INFORMATION UPDATE June, 2004 Number 51 A Publication of Shamel Information Services http://shamelinfo.com Welcome to INFORMATION UPDATE, the free monthly newsletter for people who need to know. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IN THIS ISSUE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ => Do It Yourself - Project Gutenberg - Free eBooks => Did You Know? - Competitive Intelligence => Notes, News and Announcements => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information ************************************************************ DO IT YOURSELF - Project Gutenberg - Free eBooks ************************************************************ Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. The collection of electronic books currently numbers more than 10,000, and the project strives to add 400 new titles a month. Books are entered by volunteers and include only those titles which have entered the public domain and have no copyright restrictions in place (unless permission has been obtained.) The volunteers choose the titles to enter, so if a public domain work is not included in the Project Gutenberg collec- tion, it is because no volunteer has chosen that book to work on that title. Project Gutenberg electronic books can be downloaded to the personal computer and read from a text reader such as NotePad or WordPad. Some of the books in Project Gutenberg contain html coding. Those books can be read on a browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. Readers can also download eBooks to a personal digital assistant (PDA) such as a Palm Pilot. The PG web site includes complete instructions. Selections include light literature such as Aesop's Fables, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan; heavy literature such as Moby Dick, Paradise Lost, and Shakespeare; and reference material such as Roget's thesaurus, dictionaries, and almanacs. Besides downloading and reading these free books, interested people can volunteer to help add new books to the collection. The web site offers advice on how to do that at http://www.gutenberg.net/faq/V-1.shtml Visit the web site for Project Gutenberg. It's a fascinat- ing effort that is gaining momentum. ************************************************************ DID YOU KNOW? - Competitive Intelligence ************************************************************ Whether or not your company is monitoring the competition, there's a good chance that they are monitoring you. A 1997 survey by The Futures Group indicated that 60% of U.S. companies have an organized intelligence system in place. "Competitive intelligence" is a popular phrase these days. Shamel Information Services has been getting more and more inquiries regarding the need to monitor the competitive landscape and keep up with changes within the target industry or company. The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals web site at offers the following definition "Competitive Intelligence: A systematic and ethical program for gathering, analyzing, and managing external information that can affect your company's plans, decisions, and operations." It is important to note that the CI program includes analyzing the information as well gathering it. It is not enough to collect information about the competitive landscape. The information must be analyzed looking at competitor profiles, financial analysis, and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) in order to make it actionable. For more information on competitive intelligence research and analysis for your organization, contact Shamel Information Services at 858-673-4673 or on the web at http://shamelinfo.com ************************************************************* Notes, News, and Announcements ************************************************************* The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals brings its CI 101 and CI 202 classes to San Diego on July 29 and 30. For more information go to Now Available - "Introduction to Online Market and Industry Research," edited by Cynthia L. Shamel. South-Western, 2004. This 450 page volume offers detailed information on how to conduct cost effective online market and industry research. It has been adopted as a required text for graduate level online searching classes and recommended by professional business researchers. For more information go to ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com contains Information Update archives. Just click on "Newsletters" and check for any issues you might have missed. Cynthia L. Shamel, editor Shamel Information Services Telephone: 858-673-4673 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Subscriptions to INFORMATION UPDATE are free. You may subscribe or unsubscribe by sending a message to: e-mail InfoUpdate at shamelinfo.com with SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Copyright 2004 Shamel Information Services Please feel free to forward this issue to colleagues, in its entirety. Other uses without permission may violate copyright. Online archives at http://shamelinfo.com/newsletter.htm ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^