The librarian is: BLOGGING | Journalism Library, Columbia University

The Journalism Library Blog has MOVED! This site is no longer being updated as of July 2009. Come find us at our new location:

https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/journalism

See you there!

The Poynter Institute Resource Center provides a variety of subject bibliographies and tip sheets, as well as links to journalism organizations and libraries with journalism resources. Check out the tip sheet for Reporting, Writing & Editing!

Need assistance collecting, managing, and citing your online research? Try Zotero or EndNote at the Library Tools & Widgets page. Plus come enjoy one of the many free workshops that the library offers - EndNote workshops are offered at the Digital Social Science Center (DSSC). Sign up today!

Welcome, Summer 2009 Part-Timers! Please check out the following links to help you get started with your research!

• jump-start your electronic research with these databases
• scope out your beat with these resources
• don’t leave home without your Lexis Nexis and Factiva cheat sheet
• and a good place to start is always at the Journalism Library web page

If you need help with your research, please send email to journalism@libraries.cul.columbia.edu or stop by the library for assistance.

Library resources for MA students, handouts from Evidence and Inference course, Fall 2008 -

• Columbia
• Beyond Columbia

World Wide Web is a composite collection of content created and hosted on the internet by millions of organizations and individuals. In order to effectively evaluate information that you find on the internet, consider the following criteria:

Authorship -

• Who wrote this? As Peter Steiner said, “On the Internet,
  Nobody Knows You’re a Dog”
• Is the author an expert in the field?
• What are author’s affiliations?
• Who is the sponsor or publishing body of the site?

Currency -

• Is the information provided timely? This is particularly important in areas of science, technology, health, and politics.
• Is publication date or “last updated” date included with the information?
• If the information is dated or historical, does the document refer to the source and year, e.g. “Based on 1990 U.S. Census data”?

Objectivity -

• Does the author or web page sponsor have a bias?
• Is more than one viewpoint expressed on the topic?
• Does the author or publishing body have a particular agenda?

Coverage -

• Is the information freely available?
• Is the site complete or under construction?
• Does the information have a print equivalent?

Accuracy/Verifiability -

• Does the information include references to experts in the field or rely on other sources?
• Does the information include a bibliography?
• Was an explanation offered on how the data was gathered and interpreted?

If you need help in evaluating a particular internet resource, please stop by the Journalism Library or contact any of the libraries on campus for assistance!

MSNBC Presidential Election Results Widget -

Also, check out the following sites -

Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections – http://uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/ARTICLES/ElectionNight2008/pe2008elecnighttime.php - includes data and maps for the electoral vote counts and a timeline for poll closings. This site also features past Presidential Election results since 1789 as well as an electoral college calculator and map generator.

CNN.com Live Election Day coverage - http://www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream2

CNN.com Electoral Map Calculator - http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/calculator/

From Dean Sreenivasan’s email, 11/4/2008 —>

Dean Grueskin is part of the WSJ’s “Instant Analysis” blog team tonight, posting throughout the evening. This is a reprise of what he used to do at the WSJ internally, but is now doing it on the web.

See his latest post here…
How to watch swing counties and single-party strongholds for early signs
of a McCain upset or an Obama landslide:
http://blogs.wsj.com/instantanalysis/2008/11/04/18/

And keep an eye on Instant Analysis to see the rest of his - and the team’s posts:
Insights on election night from Journal columnists and around the Web
http://blogs.wsj.com/instantanalysis/

Let him know how he’s doing: bgrueskin@columbia.edu

Later tonight, he’ll be doing some of this analysis on the air for
DecisionNYC on http://www.columbiajournalist.org/elections/

The Journalism School along with the Center for New Media Teaching and Learning created an amazing new reporting resource for RW1 students - an electronic map of New York City that allows students to view census data by neighborhood, election district, etc. To use this resource, and for more information on how to use it, follow the link below (authentication required) -

http://jour6001-000-2008-3.wikispaces.columbia.edu/

Would you like to see an online demonstration of how to access the AP Daybook from Factiva? Your colleague, Joseph Lin, MS 2009, has put together a wonderful step-by-step screencast! Click on Joseph’s screencast to view.

The MS Orientation 2008 library presentation and handouts are now available:

- Power Point Presentation
- Scoping Out Your Beat
- Nexis Factiva Cheat Sheet
- Databases List