Google Alert...a great tool

In the April CyberSkeptic's Guide to Internet Research is an article on Google Alert [http://www.googlealert.com], a powerful tracking technology for finding new mentions of terms in Web pages. It is not to be confused with Google's News Alerts, which track news stories. Google Alert is not affiliated with Google, but it makes use of Google content.

What I like most about Google Alert is its ability to send an RSS feed to a blog reader instead of my email account. So far, it's free.

Portals to Legal Research Guides

The University of Washington offers a short list of places on the Web to find legal research guides. A great resource.

Google Offers Local Information

Google now offers local information from the search box, Google toolbar or Google deskbar. From the company press release, "For example, users searching for a pizza restaurant in their neighborhood simply enter the keyword [pizza], and either a zip code or the name of a town or city into the search field to receive a comprehensive list of local pizza restaurants. Each result is accompanied by a phone number, street address, and a list of related websites such as those of local pizza restaurant, store reviews, and related information. Clicking on a business name delivers a new page featuring an easy-to-read map, directions, and more related web pages. If needed, users can limit or expand their results to include listings within a 1-mile, 5-mile, 15-mile, or 45-mile radius of a specific location."

Say you're in Concord, NH, and looking for pizza. Here's the result. Even more specific are the results when you click on the "Local Results for Pizza 03301." When you click on the link, you get a map as well.

Google Local

Visual Map of How News Travels on the Internet.

How News Travels on the Internet offers readers a visual map of news stories making their way into blogs.