Thomson Financial, an operating unit of The Thomson Corporation, and provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community, has announced InSite, an offering that extends corporate visibility by creating Investor Relations (IR) microsites on Yahoo! Finance, a financial information destination for investors. InSite provides investor relations information to more than eight million Yahoo! Finance monthly users. This provides IROs the ability to drive traffic directly to IR content that they manage, as well as directly to their company's corporate Web site, meaning that the search for investor relations information for their company begins and ends with InSite content. InSite offers: a full solution enabling companies to communicate directly with shareholders, potential shareholders, and media, the ability to combat misinformation, control of corporate message and self-authoring capabilities, and leverage of the Corporate IR site efforts by extending the reach to the Yahoo! Finance audience. In addition, subscribers can use the Sponsored News feature, which enables companies to speak directly to prospects, shareholders, clients, and the press. Sponsored News is a paid area, located within the Yahoo! Finance quote result and company news headline pages, that allows companies to communicate key news stories and product announcements directly to their target audience.

(http://finance.yahoo.com), (http://www.irchannel.com), (http://www.thomson.com)

In an effort to improve its place in the market, software maker Oracle has made an aggressive move to  purchase competitor PeopleSoft for $5.1 billion. Oracle execs believe that the combined company would have a better chance of competing against market leader SAP. The offer was directed at shareholders and consisted of a cash offer of $16 a share, 6% higher than PeopleSoft's closing price of $15.11 in Thursday's Nasdaq trading. Some analysts have said that Oracle will have to offer $20 to $25 a share to garner shareholder support, but Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has stood by his original offer. Oracle's offer comes on the heels of an offer PeopleSoft made last week to purchase J.D. Edwards & Co. for $1.6 billion in stock. The J.D. Edwards deal would be likely to put PeopleSoft ahead of Oracle if it were to go through. Ellison has said the J.D. Edwards deal would be risky for PeopleSoft investors and said agreeing to Oracle's offer would be the safer route. Oracle said that if its bid for PeopleSoft is successful, it would review whether it would support the proposed acquisition of J.D. Edwards. Although Oracle does not plan to sell PeopleSoft software to new clients, Oracle has stated that they will support upgrades and extend support for current PeopleSoft clients. Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft would be subject to regulatory approval and the amendment of PeopleSoft's shareholder rights plan. It would not be subject to due diligence or financing. Oracle is being advised by and provided with bridge financing from Credit Suisse First Boston. They expect a deal to close in July.

(http://www.oracle.com), (http://www.peoplesoft.com)

IBM is delivering new software designed to help enterprises automatically monitor and protect databases from security threats, malicious users, and other vulnerabilities that may compromise database performance or the integrity and availability of the information contained within them. IBM Tivoli Risk Manager now features support for IBM DB2 Universal Database, Oracle Database, and Microsoft SQL Server. IBM Tivoli Risk Manager is an autonomic, self-protecting, security event management software that correlates database security events with other events across an organization's network. This view of the network allows administrators to distinguish real security threats from false alarms and provides automated responses to proactively prevent from threats. With Tivoli Risk Manager, customers can take action to stop potential threats before they occur reducing, time associated with event trouble shooting and more importantly, preventing threats that can cause irreversible damage. The software delivers autonomic computing capabilities such as self-configuration and self-protection by assessing potential security threats and automating responses such as server reconfiguration, patch deployments, and account revocation. Tivoli Risk Manager works in tandem with IBM's other database management products. For example, IBM Tivoli Monitoring for Databases automatically alerts administrators when key performance and resource allocation problems are detected. Supporting more than 60 security and network products across the enterprise, Tivoli Risk Manager features interoperability with products from vendors such as: Apache Software Foundation, Cisco Systems, ClickNet Security Technologies, Enterasys Networks, Gilian Technologies, IBM, Network Associates, Red Hat, Secure Computing, Sun Microsystems, and more. IBM Tivoli Risk Manager 4.1 is available today.  Current customers may download the new support for IBM DB2 Universal Database, Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server on IBM's Web site at no additional charge.

(http://www.ibm.com/tivoli)

MicroPatent, a subsidiary of Information Holdings Inc. and provider a commercial collection of searchable full-text patent information, has added full-text patent data to its analysis platform with the release of Aureka 9.0, in addition to other enhancements such as upgrading theme maps to include foreign and non-patent information. Aureka 9.0 features an improved user interface that gives customers access to MicroPatent's PatSearch FullText database, a commercial collection of electronically searchable full-text patent data. The collection includes: U.S. granted patents (1836 - present), U.S. published applications (2001 - present), European granted patents (1991 - present), European published applications (1978 - present), PCT published applications (1978 - present), Great Britain published applications (1916 - present), German granted patents (1989 - present), German published applications (1989 - present), and Japanese published applications (1976 - present). Customers can now search any or all of these databases simultaneously, accessing and exporting new fields of information not previously available in Aureka, such as Agent, Designated States, Patents Cited, and Priority Data. They can also use advanced search techniques using Boolean operators, combine queries to expand or narrow their search scope, and search EP and WO documents using French and German text. Another feature of Aureka 9.0 is the ability to create theme maps using non-patent data, which was not previously possible in Aureka 8.0. Likewise, customers can construct maps in foreign languages, such as French and German, providing the document lists are homogeneous.

(http://www.informationholdings.com), (http://www.micropat.com)

EOS International, a library automation vendor, has announced the immediate availability of the EOS Q-Series platform, based on the latest .NET framework technology from Microsoft. One of the most significant advantages of the .NET Framework is its level of interoperability with other languages, applications, and systems.  Plus there's no need to replace your existing system, since Microsoft .NET-connected software allows users to share or integrate information using your current technology. The new EOS Q-Series .NET Web-based solutions are primarily used for editing, viewing, and accessing information. They feature: newly designed and streamlined Web interface, simplified internal workflow processes, streamlined application deployment, decreased processing times, improved information access, full authority control for MARC records, dynamic, interactive MARC Editor, and XML data communications.

(http://www.eosintl.com)

The British Library has announced its new secure Electronic Delivery service, harnessing the strength of the British Library's collections and giving customers fast access to over a billion items. For customers this means that almost anything from the Library's collections--whether born digital, in print, or in microform--can be delivered to a desktop within two hours if needed, saving time and money. Unlike many suppliers, the Library holds the vast majority of the items listed in its catalogues, with most available for secure electronic delivery. The secure Electronic Delivery service, fully available from Fall 2003, is based on Adobe Reader 6.0 software and Relais International scanning and delivery technology. Since the Library launched the fully copyright compliant secure electronic delivery service in December 2002, it has succeeded in obtaining extensive agreements for secure electronic delivery with many scientific publishers. The addition of scanning technology to the Library's services means that, from Fall 2003, it will be able to supply virtually all of the materials listed in its catalogues--as well as from its Inside electronic table of contents service--via secure electronic delivery direct to the researcher's PC. The Library's collections include: 283,000 journal titles, 3 million books, 433,000 conference proceedings, 5 million reports, 150,000 UK theses, 476,000 US dissertations, 585,000 translations, 47 million patents, and 10,000 pictures. Customers will be able to choose from a range of delivery options, with secure electronic delivery available within two hours of ordering if needed. Investment in specially adapted digital scanning stations means the Library can provide high resolution electronic documents, while the addition of high speed Xerox printers ensures quality hard-copy documents for postal delivery.

(http://www.adobe.com), (http://www.bl.uk), (http://www/relais-intl.com)

LexisNexis U.S., a provider of legal, business, and news information, has announced several enhancements to its information services suite. An advanced version of the Company Dossier, the new Industry Dossier, and the LexisNexis Publisher products provide information professionals with a broader and more comprehensive tool set. LexisNexis' Company Dossier service is a tool for client and business development, sales and marketing, and competitive intelligence needs. The upgraded Company Dossier allows users to gather market information on businesses more efficiently. Users can specify search criteria on up to 16 attributes simultaneously, such as geographic location, company size, and financial metrics, and output side-by-side comparisons against other companies. By the end of June 2003, Company Dossier will be available in two subscription versions: Snapshot and Complete. The Snapshot Report provides an at-a-glance analysis of companies and is designed for confirming company information or building mailing lists for direct marketing campaigns. It includes basic information, such as: company overview, high-level financials, key competitors, executives and directors, products and brand, parent and subsidiary structure, and relevant news articles. The Complete Report provides all the information provided by Snapshot, as well as five specialized, in-depth reports to provide you with investigative information or analysis on a particular company, including In the News, Business Information Report, Financial Information Report, Legal Information Report, and Intellectual Property Report. The new Industry Dossier is an add-on to Company Dossier that delivers information reporting from such sources as Integra, Economic Census, Mergerstat, Market Guide Industry Report, Disclosure, and Legislative Bills & Bill Tracking. The product provides snapshot industry reports featuring description, related industries, industry performance aggregates, top 20 companies (with related financial data) and recent industry news.  Users can also create four other types of industry reports: Legislative, Mergers, Economic Report and Industry Revenue. Industries are searchable by keyword or SIC codes. LexisNexis Publisher combines the capabilities of two previous LexisNexis products, Web Publisher and Intranet Publisher. This product helps companies to offer up-to-date premium LexisNexis business information to site visitors. At the same time, it allows businesses to deliver information internally, ensuring that employees are kept informed of all relevant happenings in their industry.

(http://www.lexisnexis.com), (http://www.reedelsevier.com)

Context Media, Inc., a provider of Enterprise Content Integration (ECI) software, has announced that it is collaborating with IBM to make it easier for organizations to access and use digital content stored across the enterprise. As part of the agreement, Context Media integrated its Interchange Suite software with the IBM DB2 Content Manager portfolio. The integration is intended to enable customers to access content that resides in multiple repositories across the enterprise through a single interface, reducing the time and costs of managing and using content. Context Media integrated Interchange Suite with IBM DB2 Content Manager using open Web-services standards to create an ECI Adaptor that provides bi-directional information flow between disparate repositories, the Interchange Suite, and IBM DB2 Content Manager. The integration of both products allows businesses to build solutions that aggregate content stored in multiple repositories and systems around an enterprise and present it securely to end-users through a single view. The single view can be presented through IBM DB2 Content Manager, a WebSphere Portal interface, Context Media's Intershare client, or a combination of all of these.

(http://www.contextmedia.com)

Global Insight, Inc., a private company formed to bring together the economic and financial information companies DRI and WEFA, has formed a partnership with Alacra, Inc. Under the agreement, Global Insight will provide its Country Analysis and U.S. Industry Analysis databases for distribution by Alacra to its more than 750 global accounts. Alacra users will be able to directly access Global Insight's independent research and commentary, combining this information within their personalized analysis and reports. The two Global Insight services available through Alacra are Country Analysis, which includes textual coverage and forecast summary spreadsheets for over 180 countries across 7 geographic regions, and U.S. Industry Analysis, which includes textual coverage and forecast summary spreadsheets for over 70 industry sectors, including both detail and aggregates. All Global Insight economic information is produced using an internally consistent analytical framework. Analysis can be accessed on a country-by-country or region-by-region basis to create customized reports containing selected countries or industries. The Global Insight reports can be launched automatically in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, PDF, or HTML format or in conjunction with other information accessed through Alacra's Briefing Book product. The Global Insight content may be purchased either on a "Pay-Per-View," or flat-fee, subscription model.

(http://www.alacra.com), (http://www.globalinsight.com)

Dialog, a Thomson business and a provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, has said that the U.S. government's daily online global news monitoring service World News Connection (WNC) is now available through the Dialog-branded family of information services as File 985. WNC offers electronic searching of an array of translated and English-language news and information compiled daily by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and published by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service (NTIS). FBIS bureaus around the world monitor news sources in their regions, covering virtually all countries worldwide except the United States. Editorial content includes articles and reports originating in countries that are not normally included in publicly available news digests, such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, Nepal, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Vietnam. The service also includes FBIS-prepared country reports that provide detailed summaries of pertinent local issues. Content is added to the online service every government business day, and generally is available for electronic searching and retrieval within 24-72 hours of original publication or broadcast. Dialog has also announced that it has completed the migration of WNC to Dialog hosting and management. All WNC user accounts are now managed by Dialog. Those accounts previously had been administered by the NTIS.

(http://www.dialog.com), (http://www.thomson.com)

Nstein Technologies Inc., a provider of unstructured content management solutions, has launched version 3.0 of its content management platform, Nserver suite, which includes Nstein's concept extraction, categorization, entity extraction, and newly-launched guided navigation modules. One enhancement is the new guided navigation module called Nretriever. Nretriever is a navigation and retrieval tool that uses Nstein's LDNA technology to gather and cluster search results into logical, hierarchically-displayed groups, allowing the user to more easily zero in on what they are looking for. The Nretriever also enables efficient, contextually-driven searches across the organization. Finally Nstein's Nretriever technology can power revenue-generating models for e-publishers as well as for firms competing in the contextual advertising market by linking advertisers to users in a more effective manner. Within Nserver suite, Nstein offers specific indexing products like the Nconcept Extractor that extracts and displays concepts that are present in documents. Nconcept Extractor 3.0 now includes enhanced extraction and ranking algorithms for both complex and simple concepts (i.e. key phrases and keywords). Ncategorizer 3.0 (Nstein's categorization product) now includes improved categorization algorithms as well as a new rule-based layer that allows content managers to define domain-specific indexing & business rules. Nfinder 3.0 (Nstein's entity extraction product) now extracts, out of the box and in several languages, two new entity types of Dates & Times (ISO 8601 standard) and Currencies (ISO 4217 standard). Nfinder is now also available with a browser-based Authority File & Taxonomy Manager module that allows customers to modify their authority files without requiring programming expertise. Finally, Nlikethis 3.0 (Nstein's search enhancement product) was significantly enhanced, improving its accuracy & processing speed and decreasing its repository size. Nserver now comes bundled with new configuration and administration tools that allow Nstein's partners more complete control over Nserver's installation and configuration process. Nserver now provides robust, full-featured Unicode services throughout all of its technology components. The most current version of the Unicode standard is supported. Nserver 3.0 is available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Turkish, Czech, Polish, and Russian. Other languages can be included upon request.

(http://www.nstein.com)

Sirsi Corporation has announced that the Rochester Public Library in Minnesota has selected Sirsi's suite of software and content in an effort to expand the library's services and improve library user's experience. Rochester's Sirsi suite of products and services includes the Unicorn Library Management System, Web2 e-Library with Sirsi DataStream enriched content, and Sirsi SingleSearch broadcast search solution. Rochester Public Library is a member of the Southeastern Libraries Cooperating (SELCO), a consortium that serves 11 counties in the southeastern part of Minnesota. Rochester has an annual circulation of more than 1.2 million, 64,000 patrons, and more than 335,000 items. Rochester Public Library will continue to share catalog and patron data with the SELCO consortium. Rochester Public Library is also interested in Sirsi SingleSearch, technology that enables users to conduct federated or broadcast searches. Sirsi SingleSearch allows users to search multiple resources simultaneously, with tools that sort, deduplicate, and filter search results.

Sirsi has also announced that the Unicorn Library Management System and Sirsi's API tools have been chosen by several academic institutions. Davidson College (NC), Beloit College (WI), Houston Baptist University (TX), Adrian College (MI), Rhodes College (TN), Washtenaw Community College (MI), and the South Carolina Information and Library Services Consortium (SCILS) have all chosen Sirsi solutions. SCILS includes 10 libraries: Greenville Technical College, Horry-Georgetown Technical College, Northeastern Technical College, Spartanburg Technical College, Technical College of the Lowcountry, Williamsburg Technical College, York Technical College, Orangeburg Calhoun Technical College, Tri-County Technical College, and Central Carolina Technical College. Sirsi's Unicorn Application Programming Interface, or API, enables staff to retrieve and update all data, either in-batch or real-time. The ability to move data in and out of the Sirsi system with API tools allows the system to be tailored to a library's specific needs. For example, API tools are used to write interfaces with accounts payable, the bursar files for library fines, and to load patron data from central academic files.

(http://www.sirsi.com)

iManage, Inc., a provider of collaborative content management software

for enterprises, has announced that ORIX Capital Markets, LLC, a servicer of commercial real estate loans, will use iManage WorkSite MP to implement document management and collaboration in its business operations. The iManage WorkSite suite delivers document management, collaboration, workflow, and knowledge management accessible through an integrated portal in a single integrated Internet solution. ORIX Capital Markets (OCM) manages a proprietary trading portfolio of approximately $2 billion in specialized sectors including commercial real estate debt, commercial mortgage backed securities, and non-investment grade corporate debt. To better support its multidisciplinary operations, OCM sought a document management and collaboration system with more comprehensive functionality than the imaging management system previously in place. WorkSite's desktop integration with Microsoft Office and Outlook enable a close fit with OCM's current business practices. OCM will implement WorkSite to enable document management of mortgage loan information, commercial property files, legal documents, corporate credit analysis, portfolio surveillance, images, and other content pertaining to its real estate and investment portfolio. The new system will be used to build workflows to automate specific business processes.

(http://www.imanage.com), (http://www.orixcm.com)

KMtechnologies, Inc., a provider of enterprise content management software has announced that the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center has selected work2gether to manage document development, modification, and approval. The collaborative content management system will provide over 8000 healthcare professionals with access to all procedures, policies, guidelines, and standards. Work2gether is a Web based content management and collaboration system that provides organizations with the ability to manage documents, files, and records. The software system offers management, employees, clients, partners, and suppliers a common platform for communicating, collaborating, publishing, sharing, storing, and accessing information. Based on XML technology, work2gether requires a Windows NT/2000/XP server and an Internet connection.

(http://www.kmtechnologies.com), (http://www.unm.edu)

Open Text Corporation, has announced that the National Economic Research Associates (NERA), a Marsh & McLennan Company, has implemented a library management solution from Open Text to consolidate the information holdings of nine distributed NERA libraries. The enterprise-wide solution based on Techlib addresses document control as well as traditional library management functions. NERA, a firm of consulting economists, focuses on the practical application of economics to solve business and legal issues. NERA provides research on a variety of economic policy topics. NERA's efforts and expertise provide objective analysis that is often applied in making complex legal decisions.Using the Open Text solution NERA has integrated library holdings across nine geographically dispersed locations. NERA has realized a number of benefits by consolidating access to physical resources, digital collections, and commercial databases including: establishing a single initial point of entry for accessing enterprise information resources; providing integrated access to research document collections and print collections in nine libraries to the entire organization for the first time; and automating traditional library services to facilitate sharing and optimize NERA's investment in print collections.

(http://www.nera.com), (http://www.opentext.com), (http://www.opentext.com/livelink), (http://www.opentext.com/techlib)