FAQ

WPS Services

How do you search?

First, we set up your search profile containing a detailed description of your order. Then we conduct a search in our daily updated database of the electronic editions of newspapers and/or electronic media broadcast transcripts. Newspapers and magazines available only in the printed edition are searched by humans. The search can be conducted daily or weekly – as often as you need. All articles found by machine and human readers are reviewed by Editor responsible for your order, who evaluates the relevance of each article to your search profile, writes summaries if required, and sorts the articles according to your subject headings. As a result you receive carefully filtered and conveniently organized full-text information to your order.

What is a search profile?

A search profile is the crucial instrument of efficient information retrieval. Actually, it is a set of instructions for both machine and human readers describing your information needs. A search profile contains a set of key words related to your subject, including synonyms and restricting words, a list of sources and a monitoring period for each order. Our Customer Service Manager will work with you to create a search profile to suit your information needs.

How many key words can be included in a search profile?

One… or ten, as many as needed to describe your subject of interest.

Can I add new key words to my current search profile?

Yes, you can extend your search profile with additional keywords, if only they are related to the same subject. Adding keywords related to a different subject will be regarded as a new order.

Can I exclude certain types of articles/ transcripts?

Yes, your search criteria will be customized to match your information needs. There are many ways to exclude unwanted articles or to avoid unneeded duplication. You should only discuss your requirements with our Customer Service staff.

Can I access WPS monitoring results or digests online?

Yes, you can, if you order us only the text of articles or subscribe to a digest. We can set up your account at WPS web server which will store and organize all text data you purchase from WPS in a searchable database.

Do you offer your clients online access to your database?

No, at present our database is an instrument of internal use. You can only get an online access to the text data you purchase from WPS.

What makes WPS different from all other monitoring services or online libraries?

  • WPS, since 1992, has experienced staff who know how to set search profiles and how to determine which articles or transcripts are worth sending to the client.
  • WPS allows to make any restrictions or additions to its standard lists of sources. Apart from the electronic editions of newspapers, WPS offers a search in magazines that are available only in the print edition.
  • WPS presents monitoring results in a format convenient to the client – text, pdf, image file, in hard copy or on VHS.
  • WPS can write English summaries of Russian articles or broadcast transcripts or translate them in full.
  • WPS can bring you the text of newspaper articles much earlier than they become available for retrieval from an online library.

FAQ on Russian press digests and surveys

How does a digest differ from customized press clipping service?

A digest brings the reader what’s new on his subject of interest in the Russian print media. Press clipping service is provided in compliance with the client’s order. It is targeted at bringing the client all articles relevant to his search profile. In other words, the goal of a digest is novelty, while the goal of clipping service is completeness.

Second, articles in the digest are usually abridged, while clipping service brings you articles in full. Finally, each digest has a fixed subscription price, while the cost of clipping service may vary widely depending on the amount of coverage found.

When choosing between subscription to a specialized digest and customized clipping service one should bear in mind the possibility of combining both services. It makes sense if your subject of interest is wide. Then you will probably get the best value for your money. The digest will bring you the most important news on your subject, while customized clippings (your search profile may be significantly narrowed down in this case) will provide supplementing material of your specific interest.

What are the news sources for your digests?

We read about 50 Russia’s most influential and popular general-interest and business newspapers and magazines. Some digests, published in Russian, are based on regional newspapers, others are compiled from electronic media news. You can review the listing.

Why should I subscribe to your digests if I read all professional press on my subject?

Lots of facts, figures and comments valuable for a professional are scattered across the pages of general-interest dailies and weeklies. Picking all this material is time-consuming and costly. However, these general-interest publications create public opinion concerning the subject of your interest. Therefore, making our digests part of your daily or weekly reading may be rather helpful.

Why don't you include articles from professional magazines into your digests?

We presume that our subscribers receive and read professional periodicals themselves. Our digests give them the idea of how their subject is presented in general-interest press.

How do you select articles for your digests?

We rely on the common sense and professional experience of the editors who compile the digests.

Do your digests contain the full text of articles?

Some articles are abridged, some are given in full – depending on the informational value of each particular material.

Can I place an ad in your digest?

No. The major task of our digests is to save our subscriber from redundant reading.

Can I order you a digest of my personal interest?

Yes, you can. But this would involve all the costs of a customized monitoring service.

I am a subscriber to one of your digests. Can I receive the full text of articles included in it free of charge?

Not quite free, but we can offer you a discount off the normal clipping price. Please contact the Subscription Manager.

Up to contents:

Can I buy back issues of a digest? How much will it cost

Yes, you can. We offer discounts of 50% to 70% off the normal subscription price for old issues of our digests, depending on the archive period. You can get back issues by email or on a CD.

FAQ: Press Clippings

In your reading lists I did not find some titles interesting for me. Can you add publications on request?

We will subscribe to them as soon as you subscribe to our clipping service.

Do you monitor Russian newswires?

We partially do. We monitor news available for free access at the websites of RBC, RIA Novosti, Prime TASS, Interfax, and other major Russian news agencies.

Do you monitor the press of other countries of the Former Soviet Union?

Unfortunately, not. We read only Russian press.

I am interested not only in the contents of an article, but also in its layout.

Then you should order clips in pdf or image file format

If I order clippings as plain text, how will I receive the supplementing tables or graphs?

Tables and graphs can be sent to you separately as image files or integrated in a MS Word document.

Can I exclude certain type of coverage - ads, duplication, articles republished from newswires or national press?

Certainly, you can. This is not a problem because the machine search results are filtered by human editors who carefully follow the reading instructions you give us. They will retrieve the news you need and leave the rest behind. You should only tell us what sort of coverage you would like to have excluded.

I want clips to be laid out in accordance with the standards and corporate style of my company.

We can do it for you. Just send us your logo and a sample of how the document should look.

How far back can you go in your archive research?

It depends on what kind of sources are included in the search. Electronic text versions of most dailies and weeklies are available for machine search since 2001. At the same time, the electronic archives of some of our specialized digests date back to mid-1990s. However, some newspapers and most magazines are available only in printed edition. We keep them for 3 to 4 months, and they can be searched by our reading staff manually.

Is there any difference between the printed and electronic edition of a publication?

The printed edition of a newspaper is not always identical to its electronic edition. The same story may be published with a different headline or on a different page or can be missing at all in one of the editions. That is why we always screen both the electronic and the paper editions of a newspaper. Articles retrieved from the electronic versions are marked with “EV”.

Why do I need to hire WPS to search the Internet if I can do it myself?

Of course you can. It is only a question of how often you need it and how much time you can afford spending on it. If you have ever searched the Internet, you know that the results yielded by a search engine may count in thousands – many more than you ever want to see. Only 1% to 2% of the links found may be matching your needs, if at all. The simplicity of search on the Internet is delusive. The fast development of Internet media has complicated the Web information structure. News items, updated in real time, are moving from one page to another/ They finally sink to the bottom of the archives and stay there often invisible for search robots. In order to hook the news one needs, one has to know the “habits” of each Internet source. This requires experience resulting from efforts and time spent. WPS staff has such experience.

FAQ on Russian electronic media monitoring

I saw myself on TV, can I get a recording of that segment from you?

Yes. WPS works not only for corporations, organizations or PR companies, but also for individuals. If you would like video from something that aired on Russian TV you can purchase that clip. Please see our price list and fill in the request form or contact a WPS Customer Service Manager by email or phone 7 495 955 2950.

How fast do I get a clip or transcript?

We usually send VHS or digital copy of a clip next day of its airing via international courier services. Transcripts or broadcast summaries are also delivered by email next day. If you need a transcript or broadcast summary faster please consult a Customer Service Manager. Same day service of transcripts is available on request. Monitoring results – recordings, transcripts or summaries – can also be delivered at the end of the monitoring period specified by you. Please discuss delivery mode and time with WPS staff.

What digital formats do you support?

You can order your clip on CD (MPEG, Windows Media, QuickTime or on DVD (DVD+-R). Tapes and CDs are delivered by courier mail services. Besides, you can receive your clip digitally from our server.

How do you calculate the cost of your broadcast monitoring service?

The price of on-going monitoring service is based on the minimal monitoring fee and the number of clips/ summaries sent to the client, in accordance with the price list. If you want a clip from our video archive and you know exactly the channel, date and time of its airing, we will charge you only for the recording with no monitoring fee. However, if you cannot provide such information, you will have to also pay for backsearch. Tapes and CDs are delivered by international courier services at the expense of the client.

Can I know in advance the approximate cost of my order?

Please call or email to our Customer Service Department. They will ask you about your subject or keywords, channels or radio stations you would like to monitor and the monitoring period, and very soon you will get the answer to your question.

Can I pay for your services at a fixed rate?

Yes. This pricing option will save your money when you need to monitor important international events, particularly sports. In such cases we usually charge US $100 per monitoring day on all terrestrial channels regardless of the amount of hits found. The monitoring of satellite and cable channels will additionally cost $50 per channel/day. Please note that these prices do not include the shipment of tapes.

What can I do with the clips I order from you?

Broadcast segments reproduced by WPS may be used only for internal research analysis or review. Any other use may violate copyright law.