The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. Add to that more than 3,000 tipsheets from our national conferences on how to cover specific beats or do specific stories and you have a resource that no reporter or editor should be without. These stories and tipsheets are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Logged-in members can view the tipsheets free online:
Search results for "large data" ...
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Taming monster datasets: The data specialist’s perspective
Doig gives tips on how to get huge data sets onto your computer and what tools to use on them.
Tags: SQL, SAS; .FTP; Ruby; large data sets
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Welcome to the world of data: Now what do you do? (T. Thompson Powerpoint)
Thompson gives her tips and examples on what to do after you get the data. She includes what to use Access for, what to use Excel for, what to use Google Maps for and much more.
Tags: data sets; large data; data resources, ideas
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Big data: How to think about it, prepare for it, and manage it
Lucas' Powerpoint presentation on how to tame big data sets.
Tags: data sets; large data
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What is big data, and where did it come from
When dealing with big data sets, use Lucas' tipsheet to help you tame it. She includes tips on how to prepare for big data sets and how to manage your analysis.
Tags: data sets; large data
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Jigsaw
Stasko's powerpoint describes Jigsaw - a program created to "help 'investigators' explore, analyze and understand large document collections." It helps to create connections between documents that help to shape/understand the larger story. Jigsaw provides multiple visualizations for the documents, entities and their connections.
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CAR after the disaster: FEMA, SBA and other data
This tipsheet is a good guide to investigating the government aid that generally follows large natural disasters. Specifically, Maines discusses his own experience investigating FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. He recommends various websites as a good starting point, and then offers advice for more detailed investigations. For example, Maines suggests comparing the FEMA database of funeral-related expenses to the number of deaths listed by the local medical examiner.
Tags: government aid; federal government; relief efforts; humanitarian aid; FEMA; computer assisted reporting; hurricanes
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Editing the big project
Erickson gives tips on how to edit a large project. He gives advice about how to work with your editor, how to make your work "pretty," and tips on nailing the lede and using the Web.
Tags: storytelling; general principles
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The majority minority: Black kids in adult prison
It is a well-known fact that African Americans are over represented in the US' prison system. But what is possibly even more amazing is the fact that a large percentage of those African Americans in adult prisons are also 18 or younger, and easily could have been sentenced to time in juvenile detention centers. This tipsheet gives basic steps to take to cover this phenomenon in your state.
Tags: None
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CAR-nal Knowledge: How an Editor Can Help Computer-Assisted Reporting
Griff Palmer of the San Jose Mercury News offers tips for editing and organizing a large data-heavy project.
Tags: editing; managing; organizing
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Tipsheet No: 805
This technical appendix to the Miami Herald's investigative series on Dade County's criminal justice system combines data from a variety of sources to gauge the effectiveness of the county's criminal courts and compare them to courts in other large urban areas.