Links
Link categories (collections) covering special types of search tools (e.g., news searching, fact-checking, etc.)
News
There are lots of great news sources out there. For breaking news try Clusty Blogsearch http://clusty.com/ or CNN http://www.cnn.com. For full news coverage, World News Network http://cgi.wn.com/ is a comprehensive choice. For technology news, I love Wired News http://www.wired.com. Also consider aggregators like Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/ and Topix http://www.topix.net (for a more advanced search).
Facts
Because fact checking is necessary, you want to find a few good resources and put them on your favorites list. http://www.factcheck.org/ (as stated on their about us page) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding. They accept NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.
I also like Bartleby.com http://www.bartleby.com/reference/. They offer many resources, classic and contemporary, which can be cross-referenced including a variety of encyclopedias, a World Fact Book, and religious texts. Lately, I have found Finding Facts by The Virtual Chase http://www.virtualchase.com/resources/facts.shtml to be very handy; one of the best links on TVC is American Fact Finder http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en.
Statistics
The Virtual Chase also has a statistical resources page http://www.virtualchase.com/resources/statistics.html with a number of helpful links including Aging Stats http://www.agingstats.gov and AmeriStat http://www.ameristat.org/, the Population Reference Bureau. FedStats is useful at http://www.fedstats.gov, as is the Bureau of Labor Statistics http://stats.bls.gov/.
People Finders
Don't rule out the tried and true: Yellow pages and white pages. One of the best on the Web is http://www.argali.com/. Argali White & Yellow searches multiple telephone and email directories so you don't have to. The found listings are combined, formatted in uniform way and displayed as if they came from one integrated metadirectory. They aggregate info from sources like http://www.anywho.com/, http://www.icq.com, http://infospace.com, http://www.switchboard.com, http://www.yahoo.com, and more. If you don't mind paying a little $, Enformian PeopleFinders http://www.people-finders.ws/ was suggested to me (Thanks, Gary), and I personally have used Locate America http://www.locateamerica.com/, which will give you last known addresses. From there, you can do a free reverse address search and get a phone number.
Maps
For directions, I consistently use Yahoo! Maps http://www.yahoo.com/. I prefer it over the very popular MapQuest http://www.mapquest.com/. They are both useful; however, I find Yahoo's results to be a bit more user friendly. For example, if I were going through Greenville, NC it might be helpful for me to know that once in town, 264 Alternate is better known as Greenville Blvd. Yahoo often provides this type of info, which lessens confusion.
If for some reason you need aerial photographs, try http://www.terrafly.com. I used this during Hurricane Katrina to see aerial footage of New Orleans. You can search by coordinates, city, zip code, or address. There is also info available on census including population and income.
Reports
Reading reports can be tedious and time consuming work, but they contain lots of details. eMarketer http://www.emarketer.com is great for info on data, research, and analysis on e-business, online marketing, and emerging technologies. For congressional reports, GPO Access http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/ has plenty to keep you busy for hours. For more entertaining reading, go to Consumer Reports http://www.consumerreports.org for all the info and ratings on cars, electronics, computers, appliances, etc.
Press Releases
Press releases can get you info before anyone else sees it, assuming you're on the ball. Distribution services like e-Releases http://www.ereleases.com and Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com/ are good but cost $$$. Try instead Press Release Newswire http://www.prweb.com/ or simply go to a company's website and find the link to their press releases. For example, I can go to the IBM site, then click on "About Us" then "Press Room" or I can do a Yahoo search for "IBM press" where I'll get
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/index.wss.
Local search
Most major search engines provide a local search including AOL http://localsearch.aol.com, Ask http://local.ask.com/local, MSN http://search.msn.com, and Yahoo http://local.yahoo.com. You might also try http://superpages.com, which is a combination of a search engine and the yellow pages.
Bibliographies/Resources
As journalists well know, finding good sources (online or print) isn't always as simple as going to a search engine or even a database. Don't rule out other people's sources! Many authors and researchers include bibliographies, works cited, or resource pages in their publications. Use these to find books, journals, or other links that could help you!
News
There are lots of great news sources out there. For breaking news try Clusty Blogsearch http://clusty.com/ or CNN http://www.cnn.com. For full news coverage, World News Network http://cgi.wn.com/ is a comprehensive choice. For technology news, I love Wired News http://www.wired.com. Also consider aggregators like Yahoo News http://news.yahoo.com/ and Topix http://www.topix.net (for a more advanced search).
Facts
Because fact checking is necessary, you want to find a few good resources and put them on your favorites list. http://www.factcheck.org/ (as stated on their about us page) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding. They accept NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by the Annenberg Foundation.
I also like Bartleby.com http://www.bartleby.com/reference/. They offer many resources, classic and contemporary, which can be cross-referenced including a variety of encyclopedias, a World Fact Book, and religious texts. Lately, I have found Finding Facts by The Virtual Chase http://www.virtualchase.com/resources/facts.shtml to be very handy; one of the best links on TVC is American Fact Finder http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en.
Statistics
The Virtual Chase also has a statistical resources page http://www.virtualchase.com/resources/statistics.html with a number of helpful links including Aging Stats http://www.agingstats.gov and AmeriStat http://www.ameristat.org/, the Population Reference Bureau. FedStats is useful at http://www.fedstats.gov, as is the Bureau of Labor Statistics http://stats.bls.gov/.
People Finders
Don't rule out the tried and true: Yellow pages and white pages. One of the best on the Web is http://www.argali.com/. Argali White & Yellow searches multiple telephone and email directories so you don't have to. The found listings are combined, formatted in uniform way and displayed as if they came from one integrated metadirectory. They aggregate info from sources like http://www.anywho.com/, http://www.icq.com, http://infospace.com, http://www.switchboard.com, http://www.yahoo.com, and more. If you don't mind paying a little $, Enformian PeopleFinders http://www.people-finders.ws/ was suggested to me (Thanks, Gary), and I personally have used Locate America http://www.locateamerica.com/, which will give you last known addresses. From there, you can do a free reverse address search and get a phone number.
Maps
For directions, I consistently use Yahoo! Maps http://www.yahoo.com/. I prefer it over the very popular MapQuest http://www.mapquest.com/. They are both useful; however, I find Yahoo's results to be a bit more user friendly. For example, if I were going through Greenville, NC it might be helpful for me to know that once in town, 264 Alternate is better known as Greenville Blvd. Yahoo often provides this type of info, which lessens confusion.
If for some reason you need aerial photographs, try http://www.terrafly.com. I used this during Hurricane Katrina to see aerial footage of New Orleans. You can search by coordinates, city, zip code, or address. There is also info available on census including population and income.
Reports
Reading reports can be tedious and time consuming work, but they contain lots of details. eMarketer http://www.emarketer.com is great for info on data, research, and analysis on e-business, online marketing, and emerging technologies. For congressional reports, GPO Access http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/ has plenty to keep you busy for hours. For more entertaining reading, go to Consumer Reports http://www.consumerreports.org for all the info and ratings on cars, electronics, computers, appliances, etc.
Press Releases
Press releases can get you info before anyone else sees it, assuming you're on the ball. Distribution services like e-Releases http://www.ereleases.com and Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com/ are good but cost $$$. Try instead Press Release Newswire http://www.prweb.com/ or simply go to a company's website and find the link to their press releases. For example, I can go to the IBM site, then click on "About Us" then "Press Room" or I can do a Yahoo search for "IBM press" where I'll get
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/index.wss.
Local search
Most major search engines provide a local search including AOL http://localsearch.aol.com, Ask http://local.ask.com/local, MSN http://search.msn.com, and Yahoo http://local.yahoo.com. You might also try http://superpages.com, which is a combination of a search engine and the yellow pages.
Bibliographies/Resources
As journalists well know, finding good sources (online or print) isn't always as simple as going to a search engine or even a database. Don't rule out other people's sources! Many authors and researchers include bibliographies, works cited, or resource pages in their publications. Use these to find books, journals, or other links that could help you!
posted by Christy Kinnion at 10:27 AM
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