60 Information Theory (Information Research)
Description
This article is from the Information Research FAQ, by David Novak david@spireproject.com with numerous contributions by others.
60 Information Theory (Information Research)
The Information Service Industry
Private Detectives, Professional Database Researchers, Library
Researchers, Legal Researchers, Commercial Database Producers,
Commercial Database Retailers, Magazines, News Organizations,
Libraries, this is a big industry. Information Research is just a
process linking together people seeking information with people who
provide it.
It seems in vogue to reconsider all businesses as being in the
information business. My accountant and your stockbroker both provide
information services. While I agree these two professions are intensive
users of information, I purchase their interpretation of information.
It is not a trivial difference but nonetheless serves to cloud the true
size of the industry just involved in selling you access to
information.
From university days, I was aware of the large commercial database
retail giants (Dialog, Dun&Bradstreet) and the database producers. I
also met with some of the firms distributing largely to the library
market (like SilverPlatter). Little further information about these
businesses leaks beyond the research industry.
Some of the businesses are aimed primarily towards the library
community. Database subscriptions are unlikely to interest an
individual. Few are appropriate to businesses. Let us briefly scan just
the products and services intended for a consumer.
Commercial Database Retailers - These organizations devote their effort
at bringing commercial database information to individuals. Dialog,
Datastar, Infomart, Lexis-Nexis and others will assist you to access
information only available through commercial databases. (See our
article, "Commercial Databases".)
Current News and Current Awareness - If you want to know of new
articles and news important to you as it is reported, then there are a
selection of services available: news by email, news by newsgroup, news
by periodic automated database search, and other novel approaches.
Costs for this service have fallen dramatically: effective solutions
start at about US$10/month and are not strictly dependent on range &
quality of information. (See our article, "Newswires & News
Databases".)
Information Brokers - There is a whole industry of specialized
researchers who will try to locate and compile research to your
specifications. The backbone of this industry is payment for access to
commercial databases, but different information brokers will gladly
enter into any effort required to locate information. Information
brokers, business librarians, legal researchers and others all use the
tools described in this website, as a service for their clientele. (See
our article, "Research as a Discipline".)
Patent Assistance - Patent searching is one of the more difficult
branches of serious research. Some of the resources are free on the
internet, and commercial patent databases are readily available through
the database retailers. If there is serious money at stake, you must
consider legal assistance. Certainly use lawyers for patent
applications (beyond the scope of the Spire Project). But a patent can
also be a research tool. Patent research can provide you with what is
often the first appearance of costly commercial research. This is both
a source of cutting edge solutions and competitive intelligence.
Media Monitoring - Certain firms solely focus on monitoring TV, radio &
newspapers. These firms typically run teams who page through newspapers
looking for matching articles, then post or fax to the client. New
technologies are also advancing into this field.
Document Delivery - Most local bookstores will gladly help you locate a
book from their directories but if you want a book from abroad, or an
article from a journal or magazine, you will need the assistance of
another set of information workers. A distinct but similar approach
assists with the distribution of journal articles. Many of the document
delivery firms are closely tied to information organizations. Little
information is available about these organizations.
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