Notes

Outline

Internet Research Public Records & Exercises

Public Records In a democracy, government and its officials work for the people, the public. The records of government officials therefore should be public. The public votes for – “hires” – those officials. The public pays them. The public needs to have information to judge them.

Public records should be - public Public records are the records of governments made available to the people. Most government information should be public.

Examples of public records Examples of public records are: Voting records of politicians Donations given to politicians Court cases Birth and death certificates Financial records of non-profit organizations

The Internet and public records Many people are surprised to find how much information is available to them. They shouldn’t be. Government information belongs to the people. The Internet has the ability to make information available as never before.

Public Record Indexes Many sites – for fee and for free – gather information on Internet access to public records. Look at the state-by-state listings at brpub.com/pubrecsites.asp Also see: vitalrec.com www.peoplesearch.com

Non-Profit Organizations Non-profit organizations are required to file a great deal of information. You can check out any organization claiming to be non-profit. Use guidestar.org to begin your research.

Court Records Many people do not realize that most court proceedings are public records. Information is kept at courthouses in state capitals, county seats and other locations that often not easily accessible to the public. The Internet is changing that.

Online court records But more court records are being placed online. www.carrollpub.com/CitCenter/citcenter.html has links to numerous online sources. Also go to http://www.nccpa.org and link to Court Opinions.

FOIA The Freedom of Information Act was passed in 1967. Much government information became available to the public. In 1975, the Act was applied to law enforcement agencies. Suddenly, many files kept by the FBI were open to public inspection. For example, use http://foia.fbi.gov to get information on mass murderer Ted Bundy.

Private Campaign Contributions Are people or companies buying influence from politicians? The public has a right to know who is giving money to candidates. Check out www.fec.gov for the top contributors to your  Senator or Representative.

Donor Lookup You can find individual and corporate contributors to politicians and parties at www.opensecrets.org Use their excellent Occupation/Employer search and find out donations of Lehigh University employees. Also try the Laundromat at www.commoncause.org

Project Vote Smart Many public interest groups are taking advantage of the Internet to make information available to the public. Use www.vote-smart.org to check the voting record of your Senator or Representative.

Ancestors Genealogy – finding information about ancestors and family trees – has received a huge boost from the Internet. You can use www.ancestry.com to do a search on your last name.

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index contains the records of deceased people who had Social Security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the government. You can use the link from www.ancestry.com to check for Social Security records on deceased relatives.

Obituaries Newspaper obituaries are rich sources of information on people. www.gengateway.com has numerous indexes that serve as “gateways” for researchers. Use the Obituary Gateway to find news of famous people who have died.

Birth Records Most states still do not publish birth, marriage and other personal records on the Internet. Some do. Use: www.publicrecordfinder.com/vitalrecrds.html and find the birth record of a famous Californian. California publishes these records.

Public Records are Public Rights Keep in mind that democracy is based on the access to information. We make decisions and vote based on information we have about government, officials and our society. Public records are public rights.