When we are this close to a major election, you cannot go out your front door without encountering an opinionated neighbor, chatty co-worker or distraught cab driver who feels the need to pour out their political opinions on you. With so many opinions bombarding you at every turn, it is hard to make up your own mind. Did Obama REALLY say that? Does McCain REALLY oppose that issue? How are you to know?
Well, Google Inquotes provides you with a tool to look into what the candidates are actually saying. Here is how it works:
1. Go to http://labs.google.com/inquotes/
2. Click on the candidate of interest to you or choose two candidates if you wish to compare.
3. The resulting screen will give you a list of that candidates quotes arranged by issue.
4. You can see ALL quotes by that candidate (archives go back 5 years) by clicking on the link under the candidate's picture.
5. On the "All Quotes" screen, you are able to search by keyword and order by date.
So, if you want to see what Obama was saying about the Iraq War 3 years ago, this site will show you. If you want to read what Sarah Palin said about that notorious bridge back in 2007, you can read that on her page. If you want to see how many times McCain has claimed to support President Bush, get a calculator and start going through his page. It really is a liberating way to read what the candidates have said and decide for yourself who you would like the next president to be.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Don't take the politician's word for it...
Whether you are liberal or conservative or somewhere in between, there comes a point in time when you just want the truth. Well, we may never get the complete truth, but there are some places we can go to get closer to the facts.
Peggy Garvin recently wrote an article called "The Government Domain: Political Fact-checking websites". It details several sites we can go to for fact-based answers to our questions about politics. While no one can be completely unbiased, these resources actually document their claims. Garvin goes into some detail about the sites and lists some of my personal favorites, such as:
The Fact-Checker - this blog is written by Michael Dobbs of the Washington Post. He takes statements made by or about politicians and points out the facts of the matter. While I don't always agree with his interpretation of the facts, he does a good job of revealing interesting points.
FactCheck.org - this site is run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Again, they specialize in verifying statements made by politicians and political groups. They seem to address political advertisements more than the other sites, also.
For a more complete list and discussion of fact-checking sites, see Peggy Garvin's article here.
Peggy Garvin recently wrote an article called "The Government Domain: Political Fact-checking websites". It details several sites we can go to for fact-based answers to our questions about politics. While no one can be completely unbiased, these resources actually document their claims. Garvin goes into some detail about the sites and lists some of my personal favorites, such as:
The Fact-Checker - this blog is written by Michael Dobbs of the Washington Post. He takes statements made by or about politicians and points out the facts of the matter. While I don't always agree with his interpretation of the facts, he does a good job of revealing interesting points.
FactCheck.org - this site is run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Again, they specialize in verifying statements made by politicians and political groups. They seem to address political advertisements more than the other sites, also.
For a more complete list and discussion of fact-checking sites, see Peggy Garvin's article here.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Google brings you the news....
After a brief hiatus, I am back with much to blog about. The first item on the agenda is the fact that Google has begun digitizing newspapers. Google is working with several of the oldest (and largest) newspaper publishers in the country to make newspaper archives searchable and accessible online.
How is this different than what Lexis and Factiva have? How is this different than searching a newspaper's archives on their website? Well, there are a few handy things to point out. Google is digitizing the ENTIRE paper....not just the text. So, you can view the photos, graphs, and even the advertisements. The text will be searchable, but you can also page through the newspaper as it was originally assembled. So, when you search for a story - you won't get JUST the story. You will get that entire page of the paper.
In fact, take a look at this actual page. If you "pull" the pages with your mouse, it feels a lot like using microfiche, doesn't it? However, if you are like me and get seasick from pages flying by on the microfiche machines (am I the only one??), you may want to use the "page by page" button in the upper, right hand corner!
At any rate, Google seems to be concentrating on "old newspapers" right now. I am sure "newer" news is on the agenda for the future. Read the official Google blog post on this topic here.
How is this different than what Lexis and Factiva have? How is this different than searching a newspaper's archives on their website? Well, there are a few handy things to point out. Google is digitizing the ENTIRE paper....not just the text. So, you can view the photos, graphs, and even the advertisements. The text will be searchable, but you can also page through the newspaper as it was originally assembled. So, when you search for a story - you won't get JUST the story. You will get that entire page of the paper.
In fact, take a look at this actual page. If you "pull" the pages with your mouse, it feels a lot like using microfiche, doesn't it? However, if you are like me and get seasick from pages flying by on the microfiche machines (am I the only one??), you may want to use the "page by page" button in the upper, right hand corner!
At any rate, Google seems to be concentrating on "old newspapers" right now. I am sure "newer" news is on the agenda for the future. Read the official Google blog post on this topic here.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Government Information Reading List
I know at least a few of you are government employees and/or librarians. So, this post is for you!
Remember the grade school days when someone put together a reading list for you? You were given a list of books and, upon completion of the list, you were up to date with what you needed to know for that semester. I often find myself wishing someone would give me a daily reading list to keep me up to date in the research world! I have my standard daily reads, but I am always afraid I might be missing something. There are so many excellent resources out there that one could spend an entire day just browsing....
Well, you government folks are in luck! Chris Zammarelli, of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Central Library, recently wrote a three part article on different sources for government information news. It is an informative article and can be read here, here and here. It is a great resource to use in making or adding to your own reading list!
In addition to several government news sites and resources, he also makes mention of the Government Info Pro blog. This blog, authored by the fabulous Marie Kaddell, is on my list of daily reads. Marie is always blogging from a conference or discussing new resources or articles. Her writing, while entertaining and casual, is always informative. A great addition to anyone's reading list!
If any of you have daily "must-reads", I would love to hear about them. Feel free to comment or drop me a line at kate@monroe-info.com . Thanks for reading, and I will blog to you soon!
Remember the grade school days when someone put together a reading list for you? You were given a list of books and, upon completion of the list, you were up to date with what you needed to know for that semester. I often find myself wishing someone would give me a daily reading list to keep me up to date in the research world! I have my standard daily reads, but I am always afraid I might be missing something. There are so many excellent resources out there that one could spend an entire day just browsing....
Well, you government folks are in luck! Chris Zammarelli, of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Central Library, recently wrote a three part article on different sources for government information news. It is an informative article and can be read here, here and here. It is a great resource to use in making or adding to your own reading list!
In addition to several government news sites and resources, he also makes mention of the Government Info Pro blog. This blog, authored by the fabulous Marie Kaddell, is on my list of daily reads. Marie is always blogging from a conference or discussing new resources or articles. Her writing, while entertaining and casual, is always informative. A great addition to anyone's reading list!
If any of you have daily "must-reads", I would love to hear about them. Feel free to comment or drop me a line at kate@monroe-info.com . Thanks for reading, and I will blog to you soon!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
A Week Off!
Well, I apologize for taking an entire week off from my blog. I am in San Diego for the very first time and blogging was put on the back burner. By the way, if you have never been here, San Diego is a great place to visit! I am staying at the Dana on Mission Bay and highly recommend it. Alas, it is back to work for me.
The August 2008 research tips have been posted to the Monroe Info website. You can view the html version here. Although, I must admit I prefer the format of the pdf version which can be viewed here.
Just to give you a little sneak preview, this month's tips cover: statistics resources, construction law and free research guides. Due to an overwhelming response to the monthly research tips, I hope to migrate the publication to a weekly version. If you would like to subscribe to Monroe Info's Monthly Research Tips, send an email to: subscribe@monroe-info.com .
Thanks for reading and I will blog to you soon!
The August 2008 research tips have been posted to the Monroe Info website. You can view the html version here. Although, I must admit I prefer the format of the pdf version which can be viewed here.
Just to give you a little sneak preview, this month's tips cover: statistics resources, construction law and free research guides. Due to an overwhelming response to the monthly research tips, I hope to migrate the publication to a weekly version. If you would like to subscribe to Monroe Info's Monthly Research Tips, send an email to: subscribe@monroe-info.com .
Thanks for reading and I will blog to you soon!
Friday, August 1, 2008
10 Years of Free Case Law
Case law research is a necessity, but can get pricey. LexisOne offers an alternative for the thrifty researcher! This free (with registration) version of LexisNexis offers the ability to search recent opinions and download the results. Until recently, only opinions from the most recent two years were available. However, LexisOne has upgraded this offer to include the past 10 years of State & Federal Courts and the Supreme Court from 1781 to the present!
In addition, the site offers access to FREE legal forms and headline legal news. It's all great. It's all free!
I am always happy to hear about free/inexpensive resources. Feel free to comment if you know of any great money-savers!
In addition, the site offers access to FREE legal forms and headline legal news. It's all great. It's all free!
I am always happy to hear about free/inexpensive resources. Feel free to comment if you know of any great money-savers!
Monday, July 28, 2008
A More Transparent Congress
I have recently started visiting OpenCongress and am impressed by the organization and accessibility of information. OpenCongress is a self-described "free, open-source, non-profit, and non-partisan web resource with a mission to help make Congress more transparent and to encourage civic engagement." I believe they have succeeded in their goal.
I have always been a big fan of using Thomas (the portal to legislative information provided by the Library of Congress) to find the text of bills. However, OpenCongress goes a step beyond text.
On the OpenCongress site, you can find: the most frequently viewed bills, profiles for senators and representatives, discussions of controversial provisions and much, much more. I especially enjoy reading the Congress Gossip Blog which gives a little extra insight into what actually happens on the hill.
Whether you are monitoring a piece of legislation, gathering information for a cause, or simply curious about what is going on in the legislative world, OpenCongress is a great place to visit!
I have always been a big fan of using Thomas (the portal to legislative information provided by the Library of Congress) to find the text of bills. However, OpenCongress goes a step beyond text.
On the OpenCongress site, you can find: the most frequently viewed bills, profiles for senators and representatives, discussions of controversial provisions and much, much more. I especially enjoy reading the Congress Gossip Blog which gives a little extra insight into what actually happens on the hill.
Whether you are monitoring a piece of legislation, gathering information for a cause, or simply curious about what is going on in the legislative world, OpenCongress is a great place to visit!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Google Knol - Units of Knowledge
Well Google has done it, again. Google Knol was made available to the public yesterday and has already gained my interest. As defined on the Offiicial Google Blog, "Knols are authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects."
These Knols are attributed to the author who can put together a profile to verify his or her authority. "The key principle behind Knol is authorship. Every knol will have an author (or group of authors) who put their name behind their content. It's their knol, their voice, their opinion. We expect that there will be multiple knols on the same subject, and we think that is good. "
I anticipate that attributed authorship will not only make Google Knol more authoritative than other wikis, but it will also facilitate productive discussions about the topic at hand.
People love writing about what they know. So, it is my guess that knols are going to be created like mad, in the next few weeks. I would love to hear about your experiences with Google Knol. Have you found interesting knols to read? Have you contributed an article? Post a comment and let us know!
I plan to submit a knol or two myself. Stay tuned and I will let you know how it works out! As always, thanks for reading and I will blog to you soon!
These Knols are attributed to the author who can put together a profile to verify his or her authority. "The key principle behind Knol is authorship. Every knol will have an author (or group of authors) who put their name behind their content. It's their knol, their voice, their opinion. We expect that there will be multiple knols on the same subject, and we think that is good. "
I anticipate that attributed authorship will not only make Google Knol more authoritative than other wikis, but it will also facilitate productive discussions about the topic at hand.
People love writing about what they know. So, it is my guess that knols are going to be created like mad, in the next few weeks. I would love to hear about your experiences with Google Knol. Have you found interesting knols to read? Have you contributed an article? Post a comment and let us know!
I plan to submit a knol or two myself. Stay tuned and I will let you know how it works out! As always, thanks for reading and I will blog to you soon!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Time Saving Research Tips
It seems that as information on the internet becomes increasingly more complex and abundant, researchers become increasingly more impatient. I am guilty of this myself. If I click on a link and have to wait more than 3 seconds, I suspect something is wrong. If downloading a video takes more than 10 seconds, it must not be worth my time.
Instant gratification has become the order of the day and the internet generation has learned to stand for nothing less. However, the truth is that some pages take a while to load and some very worthwhile videos are slow to retrieve. Does this mean they are not worth our time? No. It simply means we have to wait. (and the crowd GASPS in awe at the thought...)
Now, the point of this post is not to disparage over lost seconds waiting for slow-loading sites. It is to point out that there are other ways to save time while researching. Genie Tyburski, of The Virtual Chase, has published a list of "Tips for Conducting Internet Research". This is not a list of links or search techniques. It is simply a list of time savers for those of us in a constant rush.
I had completely forgotten about using Ctrl + W to close a pop-up window instead of searching the screen for the elusive "close x". How many times have I lost the start point of my research when I could have easily preserved it by right-clicking links to open them in new windows? I know these seem like small time-savers, but we are so worried about the extra second it may take to open a web page, I thought these might help save us a bit of time (and sanity!).
Feel free to comment with your own time-saving techniques. I would love to hear them!
Instant gratification has become the order of the day and the internet generation has learned to stand for nothing less. However, the truth is that some pages take a while to load and some very worthwhile videos are slow to retrieve. Does this mean they are not worth our time? No. It simply means we have to wait. (and the crowd GASPS in awe at the thought...)
Now, the point of this post is not to disparage over lost seconds waiting for slow-loading sites. It is to point out that there are other ways to save time while researching. Genie Tyburski, of The Virtual Chase, has published a list of "Tips for Conducting Internet Research". This is not a list of links or search techniques. It is simply a list of time savers for those of us in a constant rush.
I had completely forgotten about using Ctrl + W to close a pop-up window instead of searching the screen for the elusive "close x". How many times have I lost the start point of my research when I could have easily preserved it by right-clicking links to open them in new windows? I know these seem like small time-savers, but we are so worried about the extra second it may take to open a web page, I thought these might help save us a bit of time (and sanity!).
Feel free to comment with your own time-saving techniques. I would love to hear them!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Maiden Voyage
Welcome to everyone who is visiting the Monroe Infoblog! Years from now, you can tell your children's children that you were there at the very beginning...
This blog is meant to be a resource for researchers, librarians and those of you who are just curious about what is new in the world of online research. I am excited to get started. So, I will jump right in with my first recommendation (and shameless plug).
Monroe Information Services (the brain-child of yours truly) offers a free Monthly Research Tips publication for legal researchers. If you are interested in finding out about useful sites and interesting resources to help you solve your legal research puzzles, try subscribing to this free, electronic publication.
For those of you who are not legal researchers, I plan to come out with some more general tips from time to time and will post them here as they become available. However, you may find some useful resources in the Legal Monthly Research tips. Click here to see the latest issue and decide if you are interested!
Again, thank you all for being here at the beginning and I hope to blog to you soon!
This blog is meant to be a resource for researchers, librarians and those of you who are just curious about what is new in the world of online research. I am excited to get started. So, I will jump right in with my first recommendation (and shameless plug).
Monroe Information Services (the brain-child of yours truly) offers a free Monthly Research Tips publication for legal researchers. If you are interested in finding out about useful sites and interesting resources to help you solve your legal research puzzles, try subscribing to this free, electronic publication.
For those of you who are not legal researchers, I plan to come out with some more general tips from time to time and will post them here as they become available. However, you may find some useful resources in the Legal Monthly Research tips. Click here to see the latest issue and decide if you are interested!
Again, thank you all for being here at the beginning and I hope to blog to you soon!
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