Taming Internet's Potential with Portals:
The Different Ways in which Portals Are Conceived
Up To infotechnologies (www.uptoit.org)
Mediterranean Notebook #2
Published in:
Business Information Searcher, 2000;10(2):14-16
The scope of this column is to highlight information issues regarding Italy of broad European interest. Although one cannot pretend that Italy is a leader in the global information industry, we have observed many exciting initiatives and have seen the Italian market for information services gain momentum. With this column, we hope to promote these initiatives, further involve Italy in the global information industry, and stimulate a critical discussion about information resources in Italy. To this end, we will evaluate information products and services, and discuss trends in the Italian information industry.
Portals, like search engines, are important tools for locating resources in Internet. While the concept of a search engine is relatively clear, there is much confusion as to the meaning of portal. The term is defined as an entryway, or gateway, to some physical structure (a church or city) or to a figurative domain of knowledge. The term is now primarily used to indicate a starting point for research in Internet. Within this basic definition, there is great disparity in how Internet portals are conceived and implemented, in what their missions are, and in who contributes to their content. Some portals are so different from one another that it appears illogical to classify them together: the popular term portal may need to be supplanted by other more specific terms. In this article, we examine the different ways in which portals are conceived, and look at a few examples of Italian portals, some already active and others in developmental stages.
Portals are gateways to ?
Internationally accepted standards for portals do not seem to exist. Most will agree that a portal is a Web-based guide to resources, with the aim of making information research simpler and more effective. A portal may be a guide to Internet, in its entirety or in a part limited by subject matter or geopolitical boundaries. At the same time, a portal may be a guide to non-Internet resources, for example print matter, administrative or legal procedures, places, person and events. We found that portals fall into 3 distinct classes: entry points to Internet, subject-oriented catalogs, and electronic markets (
Table 1).
Internet entry points
The simplest vision of a portal is as a general entry point to Internet, which combines a mixture of content and services such as a search engine, a subject catalog for browsing, online shopping, thematic channels, personalized homepages, and chat rooms. Typical examples are Yahoo!, Excite, and America Online, while in Italy, there are Virgilio, Yahoo.it!, and Jumpy. These portals aim to be a reference point for the general user by cataloging a wide diversity of Internet sites. Typically, the descriptions of resources are brief, and only a minimal amount of selection and filtering of proposed resources is carried out. These broad portals are useful when one wishes to browse (or search within) pre-made lists of resources on popular topics; when one's research requires more specific resources, these portals are less helpful. For this reason, we have not taken this type of portal into further consideration.
Subject catalogs
Clearly, the term portal is not restricted to general Internet starting points. Many important portals, such as Europa (http://www.europa.eu.int) and that of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (http://www.esteri.it), are subject catalogs which guide users in locating resources (within Internet and elsewhere) relative to a single argument. These portals can deal with a great variety of topics, including academic issues, consumer interests (e.g. family, hobby), and business themes (e.g. industry guides, resources for professionals).
Standards for subject-oriented catalogs have been proposed by groups of information specialists. For example, the EU project DESIRE (Development of a European Service for Information on Research and Education) has characterized subject-based information gateways (SBIGs). These are defined as quality-controlled catalogs of Internet resources for a specific topic, created manually, publicly accessible, and offering search and browse features. Criteria for selection and indexing are clearly specified, and the content derives from a collaborative effort of different groups, preferably affiliated with universities and institutions. Interestingly, the DESIRE collaborators did not adopt the term portal in their guidelines, perhaps because of the diverse notions commonly associated with it.
Similarly, an ideal set of characteristics has been established by the National Library of Australia (NLA). By this viewpoint, portals are preferably called subject gateways, i.e. Web-based access points to information about resources in a defined subject field. These gateways may describe both print and electronic resources, although one may expect that content is accessible directly online.
- The resources listed are selected and maintained current according to specified criteria that are readily available to the user,
- The content derives from a collaborative effort of multiple parties, and is not produced by just one business entity,
- The portal is promoted by other information gateways (entry points via links at other sites),
- The portal's creator is officially mandated and is recognized to be authoritative in the field,
- The portal has sufficient resources and a long-term strategy for remaining the principal reference point in the field,
- The portal assumes a "management and preservation role" for the subject matter, and promotes initiatives to increase information and knowledge in the field.
Electronic markets
Important features of the ideal portal include: Within the business environment, the term portal has taken on the meaning of electronic market. These Web sites, also called virtual markets or e-marketplaces, are dedicated to commercial transactions in one economic sector. In contrast to subject catalogs, electronic markets do not specialize in providing information on resources in the field.
Internationally, some newsworthy electronic markets have been recently established for the online trading of raw materials, commodities, products and services. These portals are developed by one or a group of companies in the sector, to facilitate trade (business-to-business, "B2B") or sales to final users (business-to-consumer, "B2C"). Prime examples of electronic markets include Covisint (a B2B portal for the automotive industry by GM, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler and others) and a B2C portal for the European travel market proposed by Alitalia and 10 other European airlines.
Portals in Italy
In Italy, new portals are announced by the press monthly, if not weekly. Typically, these portals are portrayed as the official or "most important" source for information, resources, advice, updates, expert consultation, and interactivity. What features do these new tools offer? By what criteria are their resources selected? How may they be useful in research for information about Italy? To answer these questions, we visited a number of Italian subject-oriented catalogs and industry portals.
Italian subject catalogs
Most portals to Italian industry are recently launched products that are still building a database of company information, primarily from voluntary insertion. One promising example is Elettronet (http://www.elettronet.it), a well-conceived site dedicated to electronics, lighting and communication technologies. The site, in Italian and English, is sponsored by the National Federation of Electronics Companies (ANIE), its 16 affiliated associations, and the Ministry of Foreign Commerce. The portal offers information regarding 1000 Italian companies by sector, links to external resources, documentation on legislation and norms, and a series of interactive tools such as forums, mailing lists, search capabilities, news, polling, and expert consultation. Other industry portals include:
- Manualnet (http://www.manualnet.it) is a portal to the construction industry developed by a private group of individuals. Manualnet offers a database of companies, interactive services and links to external resources.
- Ingegneria Civile (http://www.ingegneriacivile.it) is dedicated to the field of civil engineering, and provides links to resources in Italy and worldwide, organized by subject matter. No information is provided on the organization responsible for its content.
- Energia Online (http://www.energia-online.com) is the initiative of a small group of professionals who state that they are free from commercial affiliations. The portal offers information about the energy field, links to resources and interactive services.
These industry portals differ greatly in the type of sponsorship. Importantly, one must not judge a portal only by the number of official sponsors: lack of sponsorship per se is not criteria by which to discredit portals, just as institutional sponsorship is no guarantee of quality, professionalism or longevity. Considering that Italy's economy is powered by micro-enterprises, it is reasonable to believe that serious industry portals can develop out of the vision and perseverance of one or a small group of entrepreneurs.
One major criticism of these industry portals is that they lack documentation on selection criteria, updating schedule, and search engine functionality. This reduces their credibility and weakens their applicability to business research. They also suffer from a general lack of visibility due to poor cross-referencing among related sites, one of NLA's best practices.
Among portals to Italian culture, three are considered to be authoritative reference points in their selected topic. The Servizio Bibliotecario Nazionale (SBN) is a gateway to Italian libraries, their holdings (9 million documents), document delivery services (still in experimental phase), and works of art housed in Italian museums (http://www.sbn.it). Produced by the Central Institute for the Unified Catalog (http://www.iccu.sbn.it), and sponsored by the Ministry for Cultural Patrimony and Activities, this gateway is the first part of an ambitious project to create a single portal to Italian culture. SBN is a good example of a subject catalog, in that it collects information from multiple sources and it documents its content, updating schedule and rules for contributing.
Two other Italian cultural portals are consumer-oriented, and unfortunately do not document the criteria by which resources are selected or updated. Museums online (http://www.museionline.it), developed by the publisher Adnkronos and the Ministry for Cultural Patrimony and Activities, offers information on museums, exhibits, special events and museum-related news. Italian national and regional parks are the focus of Parks (http://www.parks.it), produced by the Italian Federation of Parks and Natural Reserves with the contribution of 150 park administrations. This portal offers content, databases, and interactive services (e.g. newsletters, email, and a quiz).
Two portals to Italian institutions are in advanced developmental phase, and promise to become important research tools in Italy and in Europe. Italy has actively participated in the development of the European Business Register (http://www.ebr.org). In this project, Italy is represented by Infocamere (http://www.infocamere.it), a consortium of provincial Chambers of Commerce who maintain official data on the approximately 5 million active Italian businesses. The Italian version of EBR, called Infoimprese, will offer basic information on every Italian company, such as key contact and registration details, address, and sector of activity. In addition, companies will have the opportunity to insert supplementary data, such as an URL, a catalog, or a full description. The databases of Infoimprese (http://www.infoimprese.it) will be activated in September 2000, while the present Web site offers general information and the possibility to insert further company details. This exciting portal will be the first to offer a freely accessible database that permits research on the complete set of Italian companies.
A second portal of national interest, called "Norme in Rete" (NIR), has been created by the Authority for Informatics in the Public Administration (http://www.normeinrete.it). This portal is an access point to information and documentation of legal and normative character, and it catalogs law-oriented Web sites. Recently launched in May 2000, the portal will adopt indexing standards in a successive phase to make searching and data exchange efficient. Considering the complexity and changing nature of Italian legislation, this portal has the possibility of becoming a tool of national value.
Electronic markets
In Italy, as in most other countries where Internet has a major presence, there is much interest in the potential of the Web to revolutionize commerce. A number of electronic markets have been established in the Italian Internet in the Spring of 2000, and they have expectations to become global trading sites. For the most part, these portals are in the initial phases of collecting participants and business offers:
- Stampi-Dies (http://www.tuttostampi.com) is dedicated to the field of industrial moulding, and has sponsorship from several business associations.
- Steel Trust Network (http://www.steeltrust.com) is an e-marketplace for trading in the metal working industry.
- Bias (http://www.bias.it) is a portal focused on automation, instrumentation, microelectronics and information technology for industry.
- Agricompass (http://www.agricompass.com) is a virtual market for surplus supplies for agriculture, including agrochemicals, fertilizers and seeds.
Conclusions
The popular term portal is used to refer to 3 distinct types of Web sites that differ greatly in scope and functionality. We found it useful to call these types of portals: Internet entry points, subject catalogs, and electronic markets. Our study has revealed that in Italy portals are, for the most part, new initiatives that are still increasing their database of resources. Perhaps for this reason, not all Italian portals have documented their selection criteria and content sources. When these initiatives will have matured into fully active portals, they likely will be important tools for business information research and competitive intelligence. As information researchers, we hope that guidelines like those of DESIRE and NLA are adopted also in Italy, so that Italian portals can grow into validated information research tools.
Table 1. Three principal classes of Internet portal
| | Internet entry points | Subject-based information gateways | Electronic markets |
|---|
| Scope | Internet oriented | Subject oriented | Industry oriented |
|---|
| Mission | Promote Internet use | Promote access to information (library role) | Promote economic activity |
|---|
| Methods | Voluntary registration;
Human or robot-driven collection of resources | Expert selection of resources | Voluntary participation by companies (may be open to all or restricted) |
|---|
| Examples cited in this article | Virgilio, Yahoo.it!, Jumpy | Museionline, Imprese Italiane | Elettronet |
|---|
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