Flip through the news channels on your Cable or Satellite system or even watch the news on regular TV such as NBC or the BBC and you are likely to see not just the reporter but their "work environment" commonly known as "the news room" filled with rolling tickers, big screen monitors, computers and people scurrying about. It gives one the impression that they are "on top" of everything that is going on in the world and that, there are many things happening all the time and all at once.  In essence, one is looking at cooks in a kitchen, taking all that raw material and working up properly proportioned delicacies while patrons relax on in their favorite lounge chairs.   It sums up well what news organizations do - gather information from as many resources as possible, vet them, reorganize, reformat and deliver, publish or present them.

Although we cannot fit the resources of the CNN Situation Room in our heads, we tend to do similar things in the face of the huge amount of information presented to us by the combined media especially the internet.  A news organization serves to make this activity easier and Sci Fi Studios Magazine is no different in that regard.  In our effort to put together our own "news room" of resources we relied not just on our own collection of information sites but those of the fans and even the "super fans," individuals who appear to be founts of knowledge without actually being insiders to the shows and celebrities they love.  The results are on going and the list featured in this issue covers a gamut of shows and celebrities.

Some of the links are very specific to particular shows and celebrities while others are more diverse.  Not all are that informative but, in the interest of keeping an eye on the big picture, they are necessary resources to check and cross check.  Some are standard forums and blogs while others are actual news sources.  A few are official or semi-official libraries that hold trivia about the show, book or celebrity. These include episode guides and detailed biographies.  In the end, the links are a road map to the information that fans can use to satisfy their thirst for knowledge.

We asked on our local forum as well as the sister forum on TrekUnited.com for people to tell us some of their favorite sites.  Some responded not just with specific links but important general resources such as Google and Yahoo.  Certainly, no one should discount the power of the search engines but it essentially adds an additional step for people, as they must subsequently wade through their search results for good links or links to places with the actual information they are looking for.   Internet Technology helps as the big sites include RSS (the acronym for the aptly named Really Simple Syndication protocol) feeds which gives us the ability to "pull" the information as soon as it is available.

The use of technology to gather information highlights an important distinction about that data itself - the case of actively looking for the data or getting it delivered to you.  Over the years talking to "super fans," it is clear that they actively seek out as much material as they can and even spend lots of money to do so.  The regular fan, on the other hand, will sometimes look up information but usually relies on the mainstream media or perhaps their ISP home page to deliver.  This includes newsletters or forum subscriptions sent to their inboxes based on their preferences.  It may not necessarily be comprehensive or up to the minute but it alleviates the need to search.

From time to time we will look at specific resources and provide reviews should you, the reader, wish to delve deeper into a story or expand your knowledge resources, perhaps with the goal of being a "super fan" as well.  Just as you might be able to see that the big screen behind the local news reporter is a feed from Reuters, you could easily decide to go there directly for the information.  This is what we are, in fact, encouraging people to do as it makes our readers better informed and better served.

In the future, these information sources will get more sophisticated in their ability to inform us.  Nevertheless, until that time we will rely on our fellow fans to keep us all "in the know" and give back to them what we uncover in our quest to build our ultimate, albeit virtual "Situation Room."

As part of the 40^th Anniversary of Star Trek celebrations, this first issue includes a review of williamshatner.com, a celebrity specific site with lively discussions and, sometimes, timely information about the star. If you have news and information links you would like to share, we encourage you to post them at our forum.