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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Click.

You've just raised taxes to fix a road.

Click click.

You're interviewing a panel of experts on the war in Iraq.

Another click.

You've just granted an applicant political asylum.

But you're not the ultimate multitasker; you're just pretending to do these things through Web sites that merge editorial content with interactive tools in innovative ways.

These tools, according to panelists at the Online News Association's 2003 Conference, have proven so popular readers spend a surprising amount of time exploring them.

"People are learning something more by doing than they are learning by 'hearing' us," said Jan Schaffer, executive director of University of Maryland's J-Lab, at a Friday session titled "Engaging Readers with Interactivity."

"And something very compelling is going on with these audiences," she added. "In many cases, they're coming back for more."

At the online sports databases created for the international news agency Agence France Presse, users spend up to 20 minutes at a time gathering information about favorite soccer teams, racecar drivers or Tour de France cyclists, said panelist Marlowe Hood, AFP's senior editor and project manager.

AFP, working with the French agency Art Movies, has designed interactive databases to stand alone as complete coverage of sporting events, Hood said. For this reason, the databases have "a lot of staying power," he added, and may remain posted on clients' Web sites well after the events have finished.

For example, the Tour de France database provided readers with real-time updates during the month-long cycling race, as well as reporter commentaries and stats on all the contestants.

PBS.org has discovered the staying power of interactive tools that allow visitors to role-play, said Amanda Hirsch, managing editor for PBS Interactive Learning.

At "Your Decision," visitors step into the shoes of an Immigration and Naturalization Service asylum officer and view footage of an interview with an actual applicant. "Your Coffee" helps readers decide how profits from their daily cup of coffee should be allocated to the growers in Guatemala, suppliers, traders, roasters and retailers.

Both score hits long after the airing of the related PBS television programs.

"It's a way to help more people get into international news, so they can follow it and understand the coverage," Hirsch said. "It's about connecting the dots: 'How does this thing that happens in Guatemala connect to me?'"

To help readers better understand current events, such as the war in Iraq or the Oscars, MSNBC.com created "The Big Picture," an interactive tool with video clips, polls, message posts and slide shows focused on one issue.

Although MSNBC.com strives for interactivity in all its stories, "The Big Picture" differs from daily content because it combines so many interactive tools in one package, said Angela Clark, deputy editor for interactive content and editorial research.

"The Big Picture" gathers information from users, too, even asking those who exit within 20 seconds why they did so. As MSNBC.com gathers comments from users, "The Big Picture" -- which initially took four weeks to build -- becomes easier to build and more effective, Clark said.

Though most panelists discussed tools created for one-time events or issues, they also emphasized these tools will one day be used in daily coverage.

"That's what we're shooting for," said Mark Briggs, new media editor/manager for The (Everett, Wash.) Herald. "And these are the first steps we're taking to get there."

Briggs demonstrated how readers downloaded and completed exercises that allowed them to "fix" traffic troubles or submit a design for a waterfront redevelopment. Ultimately, journalists at The Herald learned just as much from the readers with these exercises, Briggs said. "Dozens of new stories and sources appeared" when journalists read users' responses to the exercises, he added.

Though the panelists admitted the interactive tools can be time consuming to create and expensive, they offer "clues for the journalism of the future," Schaffer, the panel's moderator said.

"It's opening the door to entirely new storytelling models," she said.