Tipsheet and audio CDs from the 2008 IRE Annual Conference in Miami (June 5-8) are now available from the IRE Resource Center. Orders can be placed online or by contacting the Resource Center (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org).

• 2008 IRE Tipsheet Collection - $15, plus $5 shipping
• 2008 IRE Conference Audio (mp3 format) - $20, plus $5 shipping

If you attended the conference in Miami, you may request one copy of the audio CD for just $5 (shipping). Attendees can also download individual audio files of conference panels. If you would like to place an order for these materials from outside the ... Read more ...

After more than four stellar years as our training director, David Donald is leaving IRE to oversee database operations for the Center for Public Integrity in Washington D.C. It's impossible to overstate what David has brought to our organization, and to the industry. David is a tremendous teacher who has spread the gospel of computer-assisted reporting and investigative reporting to thousands of journalists in the U.S. and throughout the world. On a personal note, my first few months in the job were made immeasurably smoother thanks to David's knowledge and guidance. That means that IRE is ... Read more ...

With the sad news about flooding in the Midwestern United States this week, the Database Library received more than a few requests for the National Inventory of Dams. Not only does this dataset list the name and location of all federally-inspected dams in the United States, it has information useful for journalists, including when, exactly the last inspection date was for each dam and whether the dam is near a populated area. More than a few good stories have come out of the dam data, which is still used for training purposes in IRE's computer-assisted reporting class. In 1995 ... Read more ...

Three years ago (in November 2005, to be exact, according to the Wayback Machine), Investigative Reporters and Editors updated the look and feel of its Web site from something resembling early Craig's list to something looking more like, well, this.

At the time, the site administrators, who no doubt had their hearts in the right place, put this thing on the main page:

Some people are probably looking at the image on this post, which is a snapshot from the old home page (pre-today), and a link to the even older page (pre-2006) and thinking nothing's wrong with ...

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He was one of the most influential and important people in the history of our organization. Click here to read tributes or share your own memories of the man remembered as IRE's godfather.

Add the official IRE and NICAR Facebook page to your profile. We have 324 fans at last count. The page is not intended to replace the functions of our Web site or other member communications, but it's one more way to personalize your profile, locate colleagues on Facebook and show your support for IRE.

You're looking at the first phase of our ongoing Web site redesign: a fresh look and improved navigation. We've also incorporated new blogs for www.ire.org and www.nicar.org to create an outlet for news updates, tips and tools, notes on investigative journalism and more. As you explore the new site, please keep in mind that we're still building and updating. When the move is finished, you'll notice that some pages still have the old site look. Some will be rebuilt as part of our ongoing upgrades, while others are considered part of the ... Read more ...