Anyone can surf the Web. But to get something worthwhile from the effort, that takes navigation skill and knowledge of the terrain, plus a healthy measure of skepticism.

IF you're like most Web users, you waste a lot of time when you look for information, especially when you need something FAST.

If you're a journliast, the sitution is more crucial:

• You rarely have expert opinion on issues you cover;
• You're forced to live with tight deadlines
• And neither of these impediments are an excuse for sloppiness.

This workshop is a crush-course on how to survive the terrain with the help of the Web.

PART I: Just the Facts | Search Engines | Expert help for free | Grammar & Style | Your questions here

• Encyclopedia Britannica: new pay version for full archive (first two paras free);
  free access for journalists)
  http://www.britannica.com
• Encarta.com: many entries free, rest you pay
• Encyclopedia.com: concise, free articles
• Reference.Yahoo.com: search across several titles
• Xrefer: one-stop search of 35 reference titles
  http://www.xrefer.com

• GoogleAnswers: pay a researcher to find answers (starting at $2.50)
  http://answers.google.com
• IPL Pathfinders: Internet Public Library research assistance
  http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/PF/
• Ask.yahoo.com: answers for every day questions

• My conveter
  http://www.digitaldutch.com/unitconverter/
• nOnline Units Conversion: 8,000+ calculators
  http://www.onlineconversion.com
• Niles Guide to Data on the Internet: access stats of all kinds
  http://www.robertniles.com/data
• Statistics.com: more stats
  http://www.statistics.com
• Stats.org: deeper look at statistics; how journos use stats
  http://www.stats.org

• NG's Map Machine: dynamic maps tied to govt. data
  http://plasma.nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine
• Maps.com Explorer: interactive satellite/aerial maps
  http://www.maps.com/explore/viewer.html
• SpaceImaging.com: what you see on TV
  http://www.spaceimaging.com
• Driving directions: Mapquest.com & MapBlast.com & Yahoo Maps

• Your-Nation.com: compare stats about different countries:
  http://www.your-nation.com
• CIA World Factbook: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
  COMPARING COUNTRIES: get data on various nations
• WorldInformation.com: http://www.worldinformation.com
• Economist's Country Briefings: http://www.economist.com/countries

MAD ABOUT BOOKS: finding titles, new and old

• Amazon: author/title lookup & purchase circles
  http://www.amazon.com/purchasecircles
• BookFinder.com: used and out of print books
  http://www.bookfinder.com
• Yahoo booksearch
  http://store.yahoo.com/bookconsignment/bookssearch.html

• Google: try the Toolbar (Windows only)
  http://www.google.com
• Things you didn't know Google does
  http://www.sreetips.com/google.html

• AllTheWeb: fresher results - index refreshes every 10 days
  http://www.alltheweb.com
• Kartoo: visual display of links
  http://www.kartoo.com
• Yahoo: human indexers at work
  http://www.yahoo.com

• Dogpile: when you want to explore off the beaten path
  www.dogpile.com
• Inference Find
  www.infind.com
• Metacrawler
  www.metacrawler.com
• PfoFusion.com
  www.profusion.com

GROUPED LISTINGS, instead of long lists

• Teoma: see experts' links
  http://www.teoma.com
• Vivisimo: automatic grouping of documents
  http://www.vivisimo.com
• ILOR: keep track of search results
  http://www.ilor.com

• Put long sentences into Google, within quote marks
• FindSame: Died dot-com death in August 2001

• The Lycos 50: http://50.lycos.com
• Yahoo Buzz Index: http://buzz.yahoo.com
• Google Zeitgeist: http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html
• Altavista Search Trends: http://www.altavista.com/sites/about/trends
• AskJeeves most popular: http://www.jeevesiq.com/docs/about/jeevesiq.html
• Metaspy.com: live search watch

Expert help for free
sites that help with various tasks

RANSLATING: get the gist

• FreeTranslation.com instant translation for several languages
  http://www.freetranslation.com; also see world.altavista.com; systransoft.com

• About.com: personal guides on hundreds of topics
  http://www.about.com

• How Stuff Works: http://www.howstuffworks.com
• eHow: http://www.ehow.com
• So You Wanna: http://www.soyouwanna.com
• GoToMyPC: access your PC remotely
  http://www.gotomypc.com

• Merriam-Webster: http://www.m-w.com
• Dictionary.com: http://www.dictionary.com
• Logos - 188 languages: http://www.logos.it
• VOA Pronunciation Guide: for names in the news
  http://ibb7.ibb.gov/pronunciations/

• AP Stylebook: When you need to freelance to US publication
• BBC Styleguide: new from the Beeb, PDF format only
  http://www.bbctraining.co.uk/pdfs/newsStyleGuide.pd
• SAJA Stylebook: links to other style guides
  http://www.saja.org/stylebook