Dick Kaser December 3rd, 2009

For content companies, it’s not quite business as usual, but there remains a strong need for various kinds of content and content services.

In financial markets, there’s been a reduction in force, with an associated loss of content “seats.”   As the financial sector makes its inevitable comeback, the financial content business should come back, too.  But that’s not necessarily soon.

With legal information and STM markets, there are demands for a change in the business models.

Each segment has been affected differently, says Ed Keating, V.P., Content Division, SIIA, in this video interview, recorded yesterday at Online Information in London.

Ed identifies some strategies that content companies are following during this time in order to be better positioned for future growth.

Watch the video.

• Online Information 2009
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Dick Kaser December 3rd, 2009

With regard to the general state of the industry and prospects for the future, we got what is, quite possibly, our most honest response from STM publisher Springer, which operates in a part of the industry regarded as a bright spot by analysts.

Watch this short clip from our interview with Springer V.P. Eric Merkel-Sobotta.

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• Online Information 2009
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Dick Kaser December 3rd, 2009

For a man working in the most recessed of the recessed publishing sectors–the news business–Caspar de Bono, managing director, FT Business, was particularly upbeat when we met with him in London.

It might well be the worst of times,and yet de Bono persisted in depicting the current environment as the best of times.

Economic pressures this year have caused many in the industry to reconsider what they are doing, go back to first principles, and ask such fundamental questions as who are we? and what is it that we actually do for our customers to help them be more productive and make better business decisions themselves.

Watch the video.

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• Online Information 2009
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Barbara Brynko December 3rd, 2009

Although Knovel didn’t have a booth on the exhibition floor this year, Diana Bittern, director of product management, still had plenty of meetings lined up about the company’s online technical resources for engineers.

For the past two years, Knovel has been refocusing on what customers truly want, says Bittern. “We found that librarians screamed the loudest” about some disruptive issues with the Knovel site in the recent past, so Bittern and her team went back to the drawing board after conducting observation sessions with users. The results, she says, helped fine-tune the site’s contextual design and became the drivers for further innovation.

Knovel Labs, one of the spinoffs, gives users a chance to try out product enhancements in beta before their release. “Knovel Labs has been a great success,” she says. “Librarians like to see and touch the products in the development phase, and we welcome their feedback.”

Knovel’s interactive search capabilities within the site’s graphs and tables are a key differentiator between them and the competitors, and it was important to make the entire search experience easier for the users.

“This year has been the year for personalization with our launch of the new My Knovel that lets engineers and engineering students collect and save their knowledge over time,” says Bittern. It gives users the chance to save searches, links, and graphs involved in their work for future reference, along with frequently used titles, content, and queries that can be organized into specific folders.

Next year, she says, Knovel is gearing up for a year of collaboration and community so users can share and exchange information. In the meantime, the Knovel team is rebuilding its infrastructure with a revamped interface and an improved user registration system with a single sign-on option for societies and academic institutions.

“We went back to the drawing board to help engineers get their answers faster,” says Bittern. “Our long-term goal is still to make engineers more productive.”

• Online Information 2009
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Barbara Brynko December 3rd, 2009

Filmmaker Joe Loncraine confers with Dick Kaser, ITI's VP of content, on the next video shoot at London Online.

For the past three days, Dick Kaser, ITI’s VP of content, has been busy tracking down industry players at London Online to discuss their take on the state of the information industry.

Joe Loncraine, a locally based TV producer and director whose long list of credits include making documentaries for the BBC, recently returned from filming in Mozambique just in time to help catch all the action on the exhibition floor at London Online for the ITI blog.

You’ll find the video portion of the interviews on the blog (be sure to check out the insights from the industry experts), and the print version will be available in the upcoming January 2010 issue of Information Today.

• Online Information 2009
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Marydee Ojala December 3rd, 2009

I walked past the CMS Watch stand yesterday (it’s right in front of Theatre A) and noticed a large poster on the wall that was a “Vendor Map” of the content technology industry. It was fascinating to see a vendor map that resembled a London tube map. You too can see it at the stand, and pick up a smaller copy (A4-sized), or simply view it here.

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Marydee Ojala December 3rd, 2009

There has been much emphasis on the semantic web during the conference, with an entire track dedicated to the subject and the opening keynote by Dame Wendy Hall, Professor, Computer Science, and Nigel Shadbolt, Professor, Artificial Intelligence and Deputy Head, School of Electronics and Computer Science, both at the University ofo Southampton, specifically addressing The Semantic Web Revolution: Unleashing the World’s Most Valuable Information. Another track concentrated on the socialo web. There seem to be several ways of looking at the semantic web. Some use it as a synonym for Web 3.0, others used linked data and relationship terminology. Regardless of how it is described, it strikes me that the semantic web is data-driven while the social web is people-driven. I’m sure that’s an over-simplification.

But I do find it interesting that, as the speakers in both tracks extol the bright and shiny future of semantic and social web, many delegates are puzzled as to how this really affects their working lives. Two projects I saw demonstrated in the semantic web track, one from the UK government and one from HealthFinland, show the practical applications of the semantic web. Very impressive, particularly the Finnish project. As for the social web, I still hear delegates saying it’s too time consuming, it has little practical value in a professional sense, and that they just don’t see why they should use these tools.

The challenge we face, as information professionals, is to assess semantic and social web tools and technologies, sorting out what works for us and what doesn’t, but to do that assessment fully informed, which is why we go to conferences like Online Information.

• Online Information 2009
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Marydee Ojala December 3rd, 2009

I ran into Abe Lederman in the Exhibit Hall yesterday. Although his company, Deep Web Technologies, is not exhibiting, he did ask me if I could help spread the word about a contest Deep Web is running. Here are the details, direct from Abe:

Deep Web Technologies, is sponsoring a contest. (http://federatedsearchblog.com/2009/10/21/broader-contest-bigger-prizes/) We’re in the federated search market, which is of interest to libraries, corporate researchers, and others interested in accessing the “Deep Web,” beyond what Google can find. Contest submissions are due by 12/15 and, even though we are giving $1,000 to the top winner, we have few submissions.

Best of luck, everybody!

• Online Information 2009
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Dick Kaser December 2nd, 2009

Outsell projects that, overall, the information industry will grow by 3 to 4 per cent in 2010, though some sectors will continue to perform at 2009 levels or see up to 2 per cent growth over 2009.  It will be another challenging year, but better in comparison to 2009.

The news must come with a sigh of relief to many companies operating in this space, for it is an understatement to say it was not the best year for many.  Companies in the business of providing news, for example,  took a 20% beating this year, while only a couple sectors remained strong, namely healthcare information and government data.

Digital advertising grew by 8 to 10 per cent, down significantly from the classic 20% growth rate it was experiencing prior to the economy’s downfall.

Some companies see promise from emerging markets (i.e., developing countries not already to the point of being considered “advanced economies.”)  But the early results may not be indicative.   It may, in fact,  be a while yet, before the potential is realized.

In the following video interview conducted yesterday at Online Information in London, Anthea Stratigos, co-founder and CEO, Outsell, discusses these and other market conditions, predicts growth areas, and suggests strategies for companies to adopt for 2010.

Her best advice for companies?  If you’re not already in the business of providing medical information or government data, consider how you can offer something to enterprises that either helps them save money or make money, focus on creating an excellent customer experience and provide exceptional customer service.

Please watch the video.

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• Online Information 2009
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Dick Kaser December 2nd, 2009

Rossella Proscia, Marketing Director, Gale Cengage, notes that in their partnership with Financial Times, The Economist, and The Times (of London), the company has discovered a “fortunate niche.”  By providing primary source materials to financial researchers–including digitizing and offering backfiles of key publications–they have hit the nail on the head and answered a current market need.

Watch the video to learn more about the Gale Cengage strategy.

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Gale Cengage is showing The Financial Times historical archive at its stand (#526) in London

See also:  Barb Brynko’s post, below, on the archives

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