In the past year, US public records have played a role in two high-profile foreign political dramas. Most recently, Vladimir Pekhtin, a founder of the United Russia party and chair of the ethics commission in the lower house of the Russian Parliament (the Duma) resigned following reports that he owned property in Miami Beach that was unreported on required statements of financial interests.
Read MoreMilitary Valor Awards-Some Search Capability, Not Perfect
Searching for and verifying military awards for valor has always been a labor intensive process requiring requestors to submit a Standard Form 180 request to the National Personnel Records Center. While this remains the best way to verify awards, a couple of other options are available for researchers.
Read MoreHere Comes the STOCK Act
The STOCK (Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge) Act was signed into law on April 4, 2012 and many of its key provisions are now starting to take effect. Most recently, a provision requiring federal personal financial disclosure report filers to make so called periodic reports of transactions went into effect on July 3rd.
Read MoreSteve Jobs FBI File
Steve Jobs FBI file --The FBI uses public records too
Read MoreGovernment Guides
Use government guides to find the person with the answer you need and to learn how the government is organized
Read MoreUse search.usa.gov for Federal, State and Local Government Site Search
Researchers looking specifically for government documents should add search.usa.gov to their repertoire. This site, billed as the "U.S. Government's official search engine," is extremely useful when conducting a broad-based search for specific mentions inside of government records including minutes, staff reports or agency memoranda.
Read MoreNational Medical Provider Discipline File --Public but with Restrictions
Doctor discipline data -- "backing in" research technique documented; Federal agency responds by restricting use of data
Read MoreUsing SEC Form 13F to Learn About Hedge Fund Holdings
Some insight into the holdings of large hedge funds is provided via SEC Form 13F filings. These quarterly reports are filed by institutional investment managers like hedge funds and also including investment advisers, banks, insurance companies, some pension funds and corporations that have discretion over more than $100 million in Section 13(f) securities.
Read MoreJFK Records Now Digitally Archived and Available Online
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation recently announced the launch of its online database of newly digitized records from the JFK Presidential Archives. These records have always been available in person at the library, but efforts to digitally preserve them and make them available to the general public on the Internet have now been realized through the Access to a Legacy program.
Read MorePartnership of Library of Congress and Universal Music Group Will Put Newly Digitized Music Online
Financial realities and overlapping interests have led to an agreement that will create a set of new set of digitized music online. The Universal Music Group agreed to give the Library of Congress approximately 200,000 recordings created between 1926 and 1948 that have been sitting in underground storage.
Read MoreComparison of Worldwide Public Records
To sum up our worldwide public records series, we've prepared a chart comparing key aspects of the laws enacted in the US, Canada, the UK and India.
Read MoreUnited Kingdom: Freedom of Information (FOI) Act
The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was enacted in 2000 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom to replace a 1994 code that outlined voluntary guidelines for releasing government information. Its guidelines extend to England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while Scotland has its own Freedom of Information Act.
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