Every August, a tide of new students arrives at the many institutions of higher learning in the Buffalo area. Towing U-Hauls, these intrepid immigrants rent apartments, sample the night life, intern at local firms and organizations, experiment with activism, fall in love, and sometimes put down permanent roots.

It’s easy to find information online about Buffalo’s entertainment and shopping possibilities, so this month’s column is devoted to education and research-oriented websites, URLs that every incoming undergraduate, graduate student, or faculty member should bookmark for future reference.

http://www.rin.buffalo.edu/
Western New York Regional Information Network (RIN)
RIN is the ultimate guide to nonprofit Western New York. Sponsored by the University at Buffalo’s Institute for Local Governance and Regional Growth, RIN is a directory of government agencies, public services, health and human service organizations, cultural organizations, economic development agencies, and much more. Covering the eight counties of Western NY, RIN has four pull-down menus to help you navigate the site. Use RIN, for example, to find a child care provider; a list of marinas; the names of public officials in every municipality; a list of all courts; plus maps, demographics, news, weather, job links, etc. If the pull-down menus don’t help, use the RIN search engine to find what you’re after.

http://lepac1.brodart.com/search/yr/
Western New York Net (WNYNet)
Time to break the bad news to computer-centric students: it is not possible to do all of your research on the internet. Why? Because, as I always say, The Past Is Not Online. This means going to the library and using print--you know, books, periodicals, and maybe microform. Enter WNYNet (we librarians pronounce it winnie-net), a service of the Western New York Regional Library Resources Council. WNYNet is the combined online card catalogs of about 600 of public, college, school, hospital, corporate, and museum libraries in Western New York into one huge, searchable database. Since not every library can own every book or journal, consult WNYNet when your college or neighborhood library lacks a publication you desperately need and you’ll find out if another library in town owns it. One warning about WNYNet: it is updated only once a year, so this year’s bestsellers probably aren’t listed.

http://intotem.buffnet.net/bhw/
Buffalo History Works
What’s the best way to get grounded in an unfamiliar new city? Your humble columnist, herself a transplant, recommends delving in to its history. Consider just one fact: in 1900, Buffalo supposedly had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the US. Having suffered a traumatic collapse of our manufacturing economy, we are now one of the poorest cities in the US. Buffalo has become a city of contrasts: astonishing Victorian elegance next to painful post-industrial deterioration. To understand Buffalo’s historical importance, visit the Buffalo History Works site. You will find beautifully illustrated articles about the Erie Canal and the lurid Canal District; Lincoln in Buffalo; the Pan-American Exposition; the grain elevators, the New York Central Terminal; the Buffalo lighthouse, and more. Check out the Photograph page for some cool vintage pictures of our beloved city. Then go–in person–to the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society or the Special Collections Department of the Central Library to experience their vast, authentic, offline artifacts and collections. Because the past is not online.