Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.kodak.com!news-nysernet-16.sprintlink.net!206.229.87.26!news-east.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!newsfeed.direct.ca!pln-w!extra.newsguy.com!lotsanews.com!news1.mpcs.com!news.iinet.net.au!not-for-mail From: david@cn.net.au (David Novak) Newsgroups: sci.research,comp.infosystems.www.announce,comp.answers,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Information Research FAQ v.2.6 (Part 3/9) Followup-To: poster Date: 12 May 1998 00:00:00 GMT Organization: iiNet Technologies Lines: 1082 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Message-ID: <6je21t$554$4@news.iinet.net.au> NNTP-Posting-Host: classic25.nv.iinet.net.au Summary: Information Research FAQ: Resources, Tools & Training Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.research:17561 comp.infosystems.www.announce:22076 comp.answers:31287 sci.answers:8270 news.answers:130014 Archive-name: internet/info-research-faq/part3 Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: May 12 1998 URL: http://cn.net.au Copyright: (c) 1998 David Novak Maintainer: David Novak Information Research FAQ (Part 3/9) This section of the FAQ contains a collection of heavily researched articles. These articles are also available from the Spire Project (including http://cn.net.au), & from our free shareware (see http://cn.net.au/tools/infokey.html). You may wish, for convenience, to reach for the webpage version of this information. If you have suggestions, leads or corrections, please do inform us: david@cn.net.au Note also, the disclaimer statement on Part 1 of this FAQ. Contents ----- Part 3 ----- 11. Information Research: Searching Patents 12. Information Research: Government Resources 13. Information Research: Zines, Magazines & Journals 14. Information Research: Newswires & News Databases 15. Information Research: Special Interest Groups ___________________________________________________ 11. Information Research: Searching Patents From the cn.net.au research site http://cn.net.au/articles/patents.html A patent is a disclosure of certain facts about a commercially important invention in exchange for certain rights to exploit the invention. This is a little simple, but explains why patents are factual, unique from other research resources, and a little vague in certain specifics. (see a sample Australian[1] and US patent[2], and a brief description[3].) This article first addresses the most useful free databases, then describes the national patent agency resources, the commercial patent databases, then other commercial services. At the end of this article, we include descriptions of patent classification and insight into patent search strategy. Free Patent Databases These databases are freely available online. [4] The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO[5]) provides a US Patent Bibliographic database at http://patents.uspto.gov/[4] with full use of fields, date and abstract text searching. Choose between their boolean search[6], advanced (field) search[7] or by US patent number[8]. They also maintain a fulltext [US] Aids Patent Database and other resources. [59] The IBM's Patent Server is a public service providing a different patent database[59] of US Patent abstracts. The IBM service is similar but different from the USPTO service - certainly not less powerful. [9] The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO[10]) maintains the Canadian Patent Bibliographic Database[11] which extends from 89 to the present. Abstracts are not provided. Descriptive info is here[12]. [13] The Japanese Patent Office has a searchable database of Japanese patent abstracts[13], which includes the patent number, title, inventor, company, and abstract of the patent. There are more free patent databases - but each is limited and not completely research-worthy. Perhaps the best (of the almost databases) is the Internet Patent Search System[14]. Gregory Aharonian (remember patents@world.std.com?) currently delivers US Patent titles retrieved by class/subclass. He also delivers Patent abstract retrieval using patent numbers (but currently from 1981 to 1989). As you now know, patent.uspto.gov also delivers abstract retrieval, but I like the more minimal title lists. (see US Patent Classification[15]) Gregory also publishes a free newsletter[16] "daily news service dealing with information about the patenting world" and archives past issues[17]. Patent Libraries are an important and cost-effective patent resource. Australia IP Australia (http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au[18]) (Formerly the Australian Industrial Property Organisation (AIPO)) has a patent library in each state capital[19]. Each library provides free access to the APAS database (Australian Patent Abstract Search) and includes a complete microfiche copy of all Australian patents and a the Australian Official Journal of Patents, Trademarks & Designs (the official Australian patent gazette). Most offices also hold US Patents on microfiche!, so the free US patent databases above will also interest you. Staff will help you use the APAS database, arranged for free text searching & International Patent Classification. [19] One particularly useful service is the delivery of copies of many foreign patents for AU$15. You will need the patent number, country and title for this. United States The US Patent and Trade Mark Organization (USPTO[5]) has the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program (PTDL's[20]) - which places the CASSIS database (The USPTO patent abstract database on CD-rom) and US patents around the US. Here is a list of sites[21], and a clickable map[22]. Further, the USPTO has placed a bibliographical database online. The USPTO provides a US Patent Bibliographic database online[4] with full use of fields, date and abstract text searching. Choose between their boolean search[6], advanced (field) search[7] or by US patent number[8]. The IBM's Patent Server provides a different patent database[59] of US Patent abstracts. [8] If you have the US patent #, retrieve the abstract from the USPTO[23]: [24] There are further resources[25] on US Patent Classification, such as retrieval of patent data by class/subclass. [26] US patent libraries also hold the Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, The US Official Gazette. Importantly, the gazette, from 1995-98, is fully online[26], and searchable. United Kingdom The [UK] Patent Office (http://www.patent.gov.uk[27]) provides for the Patents Information Network (PIN[28]) which hosts patent information in the UK. This page includes a clickable map[28]. [29] The British Library is one source with further information online[29] and some patent services. Canada The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) (http://cipo.gc.ca[30]) produces the Canadian Patent Index (CPI). They also publish The Patent Office Record, Canada's official register. [9] CIPO maintains a free Canadian Patent Bibliographic Database[11] which extends from 89 to the present. Abstracts are not provided. Descriptive info is here[12]. [31] See The Canadian Patent Index Manual[31] and a few search hints[32] kept separate, both thanks to Patscan at the University of British Columbia. Other Countries There are many more national patent agencies. Intitut National de la Propriete Industrielle[68] [France] World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)[33] European Patent Office[34] If you need to find other sites, consider reviewing: this list[35] by IP Australia, the USPTO list[36], Questel-Orbit's list[37], ~dgw[38], & ~rgruner[39]. CSIRO keeps an (old?) list of addresses for European Patent Libraries[40] Patent Classification Each country has a distinct numbering scheme: US patents are assigned a consecutive patent number (currently in the 5 millions) while Australian patents have an alphanumeral which includes the year. Above the numbering system, we have the International Patent Classification (IPC), by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO[33]). This system provides an alphanumeral which definitively classifies all patents by form or function. This allows us to locate patents which are similar in form or function. More on this follows[41]. US Patents do not use the IPC, but instead the US Patent Classification System (very similar to the IPC in many ways). Again, more on this follows[42]. One of the most invaluable resources in serious patent research is access to several of the very large commercial patent databases. Commercial Patent Databases Lexis-Nexis (http://www.lexis-nexis.com[8]) retails The Patent and Trademark Library[43] [of databases]. Thanks to Patscan (University of British Columbia), we also a guide to searching patents on Lexis-Nexis[44]. The Dialog Corporation (http://www.dialog.com[4]) retails a collection of patent databases including: Derwent World Patents Index[45] [Files 351,352,280] INPADOC[46] CLAIMS/U.S. PATENTS[47] [Files 340,341,942] EUROPEAN PATENTS FULLTEXT[48] [FILE 348] and others Questel-Orbit (http://www.questel.orbit.com[100]) also retails patent databases, but we have not explored this venue yet. CAS/STN (http://www.cas.org[26]) retails a collection of patent databases including: Chemical Patents Plus[49] for U.S. Chemical patents In addition to the database retailers and producers, there is a lively industry of patent services. Patent Libraries : One source of patent assistance is, of course, the distributed patent libraries in each country. In addition to assistance with lodging patent documents, each library provides free access to bibliographical databases, and in the case of Australia, full text US and Australian patents on microfiche. IP Australia will also, for AU$15, retrieve most full patents from other countries (given a patent number, country & title). PATSCAN (http://www.library.ubc.ca/patscan[50]) within the University of British Columbia, provides patent search and retrieval services through databases like MicroPatent, the European Patent Office and many other databases. QPAT (http://www.qpat.com[51]) offers full text patent searching for paying subscribers and free front page information of all U.S. patents issued since 1974 for people who register. MicroPatent (http://www.micropat.com[52]) offers limited recent patent searching and downloading of patent images for a fee. They have a registration system for the free service. The European Patent Register (http://www.epo.co.at/epo/epidos/epr.htm[53]) provides fee services for European patents The Shadow Patent Office (http://www.spo.eds.com/patent.html[54]) allows you to browse recent (last year or so) patents for free and provides an email search service. For more into, send help to spo_patents@spo.eds.com. Derwent Scientific and Patent Information (http://www.derwent.co.uk) is a prominent publisher of Patent and scientific information including commercial databases and microfiche. Closing Note Until recently, the legal profession has had a complete monopoly on patent work. As you can see, this need no longer be the case. Casual researchers will find the free patent databases easy to use, and more experienced researchers should not be dissuaded from reaching for the commercial databases or patent libraries themselves. The very large commercial databases, like Inpadoc, are particularly easy to use. Of course, there are occasions when patent searches are critical, and experts should be sought. Certainly legal assistance is required if you are preparing to lodge your own patent, but patent data can also be used as a source of information just like an article search or a newspaper search. Lets now look at further resources. Further Resources Frequently Asked Questions about Patent Law[55] by the USPTO. There are many associations active in patent law such as the [US] National Association of Patent Practitioners[56] or The [UK] Chartered Institute of Patent Agents[57]. More are listed in the Questel/Orbit list of patent resources[37]. If you are looking for patent links, consider: Patents on the Internet[38] by David Waring, or the Questel/Orbit List of Patent Resources[37]. The real good link pages are emerging from the many national patent agencies aggressively linking to commercial resources. Visit the Australian[58] and US[36] link pages. Yahoo also has a category for Patent Information[59]. Lastly, consider patent mailing lists, newsletters and two newsgroups (comp.patents & misc.int-property). International Patent Classification Thanks to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Patent Classification works as a universal classification for patents. Started in 1975, updated periodically, currently we have the Sixth Edition (1994). Each code describes a specific form or function for a patent, and may include references to other codes of similar form or function. The whole system is highly specific and logical, where each patent belongs in only one box. Think of this as the dewey Decimal System for Patents. Section, Class & Group. The International Patent Classification looks like this: The first letter is the section - one of eight broad categories labeled A through G. A represents Human Necessities. B covers Transport. Each section is divided into Classes. Each class includes two numbers. In addition, each class is divided into subclasses, the letters which follow the first number. Each subclass is then divided into groups and subgroups. The number before the slash is the group, the number after the slash is the subgroup. Subgroups only have two digits, with further numbers considered as resting behind a decimal point: 3/46 then 3/464, then 3/47. Thus A 47 J 27/09 includes the safety device on your rice cooker and B 63 G 11/00 covers your various aircraft carriers. The IPC system is fully described in these published directories: The Official Catchword Index by World Intellectual Property Organization. International Patent Classification : Guide, Survey of Classes and Summary of Main Groups International Patent Classification : Guide International Patent Classification : Section G - Physics Note: The International Patent Classification includes plenty of internal references - indicating that this group is similar to another group, or that motorized boats take precedence over boat function. These internal references are important to effectively searching databases. There is more to the IPC, and we strongly recommend you read the Introductory Manual to the International Patent Classification (IPC)[60] found on the WIPO website. US. Patent Classification US Patents are classified with 400+ main classes and thousands of subclasses. Sound similar to the International Patent Classification? It is. US patents are also numbered sequentially. This means you can find US patents: by full text searching through the USPTO database CASSIS (found at all patent libraries. by bibliographic & abstract text searching online through the USPTO or IBM Patent Library. by US Patent number by US Patent Classification class & subclass - for a list of all similar patents by an effective combination search (see patent research strategy) by the searching recent notices in the Official Gazette... available online. The USPTO allows you to search or browse the US Manual of Classification[4] online. The Internet Patent Search System[61] lets you to browse US Patent titles by class/subclass. A little more information can be found with the Patent Guide to using CASSIS[62], at the University of Michigan or A Simplified Guide To Searching U.S. Patents[63] thanks to Patscan at the University of British Columbia. Patent Search Strategies Here are the avenues open to you: Full text searching and retrieval through a commercial database. Free bibliographic & abstract searching online followed by selective patent perusal/ordering. Paging manually through the relevant official gazette (US gazette is searchable). Retrieval of the titles & abstracts within appropriate class/subclass then selective review and patent perusal/ordering. This last avenue is particularly resourceful and swift. Start by reaching for The Official Catchword Index, a book by World Intellectual Property Organization and locating possible class/subclasses which will interest you. Alternatively, you could word-search a patent database and note all the class/subclasses found. Lastly, you can always reach for the three separate printed guides which lead you from Section to subclass. The result should be a collection of class/subclasses which may interest you. With this information, you can now browse all the patents in the class/subclass. This process will help you locate all the patent which may interest you since patent classification is more reliable than free text search. (Note, both British and American spelling appears in patent databases.) This also allows you to quickly review the patents in other countries. If you are undertaking a novelty search - is a patent sufficiently unique from other existing patents - then you must review more than one country. There can be a significant delay before patent applications reach other countries without affecting the protection. If you are seeking patent information... as suggested on the IP Australia website, the Australia only accounts for 7% of the world's patents. Patent search strategy is further discussed in the Introductory Manual to the International Patent Classification (IPC)[60] found on the WIPO website. You may also wish to reach Searching for patents[64] from the University of Michigan, and Patents[65] by Simon Fraser University Libraries. This post comes from The cn.net.au research site, a site devoted to information research. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au (c)Copyright Community Networking. (http://cn.net.au) --- footnotes for the above article --- [1] http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/fun/patents/04/fun_eng.htm [2] http://aids.uspto.gov/cgi-bin/ilink4?INDEX+1+USP+5510240+F [3] http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tpd/patents/patents.htm [4] http://patents.uspto.gov/ [5] http://www.uspto.gov/ [6] http://patents.uspto.gov/access/search-bool.html [7] http://patents.uspto.gov/access/search-adv.html [8] http://patents.uspto.gov/access/search-num.html [9] http://strategis.ix.gx.xa/cgi-bin/patent/searche.pl [10] http://cipo.gc.ca/ [11] http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/cgi-bin/patent/searche.pl [12] http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_innov/patent/engdoc/cover.html [13] http://www2.jpo-miti.go.jp/default.htm [14] http://sunsite.unc.edu/patents/intropat.html [15] http://cn.net.au/articles/patents.html#USPC [16] http://sunsite.unc.edu/patents/ipnsinfo.html [17] http://sunsite.unc.edu/patents/document.html [18] http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/ [19] http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/contact.htm [20] http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/index.html [21] http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/ptdlib.htm [22] http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/ptdl/map2.htm [23] http://patents.uspto.gov [24] http://cn.net.au/articles/patents.html#USPC [25] http://cn.net.au/articles/patents.html#USPC [26] http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/ [27] http://www.patent.gov.uk [28] http://www.bl.uk/services/sris/pinmenu.html [29] http://www.bl.uk/services/sris/patents.html [30] http://cipo.gc.ca [31] http://www.patscan.ubc.ca/patmanl.html [32] http://www.patscan.ubc.ca/hints.html [33] http://www.wipo.org [34] http://www.european-patent-office.org [35] http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/links.htm#osipoffices [36] http://www.uspto.gov/web/menu/other.html [37] http://www.questel.orbit.com/readings/patguide.html [38] http://www.aber.ac.uk/~dgw/patent.htm [39] http://www.law.vill.edu/~rgruner/patent5.htm#Agencies [40] http://www.cis.csiro.au/cis/lib/patlibs.html [41] http://cn.net.au/articles/patents.html#IPC [42] http://cn.net.au/articles/patents.html#USPC [43] http://www.lexisnexis.com/lncc/sources/libcont/lexpat.html [44] http://www.library.ubc.ca/patscan/lexis.html [45] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0351.html [46] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0345.html [47] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0340.html [48] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0348.html [49] http://casweb.cas.org/chempatplus/ [50] http://www.library.ubc.ca/patscan [51] http://www.qpat.com [52] http://www.micropat.com [53] http://www.epo.co.at/epo/epidos/epr.htm [54] http://www.spo.eds.com/patent.html [55] http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/faq.html [56] http://www.napp.org [57] http://www.cipa.org.uk/cipa/ [58] http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/links.htm [59] http://www.yahoo.com/Government/Law/Intellectual_Property/Patents/ [60] http://www.wipo.org/eng/general/ipc/manual/ [61] http://sunsite.unc.edu/patents/intropat.html#Manual [62] http://www.ummu.umich.edu/library/PTO/CASSIS.html [63] http://www.library.ubc.ca/patscan/patsrch2.html [64] http://www.ummu.umich.edu/library/PTO/patsearch.html [65] http://www.lib.sfu.ca/kiosk/nelles/patents.htm ___________________________________________________ 12. Information Research: Government Resources From the cn.net.au research site http://cn.net.au/articles/gov.html We pay a high price in both direct and indirect taxes for our government. These are intelligent people, paid to be informed. Government experts and documents and thus generally detailed, factual and reliable[1] ... and helpful. Government Websites [47] Foreign Government Resources on the Web[47]. Thanks to the University of Michigan Documents Center, we now have a direct way to locate entry points to governments around the world! [2] This alternative site, from the University of Southern California, lists international government entry points[2]. [3] Chiefs of State[45] and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments, courtesy of the CIA. US Government There are no certain ways of locating resources by the US government, but there are definitely some brilliant tools to search parts of the government documents. [5] Monthly Catalog of US Government Publications (MOCAT[5]) (1994+) Use ADJ AND OR NOT must be capitalized, ú * for stem ú ".." for phrases. MOCAT is from the U.S. Government Printing Office[8]. They have Improved Professional Search Options[7] and help files[6]. [14] Thomas[14], as in Thomas Jefferson, holds [US] Legislative information on the Internet. Visit this site for a quick search of the full text of bills before congress, the house... [4] GovBot[4], from the Small Business Advisor[5] but originating from the Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval is a search engine of a great number of US government webpages. This site has other searchable fields[6] in addition to the options here. [7] Fedworld[7] is a fine place to start if you are surfing. Australian Government [8][9] Australian Government Index of Publications (AGIP 1992+) from AusInfo[10] (formerly the AGPS).There is an AGIP description[9] of the file here, but start here[8]. AGIP books can be ordered through AusInfo, which has a store in each Australian Capital. The Guide to Australian Government Departments helps to know which government organization has authority on an issue. There are several ways to learn... A book in the library, One of two Web Sites, or some strange little search engine called Wombat. Australian Government Web Sites The National Library Australia has a Government Website[8] Page, a list of other guides[9] to the AU gov, and the list to Federal Government Departments[10]. Official State Entry Points: WA[11] - SA[12] - NT[13] - TAS[14] - VIC[15] - NSW[16] - ACT[17] - QLD[18] State Government Agencies WA[19] - SA[20] - NT[21] - TAS[14] - VIC[22] - NSW[23] - ACT[24] - QLD[25] United Nations [26] The United Nations[27] also works for us. They are prolific publishers on all manner of international issues, their primary sources available through United Nations Depository Libraries and secondary (sales) documents more ubiquitous. We can get an approximate search of UN sales documents with LOCIS, and Unions is the Internet search engine of UN webpages. If you have the time, read our United Nations Information[28] article, which discusses this further. Ms Bushra Jaswal, a UN Librarian in Pakistan, also publishes really good guidance on her website[29]. Freedom of Information Freedom of Information (FOI) Legislation secures you and I the right to view most documents produced in the running of our government. A very useful resource for investigative jounalism, FOI requests can come from anyone. FOI legislation is not universal, and many of the under-developed countries of the world have no such allowance to watch the government. However, where it does exist, it can be a simple and friendly process. An effective step is to speak directly to the nominated FOI officer for the government agency involved. There are also FOI guides, some online, which you can find with a search engine. [30] The Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF[31]) maintains an FOI archive[30], which also includes a little bit on the UK and Australia. [32] The Society of Professional Journalists also maintains an FOI Resource centre[32] Comment on Reliability Government reliability actually needs some clarifying. For some time now, I have heard repeated rumours that in several countries, important national statistics can and are being fudged. I am not talking about changing the definition of unemployment, but something more serious. Keep this in mind. I personally find government publications are prone to factual presentation, but occasionally have difficulties with political bias when it comes to conclusions. I dare not give examples, but perhaps the safe ground in both is a modicum of scepticism and a willingness to untangle the statistics yourself. This post comes from The cn.net.au research site, a site devoted to information research. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au (c)Copyright Community Networking. (http://cn.net.au) --- footnotes for the above article --- [1] http://cn.net.au/articles/gov.html#reliable [2] http://www.usc.edu/Library/GovDocs/foreign_govt.html [3] http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/chiefs/chiefs-toc-view.html [4] http://www.business.gov/Search_Online.html [5] http://www.business.gov/index.html [6] http://www.business.gov/Search.html [7] http://www.fedworld.gov/ [8] http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/gov/ [9] http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/gov/other.html [10] http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/gov/contact.html [11] http://www.wa.gov.au/ [12] http://www.sacentral.sa.gov.au/ [13] http://www.nt.gov.au/ [14] http://www.tased.edu.au/tasonline/0subject/govt.htm#common [15] http://www.vic.gov.au/ [16] http://www.nsw.gov.au [17] http://www.act.gov.au/ [18] http://www.qld.gov.au/ [19] http://www.wa.gov.au/agencies.html [20] http://www.sacentral.sa.gov.au/agencies/atoz.htm [21] http://www.nt.gov.au/agents.shtml [22] http://www.vic.gov.au/stategov/departments.html [23] http://203.102.130.82/ [24] http://www.dpa.act.gov.au/ag/act-department.html [25] http://www.qgd.qld.gov.au/departments.html [26] http://cn.net.au/articles/un.html [27] http://www.un.org/ [28] http://cn.net.au/articles/un.html [29] http://www.un.org.pk/UNPVL.html [30] http://www.eff.org/pub/Activism/FOIA/ [31] http://www.eff.org [32] http://spj.org/foia/index.htm ___________________________________________________ 13. Information Research: Zines, Magazines & Journals From the cn.net.au research site http://cn.net.au/articles/period.html Zines, Magazines, Journals and Newsletters; each provide the valuable services of quality control, editorial input, and focus. Newsprint, is dealt with in a separate article, as is the task of finding articles[1]. This article addresses the task of finding periodicals. Most often you will search for articles through an index or commercial database. An alternative approach uses periodicals as a research venue. Locate a topic-specific periodical and you have a collection of topic-specific information. Zines on the Internet There are actually fewer zines than you may expect, and some are not noticeably different from webpages. Some are well-developed, expertly edited and well worth your attention. [2] John Labovitz created the definitive E-Zine-list, and has further improved this list by offering a title list[3], and an even better keyword/subject list[4]. As of Dec 19th 1997, John lists 2573 zines. [5][6] A brilliant solution to finding new zines (or other Internet periodicals) is the search the past discussion of NewJour[5], a mailing list dedicated to new journals. search for a phrase search for all words search for any words [7] One of the original Electronic Periodical Lists is now published as the ARL Directory of Electronic Journals and Newsletters, 6th Edition by The Association of Research Libraries. This directory is online[7], but as there is no search engine, the site is best if you know a zine title. [8][9] Certain Universities have very good lists of electronic periodicals, but unfortunately include journals available under license, so not available publicly. The University of Southern California's Electronic Journals Collection[8], and the University of Washington Ejournals[9] both have good lists. Electronic journals can also be found with commercial organizations who sell journal subscriptions to libraries. These sites are still small, listing only well established zines: E.journal[10] from E.doc and the CIC Electronic Journal Collection[11] (also available by topic[12]). Primary Periodical directories. If you are searching for a periodical, look for three published directories and one online resources. I strongly recommend against searching other online sources unless you know the title. Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory by Bowker, is a giant international directory of Periodicals now in its 34th edition. (dewey: Q011.34 ULR) EBSCO's Serial Directory, is another giant international directory of Periodicals. (dewey: Q011.34) Newsletters in Print by Gale Research, is an annual featuring 11,000+ newsletters. While there are broad subject categories, use the real subject index at the back of the book. (dewey: Q071.3 NEW). [13] The Library of Congress (LOCIS) serial collection is free to search online. The collection holds 800,000+ serials, but still this is not so brilliant as one may expect. The experimental search system[13] allows for limiting to serials only, and the results page includes links to other publications by the same author. This search here is only a taste, so use the experimental search[13] for more refined options. [23] Another brilliant periodical list is the COPAC periodical search[23]. Copac offers unified access to the catalogues of some of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland. Occasional Periodical References Occasionally, you may find these sources helpful. These are not definitive complete lists. [14] Subject Access to Australian Journals is an effort at an Australian periodical list thanks to the National Library of Australia. [15] Libraries hold large collections of periodicals, and you may be able to search your favourite library collection through the Internet. This link is to our article Finding a Library[16]. Closing Note Occasionally you will wish to subscribe to a promising periodical and read page by page. This works well in organizations where periodicals can be circulated among interested parties, passively picking up information. Most research, however, is an active process. An alternative is to browse the table of contents pages of appropriate periodicals. Automated delivery of contents pages is emerging as a viable electronic service, though this too is more surfing or browsing than research. Bibliographic and full text databases can also be used to identify promising periodicals if for no other reason than the frequency of interesting titles alerts you to their existence. This post comes from The cn.net.au research site, a site devoted to information research. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au (c)Copyright Community Networking. (http://cn.net.au) --- footnotes for the above article --- [1] http://cn.net.au/articles/articles.html [2] http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/ [3] http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/zines/ [4] http://www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/keywords/ [5] http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/ [6] http://gort.ucsd.edu/newjour/search.html [7] http://www.arl.org/scomm/edir/index.html [8] http://www-lib.usc.edu/Info/Acqui/Ejournals/ [9] http://www.lib.washington.edu/libinfo/ejournals/ [10] http://www.edoc.com/ejournal/ [11] http://ejournals.cic.net [12] http://ejournals.cic.net/toc.Topic.html [13] http://lcweb2.loc.gov/resdev/ess/booksquery2a.html [14] http://www.nla.gov.au/oz/ausejour/ [15] http://cn.net.au/articles/library.html [16] http://cn.net.au/articles/library.html ___________________________________________________ 14. Information Research: Newswires and News Databases From the cn.net.au research site http://cn.net.au/articles/newswire.html News prepared by individual reporters is collected together by large news organizations, then delivered to other news organizations around the world. Your local news organization does not have a reporter in Iran, but rather buys the story off a newswire, then packages it in your evening news hour or morning newspaper. United Press International (UPI)[125] Reuters Global News[1] Agence France Presse[4] Associated Press[2] Xinhua and more These very large organizations make their information available to you in a variety of ways. News collects in large commercial databases of past news, some single source & other large multi-source databases. In addition, current news is incorporated into large multi-source systems delivered by email or newsgroups. Certain newswires are available online free of charge. There are also a range of focused newswires such as Newsbyte (computer issues), PR Newswire (product releases), and Middle Eastern newswires. Further newswires can be found at Yahoo[3] and our Information Industry Directory[4] article. I can think of four ways to use this information for research: 1) As an alternative to your evening news or morning newspaper. Online information is available 24 hours a day, in more detail. 2) Search past news to locate information unlikely to emerge in journals or magazines. News includes a great deal of local detail and personal information unlikely to be found elsewhere. 3) As a historical record of events, perhaps the basis of a timeline. 4) Current Awareness and Alerts so you articles come to you as they are reported. News stories by email will become a large industry over the next two years. Free and Almost Free Newswires [5][6] Yahoo News[5] is leading this field with web delivery of current news from Reuters and what looks like excerpts from the UPI newswire. Yahoo also includes a free search for one weeks news. Further search assistance can be found here[6]. News is delivered as webpages, and organized into about 15 categories including such broad categories as Sports, Entertainment, Politics. Clearly, the search engine is the best aspect of this service. [7] Voice of America Newswire[8], during the days of iron curtain detente, VoA delivered US news and propaganda to oppressed people by radio broadcast. There was always an American bias (or rather, anti-dictator bias). Voice of America is still around, and their Newswire is free and available in a range of unlikely languages as well as English. Visit the index of current stories[7] and the description of the symbols used. A week of stories are available by gopher. [9] The Washington Post[9] offers their own news for searching, as well as the Associated Press wire, each searched separately for the past week. [10] Fox News presents current news online[10] (both current events and sport news). CNN news is another searchable site[11]. Both provide repackage some newswires and present them online. Pathfinder also presents the latest news[12], Reuters, I think. Use their searchable form[13] if you like. c|news (www.news.com[14]) is another. [14] Newsbytes[15] is a newswire solely on computer topics, computer, telecom and online world. Their websites includes a trial search engine and a description[16]. Clarinet Clarinet is not free, but you may already have 'free' access if your Internet Service Provider subscribed. This service is only available to ISPs, Corporations or Educational facilities and not for personal subscriptions. Clarinet news is delivered as newsgroups starting with 'clari.' If you have seen clari newsgroups, then you have access. [27][15] Clarinet[16] - brings you UPI newswire, Reuters newswire, Newsbytes newswire and a few more[15]. The information is delivered in tightly focused newsgroups such as clari.news.childrn+family (family issues, adoption & marriage), or clari.news.conflict.peace_talks. This almost makes up for the absence of a search feature. Here is a list of clari newsgroups[17] with descriptions, samples 1[18] & 2[19], and a list of subscribed ISPs[20]. If you are an ISP, subscription info is here[21], then email sales@clari.net for a quote. Current, Multi-Source Delivery Options Current news, typically the most recent 7 days, is available inexpensively through current information retailers. These services are distinct from database marketers or database developers in two ways; past information is not available, and costs are considerably less. [67] Inquisit News Service[67], is an agent-based service, where information which matches your search requirements is emailed to you. This covers a range of newswires and articles, and the system is extremely simple and flexible. Registration costs about US$13/month (as on webpage Nov15 '97) but better still, they have a two-week free trial! Also look at their overview[22], and source list. [23][24] NewsPage[23], a production of Individual Inc, includes access to newswires and articles organized into 2500 topics. Registration costs about US$7/month (as on webpage Nov15 '97) billed to a credit card. It is delivered as a personalized webpage. [25] Both the Electric Library[25] and Researchpaper.com[26] also provide current information, but primarily to the student market. I did not appreciate the advertising and the 14 day trial is not what it seems. Subscription costs about US$10/month or $60/year (as on webpage Nov15 '97). [14] The Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com[119]) runs a subscription service of about $49/year to their archive and newspaper... Alerts and Current Awareness requests are built in to most information retrieval services. For example, though fairly complex, you can arrange for information to be emailed to you from Dialog databases by establishing an alert. Costs are considerably more than the three systems above, but then the information differs too. In the case of Dialog databases, costs can be found on the database descriptions. Commercial News Databases [27] The Agence France[28] newswire and the Canada Newswire[29] are present in several databases as well as potentially from their source. Here is a list of newswire databases[27]. [30] Large newsprint databases like Global Textline Database[30] and [US] National Newspaper Index include local news which never appears on newswires. [31] IAC also produces Newswire ASAP, citation and the complete text to 11 international newswires. World News Connection [90] The US Government markets a foreign news service, World News Connection[129], which is more expensive, but boasts the best coverage of non-U.S. media sources. There is an extensive array of translated and English-language news and information from distant newspapers, key press agencies & broadcasters. The database extends back two or more years. Costs start at US$25 for 7 days/US$65 for a month for an individual and for a little more, includes alert services. The description is online[130]. Closing Note Newswires and News Databases are just two elements of a large industry which extends to the your local newspaper and to further specialty databases. Most newspapers maintain their own local news database, and some make this available electronically. A manual clipping services[32] may also be the option - certain firms manually page through local papers looking for advertisements or articles. News articles are typically light and biased. In research, news often proves particularly useful for locating information about individuals or businesses. The sheer quantity of news in the large news databases makes it a useful resource to fall back on when the research topic is tightly focused. I once discovered an obscure scientist working in a unique field from a small 3 paragraph article in a local farmer's newspaper in England. This post comes from The cn.net.au research site, a site devoted to information research. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au (c)Copyright Community Networking. (http://cn.net.au) --- footnotes for the above article --- [1] http://www.reuters.com/ [2] http://wire.ap.org/ [3] http://www.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/News_and_Media/News_ Services/Newswires/ [4] http://cn.net.au/articles/iid.html [5] http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/ [6] http://www.yahoo.com/docs/info/news_search_help.html [7] http://www.ibb.gov/newswire/longindex.html [8] http://www.voa.gov/ [9] http://www.washingtonpost.com/ [10] http://www.foxnews.com/ [11] http://www.cnn.com/ [12] http://www.pathfinder.com/news/latest/ [13] http://cgi.pathfinder.com/cgi-bin/p_search [14] http://www.news.com/ [15] http://www.clari.net/aboutclarinews.html [16] http://www.clari.net/ [17] http://www.clari.net/newfulldesc/newfulldescmenu.html [18] http://www.clari.net/3-stories.shtml [19] http://www.clari.net/tearsheets.html [20] http://www.clari.net/iap/ [21] http://www.clari.net/pricmenu.html [22] http://www.inquisit.com/aboutinquisit/overview.html [23] http://www.newspage.com/ [24] http://www.newspage.com/np.help.html [25] http://www.elibrary.com/ [26] http://www.researchpaper.com/ [27] http://cn.net.au/cgi-bin/cd_find.pl?search=newswire [28] http://cn.net.au/cgi-bin/cd_find.pl?search=agence+france [29] http://cn.net.au/cgi-bin/cd_find.pl?search=canada+newswire [30] http://cn.net.au/cgi-bin/cd_find.pl?search=global+textline [31] http://cn.net.au/cgi-bin/cd_find.pl?search=newswire+ASAP [32] http://cn.net.au/articles/i_market.html ___________________________________________________ 15. Information Research: Special Interest Groups From the cn.net.au research site http://cn.net.au/articles/sigs.html Associations, Newsgroups, Mailing Lists: Each are focal points of discussion, exchange of information and professional development. Collectively called Special Interest Groups (SIGs) these are brilliant research sites and a contact point for experts. The copyright mailing list is a group of more than 100 lawyers who focus on copyright. This list, and their Copyright FAQ, are the best resources on copyright law in the world; current, factual, and peer-reviewed. As a source of experts, I once found an accomplished but poorly published scientist from a message posted to a mailing list months before. The scientist was amazed. Locating Mailing Lists [1] Tile.Net/Lists has both a searchable and directory style index to mailing lists. This has overtaken the others to become the best, most helpful place to start. [76][76] Liszt, the mailing list directory is the second place to look, and perhaps the definitive location. Again, there is a database and a subject directory. [2] Vivians' The List of Lists, a medium sized but more informative database of international lists. [3] The Directory of Scholarly and Professional E-Conferences, known also as the Kovacs Lists[3], is a long standing service in the world. This source also has a subject based listing[4]. [5] Ozlists, a definitive but incomplete listing of Australian lists. There is a useful subject index too. [3][4] The Argus Clearinghouse Their subject oriented webpage[4] is our preferred tool here. Many describe important mailing lists. A combination search is usually most rewarding. Keep in mind some lists will have too little or too much traffic for your purpose. Find a list with a manageable number of messages and a wide enough membership. This takes a little effort in interrogating the list management software for the number of forum members, a look at past discussion, and a look for supporting websites. List software assistance is found at the bottom of this webpage[6]. Research Related Lists There are several lists you are far more likely to want to use. Business Librarians List - Buslib-l Government Documents List - Govdoc Australian Government Documents List These are usually willing to field polite focused questions about your research project. Buslib-l has graduated to a newsgroup too. Associations are more involved than their Internet companion, and are often more involved in paper publishing, conferences and statistics. The Australian Booksellers Association publishes the best benchmark statistics on this topic. This is to say, when approaching an association, consider asking for their publications list. Directory of Associations The definitive way to find an association is through certain large national directories. We will show a couple ways to search for them on the Internet, but we strongly suggest you don't. The Directory of Australian Associations is the definitive Australian source for addressing and contact numbers. All the primary libraries will certainly have a copy, as will many smaller libraries. National Association Directories exist for many countries: [US]Encyclopedia of Associations (Gale Research) Directory of Associations in Canada Directory of Association of Asia 1997/1998 by Bing Chang Finding Associations Online A directory of the American Society of Association Executives is online[7]. Unfortunately, the database is small & americanocentric. A search for 'book' did get me the address of the American Booksellers Association, but not others. Of course, if you have a name, use a large search engine to find an address. We recommend a meta-search engine called Debriefing (www.debriefing.com[8]), as it also suggests a home-site The best online source is a bit of work, but involves searching for associations which have published, by searching the large national libraries. The Library of Congress experimental search system[13] allows us to search for "association" as an author, and book as a keyword. Incidentally, this process is similar to searching for theses - search normally but add the word theses to the query. The ASCOT database includes details on the management of Associations in Australia. Similar databases will include management details of associations in other countries. Closing Note There are three important research applications for mailing lists. 1) Research through past discussion, 2) Directly ask members for assistance, and 3) Become a participative member to pick up and exchange information. On a personal side, mailing lists are easy to use and a minimal investment in time (the information comes to you). However, mailing lists are difficult to develop and maintain. Few reach the potential brilliance of this form of communication, so that many of the forums you come across will be non-existent or on their death-bed. Mailing lists depend on four vital ingredients - Content, Participation, IT-support, and Management. Often, one of these go wrong and the forum dies. As a member, there are important obligations starting with participation, and ending with forum etiquette. The best forums are private. The list manager decides if you are allowed in and more control and effort is expended in developing interesting content and discussion. If you find a forum is closed and private, persevere. When a group of like-minded individuals come together to achieve an aim, they often create an association. What better place to research. Even better, associations often interpret their purpose as a place to pool and distribute information. Larger associations often maintain a small library of their own and many associations publish documents about their area of interest. Furthermore, if you are seeking an expert in a given field, associations are sure to have one, or two, or many. For the smaller associations, be polite but firm in describing your interest and be ready to buy whatever small book they do publish in your quest for further information. Interrogating List Software There are many different mailing list programs; listserv, majordomo, listproc, mailbase, and more. Each program has its own interrogation commands. Almost all automatically archive messages. Mailing List instructions Subscribe UnSubscribe Listserv, Listproc & Mailserv Subscribe [listname] firstname lastname Unsubscribe [listname] Majordomo Subscribe [listname] (email address) Unsubscribe [listname] (email address) Mailbase Join [listname] firstname lastname Leave [listname] Much more detail[9] can be found at Saint Louis University Law Library, thanks to James Milles. This post comes from The cn.net.au research site, a site devoted to information research. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au (c)Copyright Community Networking. (http://cn.net.au) --- footnotes for the above article --- [1] http://www.tile.net/tile/listserv/ [2] http://catalog.com/vivian/interest-group-search.html [3] http://www.n2h2.com/KOVACS/ [4] http://www.n2h2.com/KOVACS/Sindex.html [5] http://www.gu.edu.au/gint/ozlists/ozlists_home.html [6] http://cn.net.au/articles/sigs.html#list_software [7] http://www.asaenet.org/Gateway/OnlineAssocSlist.html [8] http://www.debriefing.com [9] http://lawwww.cwru.edu/cwrulaw/faculty/milles/mailser.html ___________________________________________________ This document continues as Part 4/9. __________________________________________________ Copyright (c) 1998 by David Novak, all rights reserved. This FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, website, or BBS as long as it is posted unaltered in its entirety including this copyright statement. This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections or compilations without express permission from the author. Further permission requests please to david@cn.net.au ----------------------------------- David Novak - david@cn.net.au