By using the scanning bureau service provided by Kendata Peripherals, the
Department of Automatic Control & Systems Engineering at the University of
Sheffield has been able to dramatically reduce the amount of time taken to
mark the exam for one of its most heavily subscribed courses.

In previous years, students on the Systems & Control course were required to provide written answers in the exam, and staff would then be faced with the
task of double-marking nearly 200 scripts. This process needed to be completed by a certain date so that the results could be presented to the University's examination board before being passed on to the students.

"Marking the exam would take two to three weeks of pretty intensive work,"
said Dr Rob Harrison, Reader in Computational Data Modelling, "and with
student numbers continuing to rise, it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain consistency and accuracy in the marking. It was just not sustainable."  ■
www.kendata.com

Eastman Kodak Company today announced that Albyn Housing Society has installed a ScanLink electronic document management (EDM) system along with one of its new duplex i1420 tabletop scanners to manage all the documentation generated as part of providing affordable rented housing in the Scottish Highlands. The solution was sold by Inverness-based reseller, Solution X.

Processing up to 60 pages per minute, the Kodak i1420 handles virtually all document sizes and shapes and features Kodak’s Perfect Page imaging technology to ensure quality scanning first time by the Albyn Housing Society’s Allocation Team. ■
www.kodak.com

Pitney Bowes’ Emtex Software has announced that Communisis plc, Europe’s leading direct marketing print service provider, has chosen Emtex Software’s Production Intelligence™ enterprise output management solutions to drive Communisis’ transactional print and mail facilities to meet the demands of a major financial services client. The Production Intelligence architecture gives Communisis the open architecture it needs to streamline process for an efficient mailstream workflow.

A key driver in Communisis plc decision to select Emtex Software output management solutions, FlexServer® centralized print management coupled with VIP™, “any-to-any” transformation is its capability to receive, process, and print millions of financial statements and related documents daily on their mixed fleet of production printing systems between multiple sites. The robustness of the output management solution not only maximises the production resources, but also provides for a sound business continuity plan. Furthermore, the VDE™ real-time document re-engineering capabilities enables Communisis to make changes on the fly at time of print, empowering both Communisis and their client to drive innovative services of their high-integrity customer communications and take advantage of the best available postal rates. ■
www.emtex.com

Remember:

Tell your friends and colleagues if you like what you see on this site* .....

But please tell ME if you don't!"

Email me HERE

John Baker, Managing Editor, GSM

Currently Reading ....
'Atlas of Management Thinking'
Edward de Bono, Temple Smith 1981

Currently Working On ....
2009 Business Plan
 

Bookshop Opened

Green Sheet virtual bookshop opens it's 'doors'

'BOOKSHOP'      Now Open!     

Click to enter

It's Official!

Research proves print advertising works says PPA

Sourced from the PPA (Periodical Publishers Association) Newsletter, Friday 20th June:
Consumers are more positive towards print advertising than any other media, research by Dynamic Logic has revealed. Over 50 per cent of respondents viewed print advertising positively, which was more than TV, outdoor, radio and online.
Newspaper and magazine ads came top of the rank with 53 and 51 per cent of respondents respectively viewing them as positive advertising formats. The breadth of feelings towards advertising in media platforms was diverse, with only 20 per cent of online ads viewed positively by respondents.

The more relevant ads are to people, the better their opinion of the ad format, the research stated. As past research has shown, this is the case with magazines, where readers become deeply engaged and view ads as an integral part of the magazine experience. More interruptive or intrusive formats on the other hand, such as telemarketing and SPAM emails were found to be towards the bottom of the list in terms of consumer appeal.

Dynamic Logic’s AdReaction 5 research study was conducted on 350 respondents and gauges consumers’ opinions towards advertising. Dynamic Logic is a leading research company with expertise in measuring marketing effectiveness.

Details on the study from Amina Ymer at PPA on 0044 20 7400 7560.
For Green Sheet advertising rates and potential, contact johnbaker@greensheetmedia.com or call 0044 24 7625 4957 for a no obligation discussion.

Web CMS Report 2008

Now available to all Green Sheet readers 080608

Traditional Web CMS vendors are increasingly touting their "Web 2.0"-style interaction services, but enterprises looking to roll out comprehensive social computing services will likely need to bring other tools into the mix, according to research released today at the Gilbane Conference by CMS Watch, a vendor-independent analyst firm that evaluates content technologies.

"The good news is, nearly all Web CMS vendors are 'socializing' the experience around enterprise websites and intranets by adding various engagement features such as blogs, tag clouds, forums, and more to their products," said CMS Watch founder, Tony Byrne. "Where they tend to come up short is when you want to extend into broader forms of Social Networking and Collaboration." For that, you’ll likely need additional technologies purpose-built for those services, argued Byrne.

In the recent release of The Web CMS Report 2008, CMS Watch interviewed customers around the globe to evaluate forty different solutions.

CMS Watch found:

- Profiles and Collaboration are emerging as key Social Software services at a time when most Web CMS products focus on information-oriented Publishing and Discussion facilities.

- Web CMS vendors can relatively easily replicate blog functionality, but many customers still prefer the simplicity of standalone blog tools and services, and not all Web CMS vendors can deal effectively with comment/trackback spam on public-facing blogs.

- Similarly, most Web CMS tools possess sufficient editorial and versioning facilities to enable wiki services. Yet, standalone wiki tools typically perform better at creating new pages, re-organizing and refactoring discussions, and outputting compound wiki entries into printable documents.

"Web CMS technology continues to play a very important role in enterprise communications, since you still need a platform to produce and manage authoritative content," notes CMS Watch analyst, Jarrod Gingras. "So you shouldn't postpone dealing with a serious content management problem on the false hope that there is a 'Web 2.0' panacea out there to fix it."

"The Web CMS Report 2008" provides a comprehensive overview of current web content management products and best practices, including updated evaluations of forty Web CMS vendors across two editions (Global and European).

The report is available for purchase online from Green Sheet MEDIA. Prices from $975. Info here.

SharePoint Report

Now available to all Green Sheet readers 080608

Evaluate Microsoft's newest server technology as an enterprise platform. Learn from the experts exactly what SharePoint is, what it can do, and how it can work for you and your organisation.

More information here.

You can also read more about SharePoint in the next issue of the Green Sheet magazine. We have an article on how one company has introduced a version of its software specifically to take advantage of SharePoint, and we will bring you news from Microsoft regarding MOSS, theMicrosoft Office SharePoint Server.

All in Issue 51, due out 7th July, but remember you will need to be a subscriber to get your copy.

More for Your Money

Magazine expansion plans announced 080608

Green Sheet MEDIA has announced exciting plans for the latter part of 2008. Not only is the Green Sheet magazine set to increase its print run, but it is also going to increase in size from its current 32 page format, to 48 pages and possibly more.

Green Sheet managing editor John Baker stated, "For some time now we have been struggling to include all of the news that the industry has brought to our attention in the two month editorial gap between magazine issues. Much of the news is still of interest, even after that period of time, so by combining the really urgent news on the web site, and the less time sensitive news in the magazine, we hope to bring site visitors and magazine subscribers the best of both worlds."

Another aspect of the Green Sheet expansion is that spare copies of the magazine no longer go to a pool of 'occasional' readers. This was normally done on a rolling and complementary basis. "With a dramatic increase in paid subscriptions, interest in back issues, and renewed interest from the PR industry, almost every copy is now allocated. It [free copies] has served its purpose", says John Baker, continuing, "With the high cost of print and distribution, we need to make every copy count, so it has to be specifically targeted from now on. This benefits our advertisers too, as casual readers cannot follow serial articles or prolonged ad campaigns, not if they only get a copy every fourteen months. The only real answer is to subscribe.".
 

With increased activity on the subscription side coming from both an in-magazine ad and a telesales campaign, the subscriber base has been further increased by the magazine now being sold through specialist subscription companies. Working on a commission or referral basis, Green Sheet is already sold worldwide by over 10 agencies, and this number is set to hit over 20 by the start of 2009.

To date the Green Sheet magazine has always been sold direct to subscribers, but that is also set to change. Through a specialist distribution network in the UK, the magazine will appear on newsagent shelves by the end of 2008, and perhaps as soon as September. This significant step is a major milestone in the 39 year history of the magazine. "Green Sheet is 40 next year, and this will be the first time it has had a cover price", says John Baker, continuing, "Magazines are going through a period of strong growth at present, particularly in the UK, and especially in the B2B market. We have a golden opportunity to enter the retail market which will take the magazine to new readers and ultimately, new subscribers."

The first retail version of the magazine will 'hit the shops' in the UK in September. 

Green Sheet title confusion prompts change 080608

In Q4 of 2007, Green Sheet were negotiating an on-site interview with a major UK owned international engineering company. This was for a multi-part feature on the management of engineering data. It was an organisation whose name is renowned around the world, and whose engines have been used to keep planes aloft for decades. All was going well until we heard that the interview had been knocked back unexpectedly.

The site we were to visit had already been declared to us as being a UK MoD site, and as such there were to be no cameras, no recording equipment, and no mobile phones. The refusal for entry had originated from the MoD itself, and the consensus was that it could well have been because the name 'green' appears in the magazine title (and the company name). This undoubtedly put the wind up those from whom approval was being sought, and given Whitehall's understandable reluctance to let any eco-warriors onto the jointly operated site - it was a no-go.

Investigating our inherited name further, Green Sheet took into account several comments made by members of the information management industry during 2007. (The year John Baker (managing editor) had been heavily promoting the company, and evangelising the virtues of the magazine in particular.

The following incidents and comments have been relayed, recorded and recounted to us:
 

"I thought it was something to do with accountancy"
In fact the name 'greensheet' is given to an internal corporate document which is used to extol the pros and cons of a share issue which an underwriter is about to sell.

We were asked to reproduce online and in the magazine, the manifesto for a somewhat radical environmental group
It was not a group we had ever heard of, and as it was early in 2007 we cannot recall the name.

We have been asked by an AIIM executive if the name is anything to do with accountancy!
So even the IM industry itself was in doubt as to our identity.

The name Green Sheet is also known around the world as:
- a bimonthly report of statewide environmental news and activism (USA)
- a weekly publication in the USA for pharmacists, drug store operators and trade relations advisor's covering new drug releases
- a column in an anti-smog web site
- a US political newsletter on environmental issues (Mark Green)
- a 4 page insert into Michigan Contractor & Builder, which goes to 12,430 contractors. Apparently 'more Michigan based new and used equipment is listed in the Green Sheet than all other sources combined.
- a weekly publication for the worldwide fashion industry
- a free weekly classified ads publication in Phoenix, Arixzona
- a newsletter published by the West Sussex Hospital NHS Trust (a totally dismal tome if ever we saw one)

From the 1st of January 2009 the magazine will be titled IDMi.

Issue 50 has now gone to bed which means it will hit your desks within the next two weeks.

There are new features, and new multi-issue articles to keep you informed. ■

Issue 50 is now well under way with the final layout taking place over the next 6 days. The magazine has a new look to it to coincide with its 50th birthday.
 

ETA on your desks is the second week in May. ■

Due to 'circumstances beyond our control' the PDF version of Issue 49 has been delayed. We are in the process of sorting out the problem and hope to have it with you next week. The difficulty is in the sheer size of the finished article as we have changed the magazine layout and this affects the final PDF size.■