I should not have been
surprised at how easy it was to locate local sites on the web. I
relied on my favorite search engine, Yahoo!, but you can use any search
engine available, such as Excite, Lycos or Infoseek. They are simply
directories that help one navigate the Web.
On the Yahoo! home page, which
you can access by typing www.yahoo.com, if you click on “Get Local”,
up will pop a screen that asks for a zip code. I typed in “48226” for Detroit.
However, you are also given an option to browse by clicking on a U.S. State
listed on the page or a country.
Now I see the Detroit Web
Directory which gives me the local weather for Detroit and scores from
the latest games. I am able to do a word search here, or I
can pick Michigan, Wayne County or Detroit resources. I can also
choose from white pages, maps, directions, personals, message boards, chat
and classified.
Listed under Detroit there
are a number of topics such as:
Business, City Guides, Community, Education,
Entertainment and Arts, Events, Government, Health, Internet Services,
Lodging, News & Media, Real Estate, Recreation and Sports, Transportation
and Travel.
I choose “Health” because
I am writing an article for a Health magazine. Another page appears
giving me a chance to search all of Yahoo! or only in Health for either
Care Providers or Companies. One might find education, information
and guidelines offered at each of these sites: AIDS Partnership Michigan,
American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc., Center for Clinical
Effectiveness or Greater Detroit Area Health Council.
I can also search outside
of Detroit. At the Directory’s bottom page I can choose Dearborn,
Warren, Livonia and Sterling Heights. I choose Southfield’s
Web Directory.
Employment leads to Detroit Classifieds.
In “Health Care” I locate six job titles accompanied by job descriptions,
email addresses and phone contacts. Another way to locate a job besides
employment agencies and newspaper ads!
Using the same Southfield
Directory, I discover the attractive Oakland County web page. Wonderful
information at my fingertips! I can select the Drinking Water Supply,
Fiscal Year Budget for 1997/1998, a Web Site Map, Parks and Recreation,
Personnel, Purchasing and others.