Having useful and comprehensive information is key to making good decisions - and coming up with new ideas for improving America! Here’s what we’ve been reading and learning in February.

• Listen to a conversation between Michael Gerson, David Brooks and Peter Wehner, moderated by Amy Walter, on whether we can only value the democratic virtues of moderation, civility and compromise when they’re absent.
  
  
• Beginning a dialogue is one thing, but how can community coalitions sustain themselves and their commitment to civic collaboration? Everyday Democracy offers some tips.
  
  
• The Federal Reserve Board recently released tools that allow users to interact with national economic data in new ways.
  
  
• “The biggest information gap is local, because it’s not scalable. In the age of Google, the hardest information to find is local.” Small town libraries are stepping in to fill a news gap, the Atlantic reports.

• “Is there something wrong with democracy?” This interactive experience by the New York Times probes the question.