Author Jacket Introduction Contents

Introduction

We were taught how to look for information by our parents and our teachers. They taught us to research in the same way that they were taught. Searching involved linear techniques employing a directory or a library catalog based on the Dewey decimal system or the Library of Congress system. We learned it well. So well, in fact, that we can be overwhelmed when information is presented in an unfamiliar manner - even when the new method is intuitive and logical.

We are not accustomed to "lateral thinking" when it comes to information retrieval. With experience, however, using lateral information retrieval tools can become second nature. We will adapt. In the interim, while we learn the techniques associated with information retrieval in "cyberspace," catalogs, guides, and road maps can help to save time. This book is one such tool.

The Internet houses the world's largest financial library. To access it efficiently requires targeted information retrieval techniques. Good tools for information retrieval are available on the Internet. Like the Internet itself and the uses we make of it, these tools are evolving. Search engines, subject catalogs, and robots (including agents and spiders, worms and ants) are efficient for their respective uses. They were used to compile much of the data in this book. They are marvelous conduits for accessing material, but enormous expenditures of time are often required to synthesize the resulting information.

If you have ever used an Internet search engine to look for specific material, I know that you have experienced being sidetracked in your search. You may have gone online to find something specific and you didn't find it - but, oh well, you had fun, and, as Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day." The next day you think about what you found online and you remember very little (if anything). You might even experience some guilt for not being disciplined in your search. The truth is, it's easy to get sidetracked when surfing. Surfing, like its real-world namesake, is fun but it gets you . . . nowhere.

Many people don't have time to waste. Investors, for example, want financial and investment information now. They want it fast, current, and cheap, and they want it to be relevant to their needs. To use a library analogy, they want to go directly to the right shelf in the library stacks and access the most current book or magazine in their field. Once they find what they're searching for, they can follow the links that are inevitably associated with their desired materials. They can start surfing.

The Internet Investor is for people who have very little time to waste. Readers can quickly find the Internet sites they want to visit. And they can keep abreast of site address changes and updates by accessing the book's companion Web site, the Canadian Financial Network (http://www.canadianfinance.com/). The book and Web site are structured similarly so that it is easy for readers to find corresponding links.

Trying to find the right information among the vast resources of the world's largest financial library will frustrate investors who do not have the proper tools to target their subject matter. This book will ease that frustration and save time for the information seeker.

After all, time is money - your money.

How the Directory Is Organized

Part Two of The Internet Investor - "A Directory of Financial Resources" - includes nearly every financial site I was able to find on the Internet. I set out to identify only the most useful resources, perhaps a total of 100 sites. But what is useful to me may not be most useful to you, and so I have expanded my definition of useful to include nearly 3,000 financial sites.

In an attempt to categorize the world financial library, I have taken investor interests as my starting point. If a site was produced by a stockbroker and primarily gives advice about stocks, it is listed in the Stocks category. The categorization can often be pretty subjective, just as the site descriptions are. Everyone who creates a site works very hard to develop a unique and useful resource, and some Web sites could logically be described under many categories. But to keep this book from growing as large as the New York City telephone book, I decided to describe each site only once. If a site offers valuable information about more than one subject, I have tried to include at least a brief mention under the secondary category, with a cross-reference to the main listing. (On the CFN Web site, where space is of little concern, full descriptions are often repeated in different categories.) Within each category, site listings include the URL (Internet address) and a brief description of the type of material that you can expect to find when you go to that site. Companies usually make it easy to understand what they are about, and I hope that I have captured the essence of what they want you to know.

Although I have attempted to be inclusive, no doubt I have missed some sites. It is nearly impossible to find everything, due to the shifting sands of the Internet, so if I have missed your site, I apologize. Please notify me by sending e-mail to webmaster@canadianfinance.com, and I will include it in Canadian Financial Network and the next edition of The Internet Investor. Please make the subject line read "Revision Notice" and limit description to 75 words.

Finally, please remember that the Internet is a moving target. Sites move to new addresses, or disappear, and others arrive. I try to keep CFN current, and it has sufficient profile that developers usually notify me by e-mail to tell me of their new site. None, however, notify me of a closure. If a site is inaccessible, it usually reflects a change of URL. For any number of reasons, a site can be transient, but I am usually able to find the new address. If you happen to notice a link that is out, please let me know, and I will try to find the reason for the outage.