The Compass
Wednesday, February 13, 2002
5
NEW WEBSITE GIVES STUDENTS RESOURCES TO WRITE
BETTER TERM PAPERS
BOSTON—(BUSINESS WIRE via
COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)—The Internet
has revolutionized research, allowing easier
and greater access to information. College
students, journalists, and academics are
overwhelmed with research results and many
times find themselves with materials they
can’t use and find it difficult to obtain what
they really need. To solve this problem,
Knowledge Ventures, Inc. an educational
tools software company focused on develop
ing solutions to improve the on-line research
experience has created Authority Finder, a
concept based search engine (http://
www.authorityfindercom) that gives stu
dents, journalists or anyone looking for
sources to support their work the tools and
resources that they need to explore their own
ideas and grow them with relevant materials
and articles.
What Is Authority Finder?
Authority Finder is a simple and
intuitive querying tool that allows the user to
locate relevant quotations and corresponding
citations from a list of authoritative academic
journals, in support of key ideas or thesis
statements. Whether writing a term paper,
speech, article or business plan, the user can
search relevant quotes or whole articles to
back-up their hypothesis or argument.
“Most search engines have as a back
drop the Dewey Decimal System or library
approach that only allows students to search
using a few words, titles or names,” said Dr.
Michael Lissack, founder and Chairman of
Knowledge Ventures. “Authority Finder
helps address the critical need of students,
writers and researchers everywhere: T need a
quote that says X in order to support my
position,’ by searching for relevant sentences
rather than a key word.
What Makes Authority Finder Differ
ent?
Authority Finder uses a search engine,
which allows users to conduct searches
based on natural language using anything
from a keyword to a few sentences of text to
yield relevant results. Better than a keyword
or Boolean search. Authority Finder's
underlying search engine can automatically
extract an “understanding” of a given query.
Authority Finder uses language pattern-
matching algorithms that convert queries into
a set of statistical patterns or “concept
chunks” which are then used to find similar
“chunks” of content within the Authority
Finder database(s). The results are targeted
lists of quotations and sources within sec
onds. Authority Finder can search against
multiple textual databases simultaneously
making it a point and click process for the
user. Once the list of potential quotes is
retrieved, the results are ranked within
seconds and presented in a list with each
quote accompanied by the author and title
information of the particular quote’s origin.
Each quote can be clicked to view the entire
article from which the quote was excerpted,
with the quote highlighted for one to easily
review its original context.
The Authority Finder database cur
rently boasts more than 35,000 articles from
250 American and English academic and
business journals, covering a wide range of
subjects including: business, medicine, aft
history, history, economics, science, technol
ogy, education, sociology and psychology,
from 1998 to the present. The database is ■
updated regularly to include the most recent
and relevant content from the data feed of
journals. Material is provided under an ■
agreement with the Gale Group.
Users can conduct preliminary searches
for free at
http://www.authorityfinder.com or sign
up for a subscription to gain complete accfcss
to their found materials. Currently, users can
sign up for a 15 day trial for $9.95 and then
opt for two month subscription for $24.95'or
six month subscription for $49.95.
Source:
Knowledge Ventures Inc.
NAACP CANDLELIGHT CEREMONY HELPS
KING’S LEGACY CONTINUE TO BURN
Lavonda Whitt
dionzareshea@yahoo.com
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Candle
light Ceremony, sponsored by the Elizabeth
City State University chapter of the NAACP,
was held Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts
. Building. The ceremony had a dual purpose:
to commemorate the life of Dr King and to
raise money for a NAACP Scholarship. As
students from ECSU and guest from the
Elizabeth City community entered the
building, members of the NAACP asked for
donations for the fund.
The evening started at 7:20 p.m. when
Student Government Association President,
Keith Richardson, welcomed the audience
and explained to them that speaker, Douglas
D. Prather from Morehouse College, had
been involved in a car accident and would
not attend. The evening’s music began with
the ECSU Gospel Choir singing “Garment of
Praise.”
Following the selection. Miss Elizabeth
City State University, Chrishanda Rodgers,
performed a praise dance to the song “It
Wasn’t Easy” by CeCe Winans.
At 7:35 p.m. Jonathan Williams, the
replacement for Prather and a student from
Roanoke Bible College, began his address.
Williams stated that he would not focus
completely on King, but on the legacy of
partnership.
“I really didn’t intend to talk so much
about Dr King. I think if Dr King were here
he would issue up a challenge,” Wilhams
said. “I do believe that if he were here he
would be doing what he was doing when he
was here on earth and that was challenging
his brothers and sisters for greatness.”
Williams dispelled the myth that all
white people are inherently bad.
Williams said: “The fact is that every
white person wasn’t dressed in a robe and
lynching black people, but there were white
people who marched with us. There were
white people who rode on the bus with us.”
“What am I getting at, I am getting at a
legacy of partnership and I’m afraid that in
our community today we’ve lost that. I am
afraid that in our time of progress we’ve kind
of come to the sense where we’ve arrived
and we kind of react,” Williams said. “We
pursue goals almost selfishly and without
regard for our fellow brothers, our fellow
sisters, without regard for our community,”
he added.
Williams’ closing question of his short
speech was “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
“Yes 1 am,” he answered.
His short speech was rewarded with a
standing ovation.
Following the speech and the ECSU’s
Gospel Choir’s third selecfion, the
candlelighting began. Each person in the
audience was given a torch to be lit.
Damiyon Sledge recited an excerpt from Dr.
King’s “I have a Dream” speech while
candles were being lit. Afterward the
audience joined in singing “We Shall Over
come,” led by Keith Richardson, a member
of King’s fraternity. Alpha Phi Alpha.
The ceremony ended at 8:05 p.m. as the
audience blew out the candles and exited the
building. Though the ceremony ended, the
flame of King’s legacy will continue to bum.
Candlelight Ceremony Speaker Johnathan Williams
-photo by Rich Harvey
Unveiling of the New MLK Drive
-photo by Rich Harvey
Dr. Anthony Brown is all smiles during the annual MLK March.
-photo by Rich Harvey