NYC Grassroots media conference 2007 session proposal v2

Beyond Googling It: News and Government Information “Web 2.0” style

Do you feel like you have to check 50 websites just to keep up with a
single news item? Do you ever hear about a pending bill, send off a letter
to your legislator, and then wonder what became of the issue? Just what DO
people mean when they talk about "Web 2.0"? Come explore approaches to
using the Internet to monitor, track, share, and manage information. This
presentation will demonstrate how so-called "Web 2.0” tools like RSS, news
aggregators, and social tagging can help you get organized online and be a
more effective independent journalist or community activist. Librarian
volunteers from the collective Radical Reference(radicalreference.info)
will give real-life examples of how journalists, researchers, community
organizers, and informed citizens are using these technologies to track
information from around the globe -- and how you can too. Rad Reffers will
give the basics of each tool, introduce websites and sources, take
questions from the audience, and provide detailed handouts.