All the news that's fit to surf

Both CNN Interactive (Cable News Network) and MSNBC (Microsoft/National Broadcasting Company) are updated 24-hours per day, 7-days per week, providing U.S., world and local news, weather and sports. They cover the day's events, update breaking stories and give in-depth reports on current topics. Some stories are even provided in multimedia, with audio and video reports. Both sites offer television schedules describing upcoming programs on their respective networks, together with online help to aid in navigating their sites.

CNN Interactive is organized into several major sections, including science and technology, travel, style, show business, health and earth. There are links to CNNfn (financial news) and AllPolitics (a partnership between CNN and Time magazine). Archived news from past months is accessible via the "Search Tool." While each site provides headlines with links to the full stories, CNN Interactive also offers links to related stories and sites at the end of each article. It even provides Pointcast, a free Internet news network that allows you to watch the latest headlines move across your computer screen.

MSNBC categories include world news, commerce, sports, science and technology, life and opinion. Click on "Index" to get full contents of each section. This site offers the opportunity to design your own personal front page to display only headlines and information that interest you, including stock quotes or sports scores. You can also join in a chat session to discuss current topics.

These two sites provide an innovative way to receive your daily news with full coverage of up-to-the-minute headlines from around the world to your desktop.

For assistance in connecting to the World Wide Web via UB computer accounts, contact the ASCIT Help Desk at 645-3542.

-Sue Neumeister and Lori Widzinski, University Libraries