Gaping holes in the Net

In my February IWR column, I criticised some sites for either over-hyping their content or failing to describe the scope of the site explicitly. These problems continue to hamper efficient searching for business information. In September's IWR there was a piece on dNET (http://www.d-net.com/), a site that proclaims it is the place 'where you can find every directory on any topic.' Do you believe that? No, neither did I.

In fact dNET looks as though it could be useful. It aims to give details of all sorts of directories, print as well as electronic, and to provide priced access to as many of them as possible via the Internet. There are a number of print directories listed (including European ones ? one of their partners is Europe-based) and some directories are searchable already. However: 1) Despite having a section called 'All about dNET', they don't tell you, for example, how many directories are listed ? you can only find out by browsing the site; 2) When they say you can 'search' the site, what they mean is that you can browse it (alphabetically by title, by sector and by publisher). For this reason, it's probably just as well there aren't too many directories in there at the moment. Search by keyword and SIC code are promised.

Another directory-type site which trumpets more than it delivers is WorldPages (http://www.worldpages.com/). When I see a service with 'Find the world here!' as its banner headline, declaring it is the 'ultimate online resource in directory assistance worldwide', it's a bit disappointing to find that the world apparently consists of the US and Canada. This is a little unfair: they have yellow and white pages for North America, and a very good page of links to directory sites of other countries elsewhere on the Internet. However, their blurbs imply that directories from around the world are already at their site, or that at least you can search international directories simultaneously. Again, you have to poke around to establish what is there.

Both dNET and WorldPages are worth bookmarking for future reference. dNET is already useful if you need information from the (relatively few) specialist areas it covers at the moment. Since there are already several US yellow-pages sites on the Net (for example, Switchboard athttp://www.switchboard.com/with yellow and white pages, and Yellow Pages Online athttp://www.ypo.com/), WorldPages is not so valuable yet, but it will be if it delivers the information it promises.

Unfortunately, a number of information providers on the Internet seem to be modelling themselves on the software industry rather than either publishing or other consumer goods sectors. While it is not yet OK to send out beta versions of chairs ('fourth leg still under development!') or refrigerators ('all in place except cooling mechanism!'), bugged versions of software are still tolerated. Yet there would be short shrift for a print directory publisher who advertised a list of all companies in the UK, but produced a slim, undated volume in which a selection of company addresses alternated with blank pages.

This sort of thing is simply poor marketing. Users who are lured by the promise of 'any directory on any subject' but who depart unsatisfied are likely never to visit that site again. Much of the electronic information industry depends on repeat sales, and to get these you must foster customers' trust and loyalty. The 'build it and they will come' philosophy of the Internet has been discredited, and let us hope that the 'lure them in and they won't notice the empty shelves' philosophy will similarly wither.

The frustrating thing is that if too many information providers take this sloppy approach, the whole industry will suffer. The Internet is a golden opportunity to reach people in small and medium-sized businesses, the sort of people that many major providers have been trying unsuccessfully to reach for years. If the first sites that entrepreneurs meet on their Internet travels are poor, it may be a while before they try that sort of site again. Or they may stick to names they've heard of ? OK for Dun & Bradstreet and Kompass, but not for a lot of others. Poor practice from a few producers is obviously not going to kill the market for Internet-based business information. However, it may slow growth, and make it even more difficult for new information producers to make their mark.

Disappointingly, so far only Dun & Bradstreet seem to have joined the Centre for Information Quality Management's database labelling scheme (seehttp://www.fdgroup.co.uk/labels. htm). This project to provide a systematic description of the scope and content of databases would benefit users of all electronic directory resources, including Internet-based ones. Information producers could also learn from the discussions about information quality that are taking place on the Net (see, for example,http://coombs.anu.edu.au/WWWVL-InfoQuality.html).

Of course, it is always possible that dNET think they have listed all the directories in the world, or that WorldPages think the only countries that really exist are the USA and Canada. But surely no-one can be as sad as that. Can they?

Sheila Webber is a Lecturer in the Department of Information Science, University of Strathclyde. Her home page ishttp://www.dis.strath.ac.uk/business/

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!