Delving Into Deep Web Business Resources

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Anyone approaching business research today needs to understand the wealth of information available on the deep, invisible web. To effectively and efficiently find data on companies, industries, markets, and management, you should consult specialized search engines as well as general search engines; utilize alternative formats such as directories, groups, portals, images, blogs, feeds, and statistical files; and consider fee-based tools in addition to the free web. This seminar, taught by an experienced business searcher, will concentrate on resources but will also include practical techniques for using these resources. 

Putting Web 2.0 Into Practice

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Web 2.0, the collaborative web, views the web as platform, values user participation, and invites transparency. If you’ve read about various 2.0 technologies, such as podcasts, wikis, mashups, blogs, microblogs, photo sharing, web-based software, and social networking tools, but have been hesitant to more fully use them, this half-day, hands-on session will dispel your fears and have you up to speed in no time. Learn how to effectively use Web 2.0 technologies and become not just an observer, but a full participant to effectively exploit its possibilities. 

Online Public Records Research

1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Public records contain important information, such as property ownership, professional licenses, bankruptcies, marriages/divorces, and court judgments. The adage, "Change is the only constant," has never been more applicable to this field of research. Courts and government agencies continue to grapple with the privacy consequences of making public records available online. Moreover, it has always been the case that what is public record in one jurisdiction may not be in another. This workshop examines various sources, strategies, and finding tools for conducting public records research online. It briefly introduces basic concepts, and then examines select newer databases and search tools.

Screencasting to Teach Web Search

1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Online tutorials used to be extremely time-intensive to create. New tools make it quick and easy to create and post online videos to teach web searching and demonstrate the path from a search engine to an answer.  Learn to share actual screen activity along with audio or textual commentary using commercial software such as Camtasia Studio or one of the growing number of free programs such as Jing, Webinaria, Wink, and uTIPu. Join a long-time web search trainer, author of Teaching Web Search Skills, and LibCasting blogger in exploring new technologies that help in teaching web searching.

Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Search Engine Update

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

In his popular columns for ONLINE, Search Engine Update and On the Net, Greg details the latest developments about how the web search engines are changing, particularly when it comes to advanced searching capabilities. The tweaks, the experiments, the new capabilities - all will be explained in this opening session. An extension of the information presented in the columns, you will learn the latest on search techniques to optimize your searching behaviors. 

The Future of Search

10:30 a.m. - 11:25 a.m.

Where does the future of search lie? Will we see greater emphasis on specialty, vertical, blended, and federated search? What about the role of social search and new information discovery tools?  Who better to explore the future by sharing his in-depth knowledge and assiduously gained insights into the search engine world than Danny Sullivan? His contacts within search engine companies allow him a unique perspective into the future direction of search that will affect our working lives.

Adding Value to Web Search

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

The value proposition for information professionals has long revolved around providing accurate, relevant, and timely information.  The abundance of web-based information, however, has altered this proposition. To fully demonstrate their value, information professionals must think beyond information retrieval to packaging information results in a fashion that aligns with their organization’s or client’s expectations Whether itís a report, a slideshow, or something else, Mary Ellen Bates will guide us through how to add value to our search results.

Developments in Legal Search

1:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Legal search has moved well beyond Lexis and Westlaw. New sources for legal information on the web stem from established legal
publishers, from start-up companies, and from free websites. Whether you’re looking at case law, court records, e-discovery, state laws, criminal cases, or civil cases, new developments in web sources will affect your ability to conduct effective research. Contentious issues, such as copyright, also play a role.

Mobile Goes Mainstream

1:45 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Mobile devices, from PDAs to pocket computers to cell phones, are becoming increasingly prevalent: They’ve gone mainstream. As more people rely on these devices, the ability to use them for text messaging, email, and internet research is also increasing.  However, there is little consistency among device manufacturers about how this is accomplished and what techniques need to be employed. Mobile search is an exciting new area.

News in Review

3:00 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

The web is a haven for news junkies and for those engaged in searching the news for important information in support of research projects. As more and more news sources enter the arena, they are supplemented by information from "citizen journalists." Specialized news search engines such as NewsNow, newsfeeds from general web search engines such as Google and Yahoo!, and the blogosphere combine to present multiple challenges to researchers: overlapping information, news versus commentary, and completeness of coverage.

Developments in Sci-Tech Search

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

The science of searching or the searching of science?  Christina Pikas is an expert at both. In this presentation, however, she concentrates on the latter. The universe of scientific and technical information is expanding, and the possibilities for searching expand along with it. Christina will explain the new developments in the sci-tech search world, which should be of interest to both hardcore science researchers and armchair science amateurs.

Social Search for Research

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Through his Information Advisor newsletter and his new book, The Art of Strategic Listening, Bob Berkman continues to follow the nuances of social media. Not that he’s only interested in the mundane uses of these tools to keep in touch with friends and family. He’s more interested in how they can be used for business research. Join Bob as he puts Facebook, Twitter, social graphing, and other social media in a research context.

Continental Breakfast

8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

Competitive Intelligence

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Competitive intelligence isn’t just about competing companies. You and your organization can equally be faced with competitive threats from the economy, new technologies, other industries, and even your customers. While the practice of CI is not a new endeavor, the expansion of web resources adds to its complexity and allows for insights not previously thought possible. Mary Ellen will share her latest experiences with CI research and talk about the newest and most useful sources.

Personalization, Privacy, and You

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Relevancy of results provided by search engines is improving - partially because we the searchers are contributing immense amounts information to them. Our search terms and behaviors educate the search engines about what’s important, interesting, and useful. With recent personalization efforts, we’re increasingly seeing both search results and search advertisements custom tailored to a profile the search engine maintains for us. Although we’re delighted to have relevant results, what are the implications regarding security and privacy? What are the benefits and potential downsides of personalization?

Developments in International Search

10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

Whether your research concerns international relations, global trade flows, multinational companies, world news, technology issues spanning multiple continents, or merely basic information about other countries, you need to consider not only where, but how, to search non-U.S. and non-English language sources.

The Embeddable Web

10:30 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

New online web services tools make sharing, embedding, and collaboration easier. You can embed search results, presentations, images, spreadsheets, lists, videos, feeds, mind maps, time lines, and other online information from one site to another. Webbased
tools can be used to create embeddable content—images, projects, flowcharts, databases, and videos, all without downloading or installing software. Learn how to embed search results and other content while understanding the impact embeddable content has on
the search process.

Government Tools & Sites

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

It’s no secret that the U.S. government is a prolific publisher. With so much data floating around, it’s no wonder people have devised creative and innovative uses for it. They’ve mashed it up, built widgets for it, made APIs available, devised custom searches, and a host of other applications. If you ever thought government data was boring, dull, or lackluster, this session will open your eyes to exciting opportunities of maximizing the value of government information.

Editorial Forum

11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

What does it take to get published? Is it different today than in the preweb world? Several editors discuss what they're looking for, the best way to approach them, and the publishing process.

Alternative Search Engines

1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

The general public equates search with Google. Information professionals know better. Not only are there alternative general search engines, there are a plethora of specialized search engines. You can use them to search for images, videos, blogs, podcasts, specific topics, and user-generated content. Your results can be clustered, include thumbnails, or be displayed graphically. There are huge search opportunities on the web-not just Google.

Evaluation Reevaluated

2:30 p.m. - 3:25 p.m.

We’ve always evaluated data based on the criteria of accuracy, timeliness, and comprehensiveness. In the web world, those criteria are harder to determine. Who’s truly responsible for a page, when was it updated, and was anything left out? Additionally, new evaluation criteria are creeping into our research world. Is a page what it says it is?  What about malicious code? It’s time to reevaluate evaluation.

ResourceShelf Unshelved

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

What has caught the attention of ResourceShelf lately?  Regular readers of ResourceShelf and DocuTicker know it could be just about anything. With an eclectic set of interests and a comprehensive understanding of what is important to information professionals, these guys are almost certain to have found something of value to everyone at WebSearch University. Yes, we save the best for last and this is it.