Public Data Ferret entries consist of neutral, blogged synopses of public documents or occasionally, tutorials on using government databases. Links to original sources are always included. There are two basic ways to engage the system, from the Ferret main page.

One method is to search the database by  choosing an option in the left hand column of search criteria (jurisdictions) and/or one option in the right hand column (policy topics). For instance, “Seattle,” and then “transportation.” Then click the “Dig It Up” button at the bottom of the Ferret main page. This will return only the Ferret entries published to date, based on public documents or other sources from the City of Seattle, which include some coverage of the topic transportation. A wider set of items would be returned in you selected only “Seattle” or “transportation.” Some combinations of choices (such as “Lake Forest Park” and “demographics”) may yield no returns at present. In that case, de-select one of the criteria and run a more basic search (either “Lake Forest Park” or “demographics”) which will return at least one result. Put another way, the more specific your search, the more specific the results returned. Please note the lists of searchable criteria are growing, but only as new jurisdictions and topics are added via new articles.

Results will be returned in clickable headline form. Just click on any headline to view the whole item.

The second way to use the Ferret database is to utilize the “Recent Ferret Finds” digest on the right hand side of the Ferret main page. This provides a handy at-a-glance headline link list of the latest six Ferret items (each allowing click-through to the full text). Please note that you can also access our full reverse-date archive by going to the bottom of the recent items digest, and clocking on “view more posts.”

Dig away.

PARTICIPATE

ADD CONTENT AND COMMENTS TO THE ARTICLES: We seek your value-add comments on the documents and policy issues raised in them. You are free to cut and paste into your comment other parts of the “key link” document we did not include in our “key excerpt,” and discuss why these sections matter, as well. In terms of the tenor of comments generally, we are looking to advance the policy discussion, not sling political arrows. However, that does not mean that robust but civil dialog around public policy (including respectful disagreements) is not welcome. It is.

SEND US TIPS: We also welcome tips to important public documents, databases or data sets. Send links to us at the address found under the “Contact” tab at the top of the Ferret main page masthead. We would also welcome the web address of RSS feeds provided by government for new documents and reports, new legislation and meeting agendas.

RESEARCHERS-WRITERS NEEDED: The project is also seeking additional researcher-writers, including local correspondents who will monitor the public document and data streams of local and regional governments within King County, or certain topic areas within Washington State or federal government.