vlib.org Netting a bonanza

Reshma Krishnan

NOT TOO long ago, the library was the haven of information.

Cataloguing masses of information that made research fast and reliable was its main task. However, the Internet is fast replacing the library, and is becoming popular in terms of speed and comfort in looking for data or study material.

The hitch here is, where do you look for the information? It is easy to get lost in the world wide web of information. However, the WWW Virtual Library (vlib.org), a catalogue to the Internet, promises to be reliable and fast.

The site divides the web into 14 sections of information, ranging from agriculture, business and economics to society and humanities. Each section is then subdivided into modules. Take business and economics. It has sections relating to economics, finance, marketing and so on.

Click on an individual module, say, finance, and it shows you an index. There is a section on popular sites. The section on finance offers popular sites on investment and academics. Some of this might not be helpful to the Indian investor but some common news links, such as The Financial Times and CNN Business News, are useful for a market analyst or a researcher.

One useful module is the catalogue to links to all the major banks worldwide. Links include Bank of India, Bank of America, The Bank of the Commonwealth and a number of development bank links such as the World Bank.

It is a one-stop shop for links to bank web sites, including major investment banks. So if you are looking for a job at any of these major banks, a click on these links would take you to their Indian homepage if they have one.

The next module is of world exchanges. This page provides links to all the major exchanges, including the LIFFE (London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange). The insurance module links you to all the major insurance Web sites on the Web, including AETNA and Prudential. There is also a specialised index to all insurance companies on the Web.

The three most useful modules are the ones that cater to the investor, the researcher and the student. The feature of this site is that the three are classified separately.

The section for personal and institutional investors has links to personal finance web sites and research on companies. From the personal finance aspect, it offers links to sites that teach you how to invest and manage finances and to specialised sites that teach you technical analyses and answer such questions as `What is a mutual fund?'

The next section caters to students. This is a brilliant page not just for a student but anyone interested in the study of finance. It links you to free financial software available to students, you to the International Finance encyclopaedia and also outlines courses.

The research module is probably the most comprehensive catalogue of all finance journals on the Net and working papers. It provides links to renowned finance gurus such as Aswath Damodaran. It even provides links to specialised journals relating to derivatives and asset pricing. What you have to remember is that you will not be able to access the full text of any of the articles without being a subscriber. But you will be able to see what articles each journal has to offer. Most of them offer an excerpt.

There are many other subject areas that provide similar information. It is important to remember that these are just links and not a way to access that information. You might have to be a subscriber or an authorised personnel. However, so far, this site is perhaps the most useful map to what the Internet has to offer in terms of research and study.