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Inline Skating Newsletter Article

Online Treasure Hunting

New search tools are making it easier to find information on the Internet. Here are recent discoveries that help me help you find paved trails, certified instructors, skate retailers and more.

MapMuse

Update 2/25/2006: MapMuse is no longer being maintained, but stay tuned, something to replace it is in the works!

MapMuse leads you to inline skating stores, trails, Rail-Trails, instructors and clubs in the US. Just check off what you want it to find and specify the general location.

After the search, you won’t see icons on the map unless you choose a specific City, State or Zip. Once the map displays, you can zoom in or out or pan east, west, north or south until icons appear. Hover your mouse pointer over the icons to see details and links.

Test Drive: On MapMuse, select your interest(s), then type your location into the City and State or Zip field. When a map displays, pass your mouse pointer over the confirmation box on top to remove it and get started. Then either drag a box to select a smaller area on the map or keep playing with zoom and pan until you find your treasure.

Refer to the helpful hints below the map in red text for better results. Note that the icons can be layered one on top of the other, hiding the full findings. When that happens, simply zoom in for a better look or deselect from the interests list.

Google Local

I stumbled upon Google Local (http://local.google.com/) while attempting to help a non-US beginning skater who was planning a trip to the Los Angeles area to buy well-made skates. Since then, I’ve used this tool to map and get driving directions for all sorts of local services simply by keeping my town and state in the location field. Here are the results of a search for skate shops in Miami, FL.

Test Drive: Enter "roller skating rinks" and "Houston, TX" (or your town). A list and its associated map will soon display in your browser. You can zoom out on the map to see results for a wider area. The lettered circles on the map match the index of results listed to the left. Click References to see what web sites refer to any given listing. At the bottom of the results page, click on the results page numbers to find more listings.

Roller Rink Locator

Whether you are into figure skating, in-line hockey or just need an indoors place to skate during bad weather, you can streamline your search for roller rinks by using this useful search tool kept up to date by Roller Skating Association (RSA) International. You will find rinks that are owned by members of this trade association formed in 1937 to represent skating center owners and operators; teachers, coaches and judges of roller skating; and manufacturers and suppliers of roller skating equipment.

http://www.rollerskating.com/associations/2011/skatesearch.cfm

Comments or questions? Ask Liz