1. InfoToday 2003 National Online New York City Patrick Spain – May 6, 2003

2. Who Is This Man & What Did He Teach Us? 1512-1594

3. Gerhard Mercator- The Father of Modern Map Making Innovator - Mercator Projection –Inspired breakthrough –Round world could be displayed on a flat surface –Solved the largest problem of the day – how to give explorers a map they could relate to their navigation instruments –Only one problem- it was wrong! Integrator - Invented The Atlas –First person to create a book of similarly scaled maps of the known world –Not an explorer, but a synthesizer & compiler –His Atlas served as the template for all modern mapping

4. The Information Landscape There are few new ideas right now In fact, we are going backwards in many ways There is little real growth in most areas Providers are focused on profits & survival Price increases are a substitute for growth Aggregators are adding content & gathering rights, rather than making content easier to find & use Technology is viewed as a delivery vehicle, rather than a value enhancer Many publishers are waging a hopeless battle to close the barn door on free/low cost content

5. But Exciting Conditions Have Been Created More content than ever available online More people than ever have access to online resources Primary means of research is now online, rather than in physical libraries More tools to make that content useful

6. This Has Given Rise to Some Noteworthy Trends Rise of the individual as content manager Integration of software & data Decline of the importance of brands Focus on answers rather then results Opportunities for “new” mapmakers

7. Rise of the Individual As Content Manager Long-term societal trend toward taking control of matters that are important Technology has made individual research easier Cost cutting at enterprises means fewer gatekeepers & fewer centralized resources It’s just more efficient – each individuals buys and uses what he/she wants/needs Rise of the acceptability of individual online payment

8. Integration of Software & Data The online environment is not a technology It is also not a new medium It is not a big, cheap pipe It is an amalgam of tools and data tied together by brand that, when properly organized, does something – think AOL Whether you believe this or not, Microsoft does & that will make it happen

9. Decline of Importance of Brands There are more brands – this dilutes existing brands It is now easier to build a brand, using online presence (e.g., AOL, Hoover’s, Motley Fool, Drudge Report) – so existing brands are less valuable Requirements for credibility become less stringent as audience gets larger and less professional – this is a fundamental change that most info professionals have failed to grasp Pretty good information at an excellent (low) price is larger market than perfect information at a high price (That’s why Wal-Mart is 150x Tiffany in size)

10. Focus on Answers, Not Results Answers involve a combination of locating, organizing, and publishing Most so-called research services stop at search results Even search stops half-way – Google does a good job on the free Web but then you have to search paid/registration services separately

11. What You Asked For What Is the Price of Tea in China?

12. What You Got

13. Role of the New Mapmakers Help individuals with particular interests to locate, collect & integrate information - Blogs

14. Jim Romenesko’s MediaNews Blog

15. Role of the New Mapmakers Help individuals with particular interests to locate, collect & integrate information - Blogs Develop new methodologies to prepackage information so it is more useful – Mercator’s Atlas

16. Kartoo’s Visual Representation

17. Role of the New Mapmakers Help individuals with particular interests to locate, collect & integrate information - Blogs Develop new methodologies to prepackage information so it is more useful – Mercator’s Atlas Expand access to what already exists, as printing did for the written word - Metasearch

18. SurfWax Metasearch

19. What You Asked For What Is the Price of Tea in China?

20. What You Needed

21. Insurmountable Opportunities Content is permanently commoditized Technology is still too abstract Publishers are still balkanized Aggregators have not come close to replicating the cable TV model or the software bundling model Mindsets about value & market size are fossilized

22. Conclusions Most of the information industry is boring and little interested in innovation, much as the mapping industry was in the mid 16 th century Innovation can come from new discovery, but can also come from putting together the pieces that have already been been created in new & more useful ways While technology will be the engine of this industry, people & companies who understand how information is & can be used to provide answers will be the ultimate winners

23. We Just Need the New…