Wiki source for DatabaseSpecialistBackground
@@=====**Background of the Database Specialist Program**=====@@
[[http://wiki.votesmart.org/DatabaseSpecialistGuide <-- Back to the Database Specialist Guide]]
===General Overview===
Vote Smart's primary objective is to provide the essential tools that American citizens need in order to select their representatives and monitor their job performances. This information, in its entirety, comprises the Vote Smart Voter Self-Defense System, the six major arms of which are Speeches and Public Statements; Biographical Backgrounds; Special Interest Group Ratings and Endorsements; Issue Positions (Political Courage Test); Campaign Finances; and Voting Records. Each arm serves to provides citizens the facts they need to evaluate officials and candidates seeking office so that they make an informed choice when voting.
A Database Specialist at Vote Smart will be responsible for immersing themselves into many data types and diagnosing inaccuracies/inefficiencies in the database. A specialist may also be responsible for day-to-day quality control depending on the needs of the organization at any given time. This position is fairly open ended, however, and is open to interpretation and adaptation over time. Key responsibilities will include communicating quality issues with IT and the Research Director; serving as an internal and external resource for database inquiries; working with current research staff to investigate potential data sources; and prioritizing projects from most to least impact.
**What you will be doing:**
Your responsibilities will include:
1. Serving as a resource of database knowledge
- SQL training
- Monitoring, cleaning, and improving the Categorization/Tagging system
- Retrieving data by use of queries for VS content/publications
2. Quality Control - maintaining a cleaner database
- Internal - data that is bad regardless of applications (ex: duplicate candidates project)
- External - data that causes problems for our applications (ex: dateless public statements)
**Why your work is important:**
Never in the history of Vote Smart has there been a position that dealt 100% of the time with cleaning up the database. Vote Smart is a very present-centric organization and has never had the resources available to care about cleaning up our historic data. The cleaner our data is, the more legit of an organization we are, the more consistent we are.
**What you will learn:**
- further advancement of your SQL skills
- Knowledge of APIs
[[http://wiki.votesmart.org/DatabaseSpecialistGuide <-- Back to the Database Specialist Guide]]
===General Overview===
Vote Smart's primary objective is to provide the essential tools that American citizens need in order to select their representatives and monitor their job performances. This information, in its entirety, comprises the Vote Smart Voter Self-Defense System, the six major arms of which are Speeches and Public Statements; Biographical Backgrounds; Special Interest Group Ratings and Endorsements; Issue Positions (Political Courage Test); Campaign Finances; and Voting Records. Each arm serves to provides citizens the facts they need to evaluate officials and candidates seeking office so that they make an informed choice when voting.
A Database Specialist at Vote Smart will be responsible for immersing themselves into many data types and diagnosing inaccuracies/inefficiencies in the database. A specialist may also be responsible for day-to-day quality control depending on the needs of the organization at any given time. This position is fairly open ended, however, and is open to interpretation and adaptation over time. Key responsibilities will include communicating quality issues with IT and the Research Director; serving as an internal and external resource for database inquiries; working with current research staff to investigate potential data sources; and prioritizing projects from most to least impact.
**What you will be doing:**
Your responsibilities will include:
1. Serving as a resource of database knowledge
- SQL training
- Monitoring, cleaning, and improving the Categorization/Tagging system
- Retrieving data by use of queries for VS content/publications
2. Quality Control - maintaining a cleaner database
- Internal - data that is bad regardless of applications (ex: duplicate candidates project)
- External - data that causes problems for our applications (ex: dateless public statements)
**Why your work is important:**
Never in the history of Vote Smart has there been a position that dealt 100% of the time with cleaning up the database. Vote Smart is a very present-centric organization and has never had the resources available to care about cleaning up our historic data. The cleaner our data is, the more legit of an organization we are, the more consistent we are.
**What you will learn:**
- further advancement of your SQL skills
- Knowledge of APIs
