Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Additional Information (Detail)

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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Segment
Dec. 31, 2010
Dec. 31, 2009
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Number of reportable segments 5    
Advertising costs from continuing operation $ 42,000,000 $ 32,600,000 $ 31,900,000
Bad debt expense from continuing operations 2,800,000 800,000 6,600,000
Depreciation expense 75,000,000 72,200,000 65,000,000
Goodwill impairment test We perform our annual goodwill impairment test as of September 30    
Fixed assets ,Collateral 65,300,000 47,900,000  
Carrying value of debt 999,200,000 990,200,000  
Variable interest maximum exposure to loss 9,800,000    
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Fair value of interest rate swaps 14,800,000 [1] 9,700,000  
Capitalized internal-use software and systems costs
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, minimum 3    
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, maximum 10    
Fixed Rate Debt
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Fair value of debt 1,090,000,000 1,050,000,000  
Carrying value of debt $ 970,000,000 $ 980,000,000  
Data Processing Equipment, Capitalized Internal-Use Software and Systems Costs
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Property plant and equipment useful lives, minimum 3    
Property plant and equipment useful Lives, maximum 5    
Building
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Property plant and equipment useful lives 40    
Other fixed assets
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Property plant and equipment useful lives, minimum 3    
Property plant and equipment useful Lives, maximum 7    
Stock Options
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Antidilutive stock options excluded from computation of earnings per share 2.3 3.3 3.3
US Consumer Information Solutions
      
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]      
Percentage of revenue from a segment 40.00%    
[1] The fair value of our interest rate swaps, designated as fair value hedges, and notes are based on the present value of expected future cash flows using zero coupon rates and are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.