While crises may come and go, the news is never slow. It just oscillates between the everyday and the life threatening.

Regardless of their specialty, journalists are always on the frontlines of communicating what's happening - 24/7. They can't always predict where any story will take them or whom they'll need to talk to in order to get the necessary facts and comments. One thing is for certain; they will always need quick access to people in the know.

So you may be sitting there thinking "the media never calls to speak with me". Or you have already made the assumption that if they haven't called by now, they never will. Well, consider this - is your expertise relevant to today's news story? Do you have any way of knowing for sure when you will be of interest to a roving reporter? Or better yet, have you done all you can do to make yourself known as a contact/expert in your given field of endeavour?

Listing in Sources is a major step in the right direction. Next to the telephone book, the Sources directory is the most used resource a Canadian journalist has for finding spokespeople relevant to any particular story. The heart of your listing is the descriptive paragraph. Some organizations print their mission statement while others address journalists directly. Whatever format you choose, make sure you provide a brief, compelling introduction to your organization so Sources users clearly understand who you are and what you do. And make sure that your areas of expertise are reflected in your choice of subject headings.

The next thing you can do is keep reading your HotLink newsletter and visit our Web site (www.HotLink.ca) regularly. We've crafted HotLink to be your perpetual guide to getting positive news coverage. With each new issue we offer the best advice available from industry insiders. Like the media, we appreciate your comments. If you're feeling "out of the loop" let us know what we can do to help you improve your media relations. After all, it's only a matter of time before a reporter will call …

Lynn Fenske
Reprinted from The Sources HotLink
489 College St., Suite 305, Toronto, M6G 1A5

Selected Quality Information Resources
Current topics, experts, newsmakers, media contacts	Sources comprehensive subject index for journalists, writers, news editors, researchers looking for experts, spokespersons, scientists, lobbyists, officials, speakers, university professors, researchers, newsmakers, media relations contacts, talk show guests, PR representatives, story ideas, universities, associations, research institutions, lobby groups, NGOs.
Sources Directory	The directory of experts media contacts spokespersons news sources.
Sources Calendar	Check out newsworthy events from across Canada.
News Releases	Media releases from Canadian organizations, companies and institutions.
Getting publicity	How to raise your profile and get media coverage with Sources, the directory of experts media contacts spokespeople and news sources.
Media Names & Numbers	Directory of Canada's print & broadcast media – Canadian media lists: televison, radio stations, newspapers, magazines, community, campus, ethnic publications.
Canadian government directory	Parliamentary Names & Numbers – Contact information for Canada’s federal & provincial governments, MPs, Senators, MLAs, ministries, agencies, political parties, lobbyists.
Connexions Library	A catalogue of more than 5,000 resources dealing with social justice, human rights, civil liberties, environment, democratization — Title Index or Subject Index or Author Index including more than 1,000 full-text articles.
Sources HotLink	Media relations newsletter with tips and practical ideas to get positive news coverage.
Amicus	Canadian national catalogue giving search access to over 30 million records from 1,300 Canadian libraries including Library and Archives Canada. English and French.
Archives Canada	Search archival holdings across Canada. Access provincial and Territorial Archival Networks. View digitized photographs, maps, documents and online exhibits developed around Canada's history.
Bureau of Public Secrets	Articles from a Situationist perspective.
Canada411	Online phone directory.
Canadian Encyclopedia Online	Canadian history and much else about Canada. English and French.
Chomsky.info	The Noam Chomsky website.
Clusty	Instead of delivering search results in one long list, Clusty groups similar results together into clusters that help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you're looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items.
Google Scholar	Search scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles.
Guardian Weekly	A global view on the week's international events.
ibiblio	Conservancy of freely available digital information, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies.
IceRocket	Blog research tool.
Kartoo	Meta-search engine that presents results in clusters of interactive maps.
Libcom	A resource for all people who wish to fight to improve their lives, their communities and their working conditions.
Library of Congress Web site	Gateway to massive amounts of information. Main site of the U.S. Library of Congress.
Libweb	Library servers via WWW. Lists over 7700 pages from libraries in 145 countries.
Marxmail	Marxism mailing list: worldwide moderated forum for activists and scholars in the Marxist tradition who favor a non-sectarian and non-dogmatic approach. Puts a premium on independent thought and rigorous but civil debate.
Marxists Internet Archive	The most complete library of Marxism with content in over 40 languages and the works of over 400 authors readily accessible by archive, subject, or history.
Middle East Conflict Resources	Israel/Palestine: Selected resources for peace justice and human rights.
News & Letters	Working out a philosophy of liberation that spells out an alternative to both capitalism-imperialism and religious fundamentalist terrorism.
Online Books Page	Listing over 25,000 free books on the Web.
Project Gutenberg	Free online electronic library of thousands of books.
Radical Digressions	A left-libertarian perspective.
Skeptical Inquirer	Encourages the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminates factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public. Also promotes science and scientific inquiry, critical thinking, science education, and the use of reason in examining important issues.
Wikipedia	Multilingual user-edited encyclopedia.
Wikipedia - English	User-edited encyclopedia.
AboutUS	Descriptions of websites.
Alexa	Website statistics.
Wikipedia - Français	Projet d'encyclopédie librement distribuable. Plus de 500,000 articles en français.
Wikipedia - Deutsch	Ein Projekt zum Aufbau einer Enzyklopädie aus freien Inhalten in Mehr also 600 00 artikel in deutscher Sprache.
Wikipedia - Español	Edición en español de Wikipedia.
Yahoo	Internet directory.
Other sites	Other sites worth checking.