Tips & Guides: Tips on Internet Sites with Solid Information

10 free web sites that can help you locate solid background information and interview sources

1. www.nicar.org - National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting Also: www.ire.org - Investigative Reporters and Editors   suggested path: resource center -> search 19,000+ story database (print and broadcast)   tip: Contact the author(s) for additional details regarding how they wrote the story. Members of the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) eagerly share their expertise with other members so it is worth it to join. See: www.ire.org for details. note: NICAR sponsors an annual national computer conference (schmooze opportunity) and other computer training opportunities; many members do on-site consulting and guest speaking	special feature: stories are written by journalists who have submitted their work for contest consideration - these are solid examples of national-, state- and local-level stories   sample search results: water 322 ground water 11 water and toxic 45 water and "toxic waste" 10 drinking water 42 water or toxic 522   use or to broaden your results use and to narrow your results
2. www.ipl.org/col - Internet Public Library collections suggested path: Reference -> topic -> search   40,000+ hand-picked resources selected by librarians and library students. This is a great way to locate materials that are part of the so-called "hidden Web." See also: www.ipl.org/ref for an authoritative and easy-to-use collection of Web resources suitable for reference. Spend 10 minutes exploring the clickable graphic and you'll become a lifelong fan. tip: click on "Associations" in the lower right corner to locate a list of associations by category…scroll to the bottom to use the search feature (journalism = 27 entries!)	special features: sample search results in "General/Reference" area: medical 479 medicine 120 health care 80 cancer 40 aids 45   default connector is and; use the drop-down menu to select or
3. WWW: Virtual library: Journalism Also: vlib.org This is a great site for locating materials that are part of the so-called "hidden Web." tip #1: bookmark what you like and leave the rest tip #2: search by scrolling down and browsing or use the search box (scroll down to find the box)	special feature: This site is maintained by John Makulowich and updated often. It is one of the classics on the Web. Bio and background info for Makulowich is available on the Home page: http://www.trainer.com/john/awesome.html
4. http://www.specialissues.com/lol/ - List of Lists by Gary Price This is a great site for locating materials that are part of the so-called "hidden Web." tip #1: bookmark what you like and leave the rest tip #2: try "Direct Search" to locate data that are part of the "hidden Web" note: a tilde (~) in a Web address denotes a personal page - therefore, you should be wary of the information unless you know the source(s)	special feature: This site is maintained by a professional librarian and updated often. It is one of the classics on the Web. Bio and background on Price is a link on the site. Many professional news librarians rely on Price's collections as a source to create their own.
5. thomas.loc.gov - Thomas - Library of Congress suggested path -> Legislation à Bill Summary & Status -> 107th Congress -> scroll down to the search box … see sample search results tip #1: Search to locate members of Congress who have sponsored bills that pertain to your beat. Then, contact the legislator and their staff to obtain background information and additional contacts - use their Rolodex to find fresh sources! tip #2: Search to locate the working (or informal) title of a bill. Then, do a search on the title in "Deja" (Now, Google groups: see entry #9, below) to read what people (the public) are saying. In this example, the working title is: Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2001. Remember to try shortened variations when you search: CAN SPAM Act of 2001 or Anti-spamming Act of 2001 For more advanced search tips: thomas.loc.gov/home/all.about.inquery.html	sample "word/phrase" search results using the "multi tier" approach to searching - start broad, read a little, refine the search for the second and third tries:   search #1 = Boolean "and" narrows: 62#band (Internet mail)   search #2 = Boolean "or" broadens: 437#or (Internet spam)   search #3 = Boolean phrase: 515#phrase (electronic mail)   search #4 = Boolean combo: 3#band (Internet spam #phrase (electronic mail))
6. www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/archives.html - U.S. news archives suggested paths: A. Look in the section that includes California for the link to the San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle - it's known as "SFGate." The archives for both are available free from 1995. tip: if a link does not work, backspace to the root and try that…in this case, the root is: www.SFGate.com -> Resources -> Search & Archives (in the sidebar on the left) B. Look in the section that includes Florida for the link to the St. Petersburg Times www.sptimes.com The newspaper's archive is available from 1987. On the Home page, look in the upper right corner and click on: "Advanced Search"	special feature: if you do not have access to professional subscription services like Nexis or Dow Jones, this resource is a GOLD MINE as it will help you locate free or low-cost newspaper archives available through the Web; maintained by the Special Libraries Association News Division; originally created by Margot Williams, a news librarian at the Washington Post, as a project for her college-level students; this is a classic among news librarians, researchers and savvy reporters/editors
7. www.archive.org/index.html - The WayBackMachine Literally search the Internet "as it was." This is a great tool for finding out what Web pages looked like in the past.	For kicks, search the following Web address: www.ire.org and click on the oldest link: Nov. 7, 1996. Very cool!
8. www.nytimes.com/navigator - New York Times' "intranet" note: the NYTimes navigator is updated often and is based on their intranet tip: bookmark the page(s) you like rather than drilling each time	See also: www.ibiblio.org/slanews/internet/experts.html for a "mini" version of the intranet of the St. Petersburg Times
9. groups.google.com - Usenet newsgroups and archives (20 years) suggested path: -> Advanced Groups Search   tip: use the "Find messages" boxes to search for particular subject, topic word(s) or phrase(s) THEN, make a note of the group name(s) where messages of interest to you have been posted. Go to a specific group by clicking on its link! Note: Once you've clicked on a group's link, you can search ALL the messages in that group by using the search box at the top of the results page. Be sure you select the appropriate circle beneath the search box, otherwise, you'll be searching ALL groups instead of the specific one in which you are interested. a.k.a. DejaNews; Deja	special features: this was a great way to locate real people and read what they have to say; over 35,000 forums (Usenet newsrgroups) allow people to post messages and have discussions (conversation threads) about specific topics; in the past 20 years, over 700-million messages date from 1981 onwards (this includes the old Deja archive); to learn more about newsgroups, see: www.poynter.org/dj/082300.htm   for more background: groups.google.com/googlegroups/help.html
10. lii.org - Librarian's Index to the Internet (LII) tip: this site is worth frequent visits as it is updated often   Try the "new this week" and "more new" links near the top of the Home page to locate links that are often related to current news topics. "New Features" is also a link you should check often.	special features: imagine having 100 professional librarians comb the Web to locate and evaluate 9,000+ sources and you have this gem of a site. Evaluations are signed too! (Look under the link in the upper right corner called "about the LII" to locate a list of the staff and their signature initials) This is a classic Web site among savvy searchers.

Created by Debbie Wolfe, technology training editor, St. Petersburg Times (Florida). email: dpwolfe@aol.com. Reprinted with permission.