How we verify directory entries

What we check before an entry goes in, where the information comes from, and what we don't do yet.

Quick version

Every entry in this directory is checked against a primary source (usually the organization's own website, sometimes a city, library or chamber listing) before it is published. We record what was confirmed and where it came from. Nothing is added because it appeared on another directory.

What we don't have yet is a per-entry "last checked" date shown to you. We are not going to display a freshness badge until the date behind it is real for every listing. Until then, treat times, prices and dates as things to confirm with the organization before you drive, and tell us when something is wrong.

What we check before an entry is published

For every business, before it is added to the directory:

  • Name + address: match the business's own website or, if no website, a primary public source (Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, official social media).
  • Phone + email: reachable when called/emailed. Disconnected lines fail verification.
  • Programs offered: at least one currently-listed program matches the business's published catalog.
  • Age ranges + scheduling: what we list matches what the business publishes.
  • Naming disambiguation: we confirm we have the correct organization when names are ambiguous (e.g. "Buhl Club", where there is an Idaho org and a Pennsylvania org with confusingly similar names; we always link to the right one).

How entries are kept current

  • ·Ongoing re-checks. Existing entries are periodically re-checked against their original source, looking for closures, moved locations, changed phone numbers and dropped programs.
  • ·Automated data checks on every update. A validator runs before anything is published: it blocks entries with no verifiable address from being shown, catches programs pointing at organizations that no longer exist, and enforces the name-disambiguation rules described above.
  • ·Closed and duplicate entries are removed permanently, and recorded so they cannot be re-added by a later pass.
  • ·Something wrong? Email info@childlearningresources.com with the listing name and what's off, or use the Report a problem button on any business, class or event page, which fills that email in for you. Each listing also shows the date its details were last checked.

Seasonal programs and one-time events are the most likely things to be out of date. Where we could not confirm a date for the current season, the listing says so rather than guessing.

User-submitted content

Two surfaces accept user submissions: reviews and custody-friendly reports. Both follow the same moderation pattern:

  1. User submits with an email address.
  2. Submission lands as verified: false in a moderation queue.
  3. Moderator (one of the CLR team) reviews. Spam, fake names, profanity, or off-topic content gets rejected.
  4. Approved submissions get marked verified: true and appear inline on the entry.
  5. The submitter's email is never displayed publicly. It's only used for the optional email-verification step that confirms a real person submitted.

Where our data comes from

Primary sources, in order of preference:

  1. The business's own official website.
  2. City / county parks & recreation departments (for class catalogs).
  3. Library district event calendars (for story-times, kids programs).
  4. Chamber of Commerce member directories.
  5. Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, and similar national-org-with-local-branch sites.
  6. School district enrichment pages.

We don't import from third-party aggregator sites that themselves scrape other directories, which risks laundering bad data into ours. We also don't import from anything that requires a login to access.

In short: we respect robots.txt, rate-limit our requests, credit the source we took a listing from, and never collect anything behind a login. If you would like the full written policy, email us and we will send it.

Found something wrong?

Send us the URL of the page and what's off. We aim to fix verified-entry errors within 7 days. Spelling errors and missing info usually get fixed much faster.

📧 info@childlearningresources.com