Experts are those people who have shown skills and education in certain fields and have been accepted by peers. There are a number of things that can decide if indeed a person is an expert or not. The individual can assume the mantle of being an expert through a series of trainings, by experience, through his publications and even educations.
In the past, the expert is known as the sage or Sophos, known for wisdom and better judgment. The common thinking about the experts is that these are the people who have practiced and was educated long enough. It doesn’t mean that though than an expert is just the one that has attended university education for a long period of time. An expert can mean many things as long as he has shown experience and dedication in the field. AllExperts and Ploughshares Fund are examples of sources of potential expert thinking that can cover different categories and subjects.
In order to differentiate ordinary people from the experts, one must take into account the person’s expertise. There are different kinds of expertise, and this can be shown in ExpertPages . The expertise can be explained in two ways- academically and historically.
Under the academic approach, the expertise is constructed socially and the line of thinking is made using the participation of different individuals. The other approach in the academic way of defining expertise understands the process that the individual can come up with its own expertise by tapping into the environment.
There are also historical views when it comes to expertise. The expertise that can be associated to a person can be defined by his status in the society. This was the reason why the noble class then was considered the experts.
Until this time, the same principle applies. But this time around, the experts of today are those that have access to a body of knowledge that the ordinary people don’t have access to. Websites like ExpertSource and Yahoo Experts counts a number of experts that have access to resources that are not accessible for other types of people.
Sources for Journalists
- Google Search – Search Directory powered by google.com.
- Wikipedia – On-line psychic information available at wikipedia.
- OnlinePsychic.org – Free expert online psychic readings. OnlinePsychic.org offers free online psychic chat, online psychic readings, tarot readings and more psychic options which are updated daily.
- National Speakers Association – A free searchable database by location, keyword, topics, etc. NSA is a non-profit professional association with nearly 4,000 professional speakers. These speakers are well-spoken experts in wide variety of areas – perfect for thought-provoking interviews.
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – Updated news stories, analysis by experts and coordinates for analysts with direct e-mail and phone contact info.
- Expert Central – Similar to Profnet; search a free database of more than 4,000 expert sources.
- BusinessWire’s ExpertSource – Helps media secure authoritative analysis, insights and commentary from leading academic and industry experts.
- SourceWire.com – Similar to Profnet.com in finding “expert” sources for media stories. Some journalists say this service is faster.
- MediaResource Service – A science experts database tailored to journalists.
- Royal Society Media Directory – Look for British science experts.
- FACSNET – A great site with many kinds of resources. Search a free database of experts and other research tools for journalists and academics.
- Experts.com – A good experts database.
- Newswise.com – A deep experts database, covering several academic fields.
- Religionsource – This site allows journalists to find sources for their stories when religion intersects society on their beats. Journalists can log in and easily and quickly search a database for contact info, credentials and publications for about 5,000 religion scholars in more than 1,400 areas of expertise. The site is free and funded by a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts.
- AllExperts – The oldest & largest free Q&A service on the Internet.
- ExpertPages – Free access to hundreds of forensic evidence experts, alternative dispute resolution consultants, jury selection consultants, and more.
- Ploughshares Fund – Ploughshares Fund works to build a safe, secure, nuclear weapon-free world by developing and investing in initiatives to reduce and ultimately eliminate the world’s nuclear stockpiles.