Searching dirty

Librarian Genie Tyburski teaches an online class through the University of North Carolina on web research.

Sounds dull and dry, right? Uh, no.

Try, for example, using some of her suggested search terms on Google to find stuff that people don't want you to find:

• "not for public dissemination"


• "not for public release"


• "official use only" (variations include FOUO and U//FOUO)


• "company confidential"


• "internal use only"

For Genie's class, I tried some of these search terms combined with *NC*. I found a local political candidate's profile, with his home phone number, marked "not for public release."

That's one general theme that emerges from Genie's class: Information that is supposed to be private can sometimes inadvertently leak onto the web, through careless coding, or scanning, or editing, or incorrect placement on a server.

We've debated in class the legality and ethics of finding such information, and concluded that using the tools to find such information fall into legal, ethical realms like much of the reporting labeled "investigative." The ethical questions get sticky when you weigh what to do with the found private information.

Regardless, Genie's tools should be familiar tools for reporters and other journalists. Read her article and play around with the search terms sometime.

And check the updated "Reference" sidebar here for links to other resources, including Power Googling.

Finding election information

So you're looking to study up before voting? Or do you just need to check something that you're editing?

The Charlotte Observer's vote guide is here.

The Raleigh News and Observer's election coverage is here.

Indyweek.com, the website for The Independent in The Triangle, has election information here.

The League of Women Voters has PDF documents covering state and local elections here.

The Mecklenburg Board of Elections has early voting information and other stuff here.

You can also check the links in the "Politics" sidebar. If you have suggestions of links to add, please comment.

And while you're surfing elsewhere, beware. Lookalikes and wannabes proliferate. For example, you can get great information at FiveThirtyEight, but do not confuse it with 538.com or 538.org. At 538.com, it'll prompt you to download special toolbars for access to maps. Don't do it!