Last week, we rolled out another source of information you might find useful: our first set of databases you can search any way you'd like.

FYIAdvertiser, as we call it, is a collection of data — some we have built into searchable databases and others that we are linking to — placed in an easy-to-use format.

Go to our home page at www.honoluluadvertiser.com and look for FYIAdvertiser and then click on one of three areas. The first is the staff-produced database, which includes pedestrian deaths, news videos and election results. A second set helps with weekend plans and includes movie showtimes and best restaurants. The third is a link to public databases, such as aviation records, campaign spending records and open meetings laws.

We've also collected special projects in one area, such as Taste Editor Wanda Adams' popular cooking demonstrations. You can link to our collection of animated golf tips and choose the ones that will help you improve your game. You can compare information about Hawai'i's public and private schools, or see a list of offenses reported by principals at public schools.

The use of databases is increasing on newspaper Web sites, and our aim is to add them to a single location that contains breaking news, videos, community Web sites and other specialty microsites — information we cannot fit into our print edition. Databases give readers another avenue for research and information, whether it be making dinner plans or finding out what kind of crimes are being reported at our schools.

We will continue to add data as we develop and discover it, but we would welcome suggestions about what to include. Our hope is that we add databases that are helpful and make them worth the time you spend mining for information.

Other news organizations have added data that include state or city employee salaries, death records and sex offender registries. We haven't fully researched what we can get and what might be worth fighting for.

Hawai'i is far from open when it comes to accessible public records, a point made clear to us after we battled for several years with the state Department of Transportation to get data on pedestrian traffic deaths. Following a series of stories on the public's need for the information, the DOT relented last week and said it would provide the data, including bearing the $16,000 software cost that will allow the state to delete personal information from the records.

We applaud the DOT's about-face because we believe public records are essential to a free and open society. This accident information, when we receive it, will be built into a database that the public can read and review. A recent example of how this can work occurred nicely last week when reporter Jim Dooley analyzed the state's backlog in elevator inspections. That story referenced our database on elevators that had not been inspected as of March 22, 2007. We have made that database available on FYIAdvertiser.

Sometimes we might post the data and write a story later. At other times, we might not write a story at all but simply provide the information and let you do the research and reach your own conclusions. Ultimately, we expect to post so much data that you might tell us what the story might be.

Database and special projects editor Stephen Downes, who is building FYIAdvertiser, sees the project as a way to further engage our readers.

"It's a place where readers can access some of the same information our reporters use to write stories," Downes said. "By giving readers some of the same tools we use, they can spot things we've missed and let us know about them. In this way, they can have a say in our coverage of important local issues."

Readers can comment on what they've found through forums and StoryChats or can contact us directly. Downes can be reached at sdownes@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8066. My contact information is below.

I'm excited about FYIAdvertiser, and while I know it's just in the early stages, I can foresee our readers coming up with interesting nuggets all on their own and maybe breaking a few stories themselves.

Mark Platte is vice president/editor of The Honolulu Advertiser. Reach him at mplatte@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8080.