2 June 2003. BRB Publications, a publisher specializing in public records research, offers several free public records research services. Find a list of Web sites providing free public record data, a database of people across the nation who retrieve public records, a database of firms with automated information sources that compile, or conduct research in, public records, and more. (et)
27 November 2001, revised 2 May 2003. This public records finding aid categorizes select commercial and free databases. It covers sources of business filings, UCC filings, professional licenses, death, divorce and marriage records and more. (gk)
4 June 2000, revised 9 August 2002. Crime Time Publishing provides information about public records sources available on the Web. It covers state corporate records databases, databases for finding information about businesses, sources of addresses and phone numbers, databases containing incarceration data, sex offenders, and more.
20 February 2003. Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc. offers various government public records databases on CD-ROM to journalists or journalism organizations. Qualifying groups or individuals order the collection by phone or mail. Databases cover information like airplane service difficulty reports, storm events, FBI crime data, fatal highway accidents, problems with medical devices and federal contracts awarded to private companies. A 100-record free sample is available for each database. (gk)
11 November 2003. The the Annapolis Group, a nonprofit alliance of independent liberal arts colleges, offers a database of experts in politics, history, science, economics, art and other scholarly disciplines. Search by name, college or keyword to find a brief biographical profile, which provides the expert's name, academic affiliation, email address, title, phone, area of expertise and more. (et)
5 December 2003. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) offers a database of comments filed with the agency. Search by company name, law firm, attorney, location or other criteria to find public comments, including letters, notices, complaints, memorandum opinions and more, filed since 1992. (gk)
4 June 2000, revised 15 November 2002. Renowned public records research publisher BRB Publications, Inc. provides a list of federal, state, local, and Canadian sources of public records information. Find sex offenders, trademarks, corporations, UCCs, death records, civil and criminal court matters, incarcerations, and other public information.
17 December 2001. Follow the search link under CONTENTS to find a database of abstracts of investigative reporting stories. Enter a company or individual's name -- or other keyword -- to find summaries of investigative articles. You can order the full-text of articles from IRE or use the bibliographic information provided to find them elsewhere.
11 November 2003. Thomson ISI offers this free database of bibliographic references to frequently cited authors. Search by author or institution name to find a profile, which might include contact and personal information, education, affiliations, memberships and more, as well as a list of published works. If you subscribe to ISI's Web of Science, the list links to more information. This is a good starting point when searching for experts, particularly in the sciences. (gk)
5 June 2000. This site indexes Web-based case information and court docket systems for federal, state, and local courts in the United States. When trying to locate someone, check for current bankruptcies or local lawsuit filings.
11 November 2003. Green MedicoLegal Ltd. provides a database of medical experts in countries around the world. While Green MedicoLegal screens the experts appearing in the database, it advises searchers to verify the information. Search by country, practice or name to find some of the following information: the expert's name, affiliation, membership, phone, address, email address, Web site and expertise. (et)
4 June 2000, revised 25 October 2002. Renowned public record research firm Merlin Information Services offers a directory of sources for investigative research. It has a particularly strong listing of government public records databases.
4 June 2000. Pacific Information Resources, Inc. offers a compilation of public records sources by state and by nationwide availability. Find sources for unclaimed property, civil or criminal legal actions, vital records, property records, corporate records, professional licenses, sex offenders, and more.
7 September 2000. Find countless links to state and city public records and other databases. Coverage includes criminal information, lobbying activities, civil and criminal court records, vital records, and more. This compilation is part of a larger collection of databases by Direct Search creator, Gary Price.
8 March 2002. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press offers this guide to state open records and open meetings laws. It covers basic application of the law, exemptions, applicability to electronic records, types of public records or meetings, procedure for obtaining public records, and procedure for obtaining access to meetings.
The commentary includes citations to case law. For example, with respect to school records in Pennsylvania, this guide states: "24 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 4-408 (1992) makes the accounts and records of third and fourth class school districts open to public inspection by taxpayers." But "[t]eachers' personnel files are not public records under the Act."
A useful feature lets researchers compare the law of two or more states. For example, in comparing the open access laws of Colorado and Pennsylvania, with respect to autopsy reports, researchers learn that autopsy reports in Colorado are "public records open to inspection" while the law in Pennsylvania is not so clear.
19 October 200, revised 24 January 2002. Formerly known as Webgator, the site indexes and categorizes Web-based resources for public records research. Find sites for obtaining criminal records and information, registries of missing persons, state motor vehicle department sites, freedom of information act guidelines for various agencies, and more.
4 June 2000. This site offers one of the most complete compilations of public records sources available on the Web. Find sources for motor vehicle registrations, telephone numbers, property records, sex offenders, vital records, and more. Allow sufficient time to conduct the research. Most of the information provided consists of state and county telephone numbers or addresses. Researchers typically have to call or write for the information they want.
Revised, 25 February 2002, 28 August 2000. Access now requires registration. 192.com offers several databases containing public information about citizens of the United Kingdom. Electoral Roll lists the names and addresses of the 2000 Voter Register. People Finder offers names, addresses and telephone numbers. Business Directory offers company names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, business descriptions and SIC codes. Directory Enquiries provides advanced search features for all the databases.
13 June 2000. Discover the individuals and companies, who donate to candidates in the 2000 presidential election, as well as the amount of their contributions. Search by company or individual name as well as by zip code.
4 June 2000, revised 2 May 2003. Search this database to find someone's birth date. Search by first and last name, last name and zip code or first name and birth date to find name, address and date of birth. If searching by zip code, note that you must use the zip code of the individual's place of birth, and not his/her current residence. For a fee, researchers may access the site's archival database of names, addresses and birth dates. (gk)
11 February 2003. The Center for Public Integrity, a political watchdog group, provides financial information (e.g., assets, income, soft money contributions) concerning the 2004 presidential candidates. Visitors will also find full-text PDF replicas of financial disclosure documents, news articles and links to the candidates' Web sites. (gk)
29 August 2000. Gary Price adds another invaluable collection of database links to Direct Search. Campaign 2000 compiles federal and state databases of campaign contribution information. Many of the indexed sources do not limit data to the year 2000. All, of course, search differently. Some (e.g., Arizona) enable searching by contributor; others permit searching by candidate only (e.g., Pennsylvania).
17 July 2002. Select one of two options for finding registered Canadian aircraft. The Current Register provides information about current registrations. The Historical Register covers registrations back to 1982. Search by owner (company, trademark, individual) or aircraft information to find current and historical information about the trademark, aircraft, and owner. Historical data includes previous owners.
4 June 2000, revised 25 October 2002. Now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the R.L. Polk & Co., CARFAX reports reveal information about a vehicle's past that may affect its safety and resale value. Discover whether a vehicle was totaled in an accident or damaged in a flood. Learn about odometer rollbacks, lemon histories, junked titles, state emissions inspection results, lien activity, or vehicle use (taxi, rental, lease, etc.). The site's data sources include motor vehicle departments in the United States and Canada, vehicle inspection stations, auto auctions, fleet management and rental agencies, automobile manufacturers and fire and police departments.
15 March 2002, revised 31 January 2003. Now available only to members of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE), the database contains information about campaign contributions. Sources include the Federal Election Commission and several state campaign finance agencies. Find the name and geographic location (not street address) of donors, the amount of the donation, the name of the recipient, and date of the transaction. Useful investigative research features include a list of other individuals or organizations with similar names, the ability to hand pick sources, and the ability to search by a variety of criteria, including zip code, recipient, and more.
2 June 2003. Administrators in Medicine offers this free site for finding physician state license data. The database covers doctors in participating states. Search by name, location or license number in most states to find the physician's name, license number, license status and expiration date, address and an indication of public disciplinary data on file. DocFinder links to the data as provided by non-participating states. (et)
11 November 2002. Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen grades the states on their provision of health-related disciplinary information on Web sites. Discover what individual states provide, where they provide it, and how easy or difficult the site is to use. Another feature loads a chart of the grades for all states for comparison purposes. (See also: Questionable Doctors)
13 June 2000, revised 31 January 2003. PoliticalMoneyLine helps you discover who contributed campaign money to whom. Search by donor's name to find out who received the contribution and the amount of the contribution. This is a great people finding tool. To obtain the donor's complete address, click on the link for an image of the contribution receipt. Researchers may also search by donor zip code, employer, and out of state donors.
5 October 2000. The General Services Administration offers this database of contractors excluded from receiving federal contracts, subcontracts, or certain financial assistance. Search by a variety of data including, but not limited to, name, state, termination date, type of exclusion, cause, etc.
19 November 2002. Designed for journalists, FACSNET Sources provides search access to the FACS database of experts and authoritative sources in economics, science, law, and public policy. Search by affiliation, name, or topic to find experts, their contact information, affiliation, and a brief description of their expertise.
10 October 2002. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety offers this database containing reports about fatal accidents in workplaces. The reports come from "Coroners, Medical Examiners, Government Ministries, or any other body responsible for inquiry into occupational fatalities." To search for an individual or company by name, use the Subject field. Records contain the name and occupation of the deceased, the date, place, and cause of death, description of the accident, and other information.
8 April 2002. Find a single interface to many of the Federal Communication Commission's licensing databases. Available databases include Universal Licensing System (ULS), Experimental, Cable Operations, Mass Media Bureau databases and the International Bureau licensing database. Searchers may query the databases by licensee name, callsign, state and county, latitude and longitude, or frequency range.
11 October 2001. The Federal Communications Commission offers a database of public comments filed since 1992. The database includes the full-text of documents filed via the agency's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) as well as those scanned into the system.
27 November 2001, revised 23 April 2003. The Federal Bureau of Prisons offers a database of information about federal inmates currently incarcerated or released since 1982. Select Inmate Locator from the main navigational menu. Search by various identification numbers, or by first and last name to find name, inmate registration number, age, race, sex, and date released from prison. Data on inmates currently incarcerated also includes a projected release date, prison location, and phone number.
12 October 2001. Primeris, Inc. offers this search tool for finding the geographic location of phone numbers worldwide. Enter an area code and prefix of any phone number to discover its location and phone service company. Or enter a city name to find area code, prefix and telephone services. Fone Finder also finds international calling codes. Enter either an international phone number (omitting calling codes) or the name of a country.
10 June 2000, revised 15 November 2002. This commercial database offers voter registration information for most states. Before accessing it, review the permissible uses for each state, which appear in the service agreement. Search by a variety of criteria to find voter records, including the use of wildcards (e.g., tyb*rsk*). Other databases include a United Kingdom people finder and a DMV database. The DMV database covers about 20 states.
7 August 2000. The Health Resources & Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services offers this database of health professionals who have defaulted on Health Education Assistance Loans. Researchers may query the database by keyword, name, and numerous other criteria or browse a list of defaulters by amount due, discipline, name, school, or state. The database provides the defaulter's full name, city, state, discipline, school, amount due, date added to the list and date of any change in the record.
20 March 2001. Corrections.com offers an index of state and county inmate locator services. These comprise various databases that enable searching for an inmate by name or other criteria.
20 December 2001. The Canadian Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy provides a database containing a record of all bankruptcies and proposals filed in Canada from 1978 to present. It also contains a record of all private and court appointed receiverships filed in Canada from 1993 to present. Search by name and select optional criteria. Initial results reveal how many records match your search criteria. The site charges per 10 records retrieved.
22 October 2002. JurisPro, an expert witness marketing company, offers a free directory of expert witness profiles. Search by keyword, or expert or company name. Or browse the subject index. Profiles include some or all of the following: contact information, picture of expert, introduction, Web page (hosted by JurisPro), background information, articles, references, and curriculum vitae.
10 November 2000. This site offers a number of databases for discovering information about aircraft and aircraft owners. Discover whether a company or individual owns aircraft, or find out how many people and companies in your city own aircraft. Information returned includes registration number, aircraft serial number, aircraft manufacturer, model, and year, engine manufacturer and model, owner name and address, registration date, airworthiness certificate type, and approval rating.
19 June 2003. Melissa Data Corp, a company that provides a number of marketing products and services, offers this free telephone number analysis service. It provides information about private or public telephone numbers in the U.S. Information includes the city, county and state where the number originates, but not the street address or name of the owner. (et)
10 April 2003. This site by Judgment Day Information Services, Inc. claims to verify military status and provide an affidavit directly from the Department of Defense. Turnaround time is one to two days. Cost depends on the information you have. (et)
16 January 2002. The National Abandoned Property Processing Corporation (NAPPCO) offers a database of unclaimed property records from participating states. It claims to be the official site of the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA). Search by individual or company name, or SSN, to find listings of unclaimed property. As the site notes, not all states provide such information.
8 January 2002. Find a repository of obituaries and death records containing more than 50 million individual entries. The repository covers the United States and Canada. Use % as a wildcard. For example, green% finds the names Green and Greene.
13 April 2001. The National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology offers a database of information about psychologists. You may search it, and review full-text content, without charge; however, you must register to use the site AND agree that your use of the information is personal and non-commercial.
Search by name or by geographic area and specialty. Data available includes psychologist name, location, phone, areas of expertise, school/year of graduation, board certification, licensed state, and more.
31 October 2000. Knowledge In Motion, Inc., a marketing and information service company, offers a database of unclaimed property. Researchers must register to access the database, but registration and searching is free of charge. The database contains information about inactive or abandoned property held by state and government agencies. Search by name to find matching records containing name, address, cash value, asset number, and agency holding the claim. Unlike other Web sites that offer to collect your unclaimed property for a fee, Knowledge In Motion, Inc. simply provides the information you need to collect it on your own.
5 November 2001, revised 31 January 2002. Merlin Information Services offers an index of bankruptcy filings data for all states from January 1992 to present. Query the database by company or personal name, or by social security number, to discover the existence of a bankruptcy filing. During early 2002, the site restricted access to paying customers.
22 October 2002. American Lawyer Media via its Litigation Services Network offers this searchable directory of expert witnesses. Search by name, keyword, location, or other criteria to find expert witness profiles and contact information. BE AWARE: Search features contain two fields labeled "keyword." The upper field pertains to a keyword search of the site's expertise directory (matches subject terms selected by the site). The lower field matches keywords within the expert profile. Also, limiting a query by state does not always work.
13 October 2000. The Bureau of Land Management offers this database of information and documents pertaining to the federal government's transfer of public land to individuals prior to 1982. Search by state and name, or by a number of other criteria. The database returns the land accession or serial patent number, state, patentee name, tribe (if Indian land), issue date, U.S. or mineral reservations, authority (law under which the government issued the land), number of acres, land office, and other data. It also provides a legal land description, images of the land patent in various formats, and certified copies.
25 January 2002. The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services makes available this database containing information about individuals and entities that are excluded from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal health care programs. Search by a variety of criteria including name, specialty, and location. A new database feature lets researchers verify an individual's identity by entering a social security number.
27 March 2002. Find an extensive index of databases covering obituaries, grave sites, and other sources of death information. The databases vary in quality and coverage. Some offer information on select time periods for certain geographic regions. Overall, a good collection of what is available via the Web.
19 June 2003. Netherlands based SpraakMaker Telecom offers this free utility for determining the origin of land and mobile telephone numbers. Enter a public or private telephone number in the international format (e.g., +1 206 9876543 or 00-49-209-8765432) to learn the origin of the telephone service. This utility is useful for pinpointing a location when you have a number but not an address. Note that it provides the name of the city or town, but not the street address of the owner. (et)
13 December 2001. Find several databases for discovering campaign contributions.
7 August 2002. Established in accordance with the McCain Bill (1991), this Library of Congress database contains information about individuals unaccounted for (at the time the law was enacted) as a result of the Vietnam War. It further contains information about declassified documents pertaining to Vietnam-era POW/MIAs. These include intelligence reports, service records, loss incident reports, loss investigations, refugee reports, past and current recovery efforts, and more. Keep in mind that the database comprises an index of public documents. Reviewing the actual documents will require a trip to the Library of Congress.
4 June 2000, revised 31 August 2001. The University of Virginia offers an index to sources of property record data nationwide and in Canada.
31 August 2001. Similar to Personal Property by the University of Virginia (formerly Property Assessments Online), this site offers links to geographic information systems and property record databases in the United States.
See Personal Property above.
8 May 2001. Real estate research company NETR Real Estate Research and Information offers directory "access to deeds, vital records, tax data, and GIS maps from state & local governments." First select a state and then a county to discover information immediately available via the Web for free or for a fee. Other information available at the NETR site includes sources for researching environmental public records and home values.
11 November 2002. Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen offers a database of information about doctors who have been disciplined by state medical boards and federal agencies during the past ten years. As of this writing, the database covers 27 states and permits browsing or searching by doctor's name for free. Obtaining full reports on doctor requires setting up an account and paying a fee. The site also provides detailed information about how it collects data for the database.
28 July 2003. Interment.net, publisher of cemetery records and materials relating to cemeteries, enables searching for information about people buried in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. Records appear to be contributed by individuals identified only by their name and email address, so you should verify it. The amount of information varies, but typically includes name, birth and death date or year and cemetery name and location. (et)
6 August 2001. Sexcriminals.com maintains an index of U.S. sites that provide access to sex offender registries.
15 November 2000. Arctic Originals, Inc., creator of Stop It! software, database management software for sex offender registration information, provides access to government-run sex offender databases. Note that once you select a state or city, you leave SexOffender.com and connect to the database of the respective location.
20 November 2001. Search a database of deaths reported to the Social Security Administration. The database offers a number of query options including by name, social security number, date of birth, residence, and more. Data provided includes name, date of birth, date of death, social security number, and last known address.
10 August 2000. Common Cause, a non-profit organization for open government, offers this database of special interest soft money contributions to democratic and republican national committees. Search the database by donor, location, or industry. Election cycles include January 1995 through December 1999.
Retrieve information about the donor, the amount contributed, and the campaign. Clicking on the donor's name retrieves all related donations for the election cycle selected. For example, search the entertainment industry to find a list of contributors. Then click on the name of a company to find officers and other employees, who contribute in their own names.
A storybook icon appears next to the name of some donors. Open it to read information about the donor, its lobbying priorities, troubles, and victories. Some also offer links to related Common Cause studies.
15 December 2000. The FBI offers this compilation of links to statewide sex offender registry databases.
26 January 2001. TitleX.com provides fee-based access to county records in the state of Texas. Currently, the vendor offers the records of nine counties, but "plans to have thirty Texas counties online by the end of this year with the majority of all Texas counties by the end of 2002." Available county records include various real estate documents, county court filings, adoption records, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, and more.
26 July 2000. The San Bernardino County Coroner’s Department offers to Coroner’s Departments, Medical Examiners Offices and Sheriff’s Departments nationwide a database for informing the public about the deceased, whose identify is known, but whose family cannot be located. Search by name, or list out all names in the database.
Currently coverage comprises Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
29 January 2001. Search this free database of ham radio license data obtained from an FCC ftp server. Data includes full name, address, callsign, classification, license status, and license effective dates.
28 July 2003. Veteran Vietnam War helicopter pilots record information about pilots and others assigned to helicopter squadrons, who were killed in action. Find an extensive list of names. Click a linked name to find a summary of the incident, which resulted in the death of the military person. Some of the information offered includes the names and select personal information of those involved in the incident as well as a summary (often an eye-witness account) of the incident. To find individuals by event date, the site recommends that you browse its index, where 621006 means October 6, 1962. (et)
29 January 2001. Find a database of military and civilian personnel in the Navy. Select advanced search for the best search options. Run queries by name (first or last), email address, phone number, pay grade, rank, and more. Data typically includes full name, position, department or division, and military address, but may also include email address, phone, status (e.g., civilian), and pay information. The data comes from two sources: the Navy Personnel Command (NAVPERS) system and the Defense Civilian Personnel System (DCPDS).
5 June 2000. PACER offers access to its index of federal filings in district, bankruptcy and appellate courts via the Web. Conduct one search in courts nationwide.
7 June 2000. Find information about how to order birth, death, marriage, or divorce records in all 50 states. Some states offer databases containing the records. See, for example, Colorado, which allows marriage and divorce verification searches from 1975.
26 June 2001. The American Board of Medical Specialties offers a free unofficial database for verifying a doctor's certification. This resource appears to replace the former Certified Doctor Verification Service. Search by name or practice type to obtain information about certification. The ABMS also offers an official version of the database with more information about a doctor at BoardCertifiedDocs.
30 May 2002. Find service records for army and marine soldiers from Missouri, who enlisted between 1917 and 1919. Search by name to find a transcript of the service record. It contains name, serial number, race, residence, place and date of enlistment, place, and age or date, of birth, rank, wounds or other injuries, dates of overseas service, and date of discharge.