N&R News Research

Clusty Search Engine

2007-06-28T10:38:00.000-04:00

A couple of years ago I told you about Vivísimo's clustering search engine. Clusty is its latest version and a whole new way to search the web.
Clusty queries several top search engines, combines the results, and generates an ordered list based on comparative ranking. This "metasearch" approach helps raise the best results to the top and push search engine spam to the bottom.
But what really makes Clusty unique is what happens after you search. Instead of delivering millions of search results in one long list, our search engine groups similar results together into clusters. Clusters help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items. When was the last time you went to the third or fourth page of the search results? Rather than scrolling through page after page, the clusters help you find results you may have missed or that were buried deep in the ranked list.

Earth Trends

2007-06-28T10:05:00.000-04:00

EarthTrends is a comprehensive online database, maintained by the World Resources Institute, that focuses on the environmental, social, and economic trends that shape our world.

Wildcard Searches using NewsBank

2007-05-17T16:07:00.000-04:00

Wildcards are symbols that replace one or more letters or characters in a search term. They are helpful when you want to make sure you will find variants of your search term - child - children.

Single character wildcard: ? - Wom?n will find women or woman

Multiple character wildcard: * - environment* will find environment, environments, environmentalist, etc.

You can also place the * in the middle of a word. This is especially helpful for when you are unsure of the spelling. Wol*z will find Wolfowitz.

Searching NewsBank

2007-05-17T15:46:00.000-04:00

When searching a name, always use NewsBank's proximity search. For example if you searched for "Mary Smith" you might not find articles that used "Mary Jones Smith". Here is NewsBank's proximity syntax: "mary near3 jones". NewsBank's search engine is not case sensitive.

This is also helpful when you don't remember all the words of an organization's name: "guilford near4 health" will find articles with the term, "Guilford County Department of Health". *note that you choose the number that will separate your two search words.

News & Record Archives

2007-05-17T15:29:00.000-04:00

Do you know where to find articles written by News & Record staff writers from 1979? 1929? 1990? Articles for all three dates will be found in three different places. See me, David or Marc if you don't know where to locate archived articles.

Veterans History Project

2007-05-01T10:54:00.000-04:00

The Library of Congress Veterans History Project and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced a joint community engagement initiative designed to gather first-hand recollections of the diverse men and women who served our nation during wartime. The public outreach campaign begins this spring and will continue beyond the broadcast of Ken Burns’ new film, "The War," which is scheduled to air on PBS beginning on September 23, 2007.

National criminal background checks

2007-04-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

An article written byJackie Walters, Technical Services Librarian at Wiley Rein LLP for the Spring 2007 newsletter, Law Library Lights says that there are 7 facts that contradict the myth that a national criminal background check is even possible:
1. No central repository exists for federal, sate, and local criminal records.
2. Only 25 states - of the 49 states D.C. & Puerto Rico that have automated records - are fully automated.
3. There are no standards for collecting records.
4. Conducting on-site, county level searches where an individual has lived could be cost-prohibitive.
5. States are increasingly restricting personally identifying data, such as birth dates and SS #s and without this data you cannot link information across record types, and how do you know you even have the "right" John Doe?
6. Permissible use of these records are limited and sometimes restricted by federal and state privacy statutes.
7. So-called "national" databases are restricted to government users - law-enforcement agencies or agencies authorized by the FBI.

But don't let that stop you from requesting a search for your story. We'll do our best.

Guns and violence

2007-04-19T16:47:00.000-04:00

In response to the shootings Monday at Virginia Tech, Newswise has created a Breaking News Channel on Guns and Violence. The channel is a collection of articles and experts related to guns, gun laws, and violence in our nation's schools.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

2007-04-17T11:26:00.000-04:00

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press announced the availability of of a free, bi-weekly audio podcast called News Media Update. It supplements the Reporters Committee's biweekly newsletter News Media Update and covers recent developments and trends in media law that affect journalists and media attorneys. Topics include libel, invasion of privacy, freedom of information, reporter's privilege (keeping sources and information confidential), access to courts, newsgathering rights, and prior restraints.

Topics from yesterday's podcast: Virginia gun permit access; Florida secret docket ruling; Columbine depositions; Illinois Chief Justice's libel claim; interview with Lucy Dalglish on Josh Wolf.

This info forwarded to the News Library list serv from Genie Tyburski -Web Manager, The Virtual Chase

Finding 990s - Free

2007-04-16T16:00:00.000-04:00

Foundation Center web site was mentioned on the News Library List Serv as a place to find older 990s. They also offer an online course that explains how to read the 990.

Click here for the 990 finder.

20 Leading Occupations of Employed Women

2007-04-12T16:43:00.000-04:00

U.S. Dept of Labor lists the top 20 jobs for women in 2006 and the median weekly earnings for those jobs. Registerd nurses are the highest paid ($971) and cashiers, the lowest ($327).

National Health Spending

2007-04-12T15:06:00.000-04:00

Health spending reached nearly $2 trillion in 2005

National Health Spending in Billions
Spending Levels
1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
$28 $75 $254 $714 $1,353 $1,733 $1,859 $1,988 $2,123 $2,262

Note: Selected rather than continuous years of data are shown prior to 2003. Years 2006 forward are CMS projections.Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Office of the Actuary.Health Care Costs 101

From the California HealthCare Foundation

Student Multimedia Showcase

2007-03-23T14:12:00.000-04:00

School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the UNC at Chapel Hill has a newly redesigned web site. Check out the top right-hand "student showcase" box to see samples of student multimedia work.

Chronicling America

2007-03-20T13:36:00.000-04:00

View newspaper pages from 1900 to 1910 from the following states: California, District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Utah, and Virginia.

Chronicling America is a prototype Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC)...

Favorite web sites

2007-03-19T16:40:00.000-04:00

News librarians share their favorite web sites:
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory – for information and data on global warming

Quick facts: RefDesk.com; Library Spot;
How Stuff Works ;
CIA World Factbook

Free translations

For small newspapers - HomeTownNews and Topix.net
Nonprofits - Guidestar
Public records assistance - SearchSystems
For newspapers and magazines, Radio and TV: NewsLink

They Rule

2007-03-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

This site was mentioned on the News Library List:
They Rule aims to provide a glimpse of some of the relationships of the US ruling class. It takes as its focus the boards of some of the most powerful U.S. companies, which share many of the same directors. Some individuals sit on 5, 6 or 7 of the top 500 companies. It allows users to browse through these interlocking directories and run searches on the boards and companies. A user can save a map of connections complete with their annotations and email links to these maps to others. They Rule is a starting point for research about these powerful individuals and corporations.

They Rule allows you to create maps of the interlocking directories of the top companies in the US in 2004. The data was collected from their websites and SEC filings in early 2004, so it may not be completely accurate - companies merge and disappear and directors shift boards.

Hot Jobs

2007-03-15T16:21:00.000-04:00

Recent press release from the Dept of Labor:

Sixteen of the 30 jobs with the fastest growth are health related, while 6 are computer related. Most of the remaining fast-growth occupations are in environmental services and education (See Table 1).
Fast-growth occupations have growth rates of 30 percent or higher, more than twice the average for all occupations—13.0 percent (See Table 1).
The fastest-growing major occupational group—professional and related occupations—is made up mostly of occupations that generally require postsecondary education or training.
Examples of these are physician assistants, network systems and data communication analysts, computer software engineers, database administrators, physical therapists, preschool and postsecondary teachers, and environmental engineers.

Sunshine Week

2007-03-15T14:49:00.000-04:00

Charlotte Observer news researchers Maria Wygand and Marion Paynter are writing a Sunshine Week blog that gives web sites and useful tips on obtaining public records that anyone can use. They are also taking questions from the public. They have pulled a lot of information together. Check it out.

I attended the N.C. Open Government Coalition's forum this morning at the Sunshine Center on the Elon University campus. They are a great group who are working hard to keep public records public.

Women's History Month

2007-03-12T10:27:00.000-04:00

Here is a contact for issues dealing with women in the military:

Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Military
Official Mailing Address:OUSD (P&R) DACOWITSRoom 2C548A, 4000 Defense PentagonWashington, DC 20301-4000dacowits@osd.mil Telephone: (703) 697-2122DSN# 227-2122

Elon Law Expert Sources

2007-03-06T16:26:00.000-05:00

Lanita was at Elon’s Law School today and got a quick breakdown on who are experts on what. The faculty is eager to be of assistance to us when we’re looking for a local source.

Constitutional Law: Steven Friedland and George Johnson
Torts (lawsuits between people) and international law: Helen Grant
Procedure and trials: Catherine Dunham
Legal education/property/criminal law: Steven Friedland

Contact information for all faculty can be found here: http://www.elon.edu/e-web/academics/law/facstaff.xhtml

Military

2007-03-05T15:10:00.000-05:00

Just ran across this Feb 25th article from the American Psychological Association titled, PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE INCREASING—STRAINING MILITARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, REPORTS APA TASK FORCE - still newsworthy in light of the Washington Post's recent articles.

Regional and State Unemployment

2007-03-05T14:52:00.000-05:00

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released this report recently:

Annual average unemployment rates declined between 2005 and 2006 in 43states and the District of Columbia and in all 4 regions, the Bureau ofLabor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employ-ment-population ratios rose in 41 states and the District of Columbia andin all 4 regions. The U.S. jobless rate fell by 0.5 percentage point to4.6 percent in 2006, while the national employment-population ratio increased by 0.4 percentage point to 63.1 percent.

Here is a link to the table of contents for other releases.

Weather Disasters

2007-03-01T16:37:00.000-05:00

The National Climatic Data Center has a web page that lists events that have had the greatest economic impact since 1980. Check out Billion Dollar U.S. Weather Disasters

Podcasts Searches

2007-02-27T15:16:00.000-05:00

Heard about a great podcast but can't find it? Here are a couple of search engines that searches audio content for keywords. Regular search engines are looking only at the audio metadata such as headlines.

Podzinger
Blinkx

Using Wikipedia for research

2007-02-26T09:10:00.000-05:00

Where else but Wikipedia could you find an article examining the merits of using Wikipedia for research?

Here are some things to keep in mind when using Wikipedia:

Always be wary of any one single source, or of multiple works that derive from a single source.
Where articles have references to external sources (whether online or not) read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says.
In many academic institutions, an encyclopedia is unacceptable as a major source for a research paper.