Join IRE and NICAR in St. Louis for our annual conference devoted to computer-assisted reporting, Feb. 23-26, 2012, at the St. Louis Union Station Marriott. Come and learn about tools you need to dig deeper into stories and give readers, viewers and your online audience the information they're demanding.

By Kyle Deas
Graduate Student, University of Missouri

With spring sweeps here and the summer fast approaching, the enterprising broadcast reporter may be on the lookout for ways to make a splash. Here are a few ideas and resources for investigative stories with high public interest and a quick turnaround.

We've had a busy spring in the Database Library. Here's a brief rundown of some of the data sets we've updated that can help you better cover your community.

Thousands of people will head to water spots for boating recreation during the Memorial Day weekend. Few states require any additional licenses for boating.

High school seniors are deciding what college to attend this fall. The Department of Education tallies all crimes reported on local campuses for comparison and research.

Join IRE and NICAR in Raleigh, N.C., for the 2011 Computer-Assisted Reporting Conference. This year's conference will be held Feb. 24-27 at the Raleigh Marriot City Center and is hosted by Duke University.

The most recent Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data released illustrate the great changes that have impacted the U.S. housing market. Stories covering housing and the subprime mortgage crisis have been hot since the bubble began to burst. What's going on in your community? Use this data to find trends and stories about the state of the housing market in your neck of the woods. For calendar year 2006 more than 34 million loan records were reported in HMDA. That number dropped by about half, to approximately 17 million loan records in the 2008 calendar year.

IRE training director Jaimi Dowdell and NICAR academic adviser David Herzog have assumed responsibilities for the IRE and NICAR Database Library. Like many companies and nonprofits, IRE has seen a drop in revenue this year. As a result, we were forced to cut expenses. As part of that reduction, we eliminated funding for the Database Library director position.

Possibly the most venerable tool in investigative reporting is campaign cash. "Follow the money" is not only an axiom in the journalism trade but a reminder of the historic events that motivated many of us to become reporters in the first place. Since its inception, IRE and NICAR's Database Library has collected electronic campaign data from the Federal Elections Commission, cleaned it up and made it available to members for a modest fee. Continuing that tradition, we have today added the 2010 election cycle data to the collection.

The Red River in Fargo, N.D., has reached record heights and is still rising. IRE has compiled a list of resources to help you cover this flood, localize the story for your area and assess whether your community is prepared for a similar disaster.

The NICAR Database Library has updated two key datasets in our collection – both of which are, quite frankly, a challenge to obtain.

After several years of negotiations, the NICAR Database Library has updated its copy of the FAA Enforcement Information System. This useful database documents cases where airlines, airports and pilots are accused of breaking FAA Regulations — examples include drug-test failures and alcohol abuse on the job.