A Few Thoughts from the ASIDIC Fall Meeting
The Association of information and Dissemination Centers (ASIDIC) held its semiannual gathering this week in Newport Beach. This group of information industry professionals has been meeting for nearly 40 years, beginning with the days when electronic information lived on magnetic tape and was only accessible through mainframe computers. The career histories of many attendees could be case studies documenting the disruptive effects of new technologies – the emergence and disappearance of companies, the transformation of institutions and their people. Unlike many technology conferences (Web 2.0 comes to mind) there is plenty of vocal skepticism and an underlying drive to tie new applications to basic business value and things that scientists, librarians, and publishers have been trying to do all along; e.g. Is social tagging really a step forward in helping users get to the information they need? Is search engine optimization undermining our ability to get to the most valuable information? Will vertical search and vertical content aggregation keep the publishing business from going horizontal?
As might be expected, the “elephant in the room” was Google, since no discussion of the financial viability of any strategy could ignore the effect of the ubiquitous search box. The discussion among content and technology vendors has certainly evolved in the last few years - from asking how they can compete with Google to strategizing about how to maximize dollars derived from Google search and ads. Some companies are much further down this road of embracing Google than others. Paul Gerbino of Thomas Publishing had some very convincing numbers showing how Thomas was enabled earlier this year to completely do away with their venerable print catalogue in favor of their ad-supported online service. (Of course, unlike most publishers, with the exception of the PR wire services, Thomas receives money from businesses just to be included in their database.) Aggregation companies are having a much tougher time figuring out how to “play nice” with Google. A number of companies have gone “vertical” in order to try and exploit niches in the market that are underserved by Google, and syndicator/aggregator Yellowbrix has repositioned itself as a contextual analysis application, in order to find a deeper market for selling advertising. Rick Burke of Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC) talked about how frustrating it is becoming for academic libraries to support standards of validity and authority in scholarly research when a generation of students is convinced that a Google search is all they need to do.
The “social web” got some attention, with a tantalizing preview of the soon-to-be released blog monitoring and analysis service from a new company, BuzzLogic, co founded by serial entrepreneur and author Mitch Ratcliffe. Sounds like BuzzLogic will soon be elbowing its way into the market next to Biz360, Umbria, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, and others. Another interesting play on the social web is a new search engine, Trexy, which offers searchers a way to share search paths among different users.
The ASIDIC group is a lively and stimulating forum, and I would highly recommend attending a future meeting to anyone interested in diving into the turbulent seas where content and technology meet.
As might be expected, the “elephant in the room” was Google, since no discussion of the financial viability of any strategy could ignore the effect of the ubiquitous search box. The discussion among content and technology vendors has certainly evolved in the last few years - from asking how they can compete with Google to strategizing about how to maximize dollars derived from Google search and ads. Some companies are much further down this road of embracing Google than others. Paul Gerbino of Thomas Publishing had some very convincing numbers showing how Thomas was enabled earlier this year to completely do away with their venerable print catalogue in favor of their ad-supported online service. (Of course, unlike most publishers, with the exception of the PR wire services, Thomas receives money from businesses just to be included in their database.) Aggregation companies are having a much tougher time figuring out how to “play nice” with Google. A number of companies have gone “vertical” in order to try and exploit niches in the market that are underserved by Google, and syndicator/aggregator Yellowbrix has repositioned itself as a contextual analysis application, in order to find a deeper market for selling advertising. Rick Burke of Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium (SCELC) talked about how frustrating it is becoming for academic libraries to support standards of validity and authority in scholarly research when a generation of students is convinced that a Google search is all they need to do.
The “social web” got some attention, with a tantalizing preview of the soon-to-be released blog monitoring and analysis service from a new company, BuzzLogic, co founded by serial entrepreneur and author Mitch Ratcliffe. Sounds like BuzzLogic will soon be elbowing its way into the market next to Biz360, Umbria, Nielsen BuzzMetrics, and others. Another interesting play on the social web is a new search engine, Trexy, which offers searchers a way to share search paths among different users.
The ASIDIC group is a lively and stimulating forum, and I would highly recommend attending a future meeting to anyone interested in diving into the turbulent seas where content and technology meet.
posted by Bert Carelli at
1:36 PM
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