We gotta change the name. For years the little-something-extra program staged before the traditional Friday start of IRE's national conference has been referred to as the Optional Day. But the fare of that program changed two conferences from such traditional staples as ethics, libel and writing to computer-assisted reporting, and ever since, the Optional Day has been more like Mandatory Day.
Hands-on training classes were filled and closed nearly as soon as the sign-up sheets were hung in New York City in 1993. And in St. Louis this June a record crowd of 450 crammed an Optional Day devoted to computer skills and on-line resources.
IRE/NICAR's low prices ($35 for a full-day computing seminar at St. Louis) were part of the draw, but no more so than the array of talent and topics. We've begun debating whether it's not time to start integrating CAR panels into the traditional conference program. That would be consistent with our philosophy that while CAR is the new, hot technique among journalists, it is, in the end, not much different than conquering the telephone or the VDT in order to produce better journalism. Still, the numbers persuade us there's a special demand to focus on CAR training. If you didn't make it to St. Louis, we invite you to look over what you missed and catch up. For little more than the cost of copying and mailing, you may order handouts from any of the Optional Day panels. Copies of "Computer Assisted Research: A Guide to Tapping Online Information" by Nora Paul are on sale for $3 plus shipping and handling. And audiotapes of the sessions are available for $8 each by ordering directly from Sound Images Inc., P.O. Box 460519, Aurora, CO 80046. Also available are tapes of all the sessions from IRE's first computer-training boot camp, a three-day, mind-wringing immersion in CAR last fall at Raleigh. To be honest, tape sales of the computer-assisted sessions don't sell as well as those from other advanced-reporting panels. We suspect there's a fear that audio without the attendant visual component of screens and demos don't work.
They do. Ask for reviews of the tapes you're interested in from IRE/NICAR staffers who listen to nothing else while driving around Columbia and off on summer vacations. Here's a listing of the St. Louis tapes. Call (314) 882-2042 if you'd like more information or the entire list of Raleigh tapes. -Online on the Beat: 30 Ideas in 30 Minutes (Bill Dedman) Primer on Online Searching: Power Up, Modem In, Log On. Everything you Need to Know to Get Started (Beth Marchak) -Specialized Session on Business Reporting (Rob Wells, Penny Loeb) -Data Analysis on the Beat: 30 Ideas in 30 Minutes (Shawn McIntosh) -The Mystery and Power of Internet (Dan Woods, Dan Gillmor) Creating and Recycling Databases: When to Use a Database and Which Ones to Keep Available for Use on Deadline (Jeff Kummer, Teresa Leonard, James Derk) -Specialized Session on Government and Social Sciences (Dan Browning, Rich Robertson, Shawn McIntosh) -Online on the Cheap (Nora Paul, Mike Berens) -Using Spreadsheets and National Tabular Data to Show Where Your Town or State Ranks (William Casey, Rich Gordon, Chris Schmitt) -Environment on Computer (Dave Davis, Jane Kay, Wendell Cochran) -Attribution and Accuracy on the Information Highway (Nora Paul) -Deadline Online: Using Bulletin Boards to Find Eyewitnesses and Experts and to Profile People (Deborah Crowe, Matt Reavy) -Mapping Software on Deadline: How to Plot Census, Crime and Gerrymandering Information (Susan Brown, Jennifer LaFleur) -Specialized Session on Medicine and Science (Bill Allen, Paul Overberg, Beth Marchak) Access to Federal, State and Local Online Records: Success Stories and Pending Battles (Sandra Scott, Mike Casey) -Statistics Can Be Your Friend: Five Statistical Tools You Need Know (Jon Schmid, Phil Meyer) The Electronic Newsroom (Corky Johnson, Karl Idsvoog, Mark Nichols, Neil Reisner) Getting Started (NICAR staff)