IRE’s Role in a National Data Catalog
July 15th, 2009 | Published in Data, IRE
The folks at Sunlight today announced an effort to build a catalog for national and state datasets, going beyond what Data.gov is doing at the federal level. It’s a worthy effort, and as Clay Johnson notes in the blog post, they’re inviting participation because they are definitely going to need the help. I say that not to denigrate the good folks there, but because the universe of data is so varied that it makes Data.gov’s organizational system look like the Library of Congress.
That’s where Investigative Reporters and Editors can help, I believe. For those who read this site and don’t know of it, IRE and its volunteers have made the difference in my career. I’ve learned computer-assisted reporting skills from its bootcamps, training sessions and conferences, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to listen to and benefit from the experiences of people far more talented than I am. And I think the organization can help in this effort in ways that can boost both the catalog and IRE.
First, IRE has maintained a data library for years. It contains mostly federal datasets that IRE employees and interns have obtained and cleaned up so that it could be used by news organizations. They’ve provided training and help with analysis for stories. They know this data, and could be a valuable resource to those people, whatever their background, trying to understand and use it. Second, IRE members have a ton of experience working with data at the national, state and local levels, and they could help in a number of ways. At the most basic level, they could suggest datasets for the catalog, and maybe describe them or point to stories done with them so that people could get a sense of what the possibilities are. Or they could contribute data that they’ve obtained but no longer have a competitive reason to maintain (maybe donating via IRE).
Building a National Data Catalog shouldn’t involve reinventing the wheel, not when there’s a lot of expertise out there to tap. Sunlight and IRE should find a way to work together on this project.