Public Records & Investigation Blog

"This blog," the site says, "will mostly provide information about conducting your own investigation, where to find public records and legislative news and information about access to public records."

Free annual reports

AnnualReports.com boasts that it offers “the most complete and up-to-date listings of annual reports on the internet.” And it’s free.

Boat Manufacturers Identification Code Database

The U.S. Coast Guard "maintains a searchable database of all recreational boat manufacturers in the United States and U.S. importers of recreational boats. It gives you fast access to information including the company name, address, phone number, and operating status."

Farmers markets listed by state

This map by the U.S. Department of Agriculture lets you look up farmers markets by state.

Newsthinking

Keith Stone recommends Newsthinking, which is “Dedicated to the proposition that there are only two kinds of journalists: bad ones, and those who are improving.” It’s by writer and editor Bob Baker, the author of a book by the same name. The site offers advice on how to be a better journalist, including sections on “How I wrote the story,” “Organizing Leads,” “Sweat the small stuff,” “Writing with style,” “Enterprise” and “The kitchen sink.”

Has Google Earth become a standard?

If this Information Week article (“Google Earth Catches On In The Business World”) is to be believed, Google Earth is becoming the de-facto standard for serving geographic information. “Google Earth is becoming a sort of home page for geospatial data and related files,” the article says. “Just as the desktop and the Web browser are starting points in virtual space, Google Earth represents a convenient organizational metaphor for projects that extend from cyberspace to physical space.” The article notes that Google refuses to say exactly who is using it, but the company claims that “Google Earth is widely used by state and federal agencies involved with the environment, space research, land management projects, homeland security, and defense intelligence.”

ListMixer temporarily tracks Web pages

ListMixer says it “is an easy way to track web pages that momentarily hold your interest. It's handy for tracking blog comments or for pooling timely web pages among friends. No account is required. Really.”

Finding books with the help of like-minded readers

At StoryCode.com readers share their thoughts on the books they're reading. The site then recommends books submitted by others with similar interests and tastes.

Terrorism law and policy

Jurist, a Web site that offers legal news and research materials, has a page devoted terrorism law and policy.

Railroad accident and incident data

The Federal Railroad Administration's Office of Safety Analysis provides data on accidents and incidents involving railroads and rail crossings.You can, for example, get an overview of all railroad accidents or incidents in a region or state. Kentucky had 229 accidents or other incidents in 2005, resulting in 13 fatalities. Indiana had 417 accidents or incidents, and 35 fatalities.

Occupational Hazards E-News

Occupational Hazards E-News: "is a free, weekly electronic newsletter that covers the most current news and events in the occupational safety and health community."

Huge List of Adobe Photoshop Tutorial Sites, Directories, & Search Engines

Here.

How Taylor Branch uses Microsoft Access to write

I was reading an article by Garry Wills in The New York Review of Books about Taylor Branch, the author of three books on Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, when I became intrigued by his mention of Branch's working methods:

It is amazing how Branch can marshal so much material along so many tracks, moving it ahead stage by stage in coordination with King's actions. Then I saw Branch in a three-hour television interview with C-SPAN and learned part of his secret. He showed the interviewer his computer with its expertly programmed chronological record of all the information he had acquired from so many sources—over 17,000 items arranged year by year, day by day. The book probably could not have been written —surely not in so relatively short a time—without the computer.

That prompted me to look up the C-SPAN program itself online. It turns out Branch uses Microsoft Access to organize his research in what he calls "a notecard system." He has one database table that contains a bibliography, with a code to identify each of the 1,088 books he consulted, and another table that contains a chronology summarizing his research, from 960 BCE, when Solomon completed the First Temple, to the 1960s.

If you want to see for yourself but don't want to watch the entire three hour C-SPAN broadcast, the segment in which Branch shows his working methods begins about 1 hour, 18 minutes and 50 seconds into the show. Just let the Real Player file download a while, then you can go directly to that segment by fast forwarding to the appropriate place.

Bill Gates' stock trading

While we're on the subject of Google and Yahoo!'s finance pages, take a look at Bill Gates' trading history. Digg discusses it here.

Best performing cities

The Milken Institute, a non-profit economic think tank, ranks the 200 "best performing cities." It also provides a summary of the data used to make the rankings. Louisville ranked 151st in 2005.

Child welfare data

The National Data Analysis System from the Child Welfare League of America provides state-by-state information on child welfare, including adoption, child abuse and neglect, child care, children's health and juvenile justice. You can create your own customized reports, get state profiles and examine trends over time.

Technorati search added to Depth Reporting

I've added a search box to the Depth Reporting home page, courtesy of Technorati. You can use to search for old posts on the site.

Google Finance

While I was on vacation last week Google unveiled Google Finance, which offers news and data about stocks, mutual funds and public and private companies. Most of the reviews I've read don't seem to think it much of an improvement over Yahoo! Finance:

• Google Finance Disappoints
• Google unleashes Google Finance
• Google Finance debuts to mixed reviews
• Google.Portal.Finance Launches
• Google Finance: Nice charts, but users won’t switch quickly
• Early Reviews Are In For Google Finance
• Why Google Finance Makes Me Sad
• Google Fails to Innovate in the Finance Vertical

The most interesting thing to note from a journalist's point of view is that they're going to have real people police their message boards. In other words, editors -- which puts a lie to the claim that algorithms can replace synapses.

Vacation

I'm taking a vacation this week so there will be no new posts. See you next.

Psychology of Intelligence Analysis

The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis is a 1999 book written for the CIA that summarizes research into how people think. The author, Richards J. Heuer Jr., writes in the preface:

The articles are based on reviewing cognitive psychology literature concerning how people process information to make judgments on incomplete and ambiguous information. I selected the experiments and findings that seem most relevant to intelligence analysis and most in need of communication to intelligence analysts. I then translated the technical reports into language that intelligence analysts can understand and interpreted the relevance of these findings to the problems intelligence analysts face.

It's one of a number of books and monographs the CIA publishes for free online.

How to bypass voicemail and get a human being on the phone

The gethuman database explains secret ways to bypass voicemail at all kinds of companies. The site explains that its goal is to "improve the quality of customer service and phone support in the US." "We will soon publish a list of the best and worst mass-market consumer companies in the US based on how long it takes to get to a human on the phone and on the quality of support received," it says. They are tapping into a universal longing, judging by the media attention they've received.

How to restore media credibility in science and health coverage

The suggestions come from a STATS contributor. They're an excerpt from a discussion hosted by the Financial Times on whether the old media should embrace the new.

TravMatix: Driving Directions with Trip Planning

TravMatix claims to be "The only website that offers personalized travel information, exit by exit":

What's ahead? We'll tell you! No need to wish you could find your favorite hotel or restaurant. We'll tell you for every exit along your way. Even down to details like where to find a buffet, indoor pool, pet friendly hotels, hospitals, baby changing tables, and much more. All the information you wished was available-now is.

Hurricane Digital Memory Bank

The Hurricane Digital Memory Bank uses "uses electronic media to collect, preserve, and present the stories and digital record of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma." "We hope to foster some positive legacies by allowing the people affected by these storms to tell their stories in their own words, which as part of the historical record will remain accessible to a wide audience for generations to come," says the site, which was created by George Mason University's Center for History and New Media, the University of New Orleans and other partners.

Face recognition photo search

Riya wants to use "face recognition technology" that "automatically tags people in photos so you can search for just the photo you want." "We started this company after realizing that we had 1000's of digital photos on our computer all labeled DSC0009.jpg, that our friends just never remembered to send us the photos we wanted from them, and that searching for images on the web just doesn't work very well," the founders say. They want to engage their "charter" users in a "conversation" about how it will work. I gave it a try and got almost no results for searches on such things as "vacation," "children" and "dog," so I guess they mean it when they say it's beta.

Does Anyone Still Say 'Computer-Assisted Reporting'?

Poynteronline's E-Media Tidbits blog asks, "Does Anyone Still Say 'Computer-Assisted Reporting'?" I've added my take there.

Surveys as open heart surgery

The Social Science Statistics Blog says doing a survey requires as much expertise as doing open heart surgery or flying military aircraft:

Survey research is not easy; in fact, its a miracle it works at all. Think about it this way. When was the last time you had a misunderstanding with your spouse, a miscommunication with your parent or child, or your colleague thought you were saying one thing and you meant another? That's right: you've known these people for decades and your questions are still misunderstood. When was the last time your carefully worded, and extensively rewritten article or book was misunderstood? This happens all the time. And yet you think you can walk into someone's home you've never met, or do a cold call on the phone, and in five minutes elicit their inner thoughts without error? Its hard to imagine a more arrogant, unjustified assumption.

Something to remember next time you read about one, write about one or try to do one.

Charity telemarketing and social network analysis

The Orange County Register used social network analysis software called UCINET and Macromedia Flash to illustrate the connections between charity fundraisers and an imprisoned telemarketing fraudster.

How to find hidden dockets

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, in its magazine, The News Media & The Law, explains how to use the federal court's computer system to find hidden dockets. Its story, Disappearing dockets, says that during the past five years, "469 cases in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., have been prosecuted and tried in complete secrecy, with no public knowledge even of the cases' existence and no way for the public to challenge the secrecy." "The incomplete public dockets raise important public policy concerns about openness to court proceedings, an attribute of English and American trials for centuries," the article said.

Is journalism like making beer?

The Economist reviews a book it says claims "JOURNALISM is like making beer. ... Without formal training and using cheap equipment, almost anyone can do it." The book, An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths, is by a University of Tennessee law professor who also blogs at Instapundit.com.

Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body

Visible Proofs from the U.S. National Library of Medicine offers online exhibits, galleries and lessons on the history of forensic medicine. "Over the centuries, physicians, surgeons, and other professionals have struggled to develop scientific methods that translate views of bodies and body parts into 'visible proofs' that can persuade judges, juries, and the public," the site says.

IntraText Digital Library

The IntraText Digital Library offers "religious, philosophical, literary, and scientific texts in more than 30 languages." Each text offers a heavily hyperlinked concordance for the serious scholar.

Online Journalism Blog

The Online Journalism Blog, by British journalist Paul Birmingham, writes about "online journalism, citizen journalism, blogging, podcasts, vodcasts, interactive storytelling, publishing, Computer Assisted Reporting, searching and all things internet."

Public records for business research

The American Library Association offers a basic primer on using public records for business research.

Newsvine.com

Newsvine is a slick and apparently well-financed site that advertises itself as "A place where anyone can read, write, and influence the news":

If you're just into reading, you'll find thousands of Associated Press articles posted and indexed faster than any site on the web. If you'd like to discuss the news, you'll find places to chat and comment within every article. If you'd like to write your own column - and collect ad revenue from it - Newsvine will publish it for you. And finally, if you'd like to create your own public trail of interesting stories you've read around the web, seeding Newsvine is for you.

The Online Journalism Review wrote about its beta version last month. And here's Cyberjournalist.net's take on its debut.

Video game teaches journalism

They use software to teach soldiers how to kill, so why not a computer game to teach students how to do journalism:

To teach fact-finding skills, professors at the University of Minnesota have turned the fantasy computer game Neverwinter Nights into a tool for journalism students. Instead of slaying monsters and gathering gold, the players tackle sources and gather information.

Greatreporter.com

Greatreporter.com: "showcases and syndicates the work of veteran and newly-starting professional reporters and photographers across the world":

As a student, recent graduate or freelancer, starting out is more often than not a gruelling marathon - even if you have the talent and ambition to get things moving from the start.

Usually, the only way in is to have a very impressive portfolio of previously published work as a freelancer, a minimum of two years' experience on a local or trade newspaper, website or TV/radio station (or a relative in a newsroom!) to even get a look in.

greatreporter.com has been created to help serious new reporters gain employment or make a living as freelancers by providing a respected platform for their work and providing advice from seasoned professionals.

Reporters are also encouraged to use greatreporter.com's discussion forum for networking and picking up leads, and to post their views about published articles.

The site's a subsidiary of a journalism syndication and PR company, Presswire Media Ltd. The founder, an Australian journalist, explains himself in an interview.

.

How to Make a Decision Using a Quantitative Scoring System

Read about it at wikiHow, "The How-To Manual That Anyone Can Write or Edit."

Nugget of the day: Average undergraduate tuition, room, and board, 4-year universities

Public:

• 1964-65: $6,238
• 2003-2004: $11,683

Private:

• 1964-65: $13,070
• 2003-2004: $32,859

* The original 1964-65 figures, $1,051 and $2,202 respectively, were recalculated in 2003 dollars. A footnote to the data also warns that because of changes in data collection procedures, current figures "are not entirely comparable with those for previous years."

Source: Digest of Education Statistics, 2004, http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/tables/dt04_313.asp

Data adjusted for inflation using the Bureau of Labor Statistics Inflation Calculator, http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

C-J Derby DataTrack

We've been plugging it in the newspaper and on the Web site since last week, but I haven't gotten around to plugging it here. Take a moment to check out C-J Derby DataTrack, where you can get all the data you've ever wanted to handicap more than 500 contenders for the Kentucky Derby. The CJ contracted with Leslie Huddleston, a native Kentuckian now living in Florida, to provide the data weekly until the first Saturday in May. Yours truly converted her spreadsheet of data into a searchable online database, where you can look up horses by name, sire, trainer, compare any two horses side-by-side, or find horses that match any of more than 50 factors. Huddleston collaborated with our racing writer, Jennie Rees, on the data, as well as a glossary that explains such esoterica as "Highest Dosage points in 'Classic' wing" and the "Top BRIS Speed Rating." You'll have to forgive us, though, for leaving out the most important winning factor of all: The color of a jockey's silks.

Should scholars (and newspapers) publish their data?

A writer on the Social Science Statistics Blog says "we are slowly coming in reach of universal data publication":

It is somewhat surprising that nowadays one can get all sorts of scholarly research off the web, except for the data that produced the results. Given that methods already exist to ensure that data remains proprietary and confidential, omitting the data from publication seems rather antiquated, unnecessary and counter-productive to scientific advance.

Newspapers, including my own, need to share the data they use to write stories more too -- for many of the same reasons.

The Great Buildings Collection

The Great Buildings Collection "documents a thousand buildings and hundreds of leading architects, with 3D models, photographic images and architectural drawings, commentaries, bibliographies, web links, and more." Louisville's proposed Museum Plaza is not yet among them, if it ever will be.

Free eBooks for PDAs and iPods

Manybooks.net offers more than 13,000 free electronic books for PDAs and iPods.

Can't Find On Google

Here's a site devoted to documenting what you Can't Find On Google:

Most of the time, you punch what you want to know into Google, and you instantly get what you're looking for. But have you ever had that experience, where you try query after query and no matter how hard you try, you just can't find what you're looking for? That's what this site is for -- because the things Google can't find is more interesting than the stuff Google can find.

Intelligent Agent blog

Intelligent Agent is a new blog from the editor of The Information Advisor that offers "news, conversation and analysis about business research on the Web."

Official Academy Awards database

The official Academy Awards Database, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, contains records of past Oscar winners and nominees.

Chemical dictionary

Chemnet offers a chemical dictionary with more than 300,000 entries.

Quicky wiki search engine

Qwika is "a search engine designed specifically to search wikis." A wiki, if you don't know, is a Web page anyone can edit, the most famous of which is the Wikipedia. Qwika claims to be better than the Wikipedia's own search.

Travel search site

Kayak.com is a travel search site. "Easily search over 100 sites for cheap airfare, discount hotels, and car rentals," the site promises.

Free dictionary of photography terms

Database maker askSam offers a dictionary of photography terms. You can use it online and they offer the option of downloading it to your computer and using their software or a free viewer to use it. Doing so "offers you more more power and flexibility than the on-line version," they say. They are also continually adding to their free collection of databases, which can be found on this page.

How to reply to email

Emailreplies.com "explains how to send effective email replies. It discusses why email etiquette is necessary, lists email etiquette rules, and explains how to enforce these rules by creating a company email policy":

It is amazing to find that in this day and age, some companies have still not realized how important their email communications are. Many companies send email replies late or not at all, or send replies that do not actually answer the questions you asked. If your company is able to deal professionally with email, this will provide your company with that all important competitive edge. Moreover by educating employees as to what can and cannot be said in an email, you can protect your company from awkward liability issues. This website discusses the main etiquette rules and provides advice on how employers can ensure that they are implemented.

The Best Blogging Newspapers (with large circulations)

New York University professor Jay Rosen and his journalism students pick The Best Blogging Newspapers in the U.S. (actually their pick of the best among the newspapers with the top 100 print circulation). Lots of good advice on how newspaper's should do blogging. Their top pick? The Houston Chronicle. "By a mile." And no, The Courier-Journal is not among them, but we will get better at this, I'm sure.

Convert Web pages, Excel and Word to PDF for free online

ExpressPDF is a free online service that lets you convert Web pages and Microsoft Word and Excel documents to PDF. I fed it sample Word and Excel documents and it worked as advertised. You upload your files to their server and they automatically email the PDF back to you. What they do with your original files, they don't say. Answers to your questions and its privacy policy "will be available soon," the site says.

Is your blogging putting your employer at risk?

Grace Schneider pointed me to this article from InsideIndianaBusiness.com, which says a study shows that "few employers are prepared for the potential risks" of blogging employees. It quotes a member of the Employment Law Alliance who says, "Blogging is now one of the most complex issues facing employers and, for many, an issue they are ill-prepared to face."

Picture search

Picsearch is an image search engine. It emphasizes its "family friendliness" because it says it reliably filters out all offensive images, making it safe for children to use.