Basic databases every newsroom should have

Newcomers and even old timers like myself dream of finding those databases where all we have to do is query them right and we'll end up with four weekend "got you" stories that will make your producer or editor smile at you everytime they see you in the hall.  The truth is, the best stories come not from some exotic, little known database but from old fashioned investigative techniques using a stock of old reliable and very boring databases. Here's the ones I try to keep around and updated.   

State Records

• Drivers license data
• Vehicle registration data
• Prison/Jail  Inmate data
• Campaign contribution data
• State employee database
• Death records
• Birth records
• Marriage records
• Professional licenses (i.e. nurses, cops, bartenders, etc.)
• Business incorporation records
• Concealed weapons permit
• Any specialty databases relating to a big local industry (gaming dealers, fishing licenses, etc.)

Local Records

• Voter Registration rolls
• Chart of accounts
• City employee database
• Assessor of property tax data/property data
• Campaign contribution dats
• Criminal/Civil court indexes
• Arrest/police blotter data
• Police 911/response data
• Business license/fictitious name statements

Federal data

• Firearm dealer licenses
• Pilot licenses
• Federal employees
• Federal contractors
• SBA loans

ANY DATABASE THAT HAS SOMEONES NAME

• Pet licenses
• Traffic stops
• Boat registrations
• Lobbyist registry
• Participants in a local marathon
• Alarm registrations
• Disbarred attorneys