The long awaited regulations from the SEC outlining which firms must file with XBRL tags (generally the largest 500 that follow GAAP) and when (end of 2nd quarter)  have just been published by the SEC. You can link to the full report in PDF here, but the relevant information begin on page 39.

The surprise is that the final decision here was to exempt firms from having to tag their narratives: eg the management discussions, executive compensation etc. From a researcher’s standpoint, that’s too bad, as this means less potential for precision searching. However the SEC says it may revisit this, and/or make this kind of tagging “optional”. We’re doing a full report on sources for searching both the EDGAR and XBRL tagged filings in the March and April issues of The Information Advisor.

In an interview I had yesterday with Information & Knowledge Management Forrester analyst Gil Yehuda, on Enterprise 2.0, we began talking about information professionals role in E 2.0.   Gil made one of those “stop and makes you think” observations, which I felt was worth noting here. He told me:

A challenge to librarians now is, just how interesting is old [that is, archived, in databases, etc. ] knowledge these days?  Knowledge is being created at such a fast rate, that its value is expiring at a faster rate?   So librarians’ expertise in finding stuff that “WAS” is no longer as relevant or useful; BUT what is replacing this and what librarians need to focus on is the kind of information and connections being made in the Enterprise 2.0 organization.

Gil made several other insightful comments, as when we discussed how the economy is impacting how info pros should be thinking about their role in E 2.0. Gil said that as people are being laid off, the organization’s “connectors” are being lost–people will no longer be sure who knows what and who the go to person is, if their previous contacts have left the firm. Again, there’s an opportunity for the librarian to step in and help people surface,  identify and reach out to those connectors.

I’ll be including the entire interview in The Information Advisor’s March 2009 new quarterly supplement on Enterprise 2.0, which will also look at how to categorize and think about vendors that occupy the E 2.0 space

Pew’s reports are always worth reading: this one just out on the Future of the Internet III concludes:

A survey of experts shows they expect major tech
advances as the phone becomes a primary device for
online access, voice-recognition improves, and the
structure of the Internet itself improves. They disagree
about whether this will lead to more social tolerance,
more forgiving human relations, or better home lives

Recommended reading for the day

I turn to the Web to find answers on almost any topic these days, and typically advise others some tips along the same lines–except in one area…

You know when you are aware of something for awhile, but then a news story appears that confirms what you already know. Today that happened as I read today’s Times‘ article on “Medical Web Searches and Escalating Fears”: Microsoft Finds Top Results Lead to Anxiety.

I always brace myself when a family member or friend has some unexplained ailment and says they are going to try to figure out what’s wrong by checking online. If that person has the least bit of hypochondria or general prone to worry, they are bound to zero in on the worst possible potential causes, no matter how remote, as to why they are suffering from that sore throat, rash, tiredness etc.

Of course we all know that the Web is an unbelievably fantastic resource for all sorts of do it yourself kind of research and figuring out whatever you’re grappling with, including health and medical related information in general. And there are countless stories of discoveries made online that have empowered all of us with invaluable medical information. But when we are not feeling well, and add our fears, ignorance of probabilities, and a tendency to zero in on the most dramatic and sensational, then the Web is then not the best place to calmly assess the reasons why you are suffering from that ailment.

So remember–if you’re feeling out of sorts after your Thanksgiving meal, the most likely reasons are from eating too much, being tired from travel, family stresses, and so on– beware of self diagnosis by keying  your symptoms into a search engine!

Happy Thanksgiving….