LISNews: Librarian News

Gary Deane sent us a link to a list of web resources recommended by the New York Times. It's quite a collection of links, including sections for Net Search, Journalism, Politics, Sports, and Miscellany.

Lois writes "PC Magazine's cover story in the May 27 issue is "How to Find Anything Online," by Sean Carroll. It contains many useful tidbits, including comparisons of search engines.

One tip in the "Search Better" section of the article should be of special interest. It's called, "Go Back to the Library". It reminds readers that "Library reference departments are still great sources of information, even in today's online environment. Many of the indexes, directories, and encyclopedias you used in print have been reformatted and are available online." It encourages them to "ask a reference librarian to help you get started, since each library's collections and policies are unique."

It also points out that "Anyone can put up a Web page. Library databases are created by well-known publishers and are evaluated carefully by librarians before they are purchased." So library databases are a good source for quality information.
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RedLineIs writes \"Even in the midst of sorrow and disaster, internet information offers some solace and support. Two links from the Wall Street Journal’s OpinionJournal “Best of the WebToday” concerning the loss of the astronauts on the space shuttle Columbia are illuminating.
The first, “The Web Gets a Scoop”, notes that first word of the disaster “didn\'t come across the Associated Press wire until 9:16, the scheduled landing time. Free Republic scooped the AP by at least 11 minutes--which is an eternity in the competitive world of wire-service reporting.”
The second, “The Price of Appeasement”, brings to world’s eyes a drawing entitled “Moon Landscape” that was carried on Columbia. It was the work of Peter Ginz, who was murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz in 1944. “Peter was 14, so if he had lived, he would be about 10 years younger than John Glenn. Who knows--if the West had stopped Hitler earlier, Peter Ginz just might have grown up to become an astronaut.” The original work is now lost, of course, but because of digital libraries and the internet, the artist and his work can be remembered by all. Additional information is available in a press release from the museum which held the work, “Holocaust-era Art from Yad Vashem’s Collection sent into space with Israeli Astronaut” \"

Sabrina Pacifici writes \"The Meta Search Engines: A Web Searcher\'s Best Friends, by Daniel Bazac, takes on the topic of the often maligned meta search engines. He reviews a wide range of services according to: the amount and the relevance of their results, their capability to handle advanced searches, their ability to enable users to customize searches, and the speed of their searches. New on LLRX for September 16, 2002.
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