Oil & Gas Journal Online, this magazine's web site, has taken several important steps in recent months.
Most recently, it added a research area that includes a link to the treasury of industry statistics available through OGJ Energy Database. More on the research center appears below.
In a separate advance earlier this year, access to the subscribers-only area of the site broadened through unification of print and online subscriptions.
If you're a print subscriber, you now can register at no additional cost to use subscription features of the web site. Go to the home page at www.ogjonline.com, click the "Subscribe" tab at the top, and follow directions for print subscribers.
If you've been a paying web-only subscriber, able to access the subscription area of the web site, you now can receive the print magazine as well. Send an e-mail to [email protected] to get things started.
Free vs. paid
The question of what's free on OGJ Online and what's not can be puzzling. It's a nice problem to have, though. It reflects the great volume and variety of information that OGJ offers in its complementary print and online incarnations.
For online editorial material, here's how it works:
The news OGJ Online staff members write every day for the web site, supplemented by wire feeds from outside sources, is free. To read it, all you need to do is go to the home page.
High on the page you'll find eight headlines and summaries labeled "top stories." To read a whole story, click the link under the summary.
A weekly feature appears alongside the top stories.
Don't assume you're finished after you've read the top stories. Many more stories appear below them, arranged by industry category. You'll need to scroll down to see them. It is under these categories that wire-feed items supplement staff-written articles. The differences are clear.
In fact, so many stories appear in the industry categories that you'll scroll through several screen depths before reaching the bottom of the page.
Editorial items requiring a paid subscription appear under the label "Subscribers Only" on the left navigation bar of the home page.
They include an electronic version of the current issue of the magazine, the search engine, two features-The Editor's Opinion and Market Hotline-written exclusively for subscribers and available only online, and quick-access links to OGJ columns, statistics, and surveys.
The search engine contains material from OGJ issues dating back to 1990 plus staff-written news stories from OGJ Online. It's accessible through both the "Back Issues" link under "Subscribers Only" and the "Keywords" box on the top navigation bar. You can't read articles returned by the search engine without log-in credentials requiring a subscription.
Research center
The newest feature of OGJ Online amplifies the site's power as a research tool, which the search engine already makes considerable.
You don't have to be a subscriber to enter the Online Research Center. The link to it appears low, probably below the bottom of your computer screen, on the left navigation bar, under the label "Research." You enter by clicking "Online Research Center."
The center's link to OGJ Energy Database gives you access to thousands of series of historical energy-industry data. You have to pay for what you pull out of the database. It doesn't cost much. You'll need a credit card.
Also, heavy users can set up debit accounts or buy annual database subscriptions.
Available free in the Online Research Center is material from past editions of the annual International Petroleum Encyclopedia, which you can browse or search by keyword. More free research material is under development. Eventually, there will be more online information products available for purchase in this area.
Our aim is to make the print and online media work together to present authoritative industry news, technology, and statistics available in the volume and with the speed and convenience busy professionals need.
We've made much progress toward that goal. We're far from finished.
