Resources of the Week
2 items.
1) Business Rankings–Lists & Rankings
Trip’s Lists Vol. I
Note: Trip Wyckoff is the sole proprietor of SpecialIssues.com, a database containing information about salary surveys, industry outlooks, overviews, buyers guides, who’s who registers, etc. that can be found in over 3200 publications. He is also the current compiler of Price’s Lists of Lists, a resource I started about six years ago. It offers direct links to company rankings freely available on the open web. The LOL is available for free. Trip has accepted an invitation to share recent additions to the LOL along with lists that you might have missed with ResourceShelf on a regular basis. In his first compilation, Trip shares some of his favorite lists.

Favorites
Forbes
The most useful site for “business rankings”
+ Layoff Tracker
+ Lists & Rankings

Intelligent Enterprise
+ The Dozen
12 entities which are most influential in the creation of intelligent enterprises
+ Intelligent Enterprise Imperatives
Editors have devised a list of “imperatives” that would typify an IT department that intends to truly enable business strategy

Money
+ M&A (mergers & acquisitions) Databank

QSR
+ QSR 50
Top restaurant chains ranked by various means

Start Magazine
+ START 1,000
Top admired large, medium, and small manufacturers, with revenues less than 10 million to over a billion are listed

Interesting Resources
Pit & Quarry
+ Quarry Atlas
Easy-to-use, maplike views of America’s natural and sociocultural landscapes, includes natural resources and companies utilizing these resources

RealScreen
+ Factual Price Guide
Industry survey on cost of producing documentary programming by genre and platform
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2) Online Maps
National Geographic MapMachine
We very much like maps and geographic resources at ResourceShelf. And here is yet another case of an already stellar site getting an overhaul that both adds new features and enhances usability. The National Geographic Society has partnered with ESRI, a preeminent GIS software developer. ESRI’s ArcWeb Services — which essentially deliver GIS and spatial data over the Internet — are now powering the MapMachine. This is dynamic data, updated continually, so users of the relaunched site are getting the latest and the greatest. Special features include:
+ The addition of “aerial imagery provided by GlobeXplorer” essentially allows you to zoom right in and get a bird’s eye view of your house. (One gripe — National Geographic watermarks over the images are fairly obtrusive.)
+ “Informational layers on each map, showing roads, political boundaries, and place names, can be turned on and off” by using check boxes. A variety of “theme maps” incorporate such things as census and employment data, FEMA flood designations and weather events — e.g., hurricanes paths, windstorms, tornado touch-downs. Definitions for the different types of maps are available. All types of maps are not available for all locales.
+ “A suite of tools allows users to measure distances, pan over the map, zoom in and out, and label key map features.” These appear on the right side of the screen when you are looking at a map. Click on their icons to activate them. BTW, clicking anywhere on the map itself zooms in on that particular spot. Or use the standard “zoom in/zoom out” progression bar located on the right side of the map.
+ An improved “Quick Map Search” on the top right side of the page allows you to find maps for a place quickly by typing in a city, country, region, continent or U.S. zip code.
+ You can save maps that you’ve generated (the site uses cookies to do this), or e-mail a map to someone. Maps and aerial imagery may be printed out, or you can order a large-format version online. (Prices depend on such things as image, size desired, etc.) The MapMachine incorporates maps from an array of providers, including (naturally) the National Geographic Society and such agencies as the Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, NASA, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Library of Congress. Annotation prepared by Shirl K.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29th, 2004 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.