GuideStar Feature Facilitates Charitable Donations

Non-profit information provider GuideStar has added an online donation function to its web site. Now, visitors can research charities and then donate to them--all on the GuideStar site (www.guidestar.org).

Visitors don't have to register to take advantage of this new feature by GuideStar, which offers information on the programs and finances of more than 1.7 million IRS-recognized non-profit organizations.

If we were looking for a great holiday-themed news brief for our industry, I think we've found it here. With the spirit of giving that emerges at this time every year, this is the perfect time to launch such a service. It's practically a given that it will get much use this month.

Overall, though, it makes perfect sense for GuideStar to provide this new feature. The Web has caused the consumer's preference for one-stop shopping to increase. If given the choice to locate a worthwhile charity and donate with just a couple of mouse clicks (on the same site), many consumers would likely want to express their generosity in this manner.

Generate Launches New Technology Product

Generate this month launched gClick Enterprise, a technology that enables employees to access business information from any web page and integrate it with data and applications behind the corporate firewall.

gClick Enterprise also scans information applications, such as Factiva, OneSource and Hoovers along with customer relationship management (CRM) and sales force automation (SFA) applications, such as Salesforce.com, SAP and Siebel to provide users one customized view of aggregated business intelligence. This includes how those users connect to each company and executive through relationship-mapping (social networking) technology.

The application is a browser-based plug-in that allows users to scan web pages while simultaneously searching internal information and applications while it yields relevant results. The results page returns a collection of business information in one summary window. That information includes in-depth company and management profiles; relationship maps showing how each employee and his organization connect to these companies and executives via three degrees of separation; recent, relevant news and events about the companies and executives referenced; and results from internal information licenses and CRM/SFA data.

This new application certainly has a lot of potential. Employee productivity is such a huge issue, especially at this time of year when companies are likely taking a closer look at headcount for the New Year. Productivity is so greatly tied to a company's bottom line that any tools that will improve workers' efficiencies will be welcomed in today's extremely competitive marketplace. That's why Generate's new tool has a real chance at success.

Thomson Scientific Gets Innovative With New Launch

Thomson Scientific, a unit of The Thomson Corp., this week launched Thomson Innovation, an intellectual property research and analysis solution. This new tool will enable researchers to simultaneously search worldwide editorially enhanced patent data, Asian patent data translated into English, scientific literature and business and news sources.

Thomson collaborated with more than 1,800 customers to design the new product. As a result, these customers will receive the ability to search patents and scientific literature at the same time. They will also have access to expanded Asian patent coverage, which includes translations of Japanese full-text and additional editorially enhanced abstracts of Chinese data. Also part of the product is a fully integrated searchable database that combines the Derwent World Patent Index with full-text patent data.

Thomson Innovation also supports strategic intellectual property decisions through analysis and visualization tools, such as charting, citation mapping and search result ranking as well as the integration of business and news resources. The tool also boasts enhanced collaboration capabilities, such as customizable folder structures that enable users to organize, annotate, search and share files.

Thomson Innovation will be launched in phases, with the first release (with global, full-text patent sources, including Japan), currently available. This will be followed by the inclusion of Derwent World Patent Index, scientific literature, business information and news. Additional enhancements are slated to launch during 2008.

Integrated. Global. Two words that mean so much today. Thomson Innovation is truly a collaboration of the two. Customers today demand integrated solutions that enable them to accomplish their goals in one place without the need to move from one platform to another. This is obviously a great thing for service providers because it's a model that can naturally help boost customer retention and loyalty. Simply put: if customers can get everything they need from your company all in one place, they won’t be motivated to seek out the services of a competitor.

Creating this product with global content is also a smart move by Thomson. In a press release announcing the launch, Thomson noted an increase in patenting activity in Asia. So clearly, the market is there for this international content. Because the Internet continues to eliminate borders, more and more online services will continue to launch with global components. It is quickly becoming the rule, not the exception.

LexisNexis Launches New Martindale Site

LexisNexis last week announced the launch of a new martindale.com website. The site boasts many new features, such as Web 2.0 enhancements that include knowledge sharing abilities and the capability to personalize data. These enhancements signify the beginning of new products and services that LexisNexis Practice Solutions (and Martindale-Hubbell) has planned for its customers in the next year.

Martindale.com also features a client review service that enables corporate counsel to rate their experiences with outside counsel. The new tool is based on confidential client surveys and provides third-party insights on a variety of criteria (quality of legal service, value for money and likelihood of recommending a firm for a legal matter according to practice area, industry or geographic area. The client review offering also supplies data to help inside counsel and co-counsel build law firm shortlists, corroborate personal recommendations, identify a firm in an unfamiliar jurisdiction or when no reliable personal recommendation exists, and to justify crucial decisions.

The site has additional functions that allow users to find even more detailed information about firms and attorneys. One such feature is "My Martindale Network," which gives corporate counsel the tools necessary to create and manage their own personalized preferred provider lists.

LexisNexis and its Martindale brand are definitely among the most prominent players in the legal information space. But LexisNexis has never rested on its laurels. The company is known for continually updating its offerings to better serve its customers and maintain its strength in the legal marketplace. For that reason, this particular launch is not surprising; nor is it surprising that the company announced that the launch is just the beginning of things to come. LexisNexis seems to be in tune with what its customers want; and these latest Martindale.com enhancements signify that. It will be interesting to see what makes news at the company over the next year. Chances are, LexisNexis won’t disappoint.

InsideView Taking Steps to Become Stronger Business Information Provider

InsideView, a provider of intelligence for sales and marketing companies, announced last week its plans to acquire TrueAdvantage, which also provides sales intelligence. TrueAdvantage customers will be migrated to InsideView's application, while current InsideView customers will notice enhancements to their current services as a result of the acquisition.

InsideView's key selling point is its Web 2.0-based technology that yields more complete information for customers. It enables sales and marketing professionals to gain better insight into a company's structure--and learn who the best possible contact are--from data culled from sources such as blogs, social networks and forums.

InsideView certainly isn't as well known as other players in the business information space, even with this unique slant on marketing intelligence. Perhaps all it needs is the added strength of TrueAdvantage to propel its offering into the mainstream. With the ever-increasing popularity of Web 2.0 technology, InsideView is definitely positioned for success. Time will tell if TrueAdvantage will help the company get there.