I’ve added a new ‘linking’ feature I hope you find useful
You may have noticed some extra type up above this entry and next to my picture. It may not look like much, but these few lines represents my ability to share with you a vast amount of important or otherwise interesting information that has landed on my computer.
As part of my daily work, I visit dozens of Web sites and generally read more than 100 news releases and e-mails about environmental issues. When I started Water Ways, I wanted it to be a forum where we could share some inside stories about water-related issues, describe the process of news gathering and reveal a few personal stories. These are topics that don’t fit within the confines of a typical newspaper story.
I also realized that many people are interested in environmental news but don’t have the time to sift through dozens of Web sites. Many get by with Google News and maybe a couple of Web sites that aggregate their news of interest. Since this is part of what I do all the time, I can tell you that the effort does not feel very satisfying.
Now, with the help of some software created by the company Publish 2, I can share the water-related links that I find valuable but don’t have time to discuss in Water Ways, at least not right away.
I thought it might be helpful to divide this information into four categories:
Latest Water News will take you to news stories, generally written by professional reporters working for recognizable print or broadcast media.
Research Findings may come from a variety of sources — news releases, science publications, general media, sometimes research reports themselves. It may take a little time to figure out what I should share, since most science journals offer no more than a summary or abstract without a subscription. In some cases, that may be enough, however.
Government actions: Government agencies usually announce their decisions and findings in written reports and press releases. These often make the news, supported by interpretation from reporters and various sources. You may find me writing a story about an issue, linking to other news reports under the category “Latest Water News” and then linking to the agency’s official announcement in this category. If I write a comment for Water Ways, I may put the links in the entry and skip the rest.
Upcoming Events is a category where the links take you to Web sites of groups sponsoring conferences, educational workshops, public hearings, social gatherings, award presentations, work parties or any combination of these. Sometimes it is tricky to make this work right, because the links point to a Web page, and some groups put all their events on a single page. It won’t work for groups that just send out a news release without a Web link. I also have not established criteria for a listing, but I may do that later. And, unfortunately, I believe these entries must be shown in the order they are added to the list, whereas I would prefer to manage them chronologically.
I hope you find this new feature useful. I’m always open to suggestions. If you wish, comment on the concept and its implementation in the comment field below. If you would like to submit something to the list, please send me an e-mail.
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Tags: Publish 2
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