Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast -- Resource Shelf Blog Re-visited

Are you reading this the News Headlines?

Internet: a wake-up call:
'Dawn' stresses the importance of devoting resources to protect and maintain functional Internet service, @ AsiaMedia

Do you have an idea of tools that are for free and help you support the Business intelligence / competitive intelligence. These tools are mostly in the invisble Web & / or hidden Web & / or deep Web. And, some of these are:

• The Internet Traffic Report: monitors the flow of data around the world. It then displays a value between zero and 100. Higher values indicate faster and more reliable connections.


• Internet service providers' performance


• Telephone Directories / Whitepages


• Newspapers, esp online versions that are free---that do not stay up indefinitely (don't forget the fact: Newspapers Are Dead Scrolls)


• Databases containing laws, government regulations, forms, and fact sheets; plus: OurOntario.ca Government Documents Collection

Bottomline: Don't forget the basics of using this free ride (Internet resources need to be used with the sensitivity and care: look for evidence of bias; look for the source of the material--original or verifiable; material is current; etc.)

Choose Databases-- courtesy Ebsco Host: Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) / Teacher Reference Center

Much more of this hidden ... Web is indexed at Gary's Resource Shelf

See also:

Steal This Book? Don't Bother: By Candace Lombardi Staff Writer, CNET News.com July 23, 2007, PDTCNET News



When it comes to outsmarting the content establishment, your library may be your best accomplice. Libraries are offering more free search services, database access,articles, photos, eBooks, audiobooks, music and museum passes than ever. Chances are you are buying, subscribing to, or stealing something you can get for free with a library card. The hardest part of using the wealth of free sources out there may be finding them.

There are easy ways to locate these sources, but few people use them, according to Gary Price, founder and editor of the Resource Shelf and director of online resources at Ask.com. While there are no hard numbers on usage of such free services, several resource specialists and librarians echo Price's comments.

"People who gather national statistics about libraries have started adding that, but it will take awhile for the libraries to aggregate the data and respond," said Leslie Burger, director of the Princeton Public Library in Princeton, N.J., and past president of the American Library Association.

But there is some evidence that people are beginning to access their local library home page more frequently. For instance, Massachusetts public libraries, which recently began tracking electronic access, report (PDF) that they received more than 248 million hits on their home pages in 2006.