Time for the annual year-end roundup
of our favorite Web Tips. The idea is to put together a list of
the most useful tips, Web sites and columns from the past year so that
you can have them all in one place. You’ll find mine below. Jon Dube’s
favorites, in Part II of this column, are here.
A big thank you and season’s greetings to Poynter readers. We
rely on you for tips and feedback to do our work (speaking of readers,
please join the 100+ of them who are helping with the Web Tips Frappr
Project details below).
Here are my favorite tips.
Improve Your Work:
- I Hate E-mail, Part I & I Hate E-mail, Part II: Learn from my e-mail troubles
- Stuff I Hate & Stuff You Hate: Don’t get us mad.
- Watch Before You Hit “Forward”: Don’t be fooled by bad information.
- Check for Plagiarism: Is your work being copied?
- The Changing Media Landscape: How the industry is changing all around us.
Sites & Services:
- Give Me Gmail!: Checking out a popular e-mail service.
- Trying OpenOffice: Alternative to expensive programs.
- Creating Free PDF Files: Help for small budgets.
Reporter Resources:
- Free Public Records Access: What you can find without leaving your desk(top).
- Handling the Next Internet Crisis: Dealing with Web outages.
- Time for the Numbers: A non-math guy tries to understand numbers.
- What is Whois?: Tracking who owns a Web site.
- Covering Global Health: A very useful health site.
- Social Networking for Journalists: Another way to find sources.
Don’t forget to check out the 2004 (Sree|Jon) and 2003 (Sree|Jon) editions of Save This Tip.
If you’re into year-end lists, you need to check out one of my favorite compilations, the annual list of year-end lists that’s running on Fimoculous.com (in 2004, the list had 550 lists and is well en route to a similar number for this year. I wrote a column back in October 2003 about my love for lists).
Your turn: send me sites you like at poynter@sree.net (include your name, affiliation and city)
NOTE: WEB TIPS FRAPPR PROJECT — Help us create a collaborative media project by joining 100+ of our readers at http://www.frappr.com/poynterwebtips.
When you get there, click on “add yourself” on the right of your screen.
If you live in the U.S., put in your name and zip code. Attach a
photo (if you wish — optional!). Remove the “Create a Frappr Account
for me” (if you don’t want one) by clicking on checkbox. Hit “Add Me.”
If you live outside the U.S., put in your name, then click on “Not
in the U.S.? Click Here.” Start typing your city and a menu with your
city should show up. Attach a photo (if you wish — optional!).
Remove the “Create a Frappr Account for me” (if you don’t want one) by
clicking on checkbox. Hit “Add Me.”
We’ll watch this little project grow in the months ahead. Meanwhile, I am still working on my follow-up column about Social Networking for Journalists and looking to connect with readers at LinkedIn.com.
Sree’s Links
