INTERNATIONAL

CONTENTS:

• eCountries
• Business Information on the Internet
• Searching with Old Friends

eCOUNTRIES

Are you looking for a quick country overview? eCountries might be just the ticket. Choose a country from the menu bar on the left where countries are grouped by regions. First you'll get a page-full of links to the latest news stories for that country. Next, choose Country Profile, under Research on the menu bar.

After you review the links to important news like employment and economic growth, visit the Politics and Power section. Once again, you'll start with an overview. Then choose Key Players for more. If prospect research in other lands is new to you, this will be a quick way to learn who's who, one with a direct approach.

In Saudi Arabia's Politics and Power Key Players section, you'll learn about "the Sudeiri clique." In Spain's Key Players section, find out who gets credit for the country living, as eCountries' writer reports, "la vida wealthy." Use the Key Contacts button from the menu bar to find links to more in-country information, including a few government and business links. A business-to-business Web site (that's what the Marketplace section is), eCountries might give you just the right amount of information as you begin your research in unfamiliar territories.

http://www.ecountries.com

BUSINESS INFORMATION ON THE INTERNET

Karen Blakeman has been offering Internet guides, training and links since 1994 (or, we could say, since the beginning). Her Business Information page is a treasure chest -- just open it up, well-organized section at a time, to find the directories and tools you need for research outside the U.S. Karen's menu has choices that range from (business research) Starting Points to Stock Market Data and Company Financials. One of her best collections is Miscellaneous Day-to-Day Essentials, where she holds translation and currency tools, postal code links and other interesting links (like Biographies). Since Karen is UK-based, her collections are decidedly global. You might find some U.S.-based sites you didn't know about here, too.

http://www.rba.co.uk/sources/index.htm

SEARCHING WITH OLD FRIENDS

Now that prospect researchers go steady with Google and keep close company with Northern Light and Alta Vista, did we forget our old (and not as powerful, indexed page count-wise) pals? Let's stop to visit a couple of them, with an eye to a different glance at them -- they've been up to a few extraordinary things while we were gone.

Scroll down to the bottom of these pages and you'll see links to their search partners across the globe. AltaVista International seemed to pioneer the great expansion, and this old friend's links to intra-country searching are a good starting point.

http://doc.altavista.com/international.shtml

Excite.com has more than a dozen search sites in the Global Excite network. Yahoo! lists 22 search sites outside the U.S. Lycos (bought by Spain's Terra Networks in mid-2000) has more than 30. Most of the pages you'll go to are in the language of the country you've virtually entered. Use the good translation tools you've bookmarked to help you navigate your way as you visit these old friends with a new purpose.

http://www.excite.com
http://www.yahoo.com
http://www.lycos.com

Cecilia Hogan