INFORMATION UPDATE September, 2004 Number 54 Welcome to INFORMATION UPDATE, the free monthly newsletter for people who need to know. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IN THIS ISSUE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ => Do It Yourself - URLinfo => Did You Know? - It's OK to Ask for Help => Notes, News and Announcements => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information ************************************************************ DO IT YOURSELF - URLinfo ************************************************************ Know your source. Hopefully that is your Web searching mantra. You can't judge the quality, validity, or bias of the information you find if you don't know the source. Who put it out there and why? One way to know your source with Web searching is to know who registered the domain name of the Web site. The domain name is the part of the Web address that comes after the "www". Somebody has to register that domain name and pay for the registraion. This person or organization would be the domain name "owner". For instance, Shamelinfo.com is owned by Cynthia L. Shamel of Shamel Information Services. Another example is a Web site called Wal-Mart Watch at http://www.walmartwatch.com. The site's purpose is to monitor Wal-Mart's impact on local business, employees, and consumers. They encourage Wal-Mart workers, community activists, and customers to share their stories and suggestions. This web site is not owned by Wal-Mart, but is instead owned by the UFCW International Union. (UFCW stands for Untied Food and Commercial Workers.) How do I know this? I used a tool found at URLinfo to look it up. Simply go to the URLinfo site, enter the URL you want to check out into the search box, and click on Whois Source. You wlll retrieve a page with a description of the Web site and the name and address of the owner. The URLinfo site has lots of other capabilities for examin- ing and understanding specific URLs. There are other sites you can use to determine ownership and registration infor- mation. Two of these are: > Whois.Net http://www.whois.net > Network Solutions Whois http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/whois/index.jhtml Happy Surfing and Know Your Source! ************************************************************ DID YOU KNOW? - It's OK to Ask for Help ************************************************************ Recently a lawyer called to ask for help in finding the information he needed to prepare for a depositon. He had done his own searching, but failed to find the data he needed. He was trying to track a product history. He wanted to know when the product development project had begun, to verify that lots of money had been spent in developing the product, and to find out when and why product development had been discontinued. He wasn't finding the information he needed. Why? He was searching the Internet and Westlaw, which are the only sources he had access to. The informa- tion he needed simply wasn't there. Shamel Information Services was able to piece together the picture by searching news archives, industry conference abstracts, and the full text of filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The lawyer had the information he needed well in advance of deposition date, and the costs were less than he expected. You do not need to open accounts with dozens of commercial database providers to obtain access to the information you need. Instead, you should contract with the experts at Shamel Information Services. 858-673-4673 http://www.shamelinfo.com ************************************************************* Notes, News, and Announcements ************************************************************* Now Available - "Introduction to Online Market and Industry Research," edited by Cynthia L. Shamel. Texera Publishers, 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 ************************************************************** Shamel Information Services Web Site ************************************************************** 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 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^