Globally local - locally global

Is Sharepoint 42? Don't panic, the answer is no!

Why the hype about Sharepoint?

E.  wrote me after finishing her answers in the Global Intranet Strategies Survey:

"I enjoyed participation because it give me some ideas to implement here. Looking forward to the results! One thing strikes me; which I also noticed at various intranet meetings: why is Sharepoint such a hype? Everyone behaves so strangely over it, extremely interested and joking and giggly, while it is just a bit of software. Admittedly, (I think) it is good software with lots of flexiblity and functionality, but it is just software. But everyone makes it sound as if it is "the answer to everything" (which, as you may know, is "42" ;-))
It is only as good as the things you do with it, or the way you implement it. Anyway, that's what I wanted to get off my chest, seeing the question about Sharepoint."

I agree with E. and have also noticed the same jumpy response to Sharepoint with some of my clients and in intranet forums where some people think it's definitely 42, and others are burdened and worried about it. There is even a "for Sharepoint" or "against Sharepoint" feeling in some groups!

For those unfamiliar with the 42 answer:
"42 is the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything"

(source Wikipedia): Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is numeric in Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In the story, a "simple answer" to The Ultimate Question requested from the computer Deep Thought specially built for this purpose. It takes Deep Thought 7½ million years to compute and check the answer, which turns out to be 42.   Unfortunately, The Ultimate Question itself is unknown, suggesting on an allegorical level that it is more important to ask the right questions than to seek definite answers.

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By the way, if you want to know the 42 for intranets, it's not too late to join the Global Intranet Strategies Survey. Check it out here. All participants receive a complimentary copy of the 2009 Global Intranet Trends Report, which will be published in October.

Season's greetings from Provence

A touch of cheer and joy from my part of the world to all of you!

Santons in Provence, photo by Russell Collins, provencebeyond.com

The deep, hidden web: Think about who cares?

Mary Ellen Bates' workshop at Online Information in London on revealed to me a lot about finding information on the deep or hidden web.
"Mining the deep Web for Competitive Intelligence" was a valuable investment in time. We learned how images, databases, audio, robot-blocked web sites, and services where you have to sign up are not "visible to search engines".
Among the approaches presented:

Think about who cares...

• Read the web sites of newspapers in cities where industry leaders are located
• Check out the sites of the competitors' competitors
• Look up the sites of relevant associations
• Look at consumer complaint sites, employee sites , hate sites (Xsucks.com)

Study the bios of the executives of an organisation (old-timers? frequent movers? used to work with the competitor?, etc.)

She recommended tips such as using the site's own internal search to find ppt, doc, xls files on the server, but constantly reminded us of ethical issues: "If this was intended to be internal, should I use it?"
She also showed us how to use the "block robot instructions" to see why the robot was being blocked.
Many more tips and mysteries revealed. Thanks Mary Ellen!!