<-- Back to the Speeches Guide
<--Back to Training Materials
First Things First
- Sign into Google and open up your schedule.
- Sign into Admin: https://admin.votesmart.org
- Click "Public Statements." on the list on the left side of the screen.
- Search by Candidate ID if available. If not use Current Office, Office Seeking, or search by name. Specify a state if applicable. (If searching by name be sure to be SURE you have the right person, many people share the same or similar names.)
- Click the Candidate ID next to the correct individual's name.
- Click "Add New".
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts are super helpful.https://support.google.com/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=157179&topic=25799&rd=1
Things to Keep in Mind
- BE SURE YOU ARE ENTERING THE STATEMENT UNDER THE CORRECT PERSON. No kidding, this is the most inconvenient mistake to go back and fix.
- Err on the side of checking every part of the politician's website for public statements until you are familiar with it.
- Do not take duplicates. This means keeping an eye out for speech titles that are already in the public statements admin page which are similar/identical to the one you are about to enter.
- Never skip over any of the Field Boxes when entering a public statement into admin.
- The guidelines on the Types Wiki page were designed to make formatting consistent and user friendly within our database. Follow them regardless of the speech type provided on a politician's website.
- Always remain non-partisan when tagging.
- Cat and tag based on what the public statement says. Do not make assumptions or inferences.
- Ask questions ALWAYS.
Suggestions
- Open admin in one window at half page size. Open the schedule you are working on and the source websites in another window at half page size.
- To stay organized, take advantage of the multiple workspaces on your computer.
- Keep the FieldBoxes page, the Types page, and the IdiomsandExamples page open in a window or keep physical copies on hand.
- Keep the Category Tree wiki page open while working, it makes it easier to double check your Categories.
- Use keyboard shortcuts and auto-complete.
Formatting Checklist
This list may help to structure your understanding of the public statement entering process:First 5 fields
Enter information into these fields in the same order. The order you choose does not matter. For example:
- Date
- Location
- Type
- URL
- Title
Check it:
-Scan the first five field boxes. This part of the process will become faster with experience:
What to look for:
-The Date is correct.
-There is a specific Location or it says “Unknown”
-A Speech Type has been selected
-The original URL is specified.
-The Title is capitalized properly and formatted according to the Speech Type
If there is no…
- Date - If the politician has been updated recently (two weeks ago or less), use the date on which the statement was collected. If the politician’s last update was more than two weeks ago, google the title of the public statement and/or consult your supervisor.
- Location - enter "Unknown."
- Title - Consult your supervisor
Speech Text
- Make sure it is properly spaced and does not not have extraneous links, page numbers, advertisements, etc.
- Congressional Record (floor speeches): Use "BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT." Delete time stamps and page breaks.
- PDFs: remember: Only available in PDF format; please see source to view document.
Cats and Tags
- Read the title, skim the text.
- If the topic of the title differs significantly from the text, tag based on the text.
- If the title of a Floor Speech is a piece of legislation, tag it.
Sharing With Other Officials
- When more than one politician speaks in a public statement, you must share it with the second, third, etc. politicians.
- Do not share with other officials when entering Floor Speeches from the Congressional Record.
Take/Do Not Take: Preventing Duplicates
We don't want anything that duplicates a quote already in admin. This type of error can be difficult to avoid, especially for blogs, news articles, and newsletters. Here are some strategies for making sure you aren't creating duplicates:- Look at other speeches with similar dates. This will help you find duplicate speeches that might have been on another politicians website.
- Use Control-F to find speeches with the same title. Just type the title and click Enter.
- Use this google search: "site:votesmart.org (title)" to find speeches with the same title.
- Use this google search: "site:votesmart.org (whatever the quote is)" to find speeches with the same quote.
