Time again for suggestions from readers of this column. Please send yours in to poynter@sree.net.
Chase Davis of the Telegraph Herald of Dubuque, Iowa, writes:
Check out PublicNoticeAds.com some time and see if it would make a good tip. It’s a regularly updated database of public notices like meeting minutes, ordinance updates, lawsuits, etc. I’ve found notices like this are often great sources for story ideas. So far, only eight states are available, but the folks who run it say they’re consistently trying to expand. It might not be comprehensive, but it’s still been a decent resource.It does make a good tip. And since Chase wrote to me, they seem to have added three more states.
Bill Swersey, director of interactive media, WNYC New York Public Radio, writes:
SurveyMonkey.com is a terrific tool for developing online surveys. A fraction of the cost of the competition ($19.95/month lets you collect 1,000 responses each month) and [it’s] extremely easy to use. In just a few minutes you can design a survey and then launch it online to find out what the visitors like/don’t like, want/don’t want, etc. about your website. Very powerful and easy to understand analysis of results.In addition to being a useful tool for webmasters, news sites can use this to get feedback about stories and to help generate coverage ideas.
Susan Graveman writes:
Check out these websites if you ever want to recommend sources for students needing to write up bibliographies:You can also check out my review of a similar service with a shorter name, Easybib.
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