Note (May 5, 2008): The Courier News has moved its site from c-n.com to MyCentralJersey.com. Thus, the CN links below won't work anymore. (The Asbury Park Press links are fine, as is the site DataUniverse.com.
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Original post from January 27, 2008:
The Gannett New Jersey newspapers have established the site DataUniverse.com.
The local Gannett paper for Somerset County, the Courier News, promotes the database as a way to research genealogy. I think, though, that people will be much more interested in the salary and school information.
The salary information covers the federal level, and in New Jersey, the state, local and school district levels. Plus Rutgers University.
Note that there are at least two versions of the site, which look different, and offer entries to information you won't find on the other:
- Courier News version: Includes access to Somerset, Hunterson and Union County salary information.
- Asbury Park Press version: Includes access to toll road costs.
I've sometimes criticized local newspapers for being superficial, but this project is really a terrific service and a great use of mash-up technology taking advantage of public information.
To bring it back to a library theme: Datauniverse.com can be a resource for public library patrons, but also for special libraries researching New Jersey government statistics (along with some federal stats and general information).
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