The newspaper has many characteristics which make it a great information

resource: it is very portable, it contains a lot of information in a small

amount of space, you can find one anywhere, it is very inexpensive and we

are all familiar with how to use it.

On the other hand, there are also many advantages to having access to news

online.

Even with today's relatively basic level of technology, information can be

transmitted instantaneously via any number of modern methods of

communication.

This, combined with the ability to instantly update information on Web

sites and even transmit that information directly to electronic personal

data assistants (PDAs), makes many believe that it won't be long before the

printed paper is extinct.

Either way, you can be sure every newspaper across the nation has either

developed a Web site or is scrambling to figure out how to do so.

Plus, the Web has created an entirely new hybrid of specialized news

sources, as well as customizable news resources where you can pick and

choose the information you will see when you log on day after day.

First, national and world news is available from many sources. Of course,

you can find ABC (http://www.abcnews .com), NBC (http://www.nbc news.com)

and CBS (http://www. cbsnews.com).

But, the really cool news sites which cover the same information are the

ones that let you customize what you see each time you log on.

So, for example, after customizing your information the first time, each

time you return to this site the content is channeled to suit your

interests.

I will use Yahoo! as an example. First, I went to My Yahoo!

(http://my.yahoo.com). Then, I created an account to begin using their

services by clicking on "Sign Up for My Yahoo!." This allowed me to pick my

weather cities, track stock quotes, read my choice of news and follow my

favorite sports teams.

Once the one-page easy registration process was complete, I was taken back

to the My Yahoo! page — only now, it says "Welcome, Matt" and I see all the

default information associated with my page.

Now, everything on this page is customizable. It took some clicking to

figure out where to start, and there is a ton of information to choose from.

I think the next best step is to click on "Personalize Content," located in

the top left part of the page, directly below the "My Front Page" heading.

This content page has lists of what Yahoo! calls modules. You simply click

the check boxes of the ones you are interested in.

You have plenty from which to choose, including TV, movies, weather,

horoscopes, finance, stocks, package tracking, ski reports, medical

information, auctions and more.

Now that you have selected the modules, you can modify your layout with a

really easy-to-use tool which lets you select what goes in the skinny column

and what goes in the main column, as well as adjust the order in which they

appear on your screen.

After this is done, you can begin editing each module.

Each module you choose, Headlines for example, will have up to three

buttons: detach, edit and remove.

Detach takes that module and puts the content into a small window which

stays open as you click on each item. For example, it leaves the headlines

in front and changes the story in the main window as you click on each one.

Remove will delete that module from your personalized page.

The edit button is the most useful.

I wanted my TV Listings to show Yuma's local stations. I clicked on edit

and followed the simple steps.

Within a few seconds, the content was now displayed on my personalized

page. It will be there each time I return.

I could go on and on about the flexibility of these types of sites, but I

highly recommend trying it for yourself to experience what the next step of

national and world news feels like.

However, what if you just want local content? No problem. As I said

before, nearly every newspaper across the nation has a Web site and is

trying to put their local content online.

There is a new resource called NewspaperLinks.com (http://www.newspaper

links.com). This site is a service of The Newspaper Association of America.

The site is very simple to use — just click on a state and choose the

paper. I found The Yuma Daily Sun and my small town college paper at Ohio

University in Athens, Ohio, which makes me believe this resource is pretty

complete.

Finally, there are many new news sites which are dedicated to a specific

industry or topic.

The advantage to these sites is that you can get much more detailed,

in-depth information without sifting through a bunch of unrelated

information you don't care about.

You may need to do some searching to find the best site for your

interests, but here are a few for the computer and Internet industry.

Ziff Davis News (http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/) has built a great collection

of computer and Internet resources on their Web site.

CNet (http://news.cnet.com/) is another site I use frequently. And, if you

are really technical, SlashDot (http://www.slash dot.org/) is the site for

you.

In the end, I don't see too many people canceling their traditional

newspaper subscription any time soon, but the Internet has certainly opened

up some great new ways so we can receive and view the information each of us

finds important.