ZapThink has released a report entitled "XML in the Content Lifecycle," which looks at how XML is impacting the content management markets. ZapThink found that XML and Web Services are making a major impact on products focused on the content lifecycle, such as content creation, management, distribution, syndication, and protection. The report concludes that the primary challenge in the enterprise for producers of content is content reuse--the ability to integrate content from disparate sources.  "Content processes are currently where distributed computing applications were in the mid-1980's," said Ronald Schmelzer, senior analyst at ZapThink. "Content today is frequently out of context, hard to reuse, constantly changing with multiple versions in multiple languages, and insecure. Content solutions that leverage XML promise to improve the economics of working with content considerably." Other findings of the report include: the market for XML content lifecycle solutions is expected to grow from $1.8 billion in 2003 to over $11.6 billion by 2008; producers of content in the enterprise spend over 60% of their time locating, formatting, and structuring content and just 40% of their time creating it; and by 2008, about 60% of all content lifecycle products will be XML-enabled. The report identifies the major sources of content in the enterprise and the nature and growth of that content. In addition, the report explores the five phases of the Content Lifecycle and how XML and Web Services standards, products, and practices are critically impacting those processes. ZapThink determines the ROI to be gained by implementing XML-enabled Content Lifecycle processes, examines the growth of the market for XML-enabled Content solutions, and profiles key XML-enabled Content Lifecycle products and solutions.

(http://www.zapthink.com)

WeatherBug has unveiled an "On-Demand" online advertising model that is designed to allow users to change their sponsor at will. The capability debuted with the launch of WeatherBug 5.0, an upgrade to their Internet application. WeatherBug is a source of weather information on the Web as well as a news and information site. The free, ad-supported Internet application streams live neighborhood weather conditions, severe weather warnings, civil emergency alerts, and forecasts to PC users. It is powered by AWS Convergence Technologies' nationwide network of 6,000 weather stations, which is based mostly at schools. AWS owns and operates WeatherBug. With the launch of version 5.0, WeatherBug now features a "Choose Another Sponsor" button that enables a user to change their sponsor as often as they would like. Once clicked, WeatherBug presents consumers with a list of advertisers to choose from, divided into several major categories such as health, travel, computing, education, and others. When a new advertiser is selected, WeatherBug's appearance changes to display the advertiser's messages wrapped around the weather content in a unique format called BrandWrap. This WeatherBug online advertising paradigm, which is intended to enable high brand recall, first debuted in 2001. Users also receive a welcome email from their new advertiser and are shuttled to the sponsor's Web site during the selection process. Advertisers participating in this program only pay for sponsorships when their ads are chosen. WeatherBug's new "Advertising On-Demand" feature is an expansion of the program called Sponsor Select that debuted last year.

(http://www.aws.com), (http://www.cooperkatz.com), (http://www.weatherbug.com)

Information Science Abstracts (ISA) has been renamed Information Science & Technology Abstracts (ISTA). Published nine times a year by Information Today, Inc., ISTA has provided worldwide library and information science records from more than 450 publications dating back to 1966. The new name reflects recognition of the changes in the field of information science that occurred during the last decade and which are recorded in the literature that ISTA abstracts. As information has moved during the past few years towards becoming a commodity, the information science profession has also grown from its beginnings in the library and information retrieval world to become more interdisciplinary. Information Today, Inc. is a publisher of books, periodicals, and directories pertaining to library and information science and the electronic delivery of information. ITI is also the organizer and sponsor of many conferences, such as InfoToday, Computers in Libraries, KMWorld & Intranets, and Internet Librarian.

(http://www.infotoday.com)

IBM has announced that KMD, IT provider to the Denmark government, and the National Library of the Netherlands, have adopted IBM's digital content management technology. The new egovernment solutions are designed to enable them to increase productivity, streamline operations, and gain a faster return on their information. IBM's content management software is aimed at helping customers digitize and manage all forms of information in an effort to respond faster to market demands, tap into new markets, and ultimately increase their bottom line. According to IT industry analyst firms, support for egovernment solutions is on the rise. Gartner Group estimates that IT spending in the U.S. state and local government marketplace alone is expected to exceed

$56 billion by 2005. KMD chose IBM's e-infrastructure technology, including Content Manager, DB2 and WebSphere MQ software as well as an IBM eServer zSeries solution, to power its nationwide egovernment offering for the Denmark government. Government employees will be able to gain access to documentation including tax statements, health care claims, unemployment records, and building permits from their desktops. This process will relieve the local government offices of storing unnecessary paper and keep citizen records updated by the minute, in an effort to offer better customer service. The government also hopes to increase operational efficiencies by 30 percent, and reduce unnecessary paper costs. The National Library of The Netherlands recently implemented IBM's content management technology to digitally preserve millions of historical and recent documents including books, periodicals, and scientific papers, which can be managed and retrieved in the new system, built to scale up to over 500 terabytes. The IBM content management solution is based on Content Manager, WebSphere Application Serve,r and Tivoli storage management software. IBM disk and tape storage products and an IBM eServer pSeries solution were implemented by IBM Global Services.

(http://www.ibm.com/software/data/cm)

SyncCast, a content delivery network and digital media technology company, has been granted certification by Microsoft as a .NET Premium DRM Packager. The SyncCast DRM Packager allows content owners and distributors, to protect digital content using their existing equipment and personnel. The Packager is designed to keep content protected from release to 3rd parties and exposure to theft or unauthorized use.

(http://www.synccast.com)

knovel has announced free access to four new chemistry reference databases for academic libraries. Two of the four titles are "Interactive Deep Searchable" (IDS), which means you can perform numeric searches by field and manipulate data in spreadsheet-like tables. IDS titles are indicated with an asterisk (*).

*International Critical Tables of Numeric Data, Physics, Chemistry and Technology, 7 volumes and index (first electronic edition). Originally published for the National Research Council, ICT offers data on physical, thermodynamic, mechanical, and other key properties and is a reference source used by those involved in chemistry, physics, and engineering. The first version of International Critical Tables will contain seven interactive tables. The full text of the original print version is available in PDF format (full-text searchable) and includes the original index. All entries in the index are hyperlinked to their page numbers.

*knovel Critical Tables. kCT is a new reference featuring tables of properties for commonly used chemical compounds in the physical properties tables. kCT has expanded the original 6,000 chemical compounds in the physical properties tables of International Critical Tables to more than 13,000 compounds. Using multiple sources, kCT contains the most up-to-date chemical properties information available online. Tables in kCT include Basic Physical Properties of Inorganic Compounds, Basic Physical Properties of Organic Compounds, Critical Properties and Acentric Factor, Enthalpy of Formation, Enthalpy of Vaporization, Entropy of Formation, Entropy of Gas, Gibbs Energy of Formation, Heat Capacity of Gas, Helmholtz Energy of Formation, Internal Energy of Formation, Basic Physical Properties of Common Solvents, and Safety Properties of Common Solvents. New tables will be added to kCT on a regular basis.

Thermochemistry of the Chemical Substances. Compiled by thermodynamicist, Frederick D. Rossini, and International Critical Tables editor F. Russell Bichowsky, it is a revision of the table of values for the heats of formation in the thermochemistry section in International Critical Tables. It includes 5,840 values of heats of formation and 350 values of heats of transition, fusion, vaporization, and reaction. All entries in the index are hyperlinked to their page numbers.

Smithsonian Physical Tables (ninth revised edition). Comprising 901 tables concentrating on common physical and chemical data, the information provided is of general interest to scientists and engineers, and of particular interest to those involved with physics in its larger sense. On knovel, the Smithsonian Physical Tables are navigable and full-text searchable. All entries in the index are hyperlinked to their page numbers.

(http://www.knovel.com)

Endeavor Information Systems has announced that CONZULSys (a consortium of four New Zealand university libraries) has chosen the Voyager integrated library management system, ENCompass digital library management system, and LinkFinderPlus linking system. Involved in the selection are the libraries of the Auckland University of Technology in Auckland, the University of Otago in Dunedin, the University of Waikato in Hamilton, and Victoria University of Wellington. The project is one of the collaborative activities currently being undertaken by CONZUL members. CONZULSys selected the Endeavor software in part, then, to enhance the collaboration between libraries. Combined, the libraries' house over 1.9 million titles and over 2.4 million volumes. Serving over 75,000 library users, CONZULSys also selected Endeavor's Universal Borrowing system for reciprocal consortia borrowing, Voyager Interlibrary Loan system, Media Scheduling materials booking system and the Voyager interface to a third-party self-check interface. CONZULSys will employ a third-party server hosting company to maintain the hardware for the library systems. The Endeavor software is intended to enable CONZULSys members to adhere to their vision statement, which is "to use and develop the best enabling technologies in a pioneering collaboration which will enhance the innovative delivery of library and information resources to the New Zealand tertiary learning and research community."

(http://www.endinfosys.com)

WebSideStory, Inc. has announced that SignOnSanDiego.com, the online news and information site for The San Diego Union-Tribune, has doubled the number of monthly unique visitors and increased advertising revenues by more than 50% since implementing its HitBox service two years ago. SignOnSanDiego.com uses WebSideStory's flagship marketing analytics service, HitBox Enterprise, to get information on how visitors are navigating its site. Before using HitBox, SignOnSanDiego.com attracted roughly 500,000 monthly unique visitors. Today, the site's traffic has more than doubled to an audited figure of more than one million visitors every month. HitBox Enterprise is an outsourced Web analytics service, providing detailed, real-time information about online visitor and customer behavior. The service is designed to help companies optimize their online marketing ROI, pinpoint revenue-enhancing opportunities, improve customer support, enhance visitor loyalty, and increase sales. HitBox requires no hardware or software investment. All the information is collected in real time and made available on demand through a Web-browser interface. SignOnSanDiego.com uses HitBox to: improve breaking news coverage; pinpoint targeted sales opportunities; provide more accurate numbers to advertisers; and track marketing activity effectiveness.

(http://www.hitbox.com), (http://www.signonsandiego.com), (http://www.websidestory.com)

CollabNet, a provider of collaborative software development solutions, has joined the Borland Technology Partner Program. In addition, CollabNet is intending to qualify Borland JBuilder a Java development environment to use source code repositories within the CollabNet SourceCast environment. The CollabNet SourceCast environment combines components of distributed development, including applications for software development, technical communication, knowledge management, and project administration. CollabNet allows corporations to combine geographically decentralized development teams, whether the team members are third-party development partners or internal employees, and provides an environment for secure and cost-effective development across an organization. The CollabNet SourceCast environment is designed to enable Web-based collaboration across the development, integration, and end-user adoption links of the software development chain. The Borland Technology Partner Program enables CollabNet to have direct access to the latest version of Borland products, technical knowledge bases, support services, and marketing and sales toolkits. Borland JBuilder is a cross-platform environment for building industrial-strength enterprise Java applications. Developers will be able to use JBuilder to check source code directly into and out of the Software Configuration Management system in the CollabNet SourceCast environment.

(http://www.collab.net), (http://www.collab.net/products/sourcecast)

Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation, is using Centra, a provider of software and services for real-time communication and collaboration, in an effort to enhance its customer education Web portal with real-time, online instructor-led courses. The Teradata Education Network (TEN) deployed Centra in January 2002, and has since noticed an increase in customer satisfaction and retention rates; TEN expects to double its user base in the next six months. While Centra's ASP service maintains the software and manages the activities associated with delivering real-time, online meetings, training and events, Centra enables customers to manage their own recordings. Typically, 20-30 customers participate in a live, online class. Centra's enterprise application provides collaboration solutions for sales, marketing, human resources, information technology, and other departments across the enterprise that need better business communication over the Web. CentraOne combines voice, video, data, and graphics in interfaces for Web conferencing, meetings, and virtual classrooms that can be deployed onsite or accessed through a secure ASP. Centra is designed to integrate with existing infrastructure to help organizations align enterprise IT strategies with business processes. Centra's solutions are available in 13 language editions and in 29 countries worldwide.

(http://www.centra.com.)

FileNet Corporation has announced general availability of its FileNet P8 architecture. The FileNet P8 architecture is an integrated framework that combines content, process, and connectivity capabilities in a single unified solution. Its ECM application development framework and tools are specifically designed to promote ease of use, rapid application development, and lower total cost of ownership. FileNet P8's architecture is designed to offer customers, systems integrators, and resellers the ability to develop customized ECM solutions to industry- or company -specific business problems aimed at improving the business decision making process, increasing overall productivity, customer satisfaction, and profitability. The framework combines FileNet's content and process management technology with new integration capabilities and solution templates.

FileNet P8 features solution templates that serve as development foundations for custom applications. The solution templates combine reusable code, process maps, forms, class definitions, search templates, and user interfaces giving developers a "jump-start" that can reduce development time and implementation costs. The solution templates feature an n-tier architecture, which separates the application into different layers, designed to make customization easier. To adapt an application to accommodate an organization's specific business processes and practices, developers make modifications to one layer.

The FileNet P8 architecture is based on open systems, operates in both Microsoft and Unix environments and with SQL and Oracle databases, and is integrated with BEA's WebLogic and IBM's Websphere J2EE application servers. Additionally, FileNet P8 offers Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDav) support, which allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote Web servers. FileNet P8 also features a Component Integrator Subsystem, which acts as a universal adapter, enabling companies to interact with other systems and components built on technologies such as Java, JMS, XML, and Web Services. FileNet P8 is comprised of four suites of pre-packaged technologies and tools including: Business Process Manager (designed to allow organizations to optimize business processes); Content Manager (provides organizations with content management and document approval workflow so they can control, share, manipulate, and access content in a secure and scalable environment); Web Content Manager (content management and integrated process management for Web initiatives); and Image Manager (designed to address high-volume, high-performance imaging and rich-media management applications and help organizations manage and store content). FileNet's P8 architecture is available now; enterprise configuration price points start at $125K to $420K, depending on the specific suite.

(http://www.filenet.com)

ECNext, a provider of Web marketing and commerce technology for market research firms and business publishers has announced that Outsell, Inc., a research and advisory firm focusing exclusively on the Information Content (IC) industry, has selected ECNext as its solution provider for its commerce Web site. ECNext's advanced technology will power Outsell's commerce Web site, and enable Outsell to package, market, and deliver information to the market of Web-based ad-hoc purchases. ECNext's Web Visibility program is designed to assure that Outsell's site shows up well in relevant search categories and that the site attracts traffic and delivers sales. In addition, Outsell will use ECNext's site content management tools to enable timely updates of information and provide maximum visibility from Web search engines.

(http://www.ecnext.com), (http://www.outsellinc.com)

NBC News Channel has announced a long-term agreement with London-based Teletrax to digitally watermark its news video in order to track usage of its content by local television stations and other clients. Teletrax enables media companies to digitally watermark video footage to monitor where and when it is broadcast. Teletrax's broadcast monitoring solution is based on the Philips Watercast video watermarking system, which is supported by a license to intellectual property from Digimarc Corp. Under terms of the agreement, Teletrax will provide NBC News Channel with monitoring of more than 100 stations in 85 key markets across the United States to provide detailed tracking and analysis. NBC News Channel will also use Teletrax to track usage of its material in Europe.

(http://www.nbc.com/nbc/NBC_News), (http://www.teletrax.tv)

RealNetworks, Inc. has announced that the third source code component of the Helix platform, the Helix DNA Server, is now available to software developers through the Helix Community. With Helix DNA Server, developers have source code access to a major end-to-end media delivery platform, consisting of producer, server, and client components. Helix DNA Server source code is designed to enable developers to build multi-format products for live and on-demand streaming, Web collaboration, mobile media delivery, in-home streaming, and many other applications. Helix DNA Server streams MP3, RealAudio, and RealVideo. RealNetworks intends to add support for MPEG-4 after the MPEG-4 systems license terms have been released by the MPEG-4 licensing body, MPEG LA. Developers can create extensions for other media types such as Windows Media and QuickTime, or they can license these extensions from RealNetworks through the Helix Community. The Helix DNA Server is available for AIX, HP-UX, Tru64, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Windows NT, and Windows 2000 operating systems. Helix DNA Server is the third release of source code into the Helix Community. In October, RealNetworks released the Helix DNA Client source code, which enabled developers to build playback applications that support any format. In December, RealNetworks released the Helix DNA Producer, which enabled developers to build encoding applications that support any format. Helix DNA Server Features: 9th generation media server; industry standard streaming media protocol and transports including--RTSP, RTP, SAP, and SDP; live and on-demand broadcasting; native MP3 support; RealVideo and RealAudio codec/file format support; administration, monitoring, and logging; and full client authentication support, such as for pay per view services. The Helix DNA Server will be licensed under both a public source license and a commercial community source license. Both licenses are free of charge for research and development use. The public source license has no royalty for use or distribution; the RealNetworks Community Source License (RCSL) includes a $500/unit royalty for commercial use of the Helix DNA Server with RealAudio and RealVideo support. RealNetworks' Public Source License (RPSL) has been certified by the Open Source Initiative (OSI), a non-profit corporation dedicated to the management and promotion of the open source community. This certification is a part of the OSI Certified Open Source Software certification mark and program.

RealNetworks, Inc. has also announced that service providers, enterprises, government, and educational institutions have licensed the Helix Universal Server for streaming of multi-format content. The Helix Universal Server, which is designed to reduce the cost of digital media delivery by streaming all major media formats including RealAudio, RealVideo, Apple's QuickTime, MPEG-4, MP3, and Windows Media, is based on the Helix DNA Server source code that was released to the Helix Community. The Helix Universal Server supports more than 55 media types, including RealAudio, RealVideo, MPEG-4, Windows Media, and QuickTime. RealNetworks offers an end-to-end redundant system--with built-in redundancies between encoder and server, server and server, and server and client. Server features include live stream convergence, forward error correction between servers, unicast and multicast splitting and server operating system support such as AIX, HP-UX and Tru64, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Windows NT, and Windows 2000.

(http://www.helixcommunity.org), (http://www.real.com), (http://www.realnetworks.com)

Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) and Stratify, Inc have announced a reseller agreement. As part of this agreement, Stratify will integrate FAST Data Search, a customizable software platform designed to handle real-time data-intensive search and information retrieval challenges, with the Stratify Discovery System, a taxonomy and categorization solution that organizes, classifies, and leverages large amounts of unstructured information. The combined solution is intended to provide information-intensive enterprises with an advanced search and categorization platform to manage their structured and unstructured data resources. The solution is designed to provide customers with a highly organized, unified, and accurate view of information enterprise-wide, along with advanced real-time filtering and agent capabilities. FAST and Stratify will engage in joint sales and marketing activities for the combined solution.

(http://www.alltheweb.com), (http://www.fastsearch.com), (http://www.stratify.com)

Liberty, a UK-based human rights organization has launched their redesigned Web site, in an effort to give the public quicker and more efficient access to news and information about civil liberties and human rights issues. Liberty appointed London-based content management specialist Kitsite with design partner Mediumrare to deliver a dynamic site that would facilitate information management and dissemination of information. The objective of the new site is, "to grab people's attention and inspire them to action," so the new site features dynamically updated information on issues and campaigns, simplified online membership applications, and facilities for secure online donations.

(http://www.kitsite.com), (http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk)

Infotrieve has acquired Ariel software from RLG, a membership corporation of research libraries, archives, and museums. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. Ariel enables academic and research libraries to electronically convey and share scanned or digitized documents, such as articles published in scholarly and professional journals, between and within institutions, in high-resolution TIF or PDF formats across the Internet. The software was developed and launched in 1991 by the non-profit RLG. The privately owned Infotrieve is a provider of on-demand article distribution services. It is also a provider of Web-enabled virtual library platforms and outsourced information services to corporate and institutional customers. Infotrieve will continue to work with RLG member libraries on additional enhancements to Ariel. Infotrieve expects to add new information management tools and features to the Ariel software that will facilitate improved interlibrary loan procedures and enterprise information sharing. Current license and distribution agreements with Ariel users will be transferred and managed by Infotrieve, as will customer support, training, billing, and other business functions. Current Ariel customers are being contacted by Infotrieve representatives.

(http://www.infotrieve.com), (http://www.rlg.org)