Frequently Asked Questions This document is designed to provide you with all the information you need to know about getting started with Factiva.com. If you have any further questions or need any further clarification, please feel free to contact me at barry.smith@proquest.co.uk or +44 (0) 1223 271 306.
Section 1 - Content Section 2 - The Interface Section 3 - Company/market information Section 4 - Accessing Factiva.com Section 5 - Sales support
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Section 1 - Content What is Factiva.com? Factiva provides world-class global content unduplicated in a single service elsewhere. Factiva has been described as “the only single content solution with multiple language interfaces and multilingual content covering nearly 8,000 sources.”
Which companies are involved in Factiva.com? Factiva.com is principally a joint venture between Dow Jones and Reuters, but includes content from several other leading business information providers including: • •
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Newswires – Associated Press, M2 Presswire. Broadcast transcripts – BBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC. Company information – Reuters Investor, SunGuard, Media General, Hoovers and WorldVest.
What content is available in Factiva.com? The breadth and scope of Factiva’s content set is unmatched by any other provider, making it essential for students from all departments. Factiva includes: • • • • • • • • • •
1,000+ global and local newspapers 6,500+ magazines, including industry-specific journals and newsletters 270+ newswires. 160+ Media Programs. 10,000+ Web sites in more than 20 languages 30,000+ Company Reports Company Background Data on 42,500 listed companies Up to 25 years of historical market data Up to one million Celex documents - the official database for the European Union On average, 3,000+ pictures are added each week
What are the key titles available in Factiva.com? With content available from 118 countries, Factiva delivers a wide range of content from your region. There is also a large selection of important titles that will be globally applicable. These include: • • • •
Journals – The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Newsweek, BusinessWeek Newspapers – WSJ, NYT, Washington Post, FT, Les Echos, Guardian, Handelsblatt, Il Sole. Newswires – Asia Pulse, Reuters, Agence France Presse, Europa Press Press release wires - Hugin Press Release, M2 Presswire, PR Presswire
Does Factiva.com offer cover-to-cover coverage? The majority of the publications available in Factiva.com are available in full-text, fullcoverage format, however, abstract only and selected business article coverage is offered for some journal content.
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Factiva.com also excludes republished news, recurring pricing and market data and general news stories such as weather forecasts and TV listings.
How often is Factiva.com updated? Factiva.com includes 120 continuously updated newswires that delivers news as it happens. Over 800 of the 8,000 sources in Factiva.com are also updated on or before the date of publication.
Is any of the content in Factiva.com unavailable to the academic community? The Harvard Business Review and a range of regional US newspapers are excluded from the content set. For a full list of blocked content, please contact your regional sales representative.
How frequently does the content in Factiva.com change? For such a large content set, very few sources are removed from Factiva.com. New content, however, is added very frequently and you can see a list of content added to Factiva in recent month by following the link below. http://www.Factiva.com/sources/sourceadditions.asp?node=menuElem1524
What European Union information is available on Factiva.com? Factiva Editors have created a Factiva European Union News Page to give users a superior vantage point of all European Union news. This page includes a special lookup component designed specifically to access Celex, an archive of legislative and regulatory information about the EU.
Section 2 - The Interface What search options are available in Factiva.com? There are two searching options in Factiva.com: a. Standard search – this allows users to search across all 8,000 sources using a few key words. Users can narrow search terms by using Factiva indexing features. b. Advanced search – designed for more experienced users, advanced search you to pinpoint information using Boolean plus additional Factiva power searching connectors such as w/n, atleast, near and same.
What interface language options are available? Factiva.com users are given the choice of 6 language interfaces, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Russian.
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Which languages is Factiva.com content available in? Factiva.com delivers content in 22 languages, including Bulgarian (3 sources), Hungarian (6), Catalan (3), Italian (55), Chinese (Complex) (58), Japanese (93), Chinese (Simplified) (16), Norwegian (5), Czech (8), Polish (6), Danish (11), Portuguese (61), Dutch (25), Russian (157), English (c 7,000), Slovak (1), Finnish (11), Spanish (157), French (113), Swedish (15), German (166), Turkish (6).
What type of indexing is available in Factiva.com? All Factiva.com content is universally indexed with company (300,000 in database), industry (720+), geographical (340+) and news (370+) subject codes. There is no human indexing element to Factiva.com.
What tracking facilities are available in Factiva.com? Factiva.com administrators can build up to 25 track folders that copy articles related to a specific company, market or industry to allow users to keep abreast of developments as they happen. Track results remain in a folder for 14 days or until 250 articles are reached.
What are Editor’s Choice articles? These are articles chosen by Factiva editors that broadly impact specific industries such as banking, media and pharmaceuticals. They are presented in pre-built industry-related Factiva News Pages.
How many customised news pages can I build? Factiva.com users can build up to 5 custom news pages. These can display news tracking folders, saved searches, saved quotes lists and their favourite magazines and newspapers. Users have the power to make these pages their Factiva home page.
What tools are available to administrators? Administrators are given the power to determine a range of preferences from which pages to set as their homepage, which languages to retrieve content from, which default search options to use and which Group News Pages to assign.
Section 3 - Company/market information What is the easiest way for me to access the company information in Factiva.com? Company quick search is a tool that delivers a ‘rip and read’ report with current news information on a company, as well as financial data from Media General, Hoover’s WorldVest and Reuters.
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How do I get a quote on a company stock? The Factiva.com quotes option allows users to track the current and historical market performance of over companies listed on over 120 indices from all over the world.
How can I research the financial performance of my company a little deeper? The Factiva.com charting tools allows you to research the financial performance of major companies frequently over a 25-year period. You can even click on a dip or crest to learn the news that influenced the movement.
What else can I do with the Charting tools? Build context to your research by displaying a company’s current and historical financial performance with the performance of the country’s market index or their major competitors.
What is company screening? Factiva company screening tools allow users to view a list of the major competitors within a given industry or sector and quickly link to company reporting and charting tools. This allows users to quickly build their knowledge of the major players within any given industry.
What tracking tools are available in the company/markets area of Factiva.com? Each Factiva.com user can create up to 10 saved quotes lists allowing them to track the performance of a company in seconds.
Can I tailor any of the information in the company/markets area? Users can build a Custom Report on any company in Factiva.com that can include a market overview, competitor profile, financial performance overview, profile of key employees, summary of recent news and many other criteria.
Is any of the company/market information excluded from the ProQuest license? Basic Dun & Bradstreet company information is available to all users, however, more detailed D&B company reports are only available on a ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis. Reuters Business Briefings reports are also excluded from our license, as are Factiva Integration Tools and Investtext reports.
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Section 4 - Accessing Factiva.com What access options are available to customers? Factiva.com accounts are set up by IP or user name and password.
Is remote access available in Factiva.com? Factiva.com does offer remote access via IP Authentication behind a Proxy, and referring URL.
Are MARC records available in Factiva.com? MARC records are not available in Factiva.com and there are currently no plans to introduce them.
Can I link between Factiva.com and my library catalogue? Linking from Factiva to an OPAC is not currently available, however, Factiva are currently investigating a way in which they can introduce it.
Is Factiva.com ATHENS compliant? Factiva is not ATHENS compliant and there are currently no plans to introduce such a feature.
Is Factiva.com Open URL compliant? Factiva is not ATHENS compliant and there are currently no plans to introduce such a feature.
Section 5 - Sales support Do ProQuest deliver technical support for Factiva.com? All Tech Support is handled directly by Factiva and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What types of help materials are available to Factive.com users? Factiva includes a comprehensive online help section that can guide users through all aspects of the database. Users also have the option of contacting a Factiva representative 24 hours a day.
Can I offer my customers any training? ProQuest will be delivering face-to-face training to customers from Q3 2003.
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What sales materials are available? Marketing are currently working on a PowerPoint presentation, a customer FAQ and a brochure. A range of explanatory materials will also be available from Factiva from July 2003.
How do I set up trials? Customer services in the US can issue your prospects with trial details. Please forward the relevant details to Connie Schaerer and she will send you a user name and password.
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