CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: SOUTHEAST MISSOURIAN TAKES FIRST STEPS INTO CYBERSPACE (COLUMN 35)

Cybertip: At www.semissourian.com you'll find a special online subscription offer just for Internet users. We're also giving away 20 Random Acts of Kindness books online. Check it out.

It's official. SEMissourian.com, the official web site of the Southeast Missourian, has launched into cyberspace.

We've talked about it in general terms for about two years, and we've really pushed it for a year.

The web site represents about four months of construction by a team of six people: Joni Adams, Peggy Scott, Teresa Connell, Darren McGaha, Dennis O'Shields and Lou Peukert.

Today's column is unique in that we'll only visit one web site:

http://www.semissourian.com

Please bookmark now and visit it often.

We're going to take a few minutes to introduce you to the finer points of our web site. In all, it approaches 400 pages. Sit back and take your time. You could spend all day or night perusing the entire site.

Peggy: When we started thinking about what we wanted our web site to do, we looked a lot of other newspapers.

Joni: The problem is a lot of those papers have large online staffs, big budgets or they stink. We have no full-time online staffers. Much of the work is a labor of love for those involved.

Peggy: Our site differs from most newspapers because we chose not to put up all of our daily news. Instead, we focused on niche features.

Joni: Since we felt most of our users would be from Southeast Missouri or Southern Illinois, we didn't feel it fair to subscribers to put up our entire newspaper.

Peggy: We do have the top news story of the day, but our real calling cards are Rush Limbaugh, Random Acts of Kindness, Escape to Cape, Resource Room and of course, Click and Double Click.

Joni: We're especially proud of the Rush Limbaugh pages. We expect a lot of traffic. Rush doesn't have his own site, and we have the most comprehensive Rush site on the World Wide Web. We know. We've investigated.

Peggy: Rush's mom, Millie, lives in Cape Girardeau. She's a delightful woman and you can get to know and love her on our web site.

Joni: You can hear her voice and find out where Rush got his sense of humor. You can also take the "Are You a Dittohead" interactive trivia quiz. All the clues can be found somewhere on our extensive Rush site.

Peggy: We have the Rush hometown tour online as well as family photos, tales from old pals, family trees and statistics.

Joni: We have information on his radio show, Limbaugh Letter and books. In the next week, we hope to have a Rush Limbaugh postcard working. In fact, it will be part of an online cardshop with over 100 e-mail cards.

Peggy: We have the largest Random Acts of Kindness site in the world, even bigger than the national foundation. We're gearing up for the week to begin May 11. You e-mail us with stories of kindness. You can e-mail for a free information packet, or register for a free Random Acts of Kindness book. We're giving away 20 online in the coming weeks.

Joni: In our Escape to Cape area, you can take the Great Mural Tour or learn why we're called the City of Roses. You can find out about other famous people from Cape Girardeau and the region.

Peggy: Our Kid's Room is packed with fun and safe links. In addition, learn ways to use the newspaper for education and fun. It includes ideas for teachers, parents and kids.

Joni: Our Resource Room features more than 100 links to top-notch web sites. Our links are different because we've included a paragraph of information on each site. In this way, you'll know just what you'll find when you get there.

Peggy: You can find one of our most popular newspaper features online: Speak Out. The online topic will change every few days. You can also read the archives of Speak Out from the newspaper.

Joni: Our daily Page 2 columnists have entered cyberspace. Each day, a different writer is featured, but you can access an archive of their columns online. You can also e-mail them from our site.

Peggy: The best news of all is that Click and Double Click is available online anytime of day or night with live links to the sites we visit.

Joni: We also have an archive of sites we've visited since the first of the year, in case you missed a week.

Peggy: In the coming days, we'll be adding the Refrigerator Door. You can e-mail us photos, schedules, calendars, artwork from your kids -- anything that might be posted on your refrigerator door at home. We'll post it on our virtual frig. If you don't have a scanner, we'll scan photos or artwork free of charge at the newspaper.

Joni: Another unique part of the Refrigerator Door is the Pat on the Back section. This is a place to thank, praise or congratulate people for all the world to see.

Peggy: Our site differs from many other newspaper sites in another way. We offer local advertising in banners at the top of the pages, coupons and an online business directory.

Joni: A mix of businesses with and without web experience will be featured at the top of each and every page of our site. Be sure to click on them to see what they're doing on the web. We feel this banner advertising offers them local and worldwide exposure. The coupons will be helpful because you can print them out at home whenever you want. No more lost coupons or bad expiration dates. The business directory will offer convenience. No more fumbling for phone books.

Peggy: Next month, we'll be adding online classifieds. You'll be able to search both classifieds locally and in more than 30 papers across the nation.

Joni: We're still working the bugs out of our web site, and would appreciate any feedback. We won't do our big splash until May. We also hope to sponsor some large and small group community education forums about the Internet in May. If you have suggestions about times and places, let us know.

Peggy: What's your favorite newspaper web site? (Hint: SEMissourian.com.) E-mail us at clicksemissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

~Joni Adams is managing editor, and Peggy Scott is graphics editor at the Southeast Missourian.