"Imagination is more important than knowledge." Albert Einstein

Sunday Morning NW:

We are sporting a new look this morning and hope that this Newsletter is a bit more easy to access and read. Take a look back to our very first on line edition published January 5, 2003. Things have changed a bit over sixty issues. Your feedback would be most appreciated ().

It has become habit around my home that if someone doesn't know about a person, place, or thing, they should go and look it up on the web. Even the dictionary is often by-passed for checking the correct spelling of a word.

A recent question related to the nutritional value of tomatoes was quickly answered with a few simple key strokes. It turns out these sweet little summer delights are chuck full of good nutrients including lycopene that helps protect against cancer and heart disease.

As most web surfers know, there are some excellent search engines that help one quickly locate information on the Internet. Learning to use these tools effectively often takes a bit of practice.

Given I spend a good number of hours a day on the Internet, I'm often been asked to help out on a short web search by a friend in need of information.

Although web search engines facilitate locating information using a number of basic and advanced strategies, I've found a simple technique that has generated quick results for me.Most search tools, such as Google, suggest that you ask a question and let it find possible links that will answer your request. I've found it more useful to use keywords rather than a question.

The thing to remember about a key word search is the order in which you sequence the words. For example, a researcher might ask, "How can credit unions retain customers?". Entered as a question would result in an array of possible web sites to check. I suggest using a keyword search focuses on the primary concept, customer retention. I would type this keyword string: customer retention credit unions. A search engine will prioritize a list of web sites that use the word "customer" first, "retention" second, and "credit unions" third. Although some of the same pages may appear when using both a question and keyword search, I've found that keywords, sequence according to priority enhances my chances of finding the material I want quickly.

Fortunately, there are many sites that organize web content making it useful for readers (including this newsletter). Once such resource is the Librarians' Index to the Internet. The stated mission of this site, "...is to provide a well-organized point of access for reliable, trustworthy, librarian-selected Internet resources.." This site also provides a free LII New This Week publication of the most recent resources added to the index that goes out to over 17,000 subscribers in 85 countries.

Working with a professional librarian and the collective resources of a public or institutional library is the best way to do serious research. A library has a very organized structure for retrieving information and can facilitate a level of access difficult using a web search engine. I've found the Internet a good starting place for formulating questions that I can then explore in more depth at the library.

Featured this issue: The Creative Commons process provides an opportunity for designers and artists to expand the traditional concept of copyright, allowing others to use one's work under specific guidelines. Our Feature Section this week looks at the opportunities the Creative Commons process offers. And, our Random Links explores a recent selection of documentary films that have stimulated plenty of discussion around the water cooler lately.

Web site header and icons by: Mitten Kitten Productions
Still Life: by Gary Ferrington

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Josh Taylor wrote, that he would "...strongly recommend this event to any who can attend (WebVisions 2004 - The Future is Now. July 16 at the Oregon Convention Center). I can not afford to go this year, but I feel if you have the cash it is money well spent. Last year’s event help take me out of a "slump" I was in... This slump was tainting my view of Multimedia as a whole... I greatly benefited from being immersed with creative professionals and I was deeply inspired from their predictions of the future of Web development. The seminars were very informative and the goToandPlay Flash film awards showcase was awesome! There are eats and drinks to help one make it thru the long day. Take notes, and if you have some extra cash you may wish to pick up a book of one or more of the speakers. They are full of real world experience and insights into this industry. Oh Yeah, and last year there was a raffle to win an Ipod and other stuff."

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