RefDesk.com

If you’re trying to find stuff on the web here’s a website that saves you time. It’s a really useful all-in-one reference resource called RefDesk.com. It contains links to search engines, news sites, telephone directories, maps and driving directions, homework help sites, dictionaries and encyclopedias, good news sites, fun sites, and more. Phew!

A few things that are helpful for me include the calendar, the link to check email, and the link to the time zone map. One link,  I just discovered, leads to the Copykat Recipes site. If you’ve tried something in a restaurant they might have the recipe for you to make it at home. I’m going to make the Mississippi Mud Cake.

One thing I don’t like about RefDesk.com is that most of the links open in the same window. To get them to open in a new window hit the Ctrl key while clicking on the link.

Search Inside Magazines with Google

Besides allowing web surfers to search inside books, Google offers the option to search inside some magazines, such as Baseball Digest, Men’s Health, Nutrition, and New York. You get full page views of the entire magazine’s content, advertisements included. But don’t expect to see all if the issues published for each title. Most magazines scanned are available in partial runs only. This is one of those things that can be useful for homework or research. You can check it out at http://books.google.com/.

Google Cheat Sheet

Google’s Cheat Sheet provides some common tips for refining and improving web searches.

For example, if you want to search Stanford University’s website for admissions information enter “admission site:www.stanford.edu.” “Site:” tells Google to search only in the website address that follows it.

If you’re looking for an exact phrase such as “to be or not to be,” enclose it in quotes.

Do you need a quick math calculation? Just type it into your search box. For example, if you want to know what 38% of 125 is, enter “38% of 125″ and Google will calculate the answer for you.

Get more time saving tips from Google’s Cheat Sheet.

Science Only Search Engine

If you need to do online searches for scientific information, check out Scirus. It is a specialty search engine that indexes scientific, scholarly, technical and medical data on the web. It’s definitely a time saver over using Google. Why? It pinpoints your search queries to include only results related to scientific information. That means you won’t get a bunch of mixed results that aren’t related to your search. It’s as easy to use and as fast as Google.

Learn more about Scirus.

Search using the Scirus search engine.

Transcripts of CNN.com Broadcasts

You’ve probably heard that Susan Boyle, the singing sensation who competed on “Britain’s Got Talent,” was recently hospitalized for “nervous exhaustion.” Is reality television “out of control?”

On a recent Larry King Live show, King discussed reality TV and how it affects the people on them. Did you miss the show and want to know what was said? Or maybe you need to refer to it for a school report?

Whether interested in that particular show or another CNN.com broadcast they make it painless to find and view transcripts at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/. They’re easy to browse by date, show category, or breaking news. And the bonus, there’s no waiting for downloads.

Google Web History

Have you ever wanted to go back to a really great website but can’t remember its name or how you found it?

To solve the problem try Google Web History. It allows you to view all the webpages you’ve visited by date and time. For quicker browsing it breaks down your history into keywords searched for and the name and URL (uniform resource locator) of each site.

To prevent prying eyes from viewing your history Google provides tools for removing or pausing history. For users concerned about privacy it allows you to opt out of storing your history.

In addition to breaking down your history, Google’s “Interesting Items” page makes suggestions for other sites you might be interested in and, on the “Trends” page, summarizes personal Web History data.  For my purposes I find both of these pages useless because they appear to contain raw computer generated data that has no meaning for me.

If you want to use Google Web History sign up for a free Google account and use the Google search engine. Learn more about this resource at Web History Help.

Webster’s Online Dictionary

There are quite a number of free online dictionaries, some more useful than others. Webster’s Online Dictionary with Multilingual Thesaurus Translation is my favorite. It’s a wonderful resource for more than just definitions. In addition to helping users find the correct spelling for words, the dictionary contains images, quotes, modern usages, commercial usages, historical usages, anagrams, and more.

For example, I looked up the word “fish” and found an abundance of images and information about the word. Here’s a quotation by Lao Tzu. “Ruling a big country is like cooking a small fish.”

While I still like my print dictionary when not on the computer this is the reference tool I use when online.

Consumer Product Information Database

Have you ever wanted to know what chemicals are in that antibacterial hand soap you’re using? What about the chemical ingredients of the other household products you use in and around your home? Are the ingredients harmful? Who manufactures the product and how can I contact them?

Answers to these questions and other facts about household and personal use products can be found in the Consumer Product Information Database.

Products can be browsed by type, brand, ingredient, manufacturer, and health effects. If you know exactly what you’re looking for the site features an advanced search option. Each product page contains information about the brand, the manufacturer, health effects (MSDS), and lists ingredients.

Not knowing anything about chemicals I decided to click on a couple of ingredient links found under one of the toothpaste products and found some interesting things. Sodium saccharin is a common ingredient in toothpaste. Titanium dioxide, used for white pigment in paint, is also used for pigment and as a thickening agent in personal care products such as makeup, soap, and toothpaste.

Wikipedia, Journalism, and Misinformation

Shane Fitzgerald a UCD student studying sociology and economics purposely posted incorrect information on French composer, Maurice Jarre’s, Wikipedia page.

After learning of Jarre’s death through Sky News on March 30th, Fitzgerald posted a completely made up quote on Wikipedia. His goal was to “show the potential dangers that arise” from journalists’ heavy reliance on the World Wide Web for their news sources.

Shortly after Fitzgerald posted the information Wikipedia administrators removed it and he put it back again. Along came some legitimate newspaper journalists who picked up the information and printed it in their newspapers. These newspapers didn’t know they printed inaccurate information until Fitzgerald informed them.

It is common knowledge that misinformation is posted on Wikipedia. Call me naive but I didn’t realize respected journalists use Wikipedia as their one and only information source.

Why didn’t the journalists do their research? Has getting the news out before competitors come before the goal of quality journalism? Did this story have lower priority than others and as a result was given less time for research and writing? Do consumers demand immediacy over quality?

Hmmm, I think I’ll follow my English teacher’s advice and get my information from more than one source.

Read Shane Fitzgerald’s Lazy Journalism Exposed by Online Hoax at the IrishTimes.com

Read Shane Hegarty’s IrishTimes.com article, Unrealiably Informed, about the problems journalists face in finding reliable information.

Genealogy Research

If you’ve ever been curious about your family history but didn’t know where to begin here’s a couple of  great sites to get you started.

One of the best known resources is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints genealogy site, familysearch.org.  It’s free and easy to use. You can search records by “birth, marriage, death, census, church and other indexes.” For users who are new to genealogy research, the site contains a link for research help. To organize, collect, and share your findings the Mormon Church provides a free download of their PAF (Personal Ancestral File) family history software.

Another good starting point is Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet. It’s free and contains everything and anything related to genealogy research. You’ll find a wealth of information here from links to records sites, tips for getting started and even links to podcasts, blogs, and ancestral recipes.