a business researcher's interests (brint)
TRANSCRIPT
This article was downloaded by: [North Dakota State University]On: 01 November 2014, At: 14:27Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH,UK
Journal of Business & FinanceLibrarianshipPublication details, including instructions forauthors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wbfl20
A Business Researcher'sInterests (BRINT)Hope N. TillmanPublished online: 20 Oct 2008.
To cite this article: Hope N. Tillman (1997) A Business Researcher's Interests (BRINT),Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, 2:4, 67-74, DOI: 10.1300/J109v02n04_06
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J109v02n04_06
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all theinformation (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform.However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness,or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and viewsexpressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of theContent should not be relied upon and should be independently verified withprimary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for anylosses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly orindirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of theContent.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes.Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan,sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is
expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found athttp://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
WORLD WIDE WEB REVIEW
A Business Researcher’s Interests (BRINT)
The resource to be reviewed in this issue is “A Business Researcher’s Interests” (BRINT), an Internet resource providing links to a range of business information (http://www.brint.com/) focusing on contemporary business, management and information technology. Where does it fit in a business librarian’s toolbox of company information resources?
lNTRODUCTION
Yogesh Malhotra, a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh, developed “A Business Researcher’s Interests” more than one year ago. The author refers to BRINT as “a searchable knowledge map of Contem- porary Business, Management and Information Technology issues.” The knowledge map is a two dimensional outline. Within a structure of four main topics each with five subtopics are lengthy listings of Internet-acces- sible resources, both via pull-down menus and keyword searching (see Appendix).
WEB REVIEW GROUND RULES
As mentioned in each of the last issues, the purpose of this column is to review Internet resoulces important to business and finance librarians.
Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, Vol. 2(4) 1997 0 1997 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 67
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
68 JOURNAL O F BUSINESS & FINANCE LIBRARIANSHIP
Because of the time lag between writing and publication, this column will select tried and true resources rather than new upstart sites, It will not attempt to help you keep up with the most recent selections. I recommend that you subscribe to Net-Happenings, Edupage and specific Internet mail- ing lists, such as SLABF-L, the list of the Business and Finance Division of the Special Libraries Association, or BUSLIB-L, the Business Librari- ans’ list, to keep abreast of the newest sites. The value of a print medium publication is its ability to analyze and reflect. Further, given my own proclivities, I will focus on content and utility more than presentation.
CIUTERLA FOR EVALUATION
My key indicators of quality include the following:
the ease of finding out the scope and criteria for inclusion of content that reassures me that I am in the right place; the ease of determining the credentials of the authors/publishers so that I know whether or not I can rely on the information on the site; the ease of identifying the currency of the information that I am looking at. Not only do I need to know when it was last updated, but I would like to know what piece of it was updated; the stability of the information so that I can rely that the information will be there the next time I need it; the ease of use in terms of site organization for navigation and the speed of loading of the pages.
These indicators will be covered in the course of this review.
MISSION
Malhotra is explicit in defining the mission in the Business Researchers Interests:
A Business Researcher’s Interests is a searchable knowledge map of Contemporary Business, Management and Information Technology issues. It provides access to hundreds of fbll-text articles & papers, magazines &journals, case studies and tools, and thousands of other resources on some of the hottest issues of interest to Business, Technology & Information professionals. Cutting-edge topics in-
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
World Wde Web Review 69
clude Business Process Reengineering, Knowledge Management, Organizational Learning, Complex Systems & Chaos, Intranets, Virtual Corporations, Outsourcing, Electronic Markets & Electronic Commerce. Also included are a research jumpstation for all areas of business research, international business issues, intellectual property issues, information policy issues, web strategy and marketing issues, and key applications of information systems research. (As cited at <http://www.brint.com>)
For each subcategory, Malhotra identifies the first resources to try among the selections (which may not be the first listing) by making them bold. Malhotra designed the site with a Knowledge Map to provide struc- ture, overlaps and relationships “for making sense of some of the critical issues being faced by today’s organizations and their managers. Each of these issues has its own share of complexity, and the same holds for the overlaps and the relationships between them. The Knowledge Map pro- vided here is expected to provide some focus and structure to these convo- luted concepts, while avoiding oversimplification or one specific inter- pretation” <http://www.brint.com/help2.htm#Mission>. The overlap of the references between the sites is usefid since it means that the visitor will most likely find the majority of references needed at whichever topic is the most relevant. Organization of each section may be by most recent first, alphabetical, or whatever has the most meaning for the particular subcate- gory.
A usefhl section is Malhotra’s listing of business and technology publi- cations with web pages. From the page, “Journals and Magazines: Select” <http://www.brint.com/ISJournal.htm>, the journals listed are broadly relevant to business and technology executives, practitioners and research- ers. Here you will find pointers to titles and relevant subsections, such as Business Week, CIO, Harvard Business Review, and Time. Along with the Advertising Age <http://www.adage.com/> listing are separate pointers to Advertising Age’s (1) News & Features, (2) International Daily, (3) Spe- cial Reports, and (4) The Biggest and the Best.
At the bottom of the page you will find pointers to a comprehensive list of magazines, a list of research journals, and a list of publishers.
INTENDED A UDIENCE
This site is wholly business-oriented. Malhotra states that his audience includes both practitioners and academicians.
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
70 JOURNAL OF BUSINESS & FINANCE LIBRARIANSHIP
Our audience includes senior executives, managers, professionals, journalists, entrepreneurs, academics, and graduate students who are interested in the contemporary issues at the intersection of business and information technology. The major percentage of our audience includes organizations and individuals with interest in Organization- al Change, Management issues such as BPR and Knowledge Man- agement; Information Systems and Processes; Marketing and Elec- tronic Commerce; International Business; and Accounting. Our online resource has also received keen attention from major Consult- ing Finns, Competitive Intelligence Professionals, Organizational Behavior Consultants and Trainers, Controllers, Journalists, Au- thors, Editors, Product & Marketing Analysts, Intellectual Property Attorneys, Purchasing Managers, and Finance & Treasury Profes- sionals. (As cited at “Who Visits A Business Researcher’s Interests” <http://www.brint.com/users. htm>)
Business librarians can see that he is addressing this tool to us and to many of our customers.
Stated Criteria for Inclusion of Information and Authority of Publisher
The site is broad-based. Malhotra explicitly states, “The focal theme of the site is to develop an understanding of Contemporary Business, Man- agement and Information Technology issues by bridging the gap between theory and pmctice. We are willing to reflect upon the cutting-edge think- ing from both academia and pmctice, however, the issues need to be of contemporary interest and relevance to Business Managers, Professionals, and Executives” <http://www.brint.com/help2.htm#Theme>.
“The decision to include each site is on a case-by-case basis. Some general criteria that we use are: the fit of the submitted site with the current and future direction of the site. Does the site add any significant value to what is already therethe problem with too many sites is that of users’ information overload-therefore one has to add sites sparingly. Also, the criteria of avoiding sites that have anything of an offensive nature and sites that are primarily commercial setups for hawking products without giving any extra value [such as free resources, services, etc.]. The primary criteria is the “richness” which the new site can add to the existing portfolio and the future evolution. The future potential of those sites is also taken into consideration” <http:www.brint.com/help2.htm#Criteria>.
Malhotra has built his credentials as an early adopter of the Web, and he continually improved this site over the past year. Its interface has im-
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
World Wide Web Review 71
proved, and it has been regularly updated. Malhotra provides his vitae so that visitors to the site can see his background and why he should be doing such a web site with an expertise in both the academic and practitioner arenas. He brings to this venture more than a decade of management consulting. At present he is a PhD candidate in Business Administration at the Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh. “His primary research interest focuses on the interaction between information technologies and organizational dimensions such as organizational learn- ing, innovation adoption, control mechanisms, and structural design” (as cited in his “Profile” <http://www.brint.com/host.html>). His organiza- tional affiliations include the Academy of Management, Institute for Op- erations Research, and the Management Sciences (INFORh4S), International Fedemtion for Information Processing (IFIP) Working Group 82 and IS World Net. On the Web site are pages containing a number of testimonials from reliable sources who find this site of value: <http://wwwbrintcom/pms.html> and awards that the site has won <http://w.brint.com/awards2.html>
STABILITY OF INFORMATION
This site is the work of an individual rather than a corporate entity. What keeps this site going? Malhotra attempts to reassure visitors that he intends to maintain the site for the three reasons it is important to him:
1. “The Vision of ‘Bridging the Gap Between Business & Technology, Theory & Practice, and Data & Knowledge” .’ ’*
2. “The Joy of bringing the cuthng edge knowledge to the computer termi- nals of thousands of senior executives, managers, professionals, academ- ics, and students all over United States and all other parts of the world.”
3. “The Excitement of being noticed by a very select audience for con- tribution to this innovative piece of work” (as cited in “What Keeps This Site Going” <http://www.brint.com/users.htm>).
This is the work of an individual and needs to be seen as such. That is why it is understandable when occasionally some of the titles point to the same resource: Mutual Funds and a Stock Market Update and Corporate and Mutual-Fund SEC Filings both point to <http://networth.galt.com/>, and two lines on the Business and Technology page repeat the same title.
Dun & Bradstreet Information Services: Fee-Based Search on Companies <http://www.dbisna.com/>.
The quality control is generally good.
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
72 JOURNAL O F BUSINESS & FINANCE LIBRARIANSHIP
CURRENCY OF INFORMATION
BIUNT is not a “daily” service. Pages on the site are not normally dated, and therefore, it is not clear when a link is added or revised. Most of the links that I tried worked. However, I was disappointed to see a pointer to an earlier iteration of the Edgar database of Corporate and Mutual Fund SEC at <http://town.hall.org/edgarledgar.html>, which was hosted by In- ternet Multicasting for three years but was disbanded on April 1, 1996. I did not find a listing for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission <http:llwww.sec.gov>.
EASE OF NAVIGATION AND SPEED OF PAGE LOADING
This site is full of content and is not heavily laden with graphics, to the benefit of its visitors. Navigation is structured, and the headings allow you to get into the subareas quickly. Pages load quickly because there are minimal graphics, and where there are graphics (primarily the logos of linked sites), those are not crucial to an understanding of the content and so graphics can be turned off with no major loss. Of particular benefit to those with text only access is its full Lynx text browser compatibility.
The content is primarily the listings of links, which are Internet re- source titles with minimal additional description of why you would want to go to that site. The organization is provided by the table of contents.
There is an excellent Help and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file <http:/lwwv.brint.com/help.htm>, which covers topics such as:
“Where is the Table of Contents?”
“Where Can I Find Keywords Relevant to Each Section?”
“How Do I Search the Contents of this Site?”
“Can I Announce Book, Article, Conference, etc., on this Site?”
“How Can I Publish My Paper or Article on this Site?”
“What is the Mission of this Site?”
“Can I Recommend a Site for Inclusion?”
“Has this Resource Won Any Awards?”
“What is the Audience Profile of this Resource?”
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
World Wide Web Review 73
COMPARABILITY WITH OTHER INTERNET RESOURCES
There is a lot of free and low cost lists of resources on the Internet, which include business topics. Yogesh Malhotra has amassed lists comparable to what can be found on Yahoo or found by searches of topics using the major search engines. Yahoo is not as selective, and certainly a search using one of the major search engines will provide even fewer relevant hits. The search engine genedly needs to be referred to only to pick up the newest sites added. The difference is his stamp of approval on these sites and the organiza- tion of the links into subtopics that can make the life of the visitor easier. The listings of company infomution, for instance, can be replicated on Yahoo <http~/www.yahoo.com/> or Hoovers <http://www.hoovers.com>. The cover- age of subtopics such as business process reengineering and MIS: research and reference is excellent on Malhotra and is less likely to be duplicated elsewhere. The selectivity within the broad business framework is valuable for librarians looking for excellent rather than comprehensive listings.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
BRINT is a valuable tool for a business reference librarian to help find the gems within the morass of information available on the Web. Yogesh Malhotra does a good job of integrating subscription or for fee information with free resources.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS OF SITES TO BE REVIEWED
As I asked for in the first three issues, please send me your ideas for resources to be brought to the attention of your colleagues and your agree- ment or disagreement with my picks or my comments about them. Wheth- er in a later print issue or in my Internet update, I will acknowledge your contributions.
UPDATES
For updates between journal issues, please review my personal or insti- tutional Web site:
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14
74 JOURNAL O F BUSINESS & FINANCE LIBRARIANSHIP
Information Technology and Healthcare Reflexions of a Cyber Warrior
4
My Home Page http://www. tiac.net/users/hope/ Babson College http://www.babson.edu/navigator/
This review was last updated on February 1, 1997.
Hopeh? I'illman tillman@babson. edu
APPENDIX. Overall Site Organization of a Business Researcher's Interests <httpi/www.brint.com>
I Complex Systems and Chaos Theory Internet I I
I Electronic Commerce I Internet and WWW: Design and Strategy Information Policy and Infrastructure Intellectual ProwtW and Leaal Issues .~ -
I Education and Research Using Internet MIS (Information Svstems) I I -,-- I I
I The Information Professional's Career Page I I W(h)ierMIS? I Manaaement Information Svstems Research I
Dow
nloa
ded
by [
Nor
th D
akot
a St
ate
Uni
vers
ity]
at 1
4:27
01
Nov
embe
r 20
14