Reporting Resources

 

Help with Technology

This section is designed to help journalists become more technology "savvy," to better understand how to use technology to further the profession, and to understand technical topics, such as photo editing, page design, etc.

Please let the Institute know about links that do not work, or about sources we should add. If a resource here helped you in covering a story, please let us know by emailing al.cross@uky.edu.

PHOTOS/GRAPHICS

Desperately Wandering, http://www.dwblog.net/?p=312
Here's a list of Photoshop tutorials.

Mappr, http://www.mappr.com/
Interactive site for exploring places, based on photos people take.

Graphic Exchange News, http://www.gxo.com/
O ffers "graphic resources for creative minds."

Gallery of computation, http://www.complexification.net/
Writes computer programs to create graphics.

USING THE INTERNET

JournoList, http://www.journolist.com/index.shtml
Annotated list of sites to help reporters, writers and editors make good use of the Internet. This could be good for general help to those computer-clueless.

Rolling your own search engines, http://rollyo.com/index.html
Site shows you how to create engines based on trusted sources.

Pulling data from the web into Excel, http://www.mrexcel.com/tip103.shtml

Dogpile search comparison tool, http://comparesearchengines.dogpile.com/

Geobytes, http://www.geobytes.com/IpLocator.htm
This site offers a free Internet Protocol Address geographical locator, so
that you can locate someone who sent you an e-mail. Just get the IP address
from the mail, it will be in the "source" information for the message,
usually in the e-mail header, and will have sets of numbers separated by
periods. It may look something like this: 123.456.78.90. Then enter this
in the locator tool to find out where the person lives.

Yahoo! Search Shortcuts, http://shortcuts.search.yahoo.com/
Search sites for a keyword.

CreativeGuy, http://www.jdempsey.com/2005/12/08/free-online-file-storagesending/
This site lets you share large files across the Internet.

Google Newsletter, trustworthy websites
This site has advice for librarians (and others) on finding trustworthy websites.

Can't Find On Google, http://www.cantfindongoogle.com/en/list/1.html
If you can't find it on Google, post it here!

Wall Street Journal, article
Here's an article on "the next big thing in surfing," tagging. From the story, "Tagging, however, can cut through the online clutter to deliver more relevant bits of information. That is because many versions allow users to search only sites that other people have already deemed useful. It also makes it easier to find desired information again."

Online Journalism Blog, http://ojournalism.blogspot.com/
"Comment and links covering online journalism, citizen journalism, blogging, podcasts, vodcasts, interactive storytelling, publishing, Computer Assisted Reporting, searching and all things Internet."

Legal Technology, http://www.law.com/jsp/ltn/pubArticleLTN.jsp?id=1146225613469
'Follow the e-mail trail": find out what you can learn from data embedded in an e-mail header.

MISCELLANEOUS COMPUTER ASSISTANCE

Comparing Excel lists, http://www.mrexcel.com/tip096.shtml

Free online Excel course, http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC012005461033

 

 

The Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues helps non-metropolitan media define the public agenda in their communities, through strong reporting and commentary on local issues and on broader issues that have local impact. Its initial focus area is Central Appalachia, but as an arm of the University of Kentucky it has a statewide mission, and it has national scope. It has academic collaborators at Appalachian State University, East Tennessee State University, Eastern Kentucky University, Georgia College and State University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Marshall University, Middle Tennessee State University, Ohio University, Southeast Missouri State University, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Washington and Lee University, West Virginia University and the Knight Community Journalism Fellows Program at the University of Alabama. It is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the University of Kentucky, with additional financial support from the Ford Foundation. To get notices of Rural Blog postings and other Institute news, click here.