Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 gb@geraldbusinge.

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Internet Searching Strategies for Journalists

What is the Internet?
The Internet is a worldwide collection of computer networks, cooperating with each other to
exchange data using a common software standard (http,ftp etc). Through telephone wires and
satellite links, Internet users can share information in a variety of forms. The size, scope and
design of the Internet allows users to:

connect easily through ordinary personal computers and local phone numbers;
exchange electronic mail (E-mail) with friends and colleagues with accounts on the
Internet;
post information for others to access, and update it frequently;
access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and even video;
and
access diverse perspectives from around the world.

http://www.centerspan.org/tutorial/net.htm
The internet has had a marked influence on journalism practice in many ways. It is both a big
platform for sourcing information, publishing and disseminating it.
Flat Earth News: Reporters can enliven their reports with diverse sources and data and
avoid flat news. http://www.humedia.nl/profiles/blogs/nick-davies-over website book
http://www.flatearthnews.net/
Copy/paste journalism; no checkingcan be avoided since the internet provides massive
data bases to cross check most of the things we report about.
See Nick Davies interview
The internet offers new possibilities especailly multimedia reporting and visualisation.

Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/data

Concept of continuum reporting---pro-active reporting vs re-active reporting

See Internet history, foundation and background at Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

Journalists need the Internet

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

Since the primary job of journalists is to find information and package it for audiences, it is
important for journalists to learn how to utilize the internet as key resource for better stories. A
lot of information is available online, provided by media houses, journalists, governments, civil
society organizations etc. The best way to find out what information is available is to search the
internet.
Whether you are covering a story, writing a feature, editing someone's copy or doing background
research, the Internet can provide masses of detailed background. It will also help you find new
ideas and new contacts, if you know where to look. But few journalists have been trained in how
to work online. This training is aimed at offering journalists the basics of utlising the internet for
better reporting.
How to find out more about a story using the internet
Remember the Internet presents:
More sources search names, officials or experts, including particular data
Has a wider geographical range (world wide web)
Direct access (the time you want the info you search and get it from
anywhere you are with an internet connection-as opposed to a library)
Multi media: you can search for audio/video/graphics, maps to help add
more info and life to your story
By now, many of you know that you can easily search for what you want in Google, the leading
search engine .You put your search term in the search box and hit search and you will get many
results from which to choose the most relevant.
But remember that Google indexes about 10 billion pages but that is 20% of the information on
the web
Databases provide more data but are not accessed easily by search engines
How do you find databases?
Utilise Institutional approach for searching
For human rights stories as an example, the UN, Human Rights
Watch, CIA facthandbook, etc these organizations keep compiling
on HR issues. Go to their websites and search for the information
you want. If you are looking for Economic growth or gender
disaggregated data, the World Bank, the International Finance
Corporation and the UN are additional sources of wide ranging
data. There are also government or CSO led efforts to provide
relevant data, like www.data.ug www.ubos.go.ug in the case of
Uganda.

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

Find leading media:, BBC, Economist, newvision.co.ug, and subscribe to RSS feed
Search news site (newspaper) archives: on their website search. Every worthy website
has a search box which you can use to search that very site.
Search the web with Google
Important tips for web search
The trick to efficient web searches is to choose your search keywords and phrases with
enough precision to exclude the masses of results that are irrelevant to what you are
interested in.
Set your preferences to return the maximum results
The Google page has a link marked preferences. This allows you to set some search
preferences (to search only English language pages, for instance) but the most useful
preference to change is the number of results shown for each search. The default setting
is for 10 results which means you have to refresh the page each time to get the next ten.
Set preferences for the maximum 100 results which allows you to scan much bigger
chunks of data to see if it is relevant.
Keywords provide a simple way of narrowing down your focus, but, often, keywords
alone are not enough. Say you are looking for John Smith. Simply typing in John and
Smith in the search bar is going to give you every document where both of those names
appear: hundreds of thousands of documents. To avoid drowning, you will need to find
relatively unique features that identify the John Smith you are looking for.
Use quotation marks
John Smith will return only those results where the words appear together. If you have
a middle name you can add that, for example: John Sylvester Smith
You can combine options using the OR command written in capitals, which Google uses
to distinguish from the word or. John Sylvester Smith OR John S Smith OR JS
Smith
Add facts that you know or suspect
Say the John Smith you are interested in is alleged to be involved in drug smuggling and
operates out of Zurich. You would add to your search bar: John Smith Zurich or
perhaps John Smith Zurich drugs Which would return only pages where all those
words occur.
Country-specific searches
You may not be certain that Smith operates out of Zurich, but you are sure he is based in
Switzerland. Using the site: command, Google allows you to search only pages with a
specific country domain designation. The Swiss domain designation is .ch while
Uganda is .ug So you might type in the search bar: John Smith site:.ch which would
return all Swiss pages containing the name John Smith; or John Smith drugs site:.ch
The domain designation for South Africa is .za, for Britain .uk Not sure of the country
designation? Google: domain by country
Organisation-specific searches
Many commercial websites end with .com; many NGOs, developmental organisations
sites and activist groups end with .org. So if you are researching wind turbines, and want
the companies, you might use wind turbines site: .com. If you want to find criticism

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

about wind turbines, you might use wind turbines site:.org. If you want data on activist
groups in Uganda, you type wind turbines site: .or.ug.
Use the net to find sources
Drug smuggler John Smith may never have appeared on the net in that context (as an
accused drug smuggler) so the next best thing is to find an expert on the drug trade in
Switzerland who might have heard of John Smith and be able to give you more
information. drug smuggling in Switzerland or drug smuggling site:.ch should give
you access to newspaper or academic articles giving the names of such experts. You can
then google their names to find their telephone numbers or email addresses and make
contact.
Using Google cache
Web pages change or are shut down. You may get a result on Google and find the page
has gone. Then click on the cached link on the specific result. Google saves a copy of
the pages that it catalogues as it searches the web, and that is the cache version: the
snapshot of the page as it was when Googles computer looked at it. That copy is often
still available long after the original page has disappeared from the net. This is very
useful for tracking companies and individuals who have disappeared: they often still
exist in caches
Use the internets phonebook
Nearly every country has an extensive telephone database, usually under the term white
pages (even many non-Englishspeaking countries list white pages of their phone
directories in English). So, for example, to try to look up John Smiths Swiss number,
you would Google white pages site:.ch and find the sites that offer Swiss telephone
directories. Generally, directories require that you specify at least the town/city as well as
the name. This might not be as useful for Uganda until such a directory is put online.
Download long articles for later reading
If you have limited opportunity to go online, then save pages that look useful for
background research so you can go through them carefully later.
Build up your own database in a structured searchable way
When you save documents from the internet, or save transcripts of interviews or notes,
do so in a way which will allow you to find information again easily, or your virtual
desktop will end up like many journalists actual desks: a vast, widely spread pile of
assorted data where it is difficult to find anything at all, let alone quickly. There is a great
free internet tool, called Google Desktop, that searches and lists your computer files for
you. Simply key in John Smith and the tool will give you a list of all the files you have
saved, even many years back under you cant remember what name, with John Smith in
it.
Don't discount little words
Google-users frequently think words like "a" and "the" are inconsequential in search
queries. Not so, says Russell. For example, typing "Who" into Google yields the primary
result of WHO: World Health Organization. Adding the article "a" gives you results for
the movie Horton Hears a Who!, and replacing "a" with "the" provides links related to the

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

band The Who. "Little words that you'd normally think of as stop words or words that
might be extra turn out to make a big difference," Russell says.
Avoid using characters
Most characters, including the symbols for "paragraph," "euro" and "section" (, and ),
do not register in Google searches. A search for " 2010," is actually just a search for
"2010," Russell says. But there are some exceptions, which include C++, #hashtag and
Google+. C++ is treated as a single symbol because it's a commonly used programming
language. Russell adds that any search containing a word that precedes a "+" is
automatically searched in Google+.
Be aware of word order
Word order matters for Google searchers. In some cases, it makes little difference. But in
others, Russell says, switching the order returns completely different results. For
example, the search for "black and white" provides results related to the video game
Black & White. But a search for "white and black" displays the web page for the retail
company White House Black Market as the initial result. "When you're trying to
formulate a query, think about not only what words to include, but the order in which
they naturally come," Russell says.
Be specific with spaces
All it takes is one space to significantly modify a search. For example, one symbol that
Google acknowledges in searches is the minus sign, or the dash (-). This can be used to
narrow your query by subtracting specific search terms. "Recipe -tomatoes" will provide
recipes that don't include tomatoes. Correct spacing is crucial. There must be a space
between the first word and the dash, and no space between the dash and the following
word. Because of this, people using the dash sign to signify a range could unintentionally
narrow their search. "Pre -post renaissance art" will remove "post" from all text results,
but "pre-post renaissance art" will include pre- and post-renaissance art results.

Look different source type: doc, xls, ppt

Use Google news and create RSS feeds
Find institutions and their databases
Bloggers: using technorati a search tool for blogs
Use Twitter (direct term search or using hastags

Tools for handling data from databases

Spreadsheet; excel
Database; access

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

Mapping GIS
There are several tools to help u

Calculations: averages
Graphs: bar, line, pie
Maps:
Interactive graphs
UNDP data by gapminder
Statplanet http://www.sacmeq.org/statplanet/StatPlanet.html
Remember:

In journalism:
Graphs are analysis not illustrations
Cooperation between programmers, design and journalists important
Aim at better journalism; better storytelling, informing public
What do you need?
knowledge about statistics
How to handle spreadsheets, graphs, maps
Interactivity using flash or other visualization softwares e.g google
Create your own data

Do an online survey
Using survey monkey
Using google forms
Maps: google fusion tables
Verify the sources of the results before you just copy the

Look closely at the url to ensure it is genuine

Read the about and or contact page to see whether site is dependable
Do a whois.com search to determine who owns the site
Stephen C. Miller, an assistant to the technology editor at The New York Times, in 1997 came
up with a strategy for evaluating Internet information. The Freedom Forum Online initially
posted his strategy for handy reference. Despite the proliferation in 2001 and 2002 of new Web
address endings (including .biz, .info and .name), Miller's guide is still helpful as a starting point
in thinking about the usefulness of specific types of Web pages.
To sum up his strategy:

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

government Web sites have the most reliable info in the United States (All U.S. federal
government Web domain names end in .gov, along with some state sites; all U.S. military
sites end in .mil.
university studiesespecially peer-reviewed ones--are the next most reliable. (University
Web sites end in .edu. But be careful! Students post Web sites with .edu endings, too,
because universities give them free server space. A tip-off of such a personal Web page
posting is the tilda ~ in the URL.)
Special-interest groups, many which post pages ending in .org, often post good
information. But remember: The groups are biased. They have an agenda. And remember
that although .org URLs were intended for nonprofits, commercial companies or
individuals can buy sites ending in .org, too.
Other types of pages should be eyed with a reporter's caution. This goes for commercial
sites ending in .com, .net and now .biz, and any personal home pages (such as those now
ending in .name). However, most U.S. news sites end in .com, and their Web information
is generally as reliable as that published in their more traditional print or broadcast sister
publications.

When evaluating Web pages, check to see:

Whos authoring and publishing them. Is the publisher a scholar on that topic--or
someone simply putting forth opinions with no substantiation?
If the writer unbiased, or someone with an agenda?
If the writer list a bibliography or source or Web links list, so you can do further
research on your own, or independently verify information?
When the site was last updated. A credible site should tell you this on the home
page. Currency is important!

Credible sites should also prominently list a contact phone number and/or e-mail address. If
they don't, be suspicious of the information. If they do, call or e-mail the listed contacts to verify
the information or to ask additional questions, just as you would when reporting for print or
broadcast outlets.
If there is no apparent contact info, click on the ending of the Web address area in your
browser, and backspace and delete up to the domain addressthe address before the first
single slash. Often, this will give you the home page for the site and will tell you who created
the site.
If neither of these tactics works, try a Web look-up service. Initially, most commercial publishers
in the United States had to register with Network Solutions and pay a small fee to buy a .com,
.net or .org location on the Internet. Viewers could go
to:http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois, and type in a domain name, such
as www.washingtonpost.com, to find out information about that site--including key contacts, a
mailing address and when the Web site address was purchased.

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

Today, numerous domain name service providers are providing registration services.BetterWho-Is.com lets you search all the new registration services for information on site authors, as
does InterNIC.
InterNIC lists the service providers in a directory, athttp://www.internic.net/regist.html, and
lets you search for information on itsWhoIs service, at http://www.internic.net/whois.html. It
also lists the internationaltwo-letter codes for other countries, as does DomainSearch.com.
Remember to look at all information on the Internet with a critical eye, just as you would
when evaluating information handed to you anonymously!

Visualise your data

Gapminder
Manyeyes IBM
Article: memeburn
http://memeburn.com/2010/08/google-puts-scientific-tools-in-the-hands-of-journalists/
Show guardian: data
http://www.guardian.co.uk/data
Advanced searchYou need advanced search capabilities to search some specifics

Population of uganda
Number of cell phone subscriptions
Worldbank statistics
Wolfram alpha
Google public data

Search engines
www.google.com
The master of all search engines, in my book, an added bonus is "Google takes a snapshot of
each page examined as it crawls the web and caches these as a back-up in case the original page
is unavailable. If you click on the 'Cached' link, you will see the web page as it looked when we
indexed it."
www.dogpile.com
"With Dogpile metasearch, you have access to not just one search engine, but many of the Web's
most popular search tools, including: Web search: Ah-ha, AltaVista, Direct Hit, Dogpile Web
Catalog, ePilot, FindWhat, GoTo.com, Kanoodle, LookSmart, Open Directory, RealNames,
SearchHippo, Sprinks by About, ValleyAlley and Yahoo!" Owned by Infospace.

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

www.metacrawler.com
"MetaCrawler queries many of the Web's top search engines simultaneously ranking them by
relevance. MetaCrawler draws upon the databases of a large number of the Web's best search
engines. MetaCrawler simultaneously sends queries to AltaVista, DirectHit Excite, FindWhat,
GoTo, and LookSmart, among others." Owned by Infospace, too.
www.rocketnews.com
This engine finds current news from all around the Internet. It automatically searches major
online national and city newspapers, newswires, magazines, trade publications, and press
releases.
www.altavista.com
"AltaVista checks the words you enter against a massive (half-million entry) phrase dictionary to
determine which words go together naturally, and automatically treats them as phrases."
www.lycos.com
Lycos.com "offers Internet users a fast, easy and efficient way to make sense of the Internet and
manage its vast resources. It combines leading Web search and navigation resources, deep
content in vertical areas, communications and personalization tools, and a complete shopping
center."
Reporting tools
Reporters Desktop
www.reporter.org/desktop
Search engines are grouped together here, along with explanations of how to use each best. Duff
Wilson also provides easy access to mapping, people, phone and e-mail searches, some of the
better reference sites.
News & Observers NeRD on the Road
metalab.unc.edu/slanews/intranets/nerdroad
The (Raleigh, N.C.) News and Observer's intranet site for their reporters use.
Journalists Guide to the Internet
reporter.umd.edu
Christopher Callahan is associate dean of journalism at the University of Maryland at College
Park and author of "A Journalist's Guide to the Internet" This is his site.
Bill Dedmans Power Reporting
Resources for Journalists
www.powerreporting.com
Thousands of free research tools, the father of computer-assisted reporting boasts, and no ads.
This one gets a star. Check out GuideStar under Nonprofits; and Treasure Hunt under Training.
Who am I kidding? Check it all out.
The Journalist's Toolbox
www.journaliststoolbox.com/
"The Journalist's Toolbox started in 1996 as a page linked off of one of Mike Reilley's
Newswriting class syllabi at Northwestern University. Over the years, Reilley and his students

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

kept adding links to the one-page site. Then professors from other universities shared links. Then
working professionals ... You get the idea."
Finding Almost Anybody
www.nreisner.com
A wealth of handy tips and links to finding virtually anyone on the planet, past or present.
MapTech
www.maptech.com/
"The largest online mapping resource for topographic maps and charts for land, sea, and air.
Browse, view, print, and email the maps for free. "
EmbassyWorld
www.embassyworld.com/maps//
Claims to offer every online map to every country in the world. You be the judge. Note: the main
site (www.embassyworld.com)is a directory for every embassy and consulate.
Acronym Finder
www.acronymfinder.com/
"The web's most comprehensive database of acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms. 212,000+
definitions!"
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr.
www.bartleby.com/141/index.html
The grammer guru online. "It gives in brief space the principal requirements of plain English
style and concentrates attention on the rules of usage and principles of composition most
commonly violated."
SearchSystems.net
www.searchsystems.net/
Sreenath Sreenivasan, Columbia University journalism professor: "A good way to find public
information online is by using this service from Pacific Information Systems. With links to
almost 5,000 public records databases, it's the largest free collection of public records databases
on the Web."
Computer-Assisted Reporting
www.ire.org/datalibrary/databases/index.html
How about a library of online databases? Gold.
Libraryspot.com
www.libraryspot.com/
A free virtual library resource center for educators and students, librarians and their patrons,
families, businesses and just about anyone exploring the Web for valuable research information.
The Quotations Page
www.quotationspage.com/

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012

Computer assisted Research & Reporting Internet Search strategies0772627676 [email protected]

Search for quotes by keyword. This is fun for birthday cards, co-worker pick-me-ups or to track
down that elusive quote. I would double-check once you've found what you want, as the
accuracy varies. ###

Gerald Businge

Ultimate Multimedia Training Services, 2012