Expert Witness Research

The Virtual Chase now has a page listing sites lawyers can use to research expert witnesses. These happen to be the kind of people journalists want to talk to, too.

“How to Vet an Expert”

The Virtual Chase reprints an article on "How to Vet an Expert":

… the Web harbors a variety of resources and tools that contain potentially valuable information but that many lawyers overlook in researching an expert's background.

Yes, we all now know to check Google, but this article looks at some of the lesser-known – and mostly free – research tools you may be bypassing. Of course, these Web tools are neither foolproof nor exhaustive. No Web site can substitute for using a reputable expert-search service.

Find experts with Authoratory.com

Mary Ellen Bates writes about Authoratory.com:

When the field of expertise is scientific or medical, often the best way to identify experts is see who has published papers on a topic and who is frequently cited by others.

Now I have a new tool to use - Authoratory.com. This database has data-mined the last six years of PubMed, the huge database of medical literature maintained by the US National Library of Medicine. Authoratory enables you to find the most prolific writers on a topic -- type in a search term and you see a list of authors whose articles cover those topics.

Database of News Sources and Subject Matter Experts

The Database of News Sources and Subject Matter Experts "by The Annapolis Group, a consortium of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, has been created especially for working journalists":

In this database you will find informed news sources and subject matter experts on topics related to the professional and academic disciplines of more than 950 well-informed professors, scientists, researchers, analysts, and other specialists at leading liberal arts colleges in the United States.

Whether your topic is planets outside the solar system, contemporary politics in the former Soviet republics of central Asia, historical perspectives on social security in the United States, recent developments in the field of biotechnology, or any of hundreds of other topics, the news sources and subject matter experts in this database will prove a valuable resource to your research and reporting.

This fully searchable database contains brief biographical sketches and contact information on every news source and subject matter expert listed as well as contact information for the public relations personnel at all Annapolis Group member colleges.

Sources and Experts page

The Special Libraries Association maintains a page of links to sources and experts. "We have a preference for organizations that make it possible to search for experts by area of specialty, that provide contact information (phone and e-mail) and that show credentials," the page says. I will be adding this to the experts section of my Most Useful Web Sites for Reporters page.

Google co-opting information experts?

The Information World Review reports that "Google Co-op is inviting people with specialist knowledge to improve internet searches by providing a set of links to the most reliable web pages on their areas of expertise."

The amateurish American War Library, which calls itself "The World's Largest On-line Military, Veteran, and Military Family Registry," with "Over 37 million Listings from Pre-Revolutionary War to the Present," has put together an online guide to getting military records.

TARSearch.com offers a database for finding accident reconstruction experts.

Crime-Scene-Investigator.net offers lots of information about how to do crime scene investigations.

The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse now has data on FBI enforcement actions through the first quarter of 2004. You have to pay to use TRAC, but it's the best source for databases shedding light on federal law enforcement - which includes U.S. Attorneys, the DEA, ATF, IRS and DHS (Department of Homeland Security).

Nieman Watchdog, where the motto is "Questions reporters should ask," "connects reporters and editors with experts, at Harvard and elsewhere, who can help frame probing, penetrating questions in various fields, and then serve as sources."

Dan Froomkin opines on what the news business can do to take better advantage of the Internet.

PC World has a good article, "News on Demand," explaining RSS, how to use it and why you should care. "Tired of browsing around the Web for timely information?" the article asks. "RSS readers deliver exactly the news you need--fast."

iTools offers "Quick access to the best Internet tools," including Web search engines, people finders, dictionaries, text translators, encyclopedias, newspapers and magazines, biographies, area codes and more.

The non-profit Transactional Record Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, which specializes in obtaining federal databases to monitor the government's performance, is offering embargoed access to its latest report on terrorism enforcement.

Cool site of the day will email you its choice if you want.

GIGA offers a "Broad collection of 50,000+ ancient and modern quotations, aphorisms, maxims, proverbs, sayings, truisms, mottoes, book excerpts, poems and the like browsable by 4,000+ authors or 1,300+ cross-referenced topics" and a "Directory of 8,000+ biographical names of historical figures, world leaders, noted authors, famous celebrities and the like including nationality, occupation, and years of birth and death."

Bartleby.com now offers "The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy."

Free Lunch "provides you with FREE access to over 900,000 economic and financial data series."

Collegenews.org offers an "Easy to use searchable lists of the top experts in dozens of fields. Each entry includes contact information and a brief biography."

Federal Computer Week reports that Kentucky's Chief Information Officer, who it says is "one of the nation's most well-respected, recognizable and sought-after technology advocates," is leaving when Patton's term is up.

Cartoon Research is "dedicated to classic cartoons: past, present and future."

Research Papers in Economics "is a collaborative effort of over 100 volunteers in 41 countries."