toto article listarticle list
November 00 Edition
Behind the Scenes
  Jump to:          
    What is the Spire Project?
    The Development Process
    Community Networking (Australia)
    Where is the Spire Project going?
    Fair Use & Reporting
Help us help you.
This website is very flat. Click any to article listgraphic to return to the index page, which links to everything.
A search is an adventure into unknown misty terrain, not a 3-point plan. We search with a paintbrush and imagination. We chop, synthesize, sift and discard information in an active process. Don't talk to me of surfing and serendipity. I want results. Answers. Even to questions I can't quite articulate. Finding information is a skill. The Spire Project is our effort to make this skill more accessible, more reasoned, faster.

webpage We publish SpireProject.com and SpireProject.co.uk.

free shareware Our zip-ed website is free shareware available by web (US, UK) and ftp (US, UK).

update? To update your shareware copy, simply click Update available? here or at the top of the index page of the shareware/mirrorware.

mirror sites Many other sites also bring you the Spire Project.
FAQs: Our work appears as 4 usenet FAQs, available through all FAQ archives.
Shareware: A few days after release, the zip-ed website gets mirrored on any simtel-net shareware archive (listed on this page). Look under /win3/info.html - then select spire##.zip but check the date & version.
Mirrors: A collection of other sites also host/mirror these webpages online or on intranets. Many are library or information school websites like Central Connecticut State University,   Wesleyan University - Olin Library,   and Curtin University - Information Studies. There are restrictions, so read license.txt. The mirror process is smooth and quick. Download, unzip, link to index.htm. If you would reference this as "The Spire Project" we would be grateful. You may wish to receive our update notices by email to stay informed. David (feedback) will field your questions and suggestions.


          to article listWhat is the Spire Project?
to article listThe Spire Project is an extensive effort to simplify and speed the search for information. Go beyond browsing bookshelves, reading newspapers and surfing the web. We show you a better way to find information.

A good search is also a search with money. Not buckets of money but enough to open the door to commercial databases, research services and document delivery. Such research comes to depend more on the quality of information desired than what you can find free.

Comparable information can be found in print but the Spire Project interlinks content with the immediacy of further internet information, like links to commercial database descriptions and forms to government book databases. By making the complete website available to take home, we can help you search faster too.

If you are unfamiliar with patent research,
start at the top of the Searching Patents article and read down.
Some visitors are momentarily lost by the sheer volume of information found in the Spire Project. Please be at ease. We have compacted all our work into a collection of articles, each focusing on efficiently negotiating certain resources. By placing related resources together, we hope to facilitate the process of research. If you are unfamiliar with patent research, start at the top of the Searching Patents article and read down.

Prepared by an information professional, released in html, shareware, mirror sites and FAQs, the Spire Project is the most detailed source for information research delivered on the internet. It is content rich, cohesive and frequently verified.

We think you will be pleasantly surprised.


          to article listThe Development Process
David and Fiona Novak undertake the bulk of the work involved in the Spire Project. David is a former information broker who became first an internet trainer then a internet developer. David is also one of the few internet experts with roots in serious research AND internet development. Perl programming and sociology round out the work. Fiona is an accomplished customer service manager and editor.

What is the information quality? (Promotional) This information is the best on the net! Actually, there is very little information of this kind anywhere online though some can be found in books and trade articles. Some articles like National Statistical Bureau and News & News Databases simply don't exist elsewhere. (Legal) The content of this website is simply a collection of information gathered from many sources with limited editorial checking ... (Serious) Some articles do attract peer review. Most information comes from internet webpages, a selection of books on research, interviews with specialist researchers, trade articles and personal experience.

 The Information Industry is experiencing rapid flux.
This is not to say the information is completely reliable. This industry is experiencing rapid flux. We once confused the UKOP database with the [UK] Stationery Office Catalogue. Observations are just observations. Descriptions of commercial resources tend to the cynical but are linked to supporting websites where possible. We periodically verify links and most articles are continually developing.

Laptop computer in hand, I spend many a day speaking to people who add to this project. The rest of my time I spend writing for the Spire Project, programming, public speaking and researching the further development of this technology.


          to article listCommunity Networking (Australia)
Community Networking develops effective structures on the internet. We currently reside in Perth, Western Australia. Our primary venture is the Spire Project. We have other projects, and in the past worked on such difficult ventures as charting the release of important regional documents in Western Australia, creating meaningful community discussion, and promoting a socially-responsible publishing policy. We also developed several government websites.


Isabella Novak
Another of our projects...


         to article listWhere is the Spire Project going?
July 1997, David launched the Information Research FAQ. In 1998, we launched our website, free shareware, a mirror/host effort, a webring and a second FAQ. 1999 saw two more FAQs, more mirrors and a newsgroup. This year we launched two new websites, a syndicated newspaper column, and likely the first of our commercial services. We assist more than 18,000 people (visits) a month.

Let us consider this project in context. The future of internet research rests with the power of content-rich resource-linked sites like the Spire Project. Complaints about the poor value of internet research and the difficulty of information research originate in the paucity of relevant factual guidance.

This is set to change.

The information revolution is also about making you expert at working with information. It is about a dramatic fall in costs of getting information and a more open sharing environment. Over the past few years I have worked hard to liberate information; both from the dusty shelves of government agencies and from the disorganized corners of the internet. We are still at the early stages of this global movement. Much work remains.


          to article listFair Use & Reporting
Permission is granted for attributed use of statements in this website, provided such quotations are not longer than 400 words. An email to david @spireproject.com is optional. Requests for longer quotations, or requests to include an article in a larger presentation handout are almost always fine (and free) but contact David first. As an opinionated internet visionary, I also welcome pointed questions (best by email).

          to article listHelp us help you.
We are particularly starved of research notes and peer review. Writing these articles involves considerable research into resources and method, so should you have expertise you are willing to share, please tell us and we will call on you for advice. This would be most helpful.

David Novak - The Spire Project
SpireProject.com · SpireProject.co.uk
tel +61-8-92255909 tel/fax +61-8-92255919  david @spireproject.com

to article listThe Spire Project - a better way to find information.
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