e-mail addresses, will finally be launched later this month after two years of work and collecting more than 3,000 listings.

Up to 150,000 copies of the paper directory will be printed, and every Bermuda household will receive a copy on January 23 by mail. The company plans to distribute the remainder to tourists who can continue to visit Bermuda websites to shop or plan future trips.

The company's searchable website will also be launched and CD-ROM versions of the directory will be available for $12.50.

The company launched its data collection campaign in April with a series of print and radio advertisements, in addition to television spots featuring UK Premier League footballer Shaun Goater. The company accepted listings for free before closing submissions for the print version of the directory in July.

Additions to the online directory are ongoing.

"When I was in Bermuda in November, (Telecommunications Minister) Renee Webb saw a proof of the book and thought it was excellent,'' said Bermudian Teresa Cameron, the brains behind the project who is currently based in Scotland.

Listing e-mail addresses in a public directory will make users more susceptible to junk e-mails, but Mrs. Cameron said the addresses included were willingly submitted by users. She also said local Internet service providers (ISPs) were able to take some measures to limit junk mail.

The "yellow pages'' of Bermuda websites is a pilot programme for more ambitious endeavours overseas. The company has already established offices in the United Kingdom and plans to begin data collection next month in anticipation of a directory launch in August.

"The pilot (in Bermuda) has been excellent and it has helped us to establish business in (the UK) because you learn what works and what doesn't'' said Mrs.

Cameron, who added that international companies were far more "switched on'' than local ones and were more likely to have websites.

talkingmice.com will continue its expansion in the United States when it opens offices in April, either in North Carolina or California. In large markets, talkingmice.com has teamed up with major Internet service providers to promote and distribute its product.

In the UK, the company has chosen UK Online and altodigital.com. EarthLink Network, the world's largest ISP, expressed so much interest in the scheme that it offered to buy the concept outright. Mrs. Cameron said she hoped talkingmice.com will eventually become the most useful Internet search tool in the world.

Unlike search engines like Yahoo!, talkingmice.com will not use an automated web crawler to scour the web for new web pages, which can sometimes lead to confusing results. Users will instead search the directory's manually-compiled database, which will be organised categorically and alphabetically.

talkingmice.com's operations will be funded by advertising within the book and on the company website, but Mrs. Cameron admitted that recouping costs would take longer in Bermuda than in the UK, where registrars will be charged a fee to list with the directory.

In Bermuda, the company employs four sales staff and one administrative administrator, while in the UK there are 11 staff, with plans to expand after the initial launch. The company's web server, including the directory Bermuda listings, will be located in the UK.

Mrs. Cameron is the main stake holder in talkingmice.com and the scheme has received further backing from PricewaterhouseCoopers, Globenet, Marshall & Company, TeleBermuda International and some local investors totalling several million dollars.