New publication aids process of product review

FreePint FUMSI Report:

"Product Evaluation Report and Tool Kit",
by Free Pint Limited staff and contributors
April 2007

Information page: http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/report/product-evaluation/

Product Evaluation Report and Tool Kit

Product evaluations can be extremely time-consuming, making even free trials a potentially costly project. Furthermore, it's essential to understand prior to the trial what a user's or organisation's needs are, with regard to that product. Despite the fact that a systematic approach to trialling products is a valuable professional skill, few resources exist to help define, implement and report on product evaluations.

This report fills that gap by providing a flexible framework for planning and conducting effective product evaluations. By laying out a step-by-step approach, the report helps users understand the purpose of their evaluations, understand their organisational needs, plan a methodology, conduct and report on product trials. Contributors to the report include Pam Foster, editor of VIP , based on her years of experience conducting product reviews for subscribers.

The included tool kit of 5 hands-on worksheets and activities helps users translate the information into an actionable plan. Appendices also provide guidance and samples for creating needs assessment tools to support an evaluation project, as well as the results of an in- depth product evaluation conducted by a UK agency's information centre in 2006.

For further information, to view sample pages and the table of contents, and to order, please visit:

http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/report/product-evaluation/

Information for Editors

"Product Evaluation Report and Tool Kit"
Free Pint Limited, April 2007 ISBN 978-1-904769-14-4

Price:
- GBP 39 for a single site;
- GBP 110 for up to 5 sites;
- GBP 215 for unlimited sites

Review copies can be made available to verified members of the industry press; please enquire to reports@freepint.com .

About the Contributors

The Product Evaluation Report and Tool Kit was jointly authored by Free Pint Limited staff and outside contributors with a range of experiences in product evalution, needs assessment, project management and reporting.

The underlying methodology is based on the work of Pam Foster, editor of VIP http://www.vivaVIP.com/, an information professional and journalist with over 20 years of experience reviewing and evaluating products.

Also included in the report is a detailed case study used with permission of its author, Megan Roberts, an information professional with a UK organisation. An article summarising her research was published in eLucidate, the membership magazine of UKeiG. About FreePint

FreePint is an online community of 70,000 practitioners around the world who find, use, manage and share work-related information. FreePint publishes a twice-monthly newsletter and hosts the FreePint Bar and FreePint Student Bar - active online Q&A forums for peer-to- peer information exchange. FreePint FUMSI Reports http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/report/ are a series of practical guides to help in the four practice areas of Find, Use, Manage and Share (Information). Learn more at http://www.freepint.com/fumsi/.