Summertime and the living is easy. The Internet can help make some of your reporting tasks easy, too.
Since this issue of Uplink, according to our esteemed editor, is a hodgepodge, I thought I would honor the theme with a hodgepodge of Internet sites that you really should know about.
Locating statistics
Finding the right statistics to illustrate your story or to verify what a source might tell you can be hard. Here are two great sources to make locating statistics easy:
FedStat: http://www.fedstats.gov/
"More than 70 agencies in the United States Federal Government produce statistics of interest to the public."
The Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy maintains this site to provide easy access to the full range of statistics and information produced by these agencies for public use."
In a beautifully organized site, this compilation of statistic pages gives you tables and charts on everything from breastfeeding to union membership from such sources as the CDC, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Social Security Administration. The search function lets you target the topic you need or browse through the alphabetical listing.
http://www.sau.edu/cwis/internet/wild/Refdesk/Stats/staindex.htm#useful
"Where the Wild Things Are: Librarian's Guide to the Best Information on the Net How Much, How Many? Statistical Sources and Calculation Tools on the Net."
This directory, compiled by the St. Ambrose University library, links you to great statistic sources, evaluated for their usefulness and currency with the librarian's skills. Organized by economic statistics, social and demographic statistics, useful data and formulas.
Locating news stories
Getting ready to cover a story that has been covered in other papers? Check out what the local coverage has been through the Net. Here are a couple of great sites that can make locating the local media easier:
http://www.mediainfo.com/ephome/inpaper/nphtm/online.htm
Editor & Publisher's Online Newspapers - sure, there are several listings of newspaper Web sites but Steve Outing's continues to be one of the best, most comprehensive and well maintained. Find a local site and, hopefully, they will have a couple days of news stories available.
http://sunsite.unc.edu/slanews/internet/archives.html
Newspaper Archives - I call them angels of the Internet, those people who compile useful listings of Internet resources and eliminate so much of the hunting and pecking.
One of the angels is Margot Williams, Washington Post researcher, who had her class at George Washington University find all the newspapers on the Internet that have archives of past stories available.
The handy chart lists by state the newspapers with archives, the date range available and the pricing (an amazing number still are free, get to them quickly, though!)
While you are at the Special Libraries Association, News Division site, check out another angel's listing - Kitty Bennett's, researcher at the St. Petersburg Times, compilation of expert directories and sources on the Internet: http://sunsite.unc.edu/slanews/internet/experts.html
Doing calculations
Quick, how do you convert meters to feet? Ha! I don't know either. Check out this site to make hard calculations easier:
http://www-sci.lib.uci.edu/HSG/RefCalculators.html
Calculators On-Line Center - "Links to over 3,750 calculators created by over 1,090 very 'CREATIVE' Individuals, Businesses & Tax Supported Entities World Wide." Find the calculator for meters to feet in Part II, Mathematics - Weights and Measures. The site it links you to will even convert to "football field" equivalents. Calculators On-Line Center is one of those sites that is just interesting to read through the possibilities available.
Directories & dictionaries
Having a virtual reference desk of basic books with facts, figures, dates and definitions is easy with the help of these great listings of ready reference sources on the Internet:
http://lib-www.ucr.edu/infomine/reference/ Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections - click on one of the categories (Acronyms, Biographies, Calendars, etc.) and get a small selection of evaluated reference sources to help answer quick questions. Put together by the University of California, Riverside.
ipl.si.umich.edu/ref/RR/ Internet Public Library - organized by type of reference work (almanac, dictionary).
k12.oit.umass.edu/rref.html Ready Ref. On the 'Net - arranged alphabetical by subject.
Going traveling
It's easy to find information about the places you will be traveling to this summer with the following, one of the best compilations of city information:
http://local.yahoo.com/local
Yahoo: Get Local - this beautifully designed package of local information, links and news is browsed by putting in the ZIP code of the place you are going.
What you'll get back is information about the local weather, major league sports results, the searchable Yellow Pages, links to local news sites, and the regular of Yahoo categories like: business, city guides, education, entertainment and arts, government, health, lodging, etc.
There is even a list of local UPI stories that can help you pitch your trip as a reporting excursion. Have an easy summer, everyone.
Nora Paul can be reached at (813) 821-9494, or send e-mail to npaul@poynter.org