Tara Calishain is the co-author of Official Netscape Guide to Internet Research, 2nd Edition, and author or co-author of four other books. She is the owner of CopperSky Writing & Research.
In This Issue:
Directory of Copyright Resources on the Internet
Computerworld Offers IT Reports
Get Information on the Gov’t at Access America
Google Adds Stock Quotes, SiteSearch for Educational Institutions
LLRXBuzz Archives: April 3, 2000 – Present
LLRXBu zz Research Tip Archives
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Directory of Copyright Resources on the Internet
If you’re looking for copyright resources online, check out http://groton.k12.ct.us/mts/pt2a.htm. This site has a listing of copyright resources set up in outline format, with the outline on top and an annotated directory of materials beneath it (in other words, everything’s on one page so you don’t have to flip around.) There’s a lot of resources here, annotated nicely, and it appears to be updated fairly often (last update was September 30.) Worth a look.
Direct Search Gives In
Gary Price, the man behind the Direct Search directory of direct-search sources, has given in to Atomz.com. That’s a good thing – now his site is searchable! Check it out at http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/direct.htm#SearchCenter.
You may search several different sections of the site, including state databases, searchable bibliographies, current awareness streaming media, and the NewsCenter. Direct Search is chock-full of information and well worth a look.
Computerworld Offers IT Reports
Computerworld.com has teamed up with IT search engine Bitpipe to create IT Reports, a library of over 7,000 technology white papers, case studies, and analyst reports. It’s available at http://itreports.computerworld.com/. The search box looks like the Bitpipe search box, allowing you to enter keywords and search for research, subjects, or companies. If you’d rather browse, there’s an extensive directory below divided by IT category, from Business
Processes to Wireless and Mobile. Searching by a keyword or browsing a category will give you a list of results that includes name of report, date of publication, publisher, document type (white paper, analyst report, etc) description (on the short side, but most are helpful) and subjects under which the result is filed. Items that are not free have a green dollar sign icon beside them. Hold your mouse over the icon to get the cost of them item. (Nice touch.)
LinkFlair.com Launches
LinkFlair.com, The Bookmark Sharing Community is a bookmark sharing service that includes advanced synchronization features as a free Internet service. LinkFlair allows users to access their bookmarks from any computer as well as share them with friends. Its features includes bookmark sharing between large or small groups, and synchronization of bookmarks between two or more computers. Go to http://www.linkflair.com to check it out, or check out the press release at http://www1.internetwire.com/iwire/iwpr?id=17704&cat=te.
Get Information on the Gov’t at Access America
If you’re looking for more alternatives to FirstGov.gov when finding government information, check out Access America E-Gov at http://www.accessamerica.gov/.
This site isn’t so much a gateway to government information as a good way to keep up with changes and updates to government resources. For example, the top stories on the site today include a pointer to workplace posters (covered by LLRXBuzz recently), video clips for railroad safety, and a story about Americans supporting e-government. Issues of the Access America E-Gov E-Zine are available by e-mail. In addition, archives are available at http://www.accessamerica.gov/archive.html (they go back to October 1998.)
If you want more access to government information, check the left column of the main page. The first list — from Business to Workers — are separate sites. But below that are links to short lists of annotated resources. Some of these are off-site resources, while some of them are longer articles on the Access America site (like how to export goods using Internet filing). Interesting stuff here. Worth a look.
Find 800 Numbers Online
If you’re not having any luck finding an 800 number, check out http://gotollfree.com. This site allows you to search for 800 numbers, but be sure to use all the search options or you may get way more than you bargained for. For example, check out the front page of the site where the search form is. Now search for “IBM”. You’ll get dozens of results! Page back to the search form. You’ll see that there are pull-down menus to specify state where you’re searching, and maximum number of results.
If you know which state the company you’re searching for is in, be sure to use that. If you don’t, try to get as specific as you can. If you’re looking for information on the IBM AS400, don’t search for IBM. Search for AS400; you’ll
get only five results.
Google Adds Stock Quotes, SiteSearch for Educational Institutions
You can now find stock quotes with Google. There are a couple of ways to do it. First way: enter a stock symbol, like IBM. You’ll see that the first link is to IBM and the last “gray link” — more information link for that result — is “Stock Quotes: IBM”.
The other way is the stock: special syntax. Enter stock: IBM (there must be a space between stock: and IBM or it won’t work.) You’ll get a graphic link at the top of the page for IBM stock quotes. Both types of links, when clicked, lead to a framed page of stock information from Yahoo. The top of the frame will lead you to additional information from Excite, Quote.com, Fool.com, and MSN Money Central. There’s also a link to ditch the frame if you don’t want it. Google is also now offering a free customizable SiteSearch product to universities and educational institutions. You can get more information on that at http://services.google.com/univ_faq.html.