Gary Price is a Web hero. He’s a mild-mannered librarian who helps tame the Internet for the rest of us. In a 2003 column, I praised his ResourceShelf.com as “the best way I know of to keep abreast of useful new online resources.”
Price and two of his fellow librarians have now created a way for journalists, researchers, and others to specifically track important documents: DocuTicker.com. Each day, reports and studies from government agencies, think tanks, nonprofits, academics, etc., are linked in blog format by Price, Steven Cohen, and Shirl Kennedy.
I knew there were all kinds of reports being generated every day, but I had no idea how stunning the range is. While no individual could possibly be interested in most of the stuff being put out, I have already found links to several useful reports and other documents there. The best way to make use of this resource is to scan it on a regular basis and to bookmark or print out reports that might come in handy. Of course, such reports come with inherent biases and distinct points of view, so they are most useful as starting points for further exploration.
Without vouching for the usefulness of any of the following, here are some recent reports linked on DocuTicker:
- Review of U.S. Marshals Service’s Prisoner Tracking System — Office of Inspector General, Department of Justice
- The Effect of Replacing Most Federal Taxes with a National Sales Tax: A State-by-State Analysis — Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
- No Day at the Beach: How the Bush Administration Is Eroding Coastal Protection — Sierra Club
- Several GAO reports on various government agencies, including the FBI and the Small Business Administration (I had missed the news that the GAO had changed its name from the General Accounting Office to the Government Accountability Office)
The postings are listed, typical blog style, in reverse chronological order.
DocuTicker is still in beta, but is already a good way to trigger story ideas and leads. My one suggestion to Price and pals as they move away from the beta version is to also introduce an archive by topic as well as by type of institution generating the reports.
Price and his crew continue to post other invaluable materials at ResourceShelf (including specialized databases), so be sure to sign up for the weekly mailing list that tells you what’s been added there.
YOUR TURN: Want to share a site you find useful? Please e-mail a SHORT tip, including your name, affiliation, city, and phone number (for verification only) to poynter@sree.net.
