Creating this "data mine" of information and opinion is a Sisyphean task that I have, belatedly, realized cannot be done by myself alone. So I'm asking for your help.
What You Can Do
What I most need is information processed and summarized. I have at least 18,000 Web-based news and opinion articles that need to be read and, if pertinent, quoted and summarized. If you'd like to help in this task, I'll send you a fistful of links and you can send me back items ready for inclusion. Text is fine -- I'll do the coding.
Reading a book worthy of inclusion? Send me quotes, summaries, and information from it, within the Fair Use guidelines, and with proper citation (title, author, copyright year, publisher). This can be somewhat intensive, depending on the book, so be warned.
Not all information is on the Web. If you find a magazine article worthy of inclusion, summarize it, cite it (publication, author, date of publication, page number) and send it along.
If you have any other ideas for improvement of this site -- books or sites worthy of inclusion, site redesign or navigation tips, what have you -- let me know.
E-mail me:
purplesage23 at yahoo.com
Some people would rather contribute with money rather than time and effort. As I said on the front page, I am not soliciting donations (though if you insist, Lord knows I could use the money). But if you've got some fast cash that you'd like to use for the site, here are some ideas:
You can send a donation to the gracious Web host of this site, Marc Perkel. Let him know that you're sending a donation to help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this site.
Some major Web news sites require a paid subscription for access. If you like, you can buy a subscription and allow me to access it. Some of the news sites I'd most like access to are Salon, Editor & Publisher, the Financial Times, and the New York Times. If you'd like to do this, just send me the login and password to the site.
You can make a donation to the progressive candidate of your choice, and drop the candidate a line telling him or her about the fabulous Web site (um, this one) you've found that they can use for opposition research. Can't decide what candidate to support? Visit the ActBlue Netroots Candidate site for some choices.
