This is where authors Eva Lang and Jan David Tudor come into the picture. In their just-released second edition of Best Websites for Financial Professionals, Business Appraisers, and Accountants, Lang and Tudor sort the good Web sites from the bad in a concise and easy-to-use format.

To learn more about this edition, SmartPros went straight to the source and interviewed Lang, a nationally recognized expert on electronic research, to tap her thoughts on the plethora of resources now on the Web. Lang told us how and why the second edition differs from the 2001 edition, and also outlined some of her favorite free and fee-based sites.

SmartPros: It has been two years since the first edition of Best Websites was published. After assembling the best resources available in 2003, what are the greatest differences between the two editions?

Lang: The major trend that we have observed is the shift from free to fee-based sites. Back in 2000 there was still the dot-com boom. What we have seen is a real struggle of the Web sites to come up with a site that makes sense. In some ways that can be a benefit. For example, information services that are now Web-based like Lexus were always fee-based, but you had to [subscribe to the site]. Now there is an emphasis on pay-as-you-go (paying for the content you need). That has been a positive shift.

Another change we've noticed is that search engines are getting better. Google has raised the bar because of the highly relevant results we're getting from Google. There are other engines out there, but another concern is we've seen the rise of sponsored links and paid-for-placement search results. I have no problem with engines that use sponsored links as long as they are clearly identified.

We have added three new chapters and expanded other chapters: Public Records; Portals and Vortals; and Market Data. We maintained First and Foremost and Best of the Rest. In Market Data we used a different approach: both Jan and I are primarily in business valuation and we got a  lot of requests from business appraisers who wanted data grouped by "betas" or "interest rates".

SmartPros: Many Web sites have disappeared since the first edition of your book. Did the Internet crash affect at all how you compiled this book and/or how you measured the resources against one another?

Lang: The universe of sites was different, [but] not necessarily smaller. We looked at what had changed and what had gone away, then added new sites from the ones we had in the last book. The dot-com bust. Some financial sites got stronger and put more funds toward content and some went away completely. There are a lot of good sites that have come up and worked since the dot-com bust. We have different, not fewer, sites. The tax and accounting sites were still there. [When Arthur Andersen folded, it] removed an excellent source of accounting content from the Web.

SmartPros: In your last book you highlighted various tax and accounting Web sites, which included the Big Five, government agencies, and portals. There have been some changes in the tax and accounting world that warrant an update to this section in the second edition. And many portals have redesigned their sites as well as their missions. How did these changes impact the value of tax and accounting resources?

Lang: There is a common theme in tax and accounting in that there is no such thing as a free lunch on the Internet. RIA and CCH charge [for content] but have maintained the good information. Solid sites continue to be solid.

SmartPros: What Web site would you recommend first when talking to an accountant? a CFO?  

Lang: It would depend on what they are looking for. For current awareness of the accounting world, [turn to] AccountingWeb, Electronic Accountant [now WebCPA], and SmartPros. CFO.com does a good job of providing free information and articles. In terms of journals, the Journal of Accountancy and CPA Journal (NYSSCPA) are available online.

SmartPros: Aside from news updates, salary and career information tend to be the most general topic searches on the Web. What salary/compensation site(s) did you find most valuable to the financial professional?

Lang: There is a ton of salary info out there. Typically you will find compensation data is either put out by consulting firms, government agencies or trade associations. If you're Human Resources and in a situation where you need to make compensation decisions, you might look at consulting sites (Abbott, Watson Wyatt). If you're looking in a particular industry, the trade association data is very good.

Career Journal by the The Wall Street Journal [has] good articles that address a particular profession. They also pull out from trade journals information salary data. WSJ has blazed the trail for paid access, Web-only content.

SmartPros: As mentioned earlier, a current trend is for Web sites that were once free to convert their readers to paid subscribers. In your first edition you said those sites offering content for free were more desirable in your view. Does this hold true given this new "fee" trend?

Lang: If the content is the same, I'd go to the free site. In terms of other fee-based resources, you can't really make an apples-apples comparison. Increasingly, fee-based sites provide value-added services.

SmartPros: Is there a particular site you tell everyone about?

Lang: The Wall Street Journal Online. If they have to pay for one, The Wall Street Journal Online has a lot to offer. For a search engine, Google.

SmartPros: Do you have anything to add to our discussion today?

Lang: We're excited about the expansion of the book and we think it will be a valuble edition to an accountant's bookshelf.

Don't miss Top Tax and Accounting Web Sites excerpted from Lang's book.

Purchase or learn more about Best Websites for Financial Professionals, Business Appraisers, and Accountants.  Buy now to save 15%. Enter code W4448 in the discount information field on the online order form and then click the apply button to calculate the discount. [Expires April 30, 2004. Other restrictions may apply.]