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Here is a free sample from one of
the 15 lessons that will help you find the best resources
for finding news fast.
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AltaVista has developed a sophisticated news
search page in co-operation with one of the best web
news searchers called Moreover. Click
here to go there at www.altavista.com/news/default:
Like Google, AltaVista gathers news from a large
number of sources -- about 3,000 worldwide media outlets.
It also adds certain special features -- allowing
you to search by country for Australia, Canada, Germany,
India, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and
the United States; by topic; date; and even news source.
Without even using the search box, you can click
on one on the major subject areas (highlighted in
yellow below) and check out news from FINANCE,
SPORTS or other areas:
Let's look at several ways to use the search box.
2A: STANDARD SEARCH:
Like Google News, you can make your news search more
precise simply by adding words, quotation marks and
the "minus" sign.
Click
here to do a basic search by typing in the single
word:
AIDS
You get about 2000 results (your results will vary
slightly.)
Now add these qualifiers:
AIDS africa "drug companies"
And you drop down to five results:
If you add a minus sign to eliminate news about the
Gates Foundation, you eliminate two more articles:
AIDS africa "drug companies" -Gates
2b: SEARCH BY TOPICS
AltaVista's strength lies in four boxes that are
just below the main search box -- they allow you to
select topics, regions, sources and date.
Let's start with topics. Click
here to go to AltaVista and select the Topics
drop-down menu as highlighted in yellow below:
Put in a general search request for
lung cancer
You get about 400 articles from the past two weeks,
many of them from small local papers.
Now, do the same search but change the TOPICS selection
to SCIENCE (highlighted in yellow below) You get about
50 results, many more of them from scientific web
sites:
Try a few more searches -- for example
OPEC in a general search and then OPEC in
BUSINESS
hackers in a general search and then hackers
in TECHNOLOGY
2c: SEARCH BY COUNTRY:
Click
here to go to AltaVista and select the Regions
drop-down menu as highlighted in yellow below:
Let's say you are doing research on the International
Monetary Fund in Russia. Put in the keywords:
imf russia
You get about 50 results, but notice that while the
web sites mention both IMF and Russia but
they do not necessarily come from Russia:
Now, click
here and try a different search.
This time, put in the keyword
IMF
but select from Russia from the drop-down menu as
shown below:
Now you get only about 8 results, all of them FROM
Russia:
Try similar searches, for example:
AIDS and choose Africa
Sharon and chose Middle East
2d: SEARCH BY SOURCE:
Click
here to go to AltaVista and select the Source
drop-down menu as highlighted in yellow below:
You can narrow your search to one publication or
web site.
For example, put
in the keyword IRAN and then select BBC:
Now click here here and do the same thing with
a search from Iran news from Reuters:
2e: SEARCH BY DATE:
Click
here to go to AltaVista and select the Topics
drop-down menu as highlighted in yellow below:
You can select various time blocks, from a couple
of days to a week to the past 30 days.Click
here to go to AltaVista and do a search for any
topic within the last 7 days.
Now, select the final choice, Date Range,
and you can put in a specific date:
Let's say you are searching for a story about Bush
and Saddam Hussein around February 8, 2003. Add the
following words and the dates -- be sure to follow
the format with day/month/year (two digits each):
This is what you get:
Generally, anything before 2001 does not get you
much. But this tool is effective to narrowing down
some results within a few days.
2f: SEARCH WITH IMAGES:
Alta Vista also allows you to select news articles
with pictures. Notice the box on the far right of
the main box, highlighted in yellow below:
Click
here to go to AltaVista and click to select the
option with images. Then put in a search term for
British Prime Minister:
"tony blair"
This is not a perfect image search -- it is searching
for any image in the article, not necessarily
one of Blair. For a more exact Image search, see JournalismNet's
Find Pictures page
2g: COMBINE ALL FEATURES:
You can, of course, combine all these features (within
reason of course - don't ask for news about Bush
from the region of Africa and then specify
the New York Times as a source since the Times
is not produced in Africa!)
For example, click
here to go to AltaVista and make the following
selection:
"mobile phones"
and then select Technology and Asia-Pacific
within the past 7 days (keep sources as All
Sources):
Be sure to also select the option for pictures:
You get results from Asia, with pictures, within
the last week!
Did you find this free sample helpful
in improving your web research skills? There is much
more in the full course -- about 15 more lessons like
this one that will help you find the best resources
for finding news fast.
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HERE TO SIGN UP NOW
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