Web Resources of the Week Web Accessible Databases
The Invisible Web 1) The Virtual Chase's Database Section
Many of you know about Genie Tyburski's site as a place to find material about information quality, legal research and many other topics of interest to the information professional. This week I want to point out another "section" of the site that features an impressive selection of high quality specialty databases. These databases contain material that is sometimes not directly accessible from major web search tools. This is a useful resource to have nearby or to use to develop your own collection. New material is added several times a week. Sections include:
Company Information
Government Information
Health and Medicine
Law
Science
Miscellaneous Databases
News See Also: Direct to The Virtual Chase's Search Engine Guide Section of Databases
-- News Search--Google News Cool Tools Finding Related Articles With Google News
Shortly after Google News "officially launched" I noticed the term "cluster" appearing in the url of related results on the Google News "section" pages. I tried using the term in the search strategy but couldn't get it to work properly and bring back related material. Luckily, Michael Fagan of FaganFinder fame did. O.K., so here's what you can do. When you find a story via Google News take the url, remove the http:// from it, and type, cluster:. If any related material is available, it's returned on the results page. This is very similar to using related: in the main Google database. You're allowing Google's algorithm assist you in finding content. Neat, but with all of the cutting and pasting and query formulation, this sure is a pain in the rear for all but the most devoted searcher. However, Michael has made it even easier. He's created a bookmarklet/button that you can find on his weblog. After you arrive on the site, simply drag and drop onto your "Links" toolbar. Whenever you're reading a news story, and want related material, simply click the "related news" button and IF related material is available, it's ready to go. Notes: First, this is not an officially sanctioned Google tool. Second, in some cases using the "Related News" button will return numerous versions of the identical story or no content at all.
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