TFTTR January 2000

Tales from the Terminal Room (TFTTR) is a monthly newsletter, with the exception of July and August, which are published as a single issue. TFTTR includes reviews and comparisons of information sources and search tools; updates to the RBA Web site Business Sources and other useful resources; dealing with technical and access problems on the Net; and news of RBA's training courses and publications.

I trust that you all had a Y2K bug-free or relatively bug-free start to the New Year. I am pleased to report that our start to 2000 was extremely boring. But then, having spent a couple of days downloading various patches for Microsoft applications and upgrading to Y2K compliant versions of some of our older programs, I would not have been a happy bunny if any of my systems had gone belly-up!

According to a survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics, though, 7 per cent of British businesses were hit by the Y2K bug. A further 2 per cent of businesses were affected financially because they had to pay their staff more over the holiday or there was a slump in demand for their services and products. The survey is being repeated every week until the end of February when, we are told, some of us may become victims of the century-leap year bug.

In case you are thinking that computing life will become wonderfully quiet and boring after February 29th, it looks as though that is when we might see a beta version of Mozilla (Netscape 5). I'm currently playing with an alpha release and it looks as though we are going to be working in interesting times!

In this issue:

The Copy & Paste option enables you to paste in text or even whole sentences that you have copied from other Web pages or documents. From what I could see in the demonstration, the Drag and Drop k-check application is supposed to make Copy and paste easier by eliminating some of the keystrokes that the searcher would normally have to make. How it works in practice I cannot say because k-check is only available as a limited release to selected customers of Dialog, and I am not one of that august body!

Does WebTop deliver?

Having had a thorough look at the service and run our thirteen standard test searches ranging from international company searches, through personal names to the Bill Gates custard pie incident, it does seem to return relevant results, but only after some effort on the part of the searcher.

The first screen looks straightforward enough with buttons for the three search options. Most people will probably go for the straightforward Type and Search. You simply type in your search terms and click on the Search button. One of my standard test searches is the Bill Gates custard pie/cream cake incident and it is a rare search engine that comes up with a significant number of relevant documents on the first page of results. WebTop performed no better than most in that only one was relevant, the remainder being about cake or pie recipes.

You can make your results more relevant by using the standard technique of preceding mandatory search terms with a plus sign. You cannot, though, use double quotation marks for phrases; the absence of this feature is a major problem when searching for people or trying to improve the precision of your WebTop search.

The results page is divided into three areas: the Web Zone for general Web site matches; the Company Zone providing data from selected company Web sites; and the News Zone offering stories from selected news and magazine sites. The Company and News Zones are to the right of the Web Zone and in 11 of our 13 test searches came up with totally unrelated sites.

The Power Search is not much help either as the only additional search options here are language and domain.

Nevertheless, as long as you make copious use of plus signs WebTop does come up with some good starting points in the Web Zone, but you usually have to put yet more effort into getting to the page that you need. For example a search for the UK Online User Group's (UKOLUG) home page should be easy enough but number one in the WebTop results list was a UKOLUG page about the forthcoming biennial conference. Once you know what the symbols next to each result represent, it is easy enough to get to the home page by clicking on the house icon. You have to assume, though, that the entry you are clicking on really is the site you are looking for as the WebTop results do not include URLs.

The symbol that looks like a trident should bring up a list of other pages on the same site but in the UKOLUG example it offered me only 3 additional pages. When I did a search on my own name (+Karen +Blakeman) it came up with 8 UKOLUG pages so WebTop certainly had more than the four offered in the direct UKOLUG search.

How does it compare with other search tools?

Not very well. My current favourite is Google (http://www.google.com/) and WebTop comes nowhere near it in terms of speed or relevance in any of our test searches. WebTop does not "make finding information on the Web quicker and easier". On the contrary, it adds extra layers of complexity to the process and even then sometimes fails to come up with the pages you need.

Review of Major Pan-European and UK Directories

The section on our Web site that receives the most visitors time and time again is the Directories section of our Business Information Sources on the Net and the most commonly asked question on our training courses is "Which directory is best for......"? The answer to that depends on what data you want, how you want to search the directory, what you intend doing with the information and whether or not you are prepared to pay for it.

The first point to bear in mind is that many Web sites use the term "directory" to describe a simple listing of links to company Web sites. That may be exactly what you want and there are plenty of link directories around, but if you want to search a database by a combination of product, turnover and number of employees then your options are extremely limited.

If you do not already know of a good starting point for a country or trade directory, then try:

Exportall (http://www.exportall.com/)
Provides links to business and telephone directories for about 30 European countries.

Corporate Information (http://www.corporateinformation.com/)
A very useful listing of sites by country and covering stock exchanges, company directories and sector based sites.

Yahoo Company Directories (http://uk.dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Directories/)
A good starting point for locating trade and industry sector directories.

This review looks at two pan-European directories (several more were not included either because they were "unavailable" when I carried out the comparison or they were so slow as to be unusable), and several UK directories including phone directories and yellow pages. I have not included the many excellent regional UK directories: these will be the subject of a review later in the year.

As well as accessibility, search and display options I also looked at the Terms & Conditions under which one is allowed to use the information retrieved from the directories. Several specifically state that the information is for personal, non-commercial use only but it is surprising that many more do not have any information on their Web site about what you can do with the information. Is this an oversight or do they really not care? If you are going to use one of these directories on a regular basis for business use, I would advise you to contact the provider of the information and find out what their terms are before passing on or selling the data to third parties.

Pan-European Directories

Directory name: Europages
URL: http://www.europages.com/
Data provided by: Europages
Coverage: 500,000 companies from 30 European countries
Registration required: No
How to get there: First screen has main search options. Other search options available after an initial search by product or service, or after choosing a category heading.
Search options: Product, service, company name, or follow category headings. "Other search options" - country, regions within countries, type of activity (manufacturer, distributor, services, retailers), number of employees, turnover (in Euros)
Information available: Company name, address, telephone, fax, type of activity, number of employees, turnover
Display and print options: 20 companies listed per page
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: ? Not available on the Web site.

Directory name: Kompass Business to Business
URL: http://www.kompass.com/
Data provided by: Kompass
Coverage: 1.5 million companies in ca. 70 countries across the world.
Registration required: No
How to get there: URL takes you straight to the search screen.
Search options: Products and services, or company and tradenames in combination with country, or by category heading. Products and services search uses detailed Kompass codes. Advanced search gives additional options including year established, employees, postal code, job titles, type of activity (producer, distributor, service provider).
Information provided: Summary listing gives company name, post code, town, country Profiles give date established, registration number, VAT number, full address, telephone, fax, telex, Web address, nature of business, employees, sales, trade names, brandnames, subsidiaries, executive names.
Display and print options: Summary list of 10 companies per page shows company name, post code, town, country. Profiles - one company displayed at a time.
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Summary list free. Some free full profiles information. Subscription required for access to profiles on all companies(contact local Kompass office for details).
Terms & Conditions: Internal use only. "The User shall not copy (other than incidentally in the process of viewing), market, resell, distribute, retransmit, publish, carry on any automated browsing or downloading or otherwise transfer or commercially exploit in any form any Kompass Data or Third Party Content received via or in connection with the Kompass Service [other than for the internal purposes of the User's business]."

UK Phone Directories

Directory name: BT Phonenet
URL: http://www.bt.com/phonenetuk/
Data provided by: BT
Coverage: UK residential and business names, addresses and phone numbers
Registration required: No
How to get there: URL takes you straight to the search screen
Search options: Name and town or area.
Information provided: Name, address, telephone number. For businesses, fax numbers are also given.
Display and print options: List of possible matches (25 per page) giving name, address. For businesses, the telephone number is included in the list. Full details - one person/company per page
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: For "customer's" use only. No reselling allowed.

Directory name: Electronic Yellow Pages
URL: http://www.eyp.co.uk/
Data provided by: BT
Coverage: 1.6 UK businesses
Registration required: No
How to get there: URL takes you directly to the search screen
Search options: Business type and location, or company name
Information provided: Name, address, telephone number, link to location map.
Display and print options: Sorted alphabetically by name starting at a randomly chosen letter of the alphabet. 20 entries displayed per page.
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: For "customer's" use only. No reselling allowed.

Directory name: Scoot
URL: http://www.scoot.co.uk/
Data provided by: Scoot
Coverage: UK businesses
Registration required: No
How to get there: URL takes you straight to search screen
Search options: Business type and location or company name and location
Information provided: Name, address, telephone number, fax, link to Web site. Link to location map.
Display and print options: Sorted by distance from location. 20 entries per page.
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: Personal private use only. Data may not be used in connection with any business or commercial undertaking

Directory name: Thomson Directories
URL: http://www.thomweb.co.uk/
Data provided by: Thomson Directories
Coverage: Over 2 million UK businesses
Registration required: No
How to get there: URL takes you straight to the search screen
Search options: Business name, type, location or work through the category headings.
Information provided: Name, Address, telephone number
Display and print options: 20 per page under three section. "Preferred listings" (paid to be at the top), "Enhanced listings" (paid-for entries), "All listings". Sorted alphabetically within each section.
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: For your own personal private use, but not in connection with any business or commercial undertaking. You may not reproduce, copy, download, publish, distribute, record, transmit or transfer any of the data.

UK Company Directories

Directory name: Companies House
URL: http://www.companies-house.gov.uk/
Data provided by: Companies House
Coverage: All UK companies required to register at Companies House. Also recently dissolved companies.
Registration required: No
How to get there: Click on the "Free information" part of the image and then choose Company Name & Address Index. Available Monday to Friday, 8am to 8 pm GMT.
Search options: Search by company/branch name or company/branch number combined with Current & Recently Dissolved Names or Dissolved Names only or Previous Names or Proposed Names.
Information provided: Summary list of nearest matches giving company name, number, status, action/event. Full entry gives name and registered office, company number, date of incorporation, country of origin, status, company type, SIC code, accounting reference date, date of last accounts, next accounts due, mortgage register, previous name, branches, overseas company information.
Display and print options: Full details displayed one company at a time.
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: ? Not found on the Web site.

Directory name: Dun & Bradstreet Free Directory Service
URL: http://www.dnb.com/uk/
Data provided by: Dun & Bradstreet and powered by AskAlex software
Coverage:1.8 million UK businesses
Registration required: No
How to get there: Two thirds of the way down on the right hand side of the screen.
Search options: Company name or product or service; town, county or postcode
Information provided: Company name, address, telephone, fax, email, Web address, type of activity, main contact name, link to location map.
Display and print options: HTML listing of possible matches (10 per page) giving company name, telephone, town, activity and link to location map. "More details" - one company per page.
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: ? Not available on the Web site

Directory name: Dun & Bradstreet Direct Marketing Services
URL: http://www.dnb.com/uk/
Data provided by: Dun & Bradstreet
Coverage:1.6 million UK companies
Registration required: No
How to get there: Two thirds of the way down the page on the left hand side of the screen under the "Buy lists and labels" link.
Search options: Any combination of post town, county, post area, post code, SIC classification, number of employees, number of branches, estimated sales, legal status, year started, import/export, availability of telephone or fax numbers.
Information provided: Label/ASCII mail merge - business name, contact name, address, postcode Telemarketing - as for label + telephone number Full data - Business name, up to 8 contact names, address, telephone, fax, importer/exporter, line of business, turnover, employees, year established.
Display and print options: Free random sample of 10 companies (Preview list) showing company name and town. Download mailing labels, ASCII mail merge, telemarketing, full records.(see above)
Mailing list options: Yes.
Costs: 11 pence per name and address label, 22p for telemarketing information and 44 pence per full record. Twelve month multiple use is charged at 22 pence, 33 pence and 55 pence respectively. Payment is via credit card, or if you are going to be a regular user you can set up an account with D & B.
Terms & Conditions: Information is supplied for your internal business uses only, shall not be copied or made available to any other party (including any associated company of yours) except with D&B's prior written consent.

Directory name: Telemarketing UK (CountyWeb)
URL: http://www.countyweb.co.uk/
Data provided by: Dun & Bradstreet
Coverage:1.62 UK companies
Registration required: No
How to get there: Select "Business" followed by "Marketing File Online".
Search options: Economic region, county, town, post code, employees, sales, SIC code, job title, import/export, number of branches.
Information provided: Label - business name, contact name, address, postcode Telemarketing - as for label + telephone number Full data - business name, up to 8 contact names, address, telephone, fax, importer/exporter, line of business, turnover, employees, year established.
Display and print options: Free summary list showing 50 from your results list with name, town, postcode, primary business activity and number of employees. Priced label, telemarketing, and full data options (see above).
Mailing list options: Yes
Costs:11 pence per name and address label, 22p for telemarketing information and 44 pence per full record. Twelve month multiple use is charged at 22 pence, 33 pence and 55 pence respectively.
Terms & Conditions: ? Not shown on the Web site

Directory name: TradeUK
URL: http://www.tradeuk.com/
Data provided by: Not clearly stated. ? Dun & Bradstreet
Coverage: ? Not clearly stated.
Registration required: No
How to get there: Click on UK Suppliers graphic, select your country and then click on International Buyers, click on Search for British Suppliers.
Search options: Product or service, or company name
Information provided: Summary list showing name, address, telephone, fax, email, activity Full details - name, address, telephone, fax, email, activity, primary and secondary contact, turnover, employees, registration number, VAT number, DUNS number, parent company, primary SIC, export markets, Web site.
Display and print options: Summary list showing 50 per page. Full details - one company per page
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: ? Not on Web site.

Directory name: Kompass UK
URL: http://www.kompass.co.uk/
Data provided by: Kompass
Coverage: 180,000 UK manufacturing and service companies
Registration required: Yes
How to get there: Click on "Click here to enter", enter username and password or log in as a guest.
Search options: Quick Search has options for searching by product or service, or by company name. Combined Search enables you to combine company name, sales band, product, tradename, employee band, agent country, region, county, postal town. Product search uses detailed Kompass codes.
Information provided: Free information lists your companies giving the name, town, county and telephone number. Mail merge options include company name, contact job title (selected from mail merge options), address. Full priced information includes name, address, telephone, fax, Web address, executives, directors, shareholders, Overseas Agents, products (5 digit and 7 digit codes), employees on site, sales, trade names, subsidiaries, M & A activity, Quality Assurance.
Display and print options: Sort by any combination of three of company, county, postal town, postal code, telephone area code, sales band, employees. Full company display (see above) Download mail merge format or plain text (select data to be included from Plain text options).
Mailing list options: Yes
Costs: 30 pence per full record displayed, 20 pence for a company location map, and 60 pence for a company download via the download icon. Deposit of GBP 95 required for the priced service.
Terms & Conditions: ? Not on Web site

Directory name: Kompass British Exports Interactive (BEI)
URL: http://www.britishexports.com/
Data provided by: Kompass
Coverage: 19,000 UK businesses
Registration required: Yes
How to get there: Click on "Enter", select UK product and company finder.
Search options: Quick Search - product or service, or by company name Full search - company name, sales band, product, tradename, employee band, agent country, region, county, postal town, STD Area, post code. Product search uses abbreviated list of Kompass categories.
Information provided: Name, address, telephone, fax, Web address, products and services, employees on site, sales, trade names, link to location map.
Display and print options: Summary list showing company name, town, county and telephone code. Full information shown one company per page.
Mailing list: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: ? Not on Web site.

Directory name: Kelly's Industrial Directory
URL: http://www.kellys.co.uk/
Data provided by: Kelly's
Coverage: 118,000 UK industrial manufacturers
Registration required: Yes
How to get there: Log in with username and password or as a guest.
Search options: Product, trade name, company name.
Information provided: Name, address, telephone, fax, Web address, products.
Display and print options: Summary list showing 10 companies per page with name, town and telephone number. Full details shown one company per page.
Mailing list options: No
Costs: Free
Terms & Conditions: ? Not on Web site.

URLs of Sites Covered

Exportall http://www.exportall.com/
Corporate Information http://www.corporateinformation.com/
Yahoo Company Directories http://uk.dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Companies/Directories/

Europages http://www.europages.com/
Kompass Business to Business http://www.kompass.com/

BT Phonenet http://www.bt.com/phonenetuk/
Electronic Yellow Pages http://www.eyp.co.uk/
Scoot http://www.scoot.co.uk/
Thomson Directories http://www.thomweb.co.uk/

Companies House http://www.companies-house.gov.uk/
Dun & Bradstreet Free Directory Service http://www.dnb.com/uk/
Dun & Bradstreet Direct Marketing Services http://www.dnb.com/uk/
Telemarketing UK http://www.countyweb.co.uk/
Trade UK http://www.tradeuk.com/
Kompass UK http://www.kompass.co.uk/
Kompass British Exports Interactive http://www.britishexports.com/
Kelly's Industrial Directory http://www.kellys.co.uk/

Quote of the Month

Gizmo of the Month

Have you ever wondered why access to some Web sites is treacle-like whilst you can get into others like greased lightening? Or been puzzled by unexpected downtime by a usually reliable site? Trace route programs can tell you where on the Internet the bottle neck is occurring and help you identify the physical location of the site.

NeoTrace traces the network path across the Internet from the host system to a target system anywhere on the Internet. In addition it automatically retrieves registration details for the owner of each computer on the route (address, phone, email address) and the network each node IP is registered to. You can also display the information on a map of the world.

I once used NeoTrace to convince an information provider that the access problems to their databases were caused by problems in their own internal network and NOT, as they maintained, a general problem with the Internet or the connection at my end!

A 30 day evaluation copy of NeoTrace can be downloaded from http://www.neoworx.com/. Registration costs USD 30.

Important: If you access the Internet at work via a corporate network, do not install this type of program without first consulting your IT department.

Publications

Author: Karen Blakeman RBA Information Services, November 1999,
A4 Ring Binder
ISBN: 0 9527191 4 2
Price: GBP 35.00 (UK only. Prices outside of the UK available on request)

If you bought the first edition and registered for an ID and password to access the online pages, your ID is still valid and you can download updates free of charge. (The starting point is http://www.rba.co.uk/search/index.htm). If you would prefer to purchase a hard copy of the 2nd edition - and some of the PDF files on the Web site are rather large - the contents only (no ring binder) can be obtained from RBA Information Services at a cost of GBP 15 a set. If you require a new or additional binders, these can be purchased at a price of GBP 10 each.

TFTTR Contact Information

Karen Blakeman, RBA Information Services
UK Tel: 0118 947 2256, Int. Tel: +44 118 947 2256
UK Fax: 020 8020 0253, Int. Fax: +44 20 8020 0253
Address: 88 Star Road, Caversham, Berks RG4 5BE, UK

Tales from the Terminal Room

January 2000 Issue No. 6