Toolbox: Scraping App for the Digital Gumshoe

August 28, 2013–Try this free, open-source add-on to Mozilla's Firefox web browser for "web-scraping" — meaning a methodical effort to capture data disclosed on the web and put it into useable form, typically a database.

EPA Science Databases Offer Grist for Environmental Journalists

July 17, 2013–Science is the key to many environmental stories, and EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) offers a wide range of data tools journalists may find worthwhile to explore.

Toolbox: EPA "Data Finder" May Aid in Some Reporting Projects

June 19, 2013–If you want to take advantage of EPA databases to report on local (or even national) environmental conditions, this tool is a step beyond the all-in-one EPA data interfaces many journalists are used to, in that it catalogs some of the less-known specialized databases. It is unusual among government data programs in that it explicitly encourages third-party developers to build apps based on open agency data.

Broken Promise: Database Helps Track Illegal Parkland Conversions

April 15, 2013–In this excerpt from the new issue of SEJournal (Spring), InvestigateWest's Robert McClure and Jason Alcorn explain how to spin the local angle about how parks built or improved with money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund are increasingly being illegally privatized or converted to something other than parks — including sharing their searchable database of almost 40,000 park grants.

EPA Pilot-Tests New Data Mapping Tool on Community Exposures

March 27, 2013–The Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST), available currently to some agencies, communities, and researchers, could be helpful in tracking environmental justice stories: the impact of specific pollutant exposures on particular geographic and demographic communities.

TRI National Analysis Dangles Leads for Investigative Stories

January 30, 2013–EPA had already released preliminary TRI data for the latest available year (2011), but its National Analysis makes for easier reporting as data is collated by state. It also offers analyses by industry sector and of toxics handling by collating the parent companies of each facility nationwide.

Political Appointees Bared To Journos in Digital "Plum Book"

January 16, 2013–The Plum Book, a list of most major federal political appointments that is published every four years, has long been a starting point for juicy stories — but hard to use because it was only published in print. Now it has been digitized. That makes it grist for data journalists.

Keeping Up on Chemical Databases

January 15, 2013–In this excerpt from the latest issue of SEJournal (Winter), you'll find a rich collection of online resources courtesy of the National Library of Medicine and others, compiled by SEJ member and NLM technical information specialist Philip Wexler.

SEJournal Winter 2012-13, Vol. 22 No. 4

January 15, 2013–In this issue: Superstorm Sandy's hidden warning; analysis of pivotal enviro issues to watch; new frontiers in visual journalism; keeping up on chemical databases; members helping members: SEJ's mentoring program; media on the move; and book reviews.

Visual Storytellers Open New Horizons

January 15, 2013–