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The new version of CTK Infobank
At the beginning of March we presented you a new version of CTK Infobank. After three months during which it was possible to use and compare the old and the new Infobank, the operation of the old version was definitively terminated on June 1, 2003.

What have we wanted to reach?
We have taken into consideration numerous comments which we have collected at clients´ training, at personal negotiations or from our clients´ questions. We have tried to create in the new version an environment where the client can utilise a number of "help" instructions when formulating accurate queries in search for information. We have prepared more comfortable mosaic-like previews for photographs and graphs subscribers. The overall way of Infobank use is clearer and largely intuitive.

Every novelty is compared with the well-established way of work. How did the new Infobank version do in this comparison?

We are glad that our effort was assessed positively by our clients. The objection that the old Infobank was well-arranged enough and there is no reason to leave the well established regime of work was isolated. It is clear that the help system is strongly inspiring.

We have succeeded in having aroused clients´ interest. We have got many suggestions how to adjust the Infobank environment to the clients´ needs. We are always ready to include in Infobank modifications according to your suggestions and recommendations.

Novelties based on the clients´ suggestions included in Infobank

• In the Biography database we have divided the categories into blocks Culture, Politics, Sports and Others. The Culture block has five new categories: literature, plastic arts, theatre, film and music.
• Under the Setting icon the client can click on Environment and adjust (enlarge) the font size in query forms and when displaying search results (in the upper half of the display window).
• In the Expected events database we have pre-defined a selection of events expected a week or a fortnight today. You will find this possibility in the Period field offer. E-mail clients can direct such defined selection to the address set.

Training on the new Infobank version in June 2003:
- if you are interested in participating in training, please register at the address: docekalova@mail.ctk.cz (tel. 222 098 326). We are looking forward to you at CTK, Praha 1, Opletalova 5.

Holiday Infobank training:

CTK´s turnkey mobile information

An ordinary man definitely does not need to read all the more than 600 news items which CTK produces every day. Many people are interested in the quick delivery of brief and clear information from their sphere of interest only.

But how can this correct brief information get from CTK to the subscriber? Neris - our subsidiary - can do it. It creates SMS news from politics, the economy, culture, sports and entertainment for the general public. It has more and more clients among those who need to get to their mobiles special ranges of information, who are interested in getting such selection which is not in the offer for the broadest public.

Company management, public administration and regional self-administration bodies, ministries, political parties, special-interest associations, media, sports clubs - these and many others have a closely defined range of interests and do not want to pay for general information from the SMS public offer. They are interested in their company, party, region, club, they are interested in competition, neighbours, novelties from their branch.

Neris prepares any specialised selections from the fount of CTK news services at the moment of release. The relevant news item travels right to the designated mobile telephone number. This service is destined for those who believe that less information at the right moment is sometimes more useful.

A novelty is the extension of the offer to include a regional news service to the mobile phones. The branch and specialised news service was established last summer and it has had more and more subscribers.

Neris came into existence in 1999 as a 100 per cent CTK subsidiary for the Internet and new media. Besides SMS news it creates customised Internet contents, it provides an e-mail service and creates its own electronic České noviny (Czech happenings), Sports news and Business news, all based of course mainly on CTK sources.

Contact: Neris, s.r.o., tel.: +420 222 098 439, fax.: +420 222 098 113, web: http://www.neris.cz, e-mail: cn@mail.ctk.cz

We present CTK services -Kaleidoscope and fashion this time.

Two youngest units in "Fotobank" section of the CTK Infobank are called KALEIDOSCOPE and FASHION. We founded them first of all for the needs of magazines, however, it does not mean that they cannot be used by dailies, television channels or promotional agencies as well.

Kaleidoscope is by its orientation destined mainly for entertainment columns such as "About people" or "Sensations marketplace", but not only for them! We offer there also editorial photographs from serious branches such as technologies, sciences or arts. Besides the Kaleidoscope content is best clarified by the titles of its columns - sciences, technologies, the economy, plastic arts, literature, music, cinema, theatre, television, society, gossips from behind the scenes and mix. Photographs in the MIX column are in Infobank accompanied by text news on the same themes.

Definitely interesting, rich and well arranged is the FASHION file , where searching is very user-friendly. Individual models can be searched for in addition to the traditional procedures also for example according to the dominating colour (black, blue…), material design (dot, stripe…) or according to the period in retro-fashion (twenties, fifties….).

All the above files are not compiled from our main supply agencies Associated Press and EPA only, but also from ABACA, PA, POLFOTO, PRESSENS BILD, DPA, which specialise in certain society circles such as royal families, the world of film, animals etc. This allows especially magazines using photographs to look different from the daily press which uses above all the production of our major current news service. Every day about 70 new photographs are added to the above databases. In case of extraordinary events, such as film festivals, Oscar prize giving ceremonies or significant fashion shows, the number is much higher. If a customer has an above-standard requirement, editors of Kaleidoscope and Fashion are prepared to provide a photograph beyond the frame of the regular offer on the basis of telephone or e-mail agreement.

Contact: CTK Photo department tel. : + 420 222 098 359, + 420 222 098 320, fax: 224 230 264, e-mail: photodesk@mail.ctk.cz