Trust a high value in electronic content

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Here's an insightful piece from Outsell, Inc., regarding our need for
trust in electronic content, these days when increasingly huge amounts of
information are available.  It's particularly apposite at a time when we
speak of for-free access to materials that authors of articles put on
their or others' web sites.  Do we really believe that peer reviewed
journals can be replaced in this way?  Do we really imagine a huge mass of
unfiltered content can substitute for content that is filtered and
categorized?  How?

Outsell, Inc., has given us permission to reproduce these snippets on
liblicense-l.

Sincerely The Moderators

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Outsell's e-briefs           June 13, 2003
A Weekly Analysis of Events and Issues 
Affecting the Information Content Industry
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[SNIP SNIP SNIP]

IN OUTSELL'S OPINION
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Trust - In the Eye of the Beholder

Last week we commented on the New York Times scandal, and the importance
of trust in the news industry. But it's not just at the Times; everywhere
you go you see signs that our trust in information sources, or the lack of
it, becoming a front-and-center issue in many spheres:

- Smaller Transgressions: In the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal at the
Times, many smaller news outlets are starting to speak up about other
forms of dishonesty, such as the tendency of national news outlets to lift
pieces of stories in regional papers and use them without attribution.

- Making It Explicit: eBay now has a Director of Trust, whose role is to
ensure that user-to-user trust continues to be built into the product, so
that customers will continue to rely on eBay as a safe forum for
transactions. Among the innovations here is a user-to-user accountability
system, in which buyers and sellers evaluate each others' reliability.

- Not Playing by the Rules: Bloggers and other online-only contributors to
our news stream don't see themselves as journalists and don't follow
journalism's ethics. At a recent technology industry summit, traditional
reporters honored the forum's "ground rules" that comments from speakers
such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were off the record. The audience,
however, included non-journalists with Weblogs who didn't honor the
agreement and published quotes from the panel, which then was
re-circulated into the mainstream press.

When anyone can broadcast on the Web, the distinctions between journalists
and ordinary audience members are breaking down. As we noted in our August
2002 Briefing "TrendAlert: Trading Trust and the Challenge to
Authoritative Sources," trust is now squarely in the eyes of the beholder
as content users have become empowered by new technologies. The correct
response for Information Content companies is to make the level of
integrity in their information products explicit and transparent, so users
can judge for themselves and form their own brand loyalties.

_____________________________
David Curle
Editor, e-briefs
Outsell, Inc.
mail to:dcurle@outsellinc.com

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Outsell is the only research and advisory firm that focuses exclusively on
the Information Content Industry. As an independent adviser, we emphasize
close relationships with our clients and deliver high-quality, fact-based
research, analysis, and advice about every aspect of content strategy,
deployment, and use to a wide range of vendors, buyers, and users of
information. Founded in 1994, Outsell helps world-class content vendors,
Global 2000 companies, government agencies, and leading educational
institutions increase their understanding of users and end-markets, assess
content quality and effectiveness, benchmark operations, hire and retain
executives, and develop more successful internal and commercial content
products and services.

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Outsell, Inc.'s information, analysis, opinion, and reports (the
"Information") are based on qualitative and/or quantitative research
methods and its staff's extensive professional expertise in the industry.  
Outsell, Inc. has used its best efforts and judgment in the compilation
and presentation of the Information and believes the Information is
accurate as of the date furnished, but the industry and the Information
are subject to rapid change.  Except as aforesaid, Outsell, Inc. makes no
other representations or warranties, express or implied, concerning or
relating to the Information.  Copyright 2002 Outsell, Inc.

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