Staying Alert with Google

Posted on February 2, 2003

Its hard to believe than an already powerful research tool like Google could get any better, but now there are two new free gadgets that make Google even more vital for journalists.

Both are Alerts automatic robots that send you email when the keywords you requested show up in Google or Google News.

GOOGLE NEWS ALERT

GoogleNews is by far the best news search tool on the web. It gives you free access to more than 4,500 news sources (English-language only) going back to the previous 30 days. In other words, unlike regular Google which searches the web and will return results from gossip pages, crazies and other unreliable sites, Google News gets you only stories from mainstream media around the world.

You can use all the tricks that makes regular Google so precise. In other words, asking for news on

sharon

will get you over 6,000 results, including the Israeli Prime Minister and Hollywood actress Sharon Stone.

Simply keep adding words to narrow your search such as:

sharon arafat

You can also add phrases and put them in quotes:

sharon arafat suicide bombings

And you can eliminate subjects that clutter your results with a minus sign (be sure there is no space between the minus sign and the word that follows):

sharon arafat suicide bombings -powell

Google has also come up with an Advanced News Search at http://news.google.com/advanced_news_search. This allows you to choose the media outlet (for example, BBC or the Washington Post or the country and even to narrow the dates (within the past month.)

As if all this wasnt enough, you can now perform these searches automatically.

Google News Alerts is free. Google will send you an email when news articles appear online that match the topics you specify. You can ask for as many as you want and you can request they get sent once a day or as news happens.

You can program a simple news alert from the start by going to the News Alert page (www.google.com/newsalerts) . Or, once you have done a regular news search, simply scroll to the bottom of your results and youll see a link asking you if you want to create an alert based on your search results.

Using the advanced search function, you can even narrow your alerts to a single publication but its a little more complicated. Lets say you want Google to send you an email anytime the Boston Globe talks about the Montreal Canadiens hockey team.

First you must go the Advanced Google news at and make that request. Then at the bottom of the results, click on the link that asks you if you want to create a News Alert based on your results.

Be sure to read the tips to find out how this is done at http://www.google.com/help/faq_newsalerts.html.

GOOGLE ALERT

There is also a GoogleAlert for the main Google that searches the web. Its at www.googlealert.com and though it is not affiliated officially with Google it does have Googles blessing.

Tired of always returning to Google to check on the same topic over and over again? Worried about missing a new web page on a breaking story? This free and ingenious device runs daily Google searches for you and emails you whenever new results appear. You can run up to five separate searches.

You can also request simple searches (for example, everytime Google finds a new web page that talks about a single keyword or phrase breast cancer. )

Or you can program advanced Google searches to narrow your search by domain or web site. For example, you can request that Google Alert notify you anytime to words Chechnya and bombing appears on the web site run by Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org).

Or you can request to be notified anytime the words international human rights tribunal appears one a web site from Serbia-Yugoslavia (the domain .yu)

OTHER GOOGLE FEATURES

There are devices and free gadgets you can use from Google.

Install the Google Toolbar to have Google at your fingertips (this only works on PCs running Internet Explorer). You never have to leave a web page and open up Google to do a search. The Google toolbar is always open and sits on your browser toolbar. It gives you instant access not only to Google search, but also Advanced Google, Google News and Google Groups.

It even bocks pop-up ads! (It doesnt serve you coffee though)

The Google Button is similar to the toolbar but simpler and sleeker. With the button installed all you have to do is highlight any word or words on a web page with your cursor; then click on the Google button that sits on your browser toolbar and voila! Google opens up and does a search based on those terms.

You should also check out Googles Web Directory for a search by category, instead of just using keywords all the time.

And Google Glossary offers you a quick definition, not just of a word but of a concept or an issue -- for example, "ozone layer" or PCBs? You get several links to the best web pages that give you a snapshot of the phrase, its meaning and context. Its an excellent quick reference guide.