Columns
Many of us have relied on the twice-monthly FreePint newsletter (www.freepint.com) for years to stay abreast of business information resources, new research techniques, books of interest to information professionals, and career advice.
In addition to the UK-based FreePint newsletter, the same team also offers the FreePint Bar (www.freepint.com/bar) for exchange of questions and answers, plus the Student Bar (www.freepint.com/student) “for students on information-related courses to get help with projects, find out about recruitment and placements, and chat to other students around the world.”
In addition, the fee-based FreePint Reports now offer various information management topics grouped according to FUMSI.
What the heck (we asked) is FUMSI? It’s the acronym created by the Freepint team to describe the international scope of their readership, and the ways those readers interact with information. Specifically, they: find information, use information, manage information, and share information.
According to Freepint managing editor Robin Neidorf, these categories break down as follows:
People who find business information:
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•Know, collect and organize sources
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•Understand online and offline search techniques
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•Constantly hone their search skills
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•Provide a valuable asset for organizations of all kinds
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People who use business information:
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•Organize and report on data
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•Interpret information for their own or others’ decisions
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•Plan, implement, and measure information-driven activities and initiatives
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•Identify trends and conduct historical analyses
People who manage business information:
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•Build tools and design systems to store and extract information
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•Identify opportunities to improve the quality of information through better management
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•Help people who need information find and use it
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•Integrate information into the daily workings and long-term infrastructure of an organization
People who share business information:
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•Forge the links between information and the people who need it
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•Make information personally relevant to those who need it
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•Consider the needs of audiences and select the right information to present in the right way
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•Summarize, package, and present information in a variety of formats and across all media
Although the Freepint group has used the FUMSI approach to define and categorize the various fee-based reports they sell, I thought it also provided an interesting way to think about the work we do, or, from a career standpoint, the type of work we might like to do. Consider it another self-assessment tool, and ask yourself which of these four categories of information “interaction” most appeals to you, and then determine if you’re currently in your sweet spot. If not, perhaps it’s time to consider a mid-course correction.
Resources:
FreePint is part of a collection of information businesses and resources (the Onopoly Network) that includes the following:
DigBig
A free service that allows you to shorten those annoying too-long, work-related web addresses into a shorter address.
DocuTicker
From Gary Price, Shirl Kennedy, and a team of contributing editors; identifies and describes “full-text reports published by government agencies, nonprofits and NGOs, and other public interest organizations.”
FreePint
Monthly compendium of business information resources, new research techniques, books of interest to information professionals, and career advice.
Jinfo
Short for Jobs in Information; a database of information-related jobs that can be searched by keyword. You can also subscribe to Jinfo’s monthly newsletter (career and job-seeking advice), as well as the free weekly jobs update.
Researcha
Provides “instant access to business information for the UK and 10 European countries.”
ResourceShelf
From the DocuTicker team; both a database of best-in-class, web-based resources and a weekly newsletter to which you can subscribe. Resources include databases, lists, rankings, multimedia content, and special-topic portals, among other items.
VIP
Described as “a digital magazine that includes in-depth product reviews and comparisons, interviews with senior information industry figures and monitoring of research to identify future trends.” In addition, VIP provides news analysis as well as a quick overview of trends in the information industry.
Willco.com
Hosts e-mail newsletters and discussion forums, and is legendary among independent information professionals for the quality of its customer service (read: hand-holding as needed!), reliability, and ease of use.
And one more resource, since we’ve mentioned Robin Neidorf, FreePint’s managing editor. Prior to her current role, Robin was an independent information professional who did extensive training work. She wrote what is perhaps the best book out there on creating online (and otherwise “distant”) training courses for those of us who have little or no background in this emerging area of professional opportunity. The book is Teach Beyond Your Reach: An Instructor’s Guide to Developing and Running Successful Distance Learning Classes, Workshops, Training Sessions and More (Information Today, 2006), and it’s a terrific resource for anyone who is contemplating delivering knowledge from a distance.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Freepint and the FUMSI
