February 22, 2011
Disaster news prep: Google Person Finder
When a disaster strikes, the first thing that people usually want to know is: Where are the people I care about? Some news organizations step up to this task with forum or bulletin-board style tools. But there’s another option from Google that might be easier to implement and even more useful: Person Finder.
Google just launched the Christchurch Person Finder to help locate people affected by the recent New Zealand earthquake. This is a web application (“web app”)—an interactive, task-focused service that’s delivered via a web browser. It allows users to search for, or provide information about, specific people in the affected region.
This tool is based on Google Person Finder, a free searchable missing person database toolset. It’s open source software running on the Google App Engine platform, and it’s available in several languages.
A few key advantages of this approach:
- Mobile friendly. Person Finder works well and quickly, even on feature phones with low-bandwidth connections—a key consideration in disaster-stricken region, since limited cell access is often the first communication system to get running after a disaster.
- Widget/gadget. People can generate a widget version of your person finder, which can be embedded on any web site—thus increasing its visibility and reach. You can also add it to your site as a Google Gadget.
- Google may build it for you, which saves time and effort—and which may help avoid public confusion. (Explained below).
According to the FAQ for this toolset, “Google engineers built Google Person Finder in response to the January 2010 Haiti earthquake in order to help those affected by the earthquake connect with their loved ones. In 2005, during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, multiple websites created missing person registries, so families and aid workers had to search in multiple places when looking for information. Google Person Finder addresses this problem by accepting data from other registries in a common format and searching over all the data.”
How to get started: It’s possible to roll your own Person Finder by cloning this tool’s open source code base and running your own instance of it. If you want to brand this service with your news organization, this is what you’d have to do.
However, a good first step (especially in an emergency situation) is to ask Google to generate an instance of Person Finder related to your disaster. E-mail your request to the Person Finder Google group. Google can set it up in a few hours, and then you can simply add it to your site. This approach make this service more visible and reduces the work required by your developers. It won’t have your branding, but the public goodwill this type of effort can generate in an emergency may prove more valuable.
The News for Digital Journalists blog is made possible by a grant to USC Annenberg from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Comments (3) • Permalink • Tell-a-Friend
Tags: communities, community news, tools, disasters
Comments
Today Google have so much different and useful options that I’m know not all them. I think that you can find resume online for reading more information about it.
By Annabelle, 02/24/11 at 1:05 am
Google Person Finder
By hoboking, 02/28/11 at 4:36 am
very interesting
By crosspstross, 02/28/11 at 6:14 am
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