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Weekly News Digest

March 15, 2010 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items.

Organizations Request Hearings on Destruction of DOJ Emails

On March 10, 2010, numerous organizations, including the Special Libraries Association (SLA), the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and the American Association of Law Librarians (AALL), signed a letter that was faxed to the Ranking Members and the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The letter requests that hearings be held on the apparent unlawful destruction of emails in the Department of Justice (DOJ)-despite the requirements of the Federal Records Act (FRA; www.openthegovernment.org/otg/DOJ Emails-Final.pdf).

The letter states:

The FRA is intended to prevent the loss of records of legal, financial, evidentiary and historical significance by requiring federal agencies to establish a program for the creation and preservation of agency records. Such a program should include effective controls over the records' use and safeguards against their removal or loss. As the business of the government is increasingly conducted over email, the common understanding, supported by case law, is that email falls within the scope of these FRA obligations.

The disappearance of emails that are required to be saved under current law raises serious concerns about government transparency and whether information needed to hold the government accountable is being destroyed before officials, Congress and the public can have access to it. We respectfully urge you to hold hearings to examine the issue, and to consider the need for reforms to the FRA.

Source: OpenTheGovernment.org

Alacra Launches PulsePro Financial Intelligence Application

Alacra, Inc. (www.alacra.com) announced the launch of PulsePro (http://pulse.alacra.com), a subscription web application that advances existing intelligence-gathering techniques. From the deluge of web-based news alerts, headlines, and press releases, Alacra PulsePro accurately extracts only pertinent business events, including analyst comments, CEO remarks, M&A rumors, and debt restructurings.

Designed as a current awareness and idea generation tool for wealth and asset managers, investment bankers, and professional services executives, Alacra PulsePro improves upon incumbent intelligence-gathering solutions with a proprietary, four-step insight distillation process: source curation, event detection, semantic analysis, and human editorial oversight. Alacra has launched PulsePro with a monthlong "open access" period, allowing professionals full premium access, free of charge through April 15, 2010.

Originally released as Street Pulse, a free web application spotlighting company-specific comments by sell-side, ratings agency, and industry analysts as well as influential bloggers, the enhanced, subscription-based PulsePro offers added functionality, including the following:

• Additional event-specific filters
• User-interface enhancements to facilitate searches and enable viewing of all events (Street, Chief, Deal, and Weak Pulse) in a single screen
• Enhanced personalization features to enable users to set up profiles and watch lists tracking critical events impacting specific companies, industries, or geographies
• Email alerts to allow users to choose what news is pushed to them on events such as new M&A rumors and ideas, analyst price target changes, etc.
• Feeds and XML-based APIs to support easy integration within portals, CRM systems, or other applications, including algorithmic trading models

Source: Alacra, Inc.

Inmagic Presto 3.3 Strengthens Social Knowledge Network Capabilities

Inmagic, Inc. (www.inmagic.com) has launched the latest release of Inmagic Presto, an application that enables nontechnical business users to create and manage Social Knowledge Networks (SKN). Presto 3.3 incorporates significant enhancements to productivity, usability, and security and deepens integration with Microsoft SharePoint, giving users bidirectional query and access capabilities.

Social Knowledge Networks span enterprise silos to merge relevant content, search, and community to address high-value business processes or topics. Subject experts and the wisdom of the community surface valuable content via blogs, comments, and discussions. Because staff spends less time hunting for corporate knowledge, projects are completed faster, risks are lowered, and innovation can thrive.

Enhanced Presto 3.3 capabilities include the following:

• Improved SharePoint compatibility: Search SharePoint content from Presto (and vice versa) for broader information access.
• Faster time-to-value: New methodology significantly improves deployment and performance.
• Improved user experience: RSS feed enhancements include a customizable display with descriptions, images, and metadata details.
• Simpler federated search management: Users can easily create federated search adapters to access external content such as subscriptions, journals, and external research information.
• Robust security: Reduces risk through better security and management of the SKN.
• Enhanced community and profiles: "People" are a searchable content type. Additional profile customization and personalization capabilities make finding subject matter experts easy.
• More efficient management and administration: Homepage cloning enhances the process of adding users and managing a SKN.

Source: Inmagic, Inc.

Infobase Ebooks Now Available Through Gale Virtual Reference Library

Gale (www.gale.cengage.com), a part of Cengage Learning, announced a partnership with Infobase Publishing (www.infobasepublishing.com) to distribute select titles from its ebook collection through Gale Virtual Reference Library, Gale's ebook platform. More than 250 ebooks have been chosen primarily from the Facts On File and Ferguson Publishing imprints, including titles in the areas of careers, teen health and issues, global warming, and science.

The partnership allows libraries to provide access to popular ebooks from Facts On File and Ferguson Publishing along with more than 4,500 existing electronic reference titles from more than 80 publishers, all through a single source, expanding the library's offerings while avoiding duplicated resources. Additionally, a library's Gale Virtual Reference Library ebook collection is cross-searchable with its other Gale resources, including many periodical solutions and resource centers.

Founded in 1941, Infobase Publishing is a provider of supplemental educational materials to the school and library markets. Product formats include books, ebooks, online resources, videos, and digital products under such names as Facts On File, Films for the Humanities & Sciences, Cambridge Educational, Chelsea House, World Almanac, Bloom's Literary Criticism, and Ferguson Publishing.

Source: Gale, a part of Cengage Learning

Credo Reference Links Up With EasyBib.com

Credo Reference (www.credoreference.com), the online reference library, announced a partnership with EasyBib.com (http://easybib.com). With all the databases, websites, and print sources available, compiling research, writing a paper, and citing resources can be difficult and time-consuming for many students. The new partnership between EasyBib and Credo is designed to make the process easier. Students can research their topics using Credo Reference and its gateways to other library resources, and, with just one click, they can keep track of their bibliographic data during the research process, instead of waiting until the end to compile their bibliography.

Unlike reference managers that are geared toward higher-level university students, EasyBib's intuitive design requires no learning curve and generates accurate bibliographies covering more than 55 different source types.

"We're delighted with this exciting new partnership," commented Michael Sweet, Credo CEO. "Not only is it another step towards making Credo more discoverable to the millions of students already using EasyBib, but it also creates value at the library by bridging the gap that often exists between today's users and the library resources available to them."

EasyBib.com is an automatic bibliography maker, providing quick and accurate formatting to compile a works-cited list. Founded in 2001 by students, EasyBib is headquartered in New York City and is used by more than 16 million students. EasyBib offers up-to-date formatting in MLA, APA, and Chicago styles; footnotes; parenthetical citations; and more.

Source: Credo Reference

Inmagic Presto Strengthens Social Knowledge Network Capabilities

Inmagic, Inc. (www.inmagic.com) has launched the latest release of Inmagic Presto, an application that enables nontechnical business users to create and manage Social Knowledge Networks (SKN). The company says that Presto 3.3 incorporates significant enhancements to productivity, usability, and security and deepens integration with Microsoft SharePoint, giving users bidirectional query and access capabilities.

Social Knowledge Networks span enterprise silos to merge relevant content, search, and community to address high-value business processes or topics. Subject experts and the wisdom of the community surface valuable content via blogs, comments, and discussions. Because staff spends less time hunting for corporate knowledge, projects are completed faster, risks are lowered, and innovation can thrive.

Enhanced Presto 3.3 capabilities include the following:

• Improved SharePoint compatibility: Search SharePoint content from Presto (and vice versa) for broader information access.
• Faster time-to-value: New methodology significantly improves deployment and performance.
• Improved user experience: RSS feed enhancements include a customizable display with descriptions, images, and metadata details.
• Simpler federated search management: Users can easily create federated search adapters to access external content such as subscriptions, journals, and external research information.
• Robust security: Reduces risk through better security and management of the SKN.
• Enhanced community and profiles: "People" are a searchable content type. Additional profile customization and personalization capabilities make finding subject matter experts easy.
• More efficient management and administration: Homepage cloning enhances the process of adding users and managing a SKN.

Source: Inmagic, Inc.