November 26, 2008
Sometimes good search advise comes from unexpected sources. This 10+ Things column from Tech Republic has some simple but effective advise on finding email addresses.
Two of my favorites are:
- Check your contacts and own email folders
- Pick up the phone
A third favorite requires a bit of deduction and trial and error. This method is probably not good when trying to build a long list but for that one person combining names or initials at domains might prove worthwhile.
Of course, author Jody Gilbert, also provides some search tools that could prove useful when trying to verify email addresses. What’s your best method for finding an email address for a needed contact?
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Research Tip | Tagged: email contacts, Research Tip | 
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Posted by answermaven
November 24, 2008
My apologies to those faithful few who may have been trying to hold their breath for my next post. I’ve been traveling and dealing with a few other things that prevented me from writing something worth your time.
I recently lost a long-time pet. In order to distract myself from the bad news while waiting for test results at the veterinarian’s office, I began thinking. I realized that for me, pet care is a necessary expense but that some things, in fact, a lot of things, about pet care are “luxury” or at least “nice-to-have” items.
The thought process went further in my mind to wonder if veterinarians would suffer some of the same economic constraints as other businesses during our current crisis. Will responsible pet owners cut down on those last-ditch treatment options? Will pets find themselves eating higher grade retail food rather than prescription pet food?
So I made plans during that visit to do a brief Industry Report here on pet care, specific to veterinarian care, not all the retail stuff but the must do, should do, could do stuff we choose for our sick pets. I hope to do this brief report soon, perhaps during the holiday weekend.
In the meantime, watch this space for other items you may find useful or interesting.
Leave a Comment » | Business | Tagged: Industry Research, Veterinarians | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
November 18, 2008
An August 2008 an interpretative guidance is intended for companies offering interactive information on their website for investors.
The guidance affects four areas of compliance.
- Regulation FD
- Liability in regards to public access to historic information, links to third party sites, summary information in context of fraud prevention. It also takes into account social network impact for fraud prevention.
- Clarification is made about how website information is affected/not affected by Sarbanes-Oxley
- Printer-friendly standards are addressed.
Interesting to note in the Press Release is the impact that social networks have had on the need for further guidance by the SEC. The interaction of investors seems to be a major contributing factor to these new guidelines.
8 years ago Sarbanes-Oxley was passed, now we have new guidelines related to electronic disclosures, wonder how soon new regulations and guidance documents will be needed as technologies continue to advance?
Leave a Comment » | Business | Tagged: Corporate Governance, SEC | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
November 13, 2008
Content rich government resources abound. As a citizen and a researcher, I’m ever thankful for Government Document Depository Libraries and the wealth of electronic resources made available to all.
One of the most content rich resources that has probaby seen an increase in traffic from citizen researchers is the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
With the Jobs report released last week and the discouraging numbers involved, more people are probably interested in seeing what past trends were and what the current situation is from manufacturing to white collar jobs. BLS offers you that ability.
Not all of the information that is available is easy to get to but the site continues to improve. Here are a few usage tips:
- Pay attention to the Categories. Searching within the specific topic you are interested in will provide better returns on a search.
- Use the Tables and Databases carefully. This is where the trends data can be most powerful.
- Look for in-depth research within the Publications feature.
- And if you must approach the site in a Google-like way, at least consider choosing one of the drop-down “libraries” before you hit search.
Obviously, this is just a teaser for how you can improve your use of the BLS site. I really can’t give away all of my secrets now can I?
The good news about this teaser, is it’s fairly adaptable to any online search environment. So make your results relevant and think before you type.
Leave a Comment » | Research Tip | Tagged: BLS, Unemployment Data | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
November 11, 2008
This interview with Richard Susskind causes one to stop and think deeply about the Future of Law. The analysis and predictions summarized in the interview about Susskind’s latest book bring to the forefront some long term concerns. These theories and thoughts that have been on the minds of legal professionals for years without substantive preventive actions. Actions necessary for the continued cultural and economic success of the legal industry which commoditization and technology advances threaten.
In-house counsel concerns dominate big firm business. Big firms have not invested enough thought and strategic planning into knowledge management to assure in-house counselors of a readiness to meet the demands caused by the demands of electronically stored information. In-house law departments don’t have the resources necessary to meet the technical demands of today’s legal business environment. Offering a comprehensive, strategic approach to ESI would be a powerful competitive edge.
The telling quote for me from this interview is this comparison between UK and US firms.
The latter have invested more, for example, in knowledge management and in online legal services. Understandably, the best of the US firms have not yet seen why they should bother. Business has been very good without that stuff, thank you very much.
Today’s credit crunch and the demands of in-house counsel to cut costs and deliver high service means that business as usual will not cut it any more. Innovations will become standard operating procedures. Firms should begin to implement strategies that will keep them as a key service provider to their bread and butter corporate clients.
Strategies related to records management for ESI, e-discovery response, and environmental sustainability will increase in importance. Firms that provide protection to corporations on those fronts will be the firms that survive the future of law.
One more interesting note about this interview caught my attention. For now, it’s impact is limited to the UK but Susskind briefly touched on the “Legal Services Act“ that will allow “alternative business structures” for the legal services industry. Susskind predicts that the co-mingling of non-lawyers and lawyers in the legal services industry will increase in importance and the future of “new-look” services. I predict that the US will continue to to wrestle with alternative services as well and that the co-mingling here will be a struggle that esteemed attorneys will reluctantly embrace. Alternative businesses to-date have been a mostly attorney only industry and that may have led to some missed opportunities.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: law firms, Legal services | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
November 6, 2008
Today, I’ve been busy with some final duties for the non-profit I have been working with for nearly 8 years. On Monday, I announced my resignation from the board effective December 2008. My final duties include doing my part to clean-up our donor database and review and revise our Board Manual and Volunteer Training materials.
This would be oh, so easy, if only…
If only, all the data was in a central location. If only, I hadn’t lost my originals that had been done years ago on computers long gone. If only, the files that I had copied from other machines had actually made it onto the organization’s computer (I could have sworn, they were there before I deleted my back-up.)
Today’s work caused me to reflect upon how people don’t really pay attention to important information when they are involved with an organization, whether it be work or volunteer. This morning, I went through lots of “dead paper” (borrowed from Stephen Arnold) and filed it accordingly.
One thing became very clear, an organization that has lots of volunteer workers in a decentralized environment must have a policy in place about how the meeting records, training materials, and organization policies are archived. Organizational history in a grass-roots organization is critical to the on-going support and well being of the entity. Knowing where new members can access that information is extremely important.
A central place for all of this rich information is important whether in dead paper or electronic. I will make some final recommendations to my fellow volunteers encouraging even more attention to the proper filing/archiving of critical information.
If you have gotten complacent in your own policies regarding information management whether at work or within your own volunteer organization, I would encourage you to follow these guidelines. I know, you’ve heard it before but it really is important.
- Back-up data.
- Electronic documents created on a home computer for work/volunteer should be transferred to the organizations files.
- Don’t let the paperwork overwhelm you; file it, recycle it, but don’t pile it.
- For important documents: Time/Date Stamp and File a Hard Copy and an Electronic Copy.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: Information Management | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
November 4, 2008
Last night WLKY News in Louisville aired this story about the upsurge in oil drilling throughout Kentucky. While the global oil market is sliding, as evidenced by the $1.99 gas prices you see, permits for drilling in Kentucky have increased over the past two years and revenues are up for this local economic investment. 933 permits have been issued in 2008.
For investors and oil explorers interested in cashing in on this tantalizing boom, I would recommend getting up to speed on your geology and oil business basics.
A few resources you should investigate are:
Leave a Comment » | Business | Tagged: Oil, Petroleum | Permalink
Posted by answermaven
