INFORMATION UPDATE February 2005 Number 59 Welcome to INFORMATION UPDATE, the free monthly newsletter for information seekers and users. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IN THIS ISSUE ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ => Do It Yourself - Web Site Tracking => Did You Know? - Joint Venture Information Elusive => Notes, News and Announcements => Subscribe/Unsubscribe Information ************************************************************ DO IT YOURSELF - Web Site Tracking ************************************************************ Let your trackers do the watching. Web site trackers will monitor web sites of interest to you and will send you an e-mail when pages change. I've been using two free tools. I use WatchThatPage.com to monitor the Medical DeviceLink page and InfoMinder.com to monitor the Medcial Device Register site. I've been monitoring these sites for about a week and have received 8 or 9 notices of changes. It is possible to include keywords in your profile, so an e-mail is sent when those keywords appear. Or, you can keep it more general, as I do, and receive notification when anything changes. WatchThatPage lets you add pages by pasting the URL into a form. InfoMinder offers a variety of methods, including the option to download an Internet Explorer assistant. With that you can right click on any page of interest and save it for monitoring. Who should use web site monitors? Most of us. Here are three ideas: **Marketing people could track competitor's pages for new product announcements or press releases. **Investors can monitor company web sites for new developments. **Job seekers can track career pages of companies and employment web sites, watching for relevant keywords in job titles or job descriptions. Try WatchThatPage at http://www.watchthatpage.com or Infominder at http://www.infominder.com. Let us know how you're using these tools and how you like them. ************************************************************ DID YOU KNOW? - Joint Venture Information is Elusive ************************************************************ Identifying joint ventures is one of the more challenging research tasks. There are databases dedicated to mergers and acquisitions, such as Mergerstat and Thomson Financials M&A. Joint ventures, however, are more elusive. Information related to these business relationships is often embedded in filings to the Security and Exchanges Commission, in press releases, on company web sites, or in the trade and industry published literature. Understanding the terms of a joint venture or strategic alliance in your industry can help you value the products and services your company has to offer. These deals, when the details are available, can serve as a benchmark for future deals and partnerships. It's possible to identify a deal or two using Google, the company name, and the phrase "joint venture," but this is a random approach at best. When you seek a more systematic approach to identifying joint venture or strategic alliance information, call on a professional researcher to dig up the details. The answers are not always available, but it's reassuring to know that your search has been aided by the tools and skills of an experienced searcher. For more information, contact Shamel Information Services, 858-673-4673 or mailto:cshamel@shamelinfo.com ************************************************************* Notes, News, and Announcements ************************************************************* >>Last month's issue described a strategy for locating PowerPoint presentations that might have instruction or discriptions of technical concepts. One reader responded with a reminder of the Google define: search function. He said, "I liked your tip on locating detailed presentations. For a quick definition, though, the google define term works well." Go to http://www.google.com In the search box enter define: Example - define:monoclonal antibodies >>Regarding the PowerPoint tip and the http://www.kayak.com ideas, another reader says: "The ppt edu tip is great!!! I did try the kayak search for a personal trip. It worked great. I did not save any money, but I got a much faster cross sectional look at all my options. I got 196 flights that matched my initial criteria. I was able to refine it and got 7 perfect ones (0 stops, better times) ranging in price from $326 to $524. Thanks for the great info! >>Upcoming Presentations and Speaking Dates for Cynthia Shamel April 8, 2005 SLA San Diego Chapter, San Diego CA USA **"Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands: The Independent Option" April 17, 2005 Association of Independent Information Professionals, Tucson AZ USA **"How to Plan and Roll Out an e-Newsletter" http://www.aiip.org/Conference/2005/index.html June 5, 2005 SLA Annual Conference, Toronto Canada **"Business Sources for Biomedical Librarians" Half day workshop. http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2005/index.cfm >>Information Seekers may now subscribe to Information Update using the web form at http://shamelinfo.com. If someone has forwarded this newsletter to you, why not register for your own free copy? Use the form on the Shamel Information Services web site at http://shamelinfo.com. ************************************************************** 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. Copyright 2005 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 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^