Historical spending data — Uplink Archive

The IRE and NICAR Database Library provides journalists with comprehensive archived federal spending data from 1979-2002, including contracts and assistance awards, enabling them to track government spending patterns across decades and communities. The library also offers data analysis services, as demonstrated by their recent environmental mapping project for a Chicago news station.

The IRE and NICAR Database Library has compiled archived data to provide journalists with the most thorough tools for covering federal spending. This historical data allows journalists the unique opportunity to go back in time and track federal spending in their communities across decades. Journalists can use the data to show how different presidential administrations, economic conditions and pivotal events affected spending.

The IRE and NICAR Database Library now has Federal Contracts data covering fiscal years 1979-2002. The database lists almost all federal contracts worth more than $25,000 and includes the amount, name and location of the company, the agency, the type of work and where the work was performed.

The Database Library has also added Federal Assistance Award Data System (FAADS) covering fiscal years 1983-2002. Journalists can use the FAADS data to determine what federal money has been obligated to individuals, state and local governments, institutions of higher education, profit organizations, nonprofit agencies and others.

For more details on these datasets, including prices and ordering information, go to www.ire.org/datalibrary/databases or contact the IRE and NICAR Database Library at 573-884-7711.

The IRE and NICAR Database Library recently conducted an environmental data analysis for a story that aired on WMAQ-Chicago in May. The analysis identified areas with a large number of polluters under state remediation programs. Using ArcView, the Database Library mapped polluters by ZIP code, by latitude and longitude and, using the Spatial Analyst extension, found the neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of polluters and pollutants. To read the story, go to www.nbc5.com/news/2203768/detail.html. For more information on how IRE and NICAR can help your news organization conduct data analysis, contact the Database Library at 573-884-7711.