Pushing users over the edge

'Web-based desktop will be personalised' was the headline of a recent Internet Times newsletter, an e-mail publication sent to me free by EuroMarketing Associates (www.euromaktg.com) as a piece of subtle promotion. It contains summaries from other Web sites and a useful list of trade shows. This newsletter is one of the less intrusive forms of 'push' technology: it only appears twice a month, it doesn't try and invade my screensaver, and it doesn't insist that I travel to a far distant Web site in order to see more than just headlines. These are probably some of the reasons why I haven't dumped it yet. Purveyors of 'push' technology and content seem to be aiming at businesspeople, not academics like me.

But do businesspeople really want computer screens with headlines zapping in from all sides, clogging up your files with material that, yes, you really ought to read in order to attain a state of perfect information...but, frankly, isn't life too short?

In reading through the 'Web-based desktop will be personalised' article, which contained snippets from the Networked Economy Conference, it struck me that the commentators were taking up the positions of information professionals of yore. There was the same underlying product-orientation that characterised the bad old days of information science. The idea that the answer to the question, 'who will determine what content will be on your desktop?', is 'you will', is evidently perceived as rather radical. Meanwhile, Netscape founder Marc Andreessen has apparently just had the revelation that information management might be needed, what with your intelligent desktop out hunting information to drop into your browser, and yet more information being 'pushed' at you by content providers.

So, just as information scientists realised that overwhelming their clients with huge piles of online search printouts was Not The Solution, developers of intelligent agents have discovered that what users need is 'not all the documents on the topic, but the one document that you would be most interested in'. David Klein, Editor of Advertising Age points out the potential problem ? "In some cases I want to seek out different information on different days". This could mean that you have to devote some of your precious time every day to 'retrain' your intelligent agent.

It is at times like this that I realise that I (or any information scientist) should not be earning lowly wages teaching students about effective delivery of current awareness services. We should be receiving large amounts of dosh for telling 'push' content providers how the key factors are things like relevance, currency, coverage... The terminology would, however, have to be reengineered for the audience. Few people except for dyed-in-the-wool information scientists seem to know what SDI means nowadays. 'Tailored information' is the more fashionable way of expressing the concept. Jargon can reveal attitude as well as age, so there follows a short guide to current awareness phrases.

Phrase: SDI.

Explanation: Selective dissemination of information.

What it tells you about the people using it: Downside: speak a strange acronymic tongue (IAC, CAS, UKOLUG etc). Never use a one syllable word when a three syllable one will do. Upside: Know a lot about information, listen as well as talk.

Phrase: Tailored information

Explanation: Tailored as in 'Armani suit'.

What it tells you: Downside: expect you to speak FTSE. Will assure you that whatever information they have is the 'total solution'. Ignorance of alternative 'total solutions' probably genuine. Upside: if the information really does match your needs, could be cost-effective.

Phrase: Filtered information.

Explanation: Filtered as in Perrier Water or (alternatively) sewage.

What it tells you: Downside: think that because they like clicking on relevant links, ranking documents, and using dog-fetch metaphors, you will too. Upside: if they get the things to work (probably in the year 2200) then they will have been worth humouring.

Having been rather dismissive of the newer 'push' information services, it must be said that if selected correctly, and in the right place, they can be very useful. Newsfeed services from companies such as Desktop Data (www.desktop.com) and Individual (www.individual.com) feature regularly in the pages of IWR. Some free bulletins too are excellent, like the Scout Report and the EC's Information Society Trends.

For a while, Netscape has also been encouraging content providers to provide current awareness services via its free InBox Direct service. This delivers electronic mail in the form of coded-up Web pages. The idea is that when you read the message that has been delivered to your Netscape mailbox, you see a hyperlinked Web page rather than a boring text message. You can go to the Netscape site to register for the services you want, or in some cases sign up directly with individual content providers.

ClariNet (www.clarinet.com), one of the oldest providers of news bulletin services on the Net, is also offering a Web-formatted e-mail service to Netscape users. Meanwhile, Knight Ridder has redesigned Newshound, with a new site (www.newshound.com). At $7.95 a month, it should deliver selected news stories via e-mail or Web pages. Presumably this is one of the services in which KR sees its future. It has to be said, though, that in terms of flexible tailored information services you have to go a long way to beat the traditional online services that KR has said it wants to jettison.

Sheila Webber is lecturer at the Department of Information Science, University of Strathclyde, and Editor of the IIS newsletter Inform.

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