This tutorial assumes:

• You’ve created an account on GeoCommons [3]
• You know how to unzip files
• You know how to delete columns in a spreadsheet, filter records and write basic formulas for subtraction and percent change

Making interactive maps on deadline has been a longtime goal of mine since taking over as Database Editor for The Oklahoman in late 2007.

Interactive maps are a worthwhile addition to our online coverage. But many times the payoff after coordination and fact-checking among departments isn't worth the pain and frustration for a one-person data shop like ours.

In an era of ...

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From plane parts cracking to air traffic controllers snoozing, there's plenty to investigate in the aviation industry. Join NPR's Robert Benincasa to learn about tools that can help you better cover the ever-growing issues in the sky. Learn how to expore the web to track down an aircraft's history, problems with particular aircraft models and much more. This webinar is free to IRE members and will begin April 19 at 3 p.m. (Eastern), 2 p.m. (Central), 1 p.m. (Mountain) and 12 p.m. (Pacific). Benicasa will highlight the FAA's Air Traffic Activity System ... Read more ...

Investigative Reporters and Editors has produced, gathered and organized a wealth of resources for mining census data. New Census 2010 data will be released on a rolling basis through the summer. American Community Survey census data comes out every year now, down to the tract level. Here’s a sample of the tools to help IRE members with background, story ideas, data and more: Census panels at the CAR Conference Join us Feb. 24-27 in Raleigh, N.C., for the annual Computer-Assisting Reporting Conference. This year, we’re offering a variety of census training. Get story ideas to cover the ... Read more ...

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After 12 months of reporting, the Center for Public Integrity reached some troubling conclusions about how some colleges and universities collect and report sexual assault statistics, and how sexual assault cases are handled through the campus judicial system. The Center's Kristen Lombardi and David Donald recently spoke about this project and how you can conduct a similar investigation in a one-hour IRE webinar. Download a free recording of this session here.

(Important: Adobe Media player and Adobe Flash player are required to view this recording. Both are free. Instructions for downloading these players and the recording can be found ...

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Join Kristen Lombardi and David Donald of The Center for Public Integrity in a one-hour webinar that will help you understand how to investigate the ways colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault. This session is free but space is limited. To register please send an email to campus@ire.org. After 12 months of reporting, the Center has reached some troubling conclusions about how some colleges and universities collect and report sexual assault statistics, and how sexual assault cases are adjudicated in the campus judicial system. You'll learn how to make sense of federal mandatory crime data ... Read more ...