New Intermediaries portals and gateways to information

New Intermediaries – portals and gateways to information David R Worlock, Chairman Electronic Publishing Services Ltd drw@epsltd. demon. co. uk UKSG Conference 2000 Keele, April 2000 UKSG, April 2000 www. epsltd. com

Active Information • Communities • Electronic commerce • Customisation/personalisation So it’s about productivity, OK? UKSG, April 2000 www. epsltd. com

The Unleashed Power of the Consumer www. epsltd. com • the user will go on the web where he wants to • the user will only give his details when he wants to • the user is not loyal to brand unless it gives him service • the user on the network is always more powerful than the provider UKSG, April 2000

Navigation as a New Business Reach www. epsltd. com - sampling all of the products in the range and connecting them to all of the accessible customers Richness - sucking the price, product and directory information into a searchable environment and making it retrievable at levels of requirement Affiliation in the battleground marketplace, do you stand beside the buyers or the sellers? UKSG, April 2000 Evans and Wurster/Blown to Bits

Navigational Advantage Reach www. epsltd. com - the science of access and connection Richness - the depth and detail of information given to the consumer - and collected from him Affiliation - UKSG, April 2000 whose interests do you represent? Evans and Wurster/Blown to Bits

Hail to the King? • Content • Access • Context Life after copyright is DRM? UKSG, April 2000 www. epsltd. com

Electronic Publishing: the three ages www. epsltd. com 1 st Generation - put content online, extend brand, defend franchise 2 nd Generation - create an audience, develop revenue streams 3 rd Generation - “Its a different business in every way” UKSG, April 2000

What is the User Requirement www. epsltd. com • All relevant literature should be searchable from one point, regardless of source? • All relevant literature should be purchasable from one point, in one transaction? • All citation searching, cross-referencing and use of metadata should be standardised for ease of use? UKSG, April 2000

What is the user experience? • Diversity of sources • Plurality of pricing mechanisms • Non-standardisation in search and retrieval UKSG, April 2000 www. epsltd. com

Portals and Brands www. epsltd. com • Portals give users confidence – and vision • Branded portals enhance trust and authority • Portals are definable to communities UKSG, April 2000

The niche portal The community model Revenue options Gateway registration/membership - a subscriber-only club - a club with high value paid-for modules - advertising revenues - e-commerce revenues www. epsltd. com Portal search engine Own data holdings Third party agreements and acquisitions Building new data products Organization of web resources for community Databases Community Library of organized access to high value data/productivity tools Advertising/ E-commerce Commercial areas of site Communications E-mail, discussion fora, chat bulletin boards, niche sub-groups etc. Special interest groups Discussion fora UKSG, April 2000 Discounted Shopping Buyer’s Guide Cross comparable independent data e. g. prices Classifieds e. g. Jobs

The buy-sell model: e. g. wateronline. com (Vertical. Net) • This model is all about bringing buyers and sellers together and might be based on extensive contact listings for both buyers and sellers as well as deep product information and catalogues from the sellers. • The ultimate ambition of such a site will be to facilitate e-commerce between the buyers and sellers, providing suitable secure payment mechanisms and deal-making services to achieve this. Initially, however, such sites may only provide an online lookup or ordering facility rather than full transactional capabilities. Buy side Thin top slice of news/editorial/comment/ discussion Buyer’s guides (product information) Possible revenue streams: • advertising: seller directory listings and online product guides • e-commerce: commission on transactions Sell side Product and supplier directories Classifieds (jobs) Deal making facilities Security/trust E-commerce facilitation UKSG, April 2000

Bio. Med. Net • • www. epsltd. com 600, 000 subscribers Repackage of information for defined needs Umbrella for sub-niche communities e. Commerce opportunity Crossing the Chasm towards real margins at last? UKSG, April 2000

The new Infomediaries from disintermediation to re-intermediation • ISI/Web of Science • Rowe. com • Ingenta UKSG, April 2000 www. epsltd. com

Revenue Models - the Internet Environment • Subscription/single or multilevel/integrated or stand-alone • Advertising/directory, link or banner-based • Sponsorship, transaction/e-commerce, results-driven pricing • Integrated Model UKSG, April 2000 www. epsltd. com

The hype cycle Visibility XDSL - high speed Knowledge communications management XML - Internet programming language Online communities Ubiquitous computing Biometrics Wearable computers www. epsltd. com Extranets Streaming media over web Internet telephony Electronic cash Intelligent software agents Java platforms Intranet publishing Avatars - virtual digital ‘actors’ Push technology Network computers Data mining Personal digital assistants Speech recognition Desktop video conferencing Cable modems Technology Peak of inflated Trough of trigger expectations disillusionment Slope of enlightenment Plateau of productivity Time UKSG, April 2000 Source: Gartner