1What is online journalism? - Ayo Menulis FISIP UAJY

74 Journalism Online
Where am I likely to find it? Can the web sites you already know
and trust give you the information you need? If they cannot, you
should consider which search tool will be the most appropriate
and efficient.
Search tools
In the same way as many people confuse the Internet and the web,
some confuse search tools and search engines. Search engines
are one way of searching the Web, but they are not the only search
tool. There are others that can be more effective depending on
what you need.
Again, we can use the bottom-up approach. Instead of listing the
different search tools and then describing what they are most
appropriate for, we can consider a number of possible scenarios
faced by researching journalists and then suggest the best search
tool. (An explanation of how each works will follow.)
1 You want information about a specific individual or an organization
and you have their name. Try a search engine.
2 You are looking for a specific document and the guesswork
hasn’t worked. Try a search engine.
3 You have a specific query, but you want to get a fast overview of
what might available on the web. Try a meta search engine.
4 You are researching a broader area, rather than making a
specific query. It may be your initial search on the topic. Try a
subject directory.
5 You want to narrow your topic area and go into more depth,
maybe looking for expert opinion and informed sources. Try a
subject guide.
With practice, you learn how to use a combination of these search
tools when seeking information. But for now, we can consider
them individually.
Search engines
Search engines are hugely powerful pieces of software that search
for web content. You will normally find a list of search engines
offered on your browser when you log on to the Net.