industry, the next year will be another of change, pain and agonising compromise. Whoever comes up with a solution that can satisfy both parties will be a winner – and the only company I can see with the DNA and track record to do so, is in fact Microsoft. It has satisfied both consumer and corporate marketplaces in the past with Windows; will it be able to do that double-edged trick for information users and information managers in future?

Countdown to 2007: 2

Another topic for discussion in 2007, as we count down to the new year

2. Will Wikiasari heat up the search wars?

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has set his sights on giving Google a run for its money, with his planned community-based search engine – Wikiasari ("wiki" meaning "quick" in Hawaiian, and "asari" meaning "rummaging search" in Japanese). He told the Times newspaper that he plans to launch a commercial version of Wikiasari early in 2007. But unlike Wikipedia, a not-for-profit project, this will be run by Wikia Inc, Wales' private company, which has secured backing from Amazon and other financiers. The big question is whether Wales can marry the energy and enthusiasm of his dedicated band of followers with a for-profit enterprise. Little has yet been revealed about how the project will generate cash, or how it will reward the specialists who will make the search results more compelling. The Amazon connection is interesting, as Amazon pulled back from its A9.com search engine project in September 2006. Will there be technology link-ups with A9? Wales has certainly picked a ripe target – many Google search results are increasingly failing to match up to those of rivals MSN and Yahoo. Could 2007 be the year that the shine goes off Google?

Countdown to 2007: 3

Another hot topic for discussion next year...

3: What new directions for Thomson Corporation?

Next year is going to be a big transformational year for the Thomson Corporation. Its Learning group of companies, which accounts for over a quarter of its $8.4bn revenues (in 2005), is up for sale. Bidding starts in January, and the company will clearly want a quick exit. The marketplace is currently in turmoil, with Thomson Gale's arch-rival ProQuest having sold its Information & Learning operation earlier this month to Cambridge Information Group, which also owns Cambridge Scientific Abstracts and RR Bowker. So what will happen with all the cash released by the sale of these operations? What direction will Thomson turn in, given that it's had such an adventurous past (dabbling in oil and gas, travel and newspapers along the way). Will it break out in unexpected directions, or stick to the information industry? Maybe it would be interested in an alliance with Germany's Springer Science+Business – that would give arch-rival Elsevier something to think about in its quest for global domination.

Countdown to 2007: 4

Another hot topic for discussion next year...

4: Is on-demand book printing a threat?

Librarians prepare for the future! Your users may soon be able to print a copy of a book at an ATM style machine in less than 10 minutes – and what will that do to your jobs? Will it have the same effect as the mass closure of bank branch networks in the 1980s as hole in the wall machines displaced humans? During 2007, OnDemandBooks plans to globally deploy the Espresso Book Machine, a $50,000 device that can produce 15-20 library quality paperbacks in less than an hour. The New York Public Library is said to be ready to receive its first machine in February 2007, and OnDemand is careful to point out that it will "fully respect licences and copyrights". Content will come from Google and the Open Content Alliance. But there's no need to panic just yet. Think of how you took the photocopier in your stride - and figure out ways to leash this beast.

Countdown to 2007: 5

As we count down to the new year, we get the ball rolling with some topics for discussion in 2007…

5: Too many UK professional organisations?

Belt tightening has been ongoing at Cilip and Aslib for some years now, with both organisations having had to cut back staffing or cut overheads. Cilip's subgroups had a pre-Christmas decapitation of allowances. On Aslib's website, no new press release has been posted since October 2005; the Aslib/Managing Information Forum has been closed down "due to the irresponsible postings of some users"; and after mass resignations from sub-group ASSIGN in 2005, it still lists incorrect contact details. The European chapter of the SLA, meanwhile, has appeared to thrive – mainly because it’s a relatively "virtual" network of likeminded professionals with little in the way of overheads to worry about. Can the UK's IP community really continue to support three major organisations in 2007? Or does the profession need a single strong voice in these challenging times?

A Christmas Present from FAST

Last weekend a new blog burst on the scene. No ordinary blog though. This one is truly useful for anyone who is interested in how organisational cultures are adjusting to the new realities brought about by social computing and other liberating technologies.

Astonishingly (for me anyway), the blog is being hosted by leading search company, FAST. But, rather than some corporate blowhard spouting off, the contributors are all thinkers and practitioners in the, erm, Enterprise 2.0 space. You can read these people all in one place. At the moment there are just 14 public blog posts and a few pre-launch posts, so very easy to get up to speed.

The latest one has Euan Semple expressing his reservations about Enterprise 2.0. To paraphrase horribly, he's concerned that "business as usual" is trying to hijack the new disruptive technologies. Other posts are summaries of good stuff the authors have been discussing on their own blogs. It's a great distillation and talks about fears and problems as well as opportunities and case studies.

The blog also has sidebar links to what's hot in the Enterprise 2.0 space and to a number of useful blogs. It really is a good one-stop-shop. Once the initial burst of enthusiasm is over, I hope that the quality and interest of the posts are sustained.

The blog is called FASTforward and it is a prelude to a conference of the same name in San Diego in February. Sadly, it clashes with something else in my diary and I won't be able to go. But, if the blog lives up to its promise and if the conference organiser allows a healthy audience participation, the sessions could get pretty lively.

Happy reading over the Christmas break. If I'm in a fit state, I'll be back next Thursday or Saturday.

Social networking tops 2006 search rankings

Google's newly released Year End Zeitgeist for 2006 shows that social networking is top of the search lists.

After monitoring the most searched for terms on Google.com for the whole year, the search giant has revealed that social networking has dominated web searches.

'Bebo' took the crown as the most searched for term throughout the year, followed by 'MySpace'.

Fifth and sixth spots were 'radioblog' and 'wikipedia', which also got a mention in tenth as 'wiki'. Eighth and ninth positions went to 'rebelde' and 'mininova'.

Current events were outlined by the leading search query 'who is Borat' and 'what is Hezbollah', while the Duke University Lacrosse rape scandal topped the scandal searches.

Cilip cuts capitation by 50%

Cilip will pay its local branches and special interest groups 50% less capitation in 2007 as part of a new business plan voted in by its Council.

Cilip members are assigned a branch according to their locality and can join two special interest groups for free as part of their membership, but are free to join as many groups as they wish. Each branch and special interest group receives a capitation sum of money from Cilip based on the number of members it has, these groups also receive a lump sum from Cilip.

For 2007 the capitation amount per-member will reduce by 50% following a vote by the Cilip Council. "Every member of the Council voted to do this," said Bob McKee, Cilip chief executive.

Some groups may be concerned, Karen Blakeman, Cilip UKeiG Councillor said UKeiG is not concerned. It doesn't worry us, but there may be groups that will be in financial trouble," she said. Blakeman said one option open to Council was to reduce capitation by 80%, which she believes would have put a number of groups into difficulty.

"The capitation is a derisory amount, it doesn't even cover admin costs," Blakeman said.

Cilip Council voted in the new figure as part of its decision to adopt a new working model, devised by the New Business Model Working Group. "This will stop the nonsense that Cilip is in financial difficulties," McKee told IWR. Adding, "The 50% saved will be used to balance the budget as part of the new business model, which comes into force immediately."

Overall Blakeman agrees, "The branches and groups will have to have business model, react to market forces, be economically viable and do what the members want them to do."

Analytics firm Datops acquired by LexisNexis

LexisNexis has acquired Datops, which provides analytical services for financial services and public organisations. 

LexisNexis believe the purchase of Datops technology will allow it to offer clients to search news services like Financial Times, Le Monde, The Guardian, The New York Times and The Economist faster and to identify market trends, financial risks and the effectiveness of research and development initiatives. The text analytics software of Datops will be combined with LexisNexis current product offerings.

The technology Datops uses can scan and analyse unstructured information from multiple formats such as audio and video as well as multiple languages. The data itself can be assessed by the Datops software for tone, origin and source credibility, presented through a customisable dashboard interface.

“The addition of Datops to LexisNexis analytics enables information-driven organisations to derive actionable intelligence,” said Rob Veneboer, Managing Director of LexisNexis Europe for Corporate and Public Markets.

ProQuest I&L acquired for $222m

Academic database provider ProQuest Information and Learning has been acquired by Cambridge Information Group (CIG), which will merge the beleaguered ProQuest with Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA).

ProQuest and CIG have signed a definitive agreement for the deal, said to be worth $222 million which will see CIG take control. The two companies will be combined into a new privately held company, a statement said.

ProQuest has had a poor end to 2006 after an SEC investigation and having to restate its financials for the fiscal years 1999 to 2004.  A separate statement will come from ProQuest soon clarifying its restatements.

Martin Kahn will serve as CEO, relocating to Ann Arbor, home of ProQuest, while David "Skip" Prichard, current president of ProQuest will lead the company until the deal is closed.

IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition: is it any good?

IBM's OmniFind Yahoo Edition, mentioned in IWR a couple of days ago, has to be worth a try although don't expect instant results. There's the small matter of indexing to take care of first. I decided to let its crawlers loose on the IWR blog and website and my own hard drive.

It took a few hours to index around 35,000 documents and build an index of almost 2.5 gigabytes. It works on specific file types, which means that some proprietary format files don't get indexed. And there's a size limit on the files it will index. I don't know what it is, but the first file it baulked at was about 1 gigabyte. [Update: maximum file size is 51.2MB.]

Web crawling is continuous after a delay following the initial session but the hard drive crawling has to be sanctioned by the search administrator.

The search splash screen comes up with all the usual IBM/Yahoo branding, copyright and search destination stuff. You can replace all the elements with your own. I elected for spartan simplicity:

And here's a glimpse of the start of the results:

Set up is dead easy, although it baulked at indexing my machine from the C:\ drive. I settled for making my username folder the root of the search.

Searching is snappy. At the moment (after only half a dozen searches), the average response time is 881 milliseconds. But then you'd expect this if the index is inside your own machine.

If you want to fine-tune the search experience you can import (or key in) synonyms. You can also add featured links which appear at the top of the search results in response to certain keywords being entered. For example you could associate a support URL with the words 'help', 'problem', 'helpdesk', 'faq' and 'support'.

And there's an API for the technically-minded which delivers results as Atom feeds or HTML snippets to embed into your web pages as you wish.

Best of all, it's free. As long as you don't exceed half a million documents and you stick to the local drives in your own system [Update: and network drives mapped/mounted on the search server.]

Warning (added 16/12): You have probably realised that this version does not take account of user access policies. It's for the administrator to ensure that restricted material is not indexed, or to restrict access to the search and its cache.

Journal editors get guidelines

Blackwell Publishing, a major publisher of medical, academic and professional society journals with more than 800 titles, has launched guidelines covering the ethical principals of the sector.

The guidelines, Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics: A Publisher’s Perspective, provide advice to editors on the major ethical principles of academic publishing.

Topics covered include transparency, disclosure, research integrity, peer review, conflicts of interest and plagiarism while a best practice resource is included to help editors develop their own approaches to issues.

Dr Andrew Robinson, director of medical publishing at Blackwell’s, said: "Today’s editors confront a vast range of ethical dilemmas, and as a leading publisher for societies…we have a duty of care to provide them with the tools to deal with these issues. We hope the guide will be a useful tool for editors looking to develop or refine their ethical frameworks."

Reading lists with OPML

Do you, or your colleagues, need to share up-to-date reading lists with others? And are those lists a mix of online and offline resources? If you do, then you might want to investigate the Outline Processor Markup Language (OPML) as your means of sharing.

Mark Chillingworth blogged a bit about it from the Online Information conference session, "Strategies for using rss to deliver content". Here are some more details.

As the name suggests, OPML content can be arranged as an outline. Each entry can be text, an HTML link, an RSS feed or another OPML file. This last function has real power - include links to the reading lists of all the people you respect. Aggregators, such as NewsGator, give the option of publishing RSS subscription lists as an OPML file. Then you can see, in real time, what a person's interests are.

Of course, you'll never have time to do your job if you spend your life browsing this stuff, but it's great to have it on tap.

Because it's XML, an OPML file can be read and edited. It's best to build it with other programs though - several offer OPML output. And there's always the free OPML Editor which works on both Macs and PCs. This can also be used to read the resulting files, but my favourite is Grazr, which is also free.

Here's a snap of a Grazr three-pane view. On the left you can see an HTML link, folders revealing the outline structure, text only entries, some RSS feeds and an OPML include (the blue icon). On the right, one of Andrew McAfee's RSS feed items is selected and its content displayed.

If you want more, search for tebbutt opml screencast in Google.

Strategies for using rss to deliver content, track 1, Online Information Conference 2006

This is a re-posting of one of our stories from the Online Information Conference, we had to make some ammendments from the original text due to accidently confusing some of the facts.  We've also included Peter Griffiths slides.  Download 20061129_blogs_wikis_and_feeds_slides_only.ppt

IWR columnist David Tebbutt chairs this discussion at the Online Information Conference 2006 in London on using Really Simple Syndication (RSS) technology.  The session is packing out, no wonder, this technology is important to all three spectrums of the information community: users, information services departments and information publishers.

Peter Griffiths, Head, Information Services Unit, Home Office, UK joins the debate, he’s an author as well.

“Reputation is an issue for every business”, he starts, “Some companies like Sun openly encourage blogging but there can be problems, such as when disgruntled employees have a grudge or overenthusiastic people give away trade secrets.  In the public sector we could inadvertently breach security or Freedom of Information rules.”  Matthew Taylor, outgoing political advisor at No 10, spoke at a recent conference on e-Democracy about political blogs.  Political commentators and groups increasingly use blogs as a campaign tool.  “Blogs were influential in the recent US mid-term elections and will no doubt be important in next year’s French presidential elections” says Griffiths.  The most visited political blog is as popular as Private Eye magazine.  He publishes server statistics on his site to show the range of users who visit, like politicians and the media. “Bloggers are now a serious political force in the UK.
“Government uses traditional media monitoring services like cuttings agencies but these don’t pick up bloggers comments or news stories from the Internet that don’t reach the national press or tv news bulletins, so we built on our existing current awareness service to close the gap.”
Karen George, head of the Home Office Library, has come on to present how the monitoring is done.  In July 2005 they set up a service on a trial basis for six months.  By Christmas 2005 they were providing information to lawyers, IT and a range of policy makers and services.  There was a rise in 2005 when a number of issues like ID cards happened at the same time and the number of current awareness alerts rose from 408 in November 2005 to a total of 1462 in November 2006.
There are two librarians part of whose job is monitoring internet based information each day.  Feeds are coming in 24/7 from a wide range of sources – websites, blogs, newsgroups – these feeds are processed through an increasing number of filters which select relevant information matching the key terms in the filters but although these tools make the job easier they cannot replace the skills of information professionals.  The professionals make it possible for example to highlight different aspects of the same story for different users.  The fundamental info pro skills of knowing your audience really come to the fore.

In just over a year this has become an essential part of the library’s current awareness portfolio.  The Office’s public enquiry service can be made aware of what callers are likely to be asking about, so they can be better prepared, and the library staff themselves are also well informed which helps them deal better with enquiries.  All this helps the Office to have a better relationship with its stakeholders.
“We add value and context to what we find, and the librarians are developing new skills like political sensitivity – knowing when a story is likely to develop into something big.”
Peter is back on : “The sheer volume of information means that we need high speed access and the ability to read a variety of file formats – for example our stakeholders like West Midlands Police are using advanced features such as mp3 for their Plodcast podcast.”  He concludes, “it’s unlikely we will ever be able to go back to providing just a conventional current awareness service, and this is likely to be the same for any corporate organisation.”

Patent Office reform urged by Gowers report

The UK Patent Office should be reformed as the UK Intellectual Property Office and an independent Strategic Advisory Board on IP Policy should advise the government, according to the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property.

"In today's global economy, knowledge capital, more than physical capital will drive the success of the economy. Against this backdrop, IP rights, which protect the value of creative ideas, are more vital than ever," Gowers said as he delivered the report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown  and the Secretaries of state for Trade and Industry and Culture, Media and Sport.

Gowers, a former editor of the Financial Times, has identified three areas for reform, including increased strength for enforcing IP, extra support for British businesses using IP abroad and a balance to the law to encourage innovation. "The ideal IP system creates incentives for innovation, without unduly limiting access for consumers and follow-on innovators," he said.

Gowers suggests restructuring the patent office to provide better support for British businesses and to improve support, especially when dealaing with India and China.

UK IP laws should enable private copying for personal use and libraries will be allowed to copy material for preservation. 

Full analysis of the paper will be in the next issue of IWR, click here to receive a copy.

Microsoft book search engine goes Live

Live Search Books from software giants Microsoft has gone live as a Beta version. The search engine includes content from the British Library which has received significant funding from Microsoft to digitise 25 million pages of out-of-copyright material.

Live Search Books, a rival to Google Book Search which has courted so much controversy, will feature collections from the University of California and Toronto alongside the British Library (BL) archives. A set of new collections are likely to join the service in January 2007. 

Unlike Google Book Search, Live Search Books will only feature non-copyrighted material at launch. In-copyright material that publishers have chosen to add to the service will join next year.

Microsoft has made sure the publishing and information industry is clear about its good intentions towards copyright and cites its own experiences with copyright as a software producer constantly fighting against pirates.

Book search results will not be available on the Windows Live Search page initially, but will be integrated next year.

Chancellor Gordon Brown announces copyright reforms today

Gordon Brown is set to announce radical changes to the intellectual property and copyright laws in the UK this afternoon as he delivers his Pre-Budget Report.  The Treasury has confirmed to IWR that the report will be available at 1.15pm today.

Reports in today's newspapers expect Brown adopt the majority of the proposals set down by former Financial Times editor Andrew Gowers in his report. Brown commissioned Gowers exactly a year ago to review Britain's copyright and intellectual copyright laws.  It is known that the British Library and search giants Google were amongst those that sent submissions of evidence to Gowers.

According to the Times newspaper Brown will be tougher on copyright criminals, appeasing the music industry which has tried to dominate the copyright debate, but will also liberalise the law to promote new business models and make it easier for the information industry to archive and preserve material.

The Trading Standards agency will an extra £5m to police copyright infringements and the penalty for online copyright infringement is expected to be increased from a two year jail terms to 10 years.   Gowers is believed to argue in his report that effective enforcement of copyright law is crucial.

The Chancellor may also announce that the law will be modified to include "transformative works", allowing copyright protected work to be used in new ways as long as it does not detract from the original material.

Snippets from Online Information 2006

Here's an utterly warped and biased take on the Online Information Conference. Biased because I only attended seven out of the thirty one sessions. Warped because I'm only plucking out a few bits that interested, amused or surprised me.

Let's start with Tom Stewart from Harvard Business Review. He was talking about knowledge and where it resides. He gave the example of a company that installed a comprehensive customer solution programme and then ran a test to see who knew most about its products and services. Carlos scored highest, which was puzzling because he refused to use the system. He relied on his own knowledge. The second most highly placed operative was also surprising, until the company realised that she sat next to Carlos.

Nic Newman from the BBC's Search Futures showed a great example of pictures sized by the number of people currently connected to them. (Incidentally, during his 11:30 slot, he referred to Michael Grade as the "ex-chairman of the BBC" and the man had only resigned that morning.)

Stuart Kauder, of Accoona, made the interesting observation that, "good content works against the advertisers' interests - people read that instead of the ads". Oh dear.

Geoffrey Bilder, of Scholarly Information Strategies, was commenting on Web 2.0 hype. He showed a graph - red is perceived risks, blue is perceived benefits. The letters A, B and C refer to Venture capitalists/Management, Helpdesk/IT people and Gurus/Alpha geeks, respectively. When industry hype is peaking, the As only talk to the Cs, missing out the people who really understand the issues. Benefits get exaggerated and risks get minimised.

PodTech's, Robert Scoble thought that, because word of mouth is so rapid in the blogosphere, bloggers are becoming as powerful as the BBC.

At the end of the 'Future of Social Software and Web 2.0' session, audience member Steve Gibson of Cranfield University asked, "How does what you do relate to organisational objectives?" Good question and only one of the speakers (Ewan McIntosh from Learning and Teaching, Scotland) even referred to value. Mainly, the focus was on direct communication with customers and disintermediation of anyone who gets in the way (bosses, PR, marketing, journalists...).