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Do you know what you're looking for on Dialog or DataStar, but can't quite find it? Have a long list of search terms with no ideas where to begin? Unsure about how to order a fulltext document? Want to reconfigure DialogLink® for a new computer? The Dialog Knowledge Center is ready to help you no matter where in the world you may be! One of Dialog's greatest strengths is our dedication to you, our customers. And our connection to you most often is our Knowledge Center. Our Knowledge Center director recently sat down with us to talk about the team — who they are, what role they play, and how their services evolve to provide even greater service to you.
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Q: To set the foundation, can you explain what the Knowledge Center is and what its major responsibilities entail?
A: The Knowledge Center or KC, as it's often called, is the first line of support. We are the experts customers turn to for immediate assistance at Dialog. They contact us by telephone or email and often ask for help with product or strategy, from basic log-on issues, to product or database recommendations, to strategy assistance.
We get a broad range of questions: for example, which database is the best resource? How can I improve my search strategy? Can I use the special indexing or coding in a database to target my results? Which database has the fulltext of a specific publication? Thus, the mission of my team is to help clients use our products effectively and efficiently to locate the relevant, critical information they need to succeed. We also provide support to our own Dialog sales and account management staff as well as help them respond to clients.
Knowledge Center staff assists clients by guiding them step-by-step through a search in Dialog or DataStar, explaining how to sort search results or refine a search strategy so that they retrieve exactly the information they need. Most often our specialists answer questions with the first contact; however, if more complex analysis is needed, an expert will investigate and provide thorough responses through direct follow-up contact either by email or telephone.
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Q: How would you describe your team? Can you give me some of the qualifications you look for in prospective team members?
A: Every member of the Knowledge Center is a dedicated professional with a passion for helping people. They all realize that accurate and timely information is vital. Each Center is prepared to assist with questions whether they deal with product functionality, intellectual property, business, science searches or technical support.
Approximately one-third of our staff has more than 10 years of Knowledge Center experience at Dialog and most of the rest of the team members have over five years. We have both product and subject experts. For example, our specialists in the intellectual property area include several attorneys, including a trademark attorney; in science we have PhD research scientists and engineering and consulting librarians; and in the business field our group members have masters' degrees in management and expertise in competitive intelligence. Our product experts are knowledgeable in domain access, firewalls, Alerts and much more.
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Q: When and where can I get in touch with the Knowledge Center?
A: Centers operate in Australia, London in the United Kingdom and in Morrisville, North Carolina in the United States. However, all three regional Knowledge Centers serve customers throughout the world. They are available by phone 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday: in North America, at 1 800 334 2564 (800-3-DIALOG) and outside North America at 00 800 33 34 2564 or by email the KC at
at any time.
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Q: Now that we know a bit about your team, can you give us some examples of the tasks for which your team is responsible?
A: As I mentioned, our foremost responsibility is to provide search and product assistance to customers. We also work together with other Dialog teams, such as marketing, product development, training and sales. For example, a KC product expert participates on teams creating new Dialog products; subject experts provide advice to content teams reloading databases and reviewing new content. In addition, KC team members now provide live online training and assist in creating training materials. Two major services the KC supports are the Alerts Bureau and Research Services. As you can see, Knowledge Center tasks are diverse and dependent on the varied expertise of the individuals on our team.
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Q: You mentioned the Alerts Bureau. How does it work and how can the Alerts Bureau help Dialog customers?
A: As many customers know Alerts are ongoing, recurrent automated searches, executed independent of searcher efforts. The Alerts Bureau is a time-saving resource that puts the power of Knowledge Center specialists to work!
Our subject experts work with customers to define the specific information need; then we create strategies to push results to users to keep them up to date. Customers short on time use the Alerts Bureau, as do customers researching a less familiar topic. It's easy to have a member of the Alerts Bureau recommend databases or strategies or set up or edit an Alert. Customers just fill out the easy-to-use form located on the Dialog Web site at support.dialog.com/alerts/ to provide the information necessary to have the Alert set up on Dialog or DataStar.
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Q: Sounds like an easy way to get the information you need when you want it. What are some of the topics customers might use Alerts to find?
A: Topics cover all subject areas and can be created in almost any database. Here are a couple of examples: an organization might need to stay abreast of new regulations or legislation in the pharmaceutical industry; or a company might watch a competing company's patents to see what new products they are developing. Dialog has newswires, trade literature, patents and trademarks to find this kind of information. A customer might want to find out who is citing its patents or make sure that another company is not infringing on a patent. Dialog has patent files that cover all regions of the world. These are just a few of the types of topics the Alerts Bureau works on.
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Q: You also mentioned Research Services. I don't think I'm familiar with this service—can you explain a little further?
A: Dialog Research Services is a relatively new research outsourcing service that offers the subject-matter expertise of the KC team to provide searches on virtually any subject in order to save our customers time and money. Customers might find this service useful when searching for prior art, patents, trademarks, drugs in the pipeline, or adverse effects of drugs, just to name a few. KC experts can also conduct competitor research, create, edit and maintain a client's Alert portfolio and even analyze data retrieved.
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Q: How can a client take advantage of this service?
A: It's quick and easy. Customers simply contact
and describe the project or topic of interest. A research services representative follows up to discuss requirements, such as format, due date, budget, etc. with the customer, and then size the project. Upon agreement, the KC specialist will email the customer a written Statement of Work and project cost. The project work begins upon receipt of the signed Statement of Work. This service enables an organization to get the results they need from authoritative sources through searches conducted by experts in the field. In addition to using Research Services for ad hoc projects, some customers may wish to work with their account representative to build this service into their Dialog contracts.
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Q: My final question: Why is your team's role so important to Dialog customers?
A: We are a group that adds value to the Dialog service. We help customers with search questions so they can conduct searches on their own. We also provide training to teach them to use Dialog products, understand search techniques and know the databases so they can get the answers they need. We aid customers in maintaining organization information flow using Dialog Alerts, and we provide on-demand searching through our Research Services. Finally, we assist in creating subject-specific training materials and aids to facilitate research needs.
We always look forward to hearing from our customers, and encourage them to call us whenever they have a question.
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This concludes our interview with the Knowledge Center team. We appreciate their time to answer some of the questions we think might be of interest to you about services offered by the Knowledge Center. Watch for interviews with other groups at Dialog in the coming months.
