Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Message-ID: Supersedes: Expires: 20 Sep 2000 07:49:19 GMT References: X-Last-Updated: 2000/03/04 Organization: none From: david@cn.net.au (David Novak) Newsgroups: alt.internet.research,sci.research,alt.answers,sci.answers,news.answers Subject: Information Research FAQ v.4.1 (Part 7/9) Followup-To: poster Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Summary: Information Research FAQ: Resources, Tools & Training Originator: faqserv@penguin-lust.MIT.EDU Date: 07 Aug 2000 07:56:58 GMT Lines: 592 NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu X-Trace: dreaderd 965635018 9446 18.181.0.29 Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu sci.research:20500 alt.answers:50551 sci.answers:11941 news.answers:189425 Archive-name: internet/info-research-faq/part7 Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: Mar 02 2000 URL: http://cn.net.au Copyright: (c) 2000 David Novak Maintainer: David Novak Information Research FAQ (Part 7/9) This section of the FAQ originates as webpages for The Spire Project - a large project to help you find information. If you do much research, consider selecting one of the html formats with its forms and links. Please forward leads and comments to David (david@cn.net.au) and note the disclaimer statement on Part 1 of this FAQ. Enjoy, David Novak - david@cn.net.au The Spire Project: SpireProject.com, SpireProject.co.uk and Cn.net.au Contents ----- Part 7 ----- 23. Personal Information 24. Business Benchmarks 25. Imports & Exports ___________________________________________________ 23. Personal Information from The Spire Project http://spireproject.com/people.html There are tools to assist you to either locate someone you know, or dig up background information. The Internet has email directories and phone directories aplenty as well as tools to trace internet communication. Beyond this, there are tools to find silent numbers, business and asset ownership, newspaper articles and more. You will start with a name or email address. [1] Internet Finding an Email Address [1] The Yahoo People Search (people.yahoo.com[1]) is an important and flexible tool for finding email & address information. [2] Switchboard (www.switchboard.com[2]) also offers several people search tools. [3] You may need to search the people databases from several internet websites to be successful. For further assistance, consider the FAQ: How to find people's E-mail addresses[3] and the phone & address[4] references on Yahoo. People who Publish Online [3] Has the person published anything on the Internet? The simple way is to search the Internet for the full name of the individual in the hope they included their email address or real name on the webpage. Use AltaVista and Debriefing for this task. For more depth, read the article: Searching the Web[97]. Altavista[1] has a very large, fast search engine. Type the name using quotes to keep the words together. Add in further information if you know using url:edu or keywords (use the + sign). Also, capitals matter with Altavista. Debriefing[2], is a meta-search engine optimized for finding people & named websites. Finger is a lesser known Internet protocol which sometimes reveals information about a person given an email address. It used to be more common and may give name & perhaps if a person is currently logged in. It is easy to make a finger request from a unix command line (finger email@host). Some web-browsers will allow you to enter a finger request directly (as finger://username@host). Alternatively, use a finger gateway like this one[5] from MIT. Tracing Online Communication [15] Deja.com usenet archive (www.deja.com[14]) maintains a very large database of newsgroup discussion. The Deja.com's power search[15] is a must-see and will give you a brilliant author profile. Here is a quick search; the power search has more flexible options. [12] Searching mailing list discussion is more difficult. If you know a forum a person is active in, see our article: Discussion Groups[12] for further instructions. Alternatively, search the web for the email address. Hopefully you will catch list discussion picked up by zines or directly by search engines. Use Altavista for this: Phone Directories There are several tools available to you here: Printed Directories: White pages - if you know the name but not the address or phone number.Yellow pages & other business listings - if you know the business, but not address or number.Sometimes libraries and post offices will have the white pages to different states. A better alternative may be to search the white pages through the Internet. For a very complete list, visit Telephone Directories on the Web[6]. Directory Assistance - if you know an approximate name/address combination, but not number. Directory Assistance is a service provided by your phone company. Phone directory databases - usually prepared as a CD-rom, listing all the phone numbers in Australia. this is particularly good for a reverse search: seeking the name and address from the phone number. Library Biographical Directories and Databases If the person is famous, newsworthy or historically important, this may be a worthwhile option. Directories like the series of Who's Who directories will list some basic biographical details, most likely prepared by the person involved. Who's Who directories exist for many categories and countries like Longman Who's Who (EINS[7]) Marquis Who's Who (SilverPlatter[8] & Dialog[9]) or Who's Who in European Business (Datastar[10]). Alternatively, consider the collection of biographical directories and databases like Wilson Biography Index (see SilverPlatter[11] or FirstSearch[12]), Wilson Current Biography (SilverPlatter[13]), Bowker Biographical Directory (Dialog[14]) or Biography Master Index (Dialog[15]). The Wilson Biography Index, for example, cites a large number of periodicals & books which include biographies. There is also a simple biographical database online: Biography Online (www.biography.com[34]), with 15000+ biographical abstracts - but most are really really short. Access is free on the net[34]. Of course, for very well known people, consider an encyclopedia. Commercial Newspaper Search Local newspapers are a brilliant resource for information about individuals, and most anyone running a business will try to be featured in their local newspapers. The key here is local newspapers, and historical databases (not current news). There are no shortages of electronic access to good news too. Datatimes presents a single access point to many of the North American newspapers. Global textline includes access to a wide range of different countries. With both these news archive databases, you must be careful to specify exactly what you are looking for. You would be surprised how many David Novak's there are in my state alone. Use the full text databases in particular. Asset Searches The asset search involves searching a selection of government databases for home and business ownership. The presence of a morgage on a house is public knowledge (though the information is not particularly current). National business ownership databases, like ASCOT in Australia, will give you the ownership of businesses and association management. For a small fee through the department of business registration, or a collection of commercial retailers, you can search the ASCOT database by name. One elegant suggestion is to seek help from a professional information broker from the area where a person lives. The mailing list InfoPro is a particularly large collection of brokers who routinely distribute this kind of information. Consider emailing a request for assistance to the list manager James and ask your request be circulated to the mailing list. Reverse Telephone Directories. Previously these were primarily police resources, but today they have become tools for telephone marketing. CD's are pressed with all the phone numbers in Australia, or all the numbers in the US. The search function lets you run this as a reverse directory just by searching for the phone number. Look in the yellow pages, or perhaps ask a librarian for leads to these resources. Commercial Personal Information Profiles There are commercial products supporting the needs of human resource departments, legal research and the police. Information is collected and distributed as like Credit Reports, or personal profiles. As an example, running a level three Missing Links search on CDB (for about US$15.00) will usually return a US silent phone number. [64] CDB Infotek (www.cdb.com/public/[64]) maintain a selection of commercial databases of personal information. Look at their database descriptions[65]. Further firms have been mentioned as active in this industry, including American Information Network[16], Know-x[17] and IRB OnLine[18] Conclusion There is a serious issue as to the morality of easy access to personal information. There is an equally important moral value in empowerment: what is publicly available to should be publicly known. Beyond these resources we have to tools available to private investigators: rummaging though garbage cans, following the suspect, etc... There are also computer files and databases with better controlled access: drivers databases, police arrest records, voters registration, medical records, passport and immigration records, banking records. Most of the latter resources will only be available to you with the direct permission of the one involved. Further databases, like a database of known pediphiles, while available, would only be useful if you had previous suspicions. This article comes from The Spire Project. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au [1] http://people.yahoo.com [2] http://www.switchboard.com [3] http://www.cs.queensu.ca/FAQs/email/bigfinding.html [4] http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Phone_Numbers_and_Addresses [5] http://www.mit.edu:8001/finger? [6] http://www.teldir.com [7] http://www.eins.org/databases/103.html [8] http://www.silverplatter.com/catalog/mwsw.htm [9] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0234.html#AB [10] http://ds.datastarweb.com/ds/products/datastar/sheets/wweb.htm [11] http://www.silverplatter.com/catalog/wbio.htm [12] http://www.oclc.org/oclc/man/6928fsdb/biographyind.htm [13] http://www.silverplatter.com/catalog/cbio.htm [14] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0236.html#AB [15] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0287.html#AB [16] http://www.ameri.com [17] http://www.knowx.com [18] http://www.irb-online.com ___________________________________________________ 24. Business Benchmarks from The Spire Project http://spireproject.com/bench.html Business Benchmarks are statistical descriptions of the running costs of comparable businesses. There are several ways to use benchmarks. Accountants use them frequently, as do bankers and investment advisors, to judge the health of a business. Certainly anyone buying a business will reach for business benchmarks as one measurement of business health and value. Equally as often, your accountant will do this work for you. A standard business benchmark will describe various costs as a percentage of total turnover. They may include figures like turnover per staff, gross profit as a percentage of turnover, staffing costs as a percentage of turnover and such. Some benchmarks give more. These are the ones we are aware of. [1] Internet Small Business Advancement Electronic Resource [1] The SBAER[2] publishes a collection of 33 small business profiles[1] free on the net, but unfortunately slightly dated now. Library U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook 2000 (USA) [3] U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook 2000 is an NTIS publication compiled by industry analysts from Dept of Commerce. Their blurb describes a 650 page volume, reviewing most important sectors of the US economy. If your library does not have a copy, the book is inexpensive at about US$70. See their webpage description[3]. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (Australia) The ABS publishes business benchmarks in their industry analyses. If the ABS has undertaken surveys, and you search their online catalogue to determine this, then they will have compiled information which can be used as business benchmarks. You may have to calculate the percentages yourself, the ABS tends to have older data than other sources, and focus more on industry. The ABS collects their data from surveys sent to businesses. [4][5] 1) The ABS 1998 Catalogue of Publications. Full Text Search of the 1999 Catalogue [6] A separate article, National Statistical Agencies[6] includes a more complete description of ABS products and services. Other benchmarks are published as books. The [Australian] Bureau of Industry Economics publishes a series of studies on various Australian infrastructure industries. Each study compares between states and against best work practice, including costs, services and operating efficiency. All have the titles "International Performance Indicators ..." and you can get a list by entering this in the AGIP database[12] of Australian Government Publications. The Locating Books[97] article will help you find alternative books. Commercial FMRC Benchmarking Team (Australia) The FMRC Business Benchmarks are Australian business benchmarks, recording the expected costs as a percentage and certain business ratios for a range of mostly small business industries. I have not had time to review their new website, but previously they came in two formats... a single sheet and a small pamphlet which is little more than the single sheet with an explanation attached. Accountants use benchmarks frequently, and this may well be the easiest place to go to get them. The State Library in Western Australia has an aging collection in a binder held behind the business help desk and The Small Business Development Corporation's Free Advisory service in WA incorporate this information into their advice. You could also purchase these directly from the SBDC (formerly $250 for hard or softcopy for complete information or about A$40 each.) Be careful of their age. Each industry is only analyzed every few years, and the libraries may not have the most recent version. Further, these do require some understanding of business ratios. [35] FMRC now resides at www.benchmarking.au.com[35] (yes, .au.com!) Westralian Business Ratios (Western Australia) John Watson, from the Economics Department of the University of Western Australia, has created a very professional set of business benchmarks on Western Australian businesses. Unlike most business benchmarks, these are annual, present quartile information and describe the statistics in a most professional manner (including sample size !). You may need the help of your accountant to get a copy. Conclusion We have listed just a few benchmarks here, but information about benchmarks is so poorly distributed, and we get asked so frequently, we thought it worthwhile publishing this article anyway. If you know of further benchmarks, do inform us. One further opportunity is Purposeful Benchmarking. Ideally you arrange an amicable invitation to peruse the best practice of, not your competitor, but a business unit which does similar functions in a different industry. Thus, compare Airplane Turnaround times with an RaceCar Pit crew. The Benchmark Self-Help Manual is guide to the concept of creating benchmarks. Best Practice manuals and journals also cover this activity. This article comes from The Spire Project. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au [1] http://www.sbaer.uca.edu/sbaer/publications/#industry [2] http://www.sbaer.uca.edu [3] http://www.ntis.gov/product/industry-trade.htm [4] http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3110121.NSF/fd7f26b58d96f182ca2565600 01b40ff?OpenView [5] http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3110121.NSF/d29f0d90066771024a25644f0 01d0c5b/$searchForm?SearchView ___________________________________________________ 25. Import and Export Statistics from The Spire Project http://spireproject.com/imports.html Once you have decided to reach for trade statistics, reach for the best. All the general statistics and trade links are of limited relevance compared to knowing the volume of tuna exported to Japan. We can try to identify specific exporting firms, potential markets and existing trade patterns. We list here statistics prepared by the national statistical agencies, certain directories of possible interest, and a database of port traffic. [1] Internet Trade Data Online [82] Trade Data Online (strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrkti/tdst/engdoc/tr_homep.html[82]) is a service by Industry Canada[1], presenting trade information from Statistics Canada and the US Bureau of the Census. This free database presents trade data for both the US and Canada. Results either list imports and exports by product (down to the level of "pulp of wood and the like", or "footwear", or imports and exports by industry ("fruit farms" or "contract logging industry").Further description appears on this website[83]. In every way, this is a brilliant tool, except the depth of categories. Results can be as specific as exports from British Columbia to Afghanistan, divided by month in CA$ or US$. For more detail, we need to reach for the paid services below. Library Directories [2] Kompass directories list manufacturing firms by product. If you are looking for the manufacturer of plastic disk slips - here is where you go. They are a bit tricky to use, so read our simple guide[2] first. Kompass directories list manufacturing companies, which may suggest potential exporters. Kompass is produced by Kompass [US][51] or Kompass International[3]. Print directories exist for most countries while Kompass databases cover regions (ie Kompass Asia/Pacific). Large libraries will have some of the print directories. Further descriptions can be found from Dialog[4], Australian Exports by Austrade, gives the names of major firms divided by product and service. Volume of trade is not provided, but this directory, and directories like this, provide the names responsible for the trade numbers you can determine using other resources (like export statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics). The American Export Register provides similar information. Commercial US Trade Statistics The US Customs Service collects import and export information, but the information is developed by the US Census Bureau and Stat-USA (a commercial wing of the Dept of Commerce). The Trade Data Online listed above[5] is a free version of this information but at a shallow level. [92] The National Trade Data Bank (NTDB) is a subscription service to US import and export statistics offered through Stat-USA[92]. Costs are US$50/quarter or US$150/yr. This data is accessed through the stat-usa website. The database extends down to the level of "0105190020 Turkeys, Live, Weighing Not Over 185 G Each (SIC0259)". The subscription price also entitles you to a range of further economic data, so you will want to investigate this a little further. Start here[92]. [15] The US Census Bureau[34], also sells trade data collected by the US Customs Service. Start at USA Trade Statistics[6]. Canadian Trade Statistics Canadian customs information is either available through The Trade Data Online listed above[5] (a free but at a shallow trade database), or through the Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database, also by Statistics Canada[80]. [7] The Canadian International Merchandise Trade Database delivers specific imports and exports from Canada - and provides you with a quote for the cost. Works like a shopping trolley, and Statistics Canada accepts payment by credit card. Start from this page[7]. Australian Trade Statistics [6] All the Australian Trade Statistics are prepared by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Import and Export statistics are collected by the customs authority, then released as a paid service directly from the ABS prepared to the level of classification you need. Prices are arranged by quote. Due to privacy concerns you will not be able to pinpoint who is exporting/importing but you will get totals, by state if you wish, for commodities. This is a paid service. To start, contact the ABS by phone[7]. PIERS - Port traffic database. [67] PIERS (www.piers.com[67]) is a database of port traffic. Based upon the port documents (manifest & bill of lading), the complete database compiles this information into specific categories, countries and the like. The PIERS database covers imports and exports from the US, Mexico and a collection of south and latin american countries. Of particular interest, summary data is also available through the website (sample). A report detailing the top importers of olives fro italy costs US$87 when I looked. Databases are organized as US or Mexico, Import or Export. Consider reading the further descriptions from Dialog[8]. Conclusion As each national statistical bureau records and monitors imports and exports, read the National Statistical Agencies[6] article for directions to other country statistics. For those tempted to trawl for Internet resources, consider International Trade Web Resources[9] by the Federation of International Trade Associations, a site recommended by Argus. This article comes from The Spire Project. Advice welcome : email david@cn.net.au [1] http://strategis.ic.gc.ca [2] http://spireproject.com/imports.html# [3] http://kompass-intl.com [4] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0592.html#AB [5] http://spireproject.com/imports.html#1 [6] http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/www/index.html [7] http://www.statcan.ca/english/tradedata [8] http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0572.html#AB [9] http://www.fita.org/webindex.html ___________________________________________________ This document continues as Part 8/9. __________________________________________________ Copyright (c) 1999 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