The Using the Internet for Research FAQ for this month is now out in the
following newsgroups:

misc.writing, alt.movies.independent, alt.union.natl-writers,
misc.writing.screenplays, alt.answers, misc.answers and news.answers

The FAQ is available on the web at <www.purefiction.com/pages/res1.htm>

Last-modified: 27 Dec 1998.
Expires: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 00:00:00 GMT

Lots of new links and sites for the New Year.

1.      Lloyd Colston points me in the direction of Dogpile <www.dogpile.com>
saying, "I use MetaCrawler first <www.metacrawler.com/> then Dogpile,
because one search lets me hit the big boys.  This results in faster more
meaningful research time. The reason I use two is that sometimes
Metacrawler goes down (like call good computers should <g>)."

Metacrawler has long been on our list.  Dogpile is yet another a metasearch
engine, but it's impressively fast, and you can set a time limit to the
search, eg 20 secs, to help ensure that speed.

Unlike some other metasearch engines, it doesn't delay things by searching
every source at once, but gives you the option to continue your search
through the search engines, a few at a time. Well worth adding to the list.

2.      A different kind of Multi-Search facility has been created by Chuck
Langenberg at <www.langenberg.com/> covering a vast multitude of
categories, from government to finding people, maps to cooking,
encyclopedia to translation.

When I first saw the Langenberg site, I felt it was very US-centred - a
potential problem for some kinds of searches - but Chuck has worked hard on
this, and there are now tags by each resource marking which searches are
US-only, which are International, and so on.  Even the most experienced
researcher will find some new ideas for searches here.

3. And then there's MiningCo <http://home.miningco.com/> recommended by
researcher Michelle McIntyre.  This is not so much a search engine as a
wide-ranging subject-based resource, boasting "500 expert guides mining the
net on thousands of topics."  The range is impressive, although again the
more modern, social and political areas tend to be rather too American for
International users.

Users should also be aware that MiningCo tends to put everything inside its
own frame, so that outside resources (even this very FAQ) tend to appear as
if they are created by MiningCo.  TIP: If you want to break out of the
MiningCo embrace, right-click on the link you want, rather than left-click
(Mac users: hold the mouse button down over the link until the context menu
opens) and choose "open in new window".

Such niggles aside, it's a very useful resource - good for general
browsing when you want to gather a wide range of knowledge about a subject,
rather than detailed information on a very specific name or idea.

4.      Continuing our irregular discussion of Intelligent Agents, I have added
another site <www.botspot.com>. BotSpot contains a number of downloadable
"bots" which claim to help you search the net in more efficient ways.  Try,
for example, clicking on "Best of the Bots."  Once more, anyone who finds
that these live up to their claims is asked to email me so that I can pass
on the good news.

NEW URLS

- ARTS & LETTERS DAILY - Excellent doorway to the best articles on the Net,
updated daily from dozens of top sites and publications:
<http://www.cybereditions.com/aldaily>
- BBC WEB GUIDE - BBC Education's searchable guide to Internet sites on key
subjects, with useful reviews of each site:
<www.bbc.co.uk/education/webguide/>
- COMPUTER VIRUS MYTHS - The myths, the hoaxes, the urban legends, and the
implications if you believe in them, with a list of virus hoaxes from
A to Z: <http://kumite.com/myths/>
- GAYSCRIBE.COM - the only free, comprehensive listing of gay and lesbian
newspapers and magazines in the world. (Good, but needs more info from a
number of countries, so please send in details):
<http://www.gayscribe.com/listing>
- HOMEWORK HEAVEN - a massive online academic directory designed for
student use, from junior to college and beyond: <www.homeworkheaven.com/>
- TRANSLATOR - Rechnik - translates common words and expressions between
English, Spanish, French, Bulgarian, Portuguese, and Italian:
<www.cs.columbia.edu/~radev/dictionary/>
- VIRTUAL SURVIVAL - how to survive disasters: <www.virtualsurvival.com>

Finally, you can download a 10-day free trial of NameBase's entire index
from <http://www.pir.org/nameinf2.html>.  The database includes
individuals, corporations and groups compiled from 600 investigative books
published since 1962, and thousands of pages from periodicals since 1973 -
covering the international intelligence community, political elites Right
and Left, assassinations, scandals, Latin America, big business, and
organized crime.

(They also tell you how to reset the 10-day timer if you cannot afford the
$79 sale price NameBase are asking to keep this nonprofit project going.)

----
Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite