Competitive Intelligence: How and Where to Find It

Competitive intelligence is both a product and a process. The product is actionable information -- can be used to take specific actions (e.g. prepare a winning sales proposal). The process is the systematic means of acquiring, analyzing, and evaluating it.

Montague Institute Review (1993). Articles>Knowledge Management>Journalism

Dublin Core Corporate Circles of Interest

The 2002 Dublin Core annual conference and workshop marked the beginning of a new effort by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) to involve members of the corporate world in the evolution and application of the Dublin Core standard. The first meetings of two DCMI Circles of Interest were held on Monday, October 14, 2002, followed the next day by a panel session with several members of the Circles presenting their initial observations and conclusions to the wider conference.

Crandall, Mike. Montague Institute Review (2002). Articles>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Managing Taxonomies Strategically

Taxonomies are structures that provide a way of classifying things -- living organisms, products, books -- into a series of hierarchical groups to make them easier to identify, study, or locate. Taxonomies consist of two parts -- structures and applications. Structures consist of the categories (or terms) themselves and the relationships that link them together. Applications are the navigation tools available to help users find information.

Montague Institute Review (2001). Articles>Information Design>Planning

Measuring Intellectual Assets

Twelve techniques used to value corporate intellectual assets.

Montague Institute Review (1997). Articles>Knowledge Management>Assessment

RSS Primer for Knowledge Base Publishers

RSS (Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is an XML format designed for sharing headlines and other Web content. Print and Web publishers such as BBC, CNET, CNN, Disney, Forbes, Motley Fool, Wired, Red Herring, Salon, Slashdot, and ZDNet use it to distribute stock tickers, sport scores, weather reports, news headlines and other information.

Montague Institute Review (2003). Articles>Information Design>XML>RSS

Ten Taxonomy Myths

Taxonomies have recently emerged from the quiet backwaters of biology, book indexing, and library science into the corporate limelight. They are supposed to be the silver bullets that will help users find the needle in the intranet haystack, reduce 'friction' in electronic commerce, facilitate scientific research, and promote global collaboration. But before this can happen, practitioners need to dispel the myths and confusion, created in part by the multi-disciplinary nature of the task and the hype surrounding content management technologies.

Montague Institute Review (1992). Articles>Indexing>Information Design

Upstream Knowledge Management

Most of the focus in knowledge management is on 'downstream' projects to organize thousands of existing documents that, through various departmental tributaries, are flooding corporate intranets. But what about 'upstream' knowledge management -- organizing and adding value when a source is identified or a document is written?

Montague Institute Review (1998). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workflow

Using the Internet for Competitive Intelligence

Competitive intelligence (CI) is a key discipline for IS managers who recognize the importance of information content as well as information technology. CI is both a product and a process. The productis actionable information -- information that is used as the basis for a specific action (e.g. acquiring another company). The process is the systematic acquisition, analysis, and evaluation of information about known and potential competitors. As a competitive intelligence resource, the Internet is both an additional source of information and a cost effective means of sharing and disseminating information to decision makers. The Internet is also a major force reshaping the business environment -- giving rise to new kinds of revenue opportunities, creating incentives for collaboration with existing competitors, and providing niches for new kinds of competitors.

Montague Institute Review (1995). Careers>Management>Journalism

Web Application Maps Business Opportunities

A technical writer develops a way to help a government contractor uncover procurement opportunities -- and in the process discovers a new opportunity for himself as an information profit center.

Montague Institute Review (1998). Articles>Knowledge Management>Information Design>Technical Writing

Why is Metadata a Hot Topic?

A back-of-the-book index and a dictionary are both examples of metadata -- information about information contained in a document or database. Electronic examples of metadata include information encoded in the META tags on Web pages and 'controlled vocabularies,' hierarchical lists of subject terms developed to make commercial bibliographic databases easier to search.

Montague Institute Review (1998). Articles>Knowledge Management>Metadata>Controlled Vocabulary