Resource of the Week: ResourceShelf Special Collection — Media Guides, Factbooks, Fact Sheets, Press Kits
Resource of the Week: ResourceShelf Special Collection — Media Guides, Factbooks, Fact Sheets, Press Kits
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor
Last June here on ResourceShelf, we started “collecting” media guides, factbooks/fact sheets, and press kits from a variety of government agencies, professional societies and other organizations. Why? Because they are so utterly useful. Since these resources are designed for primarily for media outlets, they are content-rich, and may also include photos and/or contact information.
You can usually ferret these out on your own when visiting organizational websites by clicking on links that say “Press,” “Media Center,” etc. Generally, you’ll find a collection of press releases (though if you look at as many of these sites as I do, you’ll find yourself shaking your head over all the press release archives that haven’t been updated since you had to connect to the Internet with a modem and an acoustic coupler). If you’re lucky, you’ll also find online media guides, factbooks or meaty FAQs. These can be good ready reference material or fodder for papers and reports.
A dozen examples of what we found:
+ Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress: Fact Sheets
+ GLAAD Media Reference Guide, 7th Edition (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation)
+ Guide to Researching Public Records (Federal Election Commission Press Office)
+ Human Genome Project Media Room
+ Major League Baseball: Media Guides (PDF) for All 30 Teams
+ A Media Guide to Disability (Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities)
+ National Weather Service: Information Center
+ Planetary Fact Sheets (NASA)
+ Psychology Topics (fact sheets — American Psychological Association)
+ Terrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies: A Field Guide for Media (via U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Newsroom)
+ ToxFAQs: Frequently Asked Questions About Contaminants Found at Hazardous Waste Sites (Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry)
+ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Species (Endangered Species, Birds, Invasive Species, Pollinators, Image Library, Wildlife Fact Sheets)