We've made a relatively small change to how we handle names on our site that should have big implications for our users.
When we started in 2006, our only source of data was congressional staff salaries. We took the records as they were. And that has led to some confusion for users since the names listed in official payroll records don't always match the name a staffer is known by.
For example, the chief of staff to Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) is listed in the official record as "Harry E Lake III". But anyone searching for his record on our site would almost certainly look for "Chip Lake" since that's the name he uses in his professional life. Even more frustrating for users, no doubt, was that searches for even famous people like "Joe Biden" or "Ted Kennedy" would yield no results because we had them listed as "Joseph Biden" and "Edward Kennedy."
So now, we've begun to display people's preferred names to make it easier to find exactly who you’re looking for.
By looking at staff directories, trip disclosures, financial disclosures, news stories and any other source we could think of, we've added 3,000 preferred names for staffers so far, not to mention all members of Congress. Don't worry. We're not going to lose the official versions of the names, but we’ll be displaying preferred names along with the formal names. So "Harry E. Lake III" becomes "Harry E. Lake III (Chip)".
Already, users are seeing improvements. As we've gradually added more preferred names to our database, our users' search results have grown more accurate, with fewer queries ending with no results.
We know we don't have everyone's name exactly as the would want it yet but we are improving quickly. Already today we have added many dozen more preferred names for staff. Users can help us by suggesting alternate names that individual staffers go by. To do so, simply go to the staffer page and click on the "Suggest an alternate name" link.
Like we said, it's a small change but one with big implications for our users. Since our start, we've always been the most comprehensive source for congressional staff names. Now we are rapidly becoming the most accurate source for those names as well.
