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