User Guide

Security

To protect yourself from unauthorised use of newscast under your username, and to prevent unlicensed use of material, newscast strongly recommends that, at the end of your session, you click the Exit newscast menu option and close the active browser. newscast also recommends that you keep your username and password details in a safe place. If you should lose these details then please contact newscast.

Optimum Website Access

The newscast service has been designed for optimum access using Internet Explorer Version 4.5 or above and Netscape Navigator Version 4.5 or above. The latest versions of these browser packages are available for download on the login screen.

Introduction

newscast has been designed to provide a fast, secure, and cost-effective medium for the storage, management, and distribution of corporate news content. The service is worldwide and available 24 hours a day. Content supplied by companies is available to media organisations free of charge. newscast supports the capture and distribution of still images, press / text releases, video and audio clips. It is possible within the system to restrict access to selected internal users and to selected media organisations, and to set release and embargo dates. The bulletin board feature allows the creation of bulletins with attached content (e.g. a press release and some photographs) for distribution to specified news organisations around the world. These bulletins will appear on the date (and time) selected within the target organisation's bulletin board area. A flashing menu icon will indicate to the target organisation the receipt of a new bulletin. As an accredited media agency (NPA ? Newspaper Publishers Association), Newscast also offers leading corporate / financial photographers the opportunity to syndicate material through the site. This feature complements the service provided to companies and generates wider media usage to the benefit of corporate subscribers. newscast is a member of the British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA).

User Support

The newscast website has been designed for ease of use and fast processing. The other sections of this help facility explain the purpose and deployment of individual functions. However, if you should encounter difficulties with the service then please contact Newscast Administration for assistance, by telephone, fax, or e-mail:

Tel: +44 (0)20 7608 1000
Fax: +44 (0)20 7608 1006
E-mail: [email protected]

Search / Browse

Media users selecting browse will first retrieve an alphabetical listing of companies. Selecting a company will retrieve all files uploaded against that company with the most recent appearing first. The records will be presented in descending order of date uploaded so that the most recent item(s) will appear first. If a 'Company Information' link appears after the company name, clicking on the link will display information on the company provided by World'Vest, a financial information company based in Chicago. newscast cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Clicking on search without entering a text string will have the same effect as browse. If however a specific file type is selected then only files of that type will be retrieved. There is also the option to search on particular fields available from the drop down list. This enables the user to make a more refined and therefore faster search.

A text string can be any length and therefore it is not necessary to enter a whole word to retrieve the required file. For example, to retrieve 'Wilkinson' the user might enter 'wilk'. The simplest way to search is simply to search on all fields and file types and to enter a search word.

The search results boxes show the company name, the release date / time, a reference number, a caption / headline, whether there are links to the item (see Linked Items below), and a representation of the material stored on the system. In the case of press releases, video and audio clips, an icon is presented whereas still images are viewable by a thumbnail version of the image. By clicking on the icon or image thumbnail the user is transferred to a detail screen in which fuller information is available.

Press releases are fully viewable in the right hand pane of the screen and the user can scroll through the release using the right hand scroll bar. Still images will appear in larger format. If, in the case of video and audio clips, a preview file exists on the system then a link will appear in the right hand pane which, on selection, will show a preview of the file via a video or audio player (provided the user has the appropriate playing software installed).

In all cases, the file information and the material presented in the right hand pane may be printed by clicking the print button.

To download the main file, click on the download button and wait for the save window to appear. Users should elect to Save to Disk and browse the appropriate target destination folder on their machine before clicking the save button at which point the download process starts. On completion, the save window will disappear and the file will have downloaded into the destination specified. The download will be recorded in your transaction log. All still image files are available for download at a resolution of 300dpi over an area of 10X8 inches. [In a very limited number of cases this will be at 200dpi where the original image was not available for scanning at a higher level].

Images supplied by companies are free of charge and will be indicated thus, whereas syndication images will attract the minimum charge indicated which applies for download of the file and for once only usage up to a certain print area. Where usage exceeds this minimum area, a rising scale of charges applies and separate charges apply for online and television broadcast usage. For all of these details, you should consult the Usage Terms and Conditions available through the link below the image details.

If you have downloaded chargeable material, Newscast will contact you subsequently to ascertain the actual usage made of the material as it is bound to do to protect its own copyright and financial interests and those of its syndication photographers.

View Bulletins

Bulletins may only be issued by participating corporates or their agency representatives. The only exception is where newscast Administration issues bulletins on service enhancements, etc., in which case they may be sent to corporate organisations as well as media.

To view received bulletins, click on the View Bulletins menu option. This transfers the user to the bulletin summary page on which all current received bulletins are listed. The headline appears in a scrollable box, and the number of attachments (if any) are indicated next to each of the four icons representing still images, press releases, video, and audio clips. Clicking on any of these icons will transfer the user to the bulletin attachments screen. This is similar in format to the thumbnail screen used for browsing material. Clicking on a thumbnail will transfer the user to the full view screen providing full title / caption and other details relevant to the material and enabling the media user to download material in the same way as if browsed from the general archive.

Linked Items

It is possible for corporates and agencies to link files ? for example a text/press release and three photographs ? to help both yourself and the media locate related material. Once items have been linked, an indication will appear in the search / browse results box in the top right corner. This will advise the user that there are 1 or more items linked to the current item and by clicking on the link in the top right corner the linked items will be displayed on a separate screen. If there is more than one link set, then in the first instance a list of link sets will be displayed for selection of the appropriate subject and caption (i.e. story).

User Details

Selecting this menu option allows the user to update any of the existing user details held on file. It is not possible to change the organisation name, however. If you change organisation you should notify newscast who will cancel your existing username and assign you a new username / password combination connected to your new organisation.

If you are a user with administration rights, you will first be presented with a list of all users in your organisation with standard user rights, plus your own. You can then select the user details you wish to amend. Within an organisation, one administration user cannot amend the details of another administration user ? only his own details plus those of users with standard rights.

Transaction Log

The transaction log provides details of download transactions. Users with standard rights will be able to view only their own transactions whereas users with administration rights will be able to view all transactions undertaken by users within the organisation.

Exit newscast

See section on Security at the start of this help facility. It is a condition of usage of the newscast service that users properly exit the service at the end of their session. To do this, select the exit Newscast menu option firstly, and click on the Yes button of the confirmation pop-up window. Finally confirm that you wish to exit the browser - only by exiting the browser can security be guaranteed.

User Levels

There are two user levels, Standard and Admin. Users from media organisations have access rights depending on whether they are Standard or Admin users, as follows:

Standard

Admin