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02/04/2008
By EWAN KENNEDY
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Had a fascinating talk with the research manager for UBD street directories this afternoon. Directories are an important part of life in my job, I do a lot of travelling in a lot of places, spread over all major Australian cities, many of the minor ones, and even on several other continents.
So it’s vital that I have the latest version of a directory beside me in the car and the greater the accuracy and the more attention to the finest of details, the happier I am. And I’m certainly not Robinson Crusoe. Despite the proliferation of satellite navigation devices, either inbuilt or portable, most of us still rely on the good old printed book. In any case, the same research by the same companies goes into street directories is also used on the new electronic devices.
Charlotte Hudson from UBD is a fascinating lady and one of the first things she said was, “Research is not a job, it’s a way of life”. It seems that neither she nor anyone else on her team is capable of going anywhere without part of the brain looking around for ways of gleaning new details for their directories.
A quiet Sunday drive in the country can lead to a new entry in the next issue. Perhaps from a researcher spotting a sign in a paddock offering it for sale as a development opportunity. They will make a note of the phone number, contact the selling agent and get advanced information on possible new streets, shopping centres, or whatever.
Take retirement villages as a further example of new development. Some of them are now so large that they contain their own streets, and visitors will find life easier if a researcher has done advanced work on the project.
UBD even monitors local newspapers and listens into radio talkback shows. That’s because letters to the editor sometimes contain complaints about crash blackspots or congestion at a particular intersection – with traffic lights being demanded by local residents. These can be followed up later to see what changes have been made to the intersection, where possible by physically driving through the crossroad.
A lot of the nitty gritty work is done by the UBD guys actually being on the road checking a virtually infinite amount of detail. This can lead to some funny results, generally involving the slowing of the traffic flow. Not because their white Commodore is being driven too slowly, but because it carries a dome on the roof to house a sophisticated GPS unit. That certainly gives some drivers a fright, according to Charlotte Hudson.
Once upon a time the maps were drawn by specially trained draftsmen, these days the work is all done on computer. Such is the accuracy of modern electronic equipment that the maps you see in your directory place you accurately on the face of the planet to within five metres.
Having been very open about the way the research is done, Charlotte clamed up when I brought up the subject of deliberate mistakes in directories. I've heard there are inconsistencies on every page of directories: streets that don’t exist, names incorrectly spelt, even little wiggly bits in streets that go in one direction when they should take another. All sorts of clever tricks designed to trap sleazy people who want into the directory business the easy way by copying existing material.
All that Charlotte would tell me, when asked several times, was that, “We protect our copyright”. Pity, I would love to have some information that would let me look at the page of the UBD with my home on it and smile when I saw our area’s mistake. Or perhaps I should do my own research and simply wander around and try to pick it for myself! |
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