- A specific professor at a specific college. CCSO Phonebook Gateway (http://www. uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/ph/lookup)
- An author of a book by subject. Amazon (http://www.amazon.com) and Library of Congress Subject Search Form (http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/browse/bks3subj.html)
- A business that deals with the topic. WhoWhere? Business Directory (http://www.whowhere.com:80/)
- A magazine or newsletter on the topic. Media Finder (http://www.oxbridge.com/custom.cfm)
- A government official/department spokesperson at the federal, state, county or city level. WhoWhere? Government Pages (http://www.whowhere.com:80/)
- Someone with odd subject expertise. Pitsco's Ask an Expert (http://www.askanexpert.com/askanexpert/)
- Someone experienced (someone who has the disease, has flown that plane, has been through that event). Deja News (http://www.dejanews.com).
Putting the Web to Work
by Alan Schlein
Reporters rely on people to give background, perspective and voice to their stories. Sometimes reporters need experts, people who by their training, academic credentials or jobs have expertise in a topic. Sometimes they need people with experience, people who have lived through a particular type of event or know about living with certain conditions.
To find an academic expert by subject, three Internet sites are helpful. Profnet (http://www.profnet.com.) is a great tool for finding experts on a variety of subjects quickly; it broadcasts requests to thousands of university press flacks nationwide. Include your affiliation, a very specific description of the type of expert you are seeking and the type of questions you need answered, and information on how to contact you (e-mail and phone).
The site http://www.sunsite.unc.edu/slanews/internet/experts.html is a directory of directories. This rich resource has been gathered by Kitty Bennett, news researcher at the St. Petersburg Times, for the Special Libraries Association's News Division.
A third source for finding experts quickly is Facsnet Sources (http://www.facsnet.org/sources_online/main.html).
Here are some additional sites for finding:
For a complete guide to source finding, you can consult my Web site, Deadline Online (http://www.deadlineonline.com/). The site also provides techniques for people finding, document finding, fact finding, finding background and "keeping up."
Alan Schlein is a consultant in Washington, D.C., who teaches online journalism techniques. Phone, (202) 544-5893; fax, (202) 544-6397.