On this wiki page, you will find a description of the body of work the Profiles program is in charge of along with links that will give you the details you need to perform every task.

Three Good Traits of a Researcher

The three traits of a good researcher at Vote Smart are Thoroughness, Accuracy, and Speed, in that order. That is, if you can do nothing else, be thorough. If you can do two things, be thorough and accurate. If you're thorough, accurate and fast, that makes you a rockstar - this generally comes with practice.

The quality of our data depends on these traits. Practicing being thorough and accurate first will help you to be a valuable member of the team. Speed will inevitably come as you gain more experience. If you attempt to be speedy right off the bat, not only will you be putting bad data into our database, but you won't develop a strong foundation for future growth. Your supervisor will provide you with feedback to help you recognize the errors that you make, and will help you get faster over time by teaching you the techniques the team has developed over a long period of time. Patience is key here, as with learning how to do research of any sort.

Profiles Resources

To do this effectively, you will need to be familiar with the following:

Vote Smart's Website

Our Website - specifically the biography sections; it is crucial that you understand how our data goes from the original source to our website and how it is displayed on our website.

An example candidate Joe Biden

The Profiles Wiki

Our Wiki - it contains valuable background information, data standards, staff and intern expectations, and training and management guides. To start, pay special attention to the processes and policies we have put in place.

Admin - Our User-Friendly Portal to the Database

Admin - a user-friendly way to enter and check pieces of data. You will be using this extensively and will be shown how it works during training.

Tracking Sheets - Available in Google Docs and the Desktop Drive

Our schedules contain lists of states, candidates, and sources to research and help keep us on track.
Your supervisor will show these to you and assign you your daily and weekly tasks.

Sources

All our data is collected from primary sources and you can see some examples of what a primary source is on the Data Standards page.

It is extremely important to be thorough in collecting biographical, contact, and office information. Although you might not see how a specific piece of information could affect a voter's decision, we can't make that decision for the voter. Do not move on to the next politician or source until you have searched all areas for new content.
Familiarity with these sources and a reliable routine will contribute to accuracy, thoroughness, and speed (listed in order of importance) in profiles research.
On occasion, we can utilize Secondary Sources to improve comprehensiveness of our research.

Profiles Research

Now that you have checked out all the resources we use to collect and enter information in the Profiles Sub-Department, let's get a little bit more specific and check out the intricacies of our Profiles Sub-Department!

How do we assign work?

Your supervisor will assign tracking sheets for you to work through. You will find the corresponding tracking sheet for that state and office on Google Drive under Officials Tracking or Candidate/Election Tracking. Past research sheets are saved in the Research drive: Research > Active > Research Programs > Profiles > Officials Tracking (or Elections). In addition to the tracking sheet, you will also need to search for that state and office in Admin under the Office Seeking or Office Held options for a list of candidates and current officials.

Researching Officials and Candidates

Each year, the Profiles program completes research on officials and candidates by finding their websites and taking information directly from this primary source.

Searching for Websites

Searching for websites is pretty easy to do–just use Google. Discovering what keywords to use that will bring up the best results is an essential skill in the research world. Figuring out a routine for finding websites will allow you to find more content and become an effective researcher.

"Biography" Tab - Admin

Check out Joe Biden and look for "Biography" in the tabs at the top. This guide will explain everything you need to know about entering the information you have found into Admin, which will automatically upload your additions to the website (always remember to save!).

Go to the Biography Tab page now for a tutorial of the Biography Tab.

"Addresses" Tab - Admin

Along with the "Biography" tab, this is the most common type of update that we do, and one of the most important. The information we find and input into the "Addresses" tab provides citizens access to mailing addresses, websites, social media, and emails that the politician uses to communicate with his/her constituents.

Go to the Addresses Tab page now for a tutorial on the Addresses Tab.

"Offices" Tab - Admin

At certain times of the year, mainly after elections, you may be assigned to complete some updates to office information. This can include advancing officials into office, changing leadership positions, or adding officials to committees once they have been assigned. The associated wiki pages will help you get familiar with this type of data.

Go to the Office Tab page now for a tutorial on the Office Tab.

Finding and Adding Photos

The Profiles program is also in charge of finding/updating photos for officials and candidates. This process works a little differently because we use the Desktop Drive (NextCloud) instead of admin.

Go to the Photos page to learn how this process works.

Helpful Hints/FAQ

You have now delved pretty far into the basics of the Profiles program. You may be wondering about a bunch of different things. We have put together a Helpful Hints/FAQ page to try to answer some general questions/provide you a quick source of hints/tips for decreasing errors and increasing speed.

Head to the Helpful Hints/FAQ page for some FAQ's and some advice on how to become a better profiles researcher.

PVSWiki : BioGuide

Welcome to the Profiles Sub-Department!

Introduction