Not quite as exciting as when the new phone book is here (the new phone book is here) but close: 2012 Statistical Abstract published
Read MoreRequest for FBI Watch List a Good FOIA Primer
FBI Watch List FOIA response very instructive on what is and what isn't released under FOIA.
Read More401k Annual Reports Available Online and By Employer
Find out how much is in a company's 401k plan and whether all of its employees participate using the Department of Labor Form 5500 search engine.
Read MoreLegiStorm Update -- Great Resource for Records on Congress
LegiStorm keeps improving and is positioned as the premier site for Congressional expense and other data. Worth a look.
Read MoreCalifornia Watch Lobbying Interest Database
California Watch -- the independent journalism collaborative founded by the Center for Investigative Reporting and staffed by top shelf journalists -- has created a database that enables researchers to input California bill numbers and learn which interests lobbied on the measures. This data is drawn from California Form 635 on which registered lobbyists declare what measures they have lobbied, along with the aggregate amount they have spent on lobbying. Prior to the California Watch system going live, researchers could access the data by interest group (i.e., by reviewing each lobbyist's filing) but not by measure number. So, this tool will enable a whole new type of analysis.
Read more about the system and some noted limitations here.
Novel Use of Public Records -- Cincinnati Designers Print 1950s Mug Shots as Notebook Covers
Last week, we commented on NARA’s planned destruction of bankruptcy and federal court records from the period between 1970 and 1995. Be confidant that NARA will undertake the destruction in a manner that actually leads to the records being destroyed. Not so with a number of mug shots from the1950sthat were “destroyed” by the Alameda County (CA) Sheriff’s Department. Rather than shred the mug shots, the department threw them in a dumpster. From the dumpster the photos made their way to a flea market and ultimately into the hands of two Cincinnati-based designers who have digitally altered them (substituting “Cincinnati” for “Alameda County” in the place identifier and enhancing the photos) and are now using them as notebook covers.
Contacted by The New York Times about the matter, a spokesman for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department affirmed that arrest records are public records in California and not subject to copyright but otherwise didn’t address the privacy debate surrounding the mugshot notebooks.
Want a notebook or to learn more about the designers? Try their Facebook page here.
National Archives Decision on Case Destruction Could Have Longterm Impacts
The National Archives and Records Center will soon destroy millions of federal court records created between 1970 and 1995. Expect some confusion moving forward when ordering archived cases from this era.
Read MoreFAA Moves to Ensure Wider Access to Flight Plan Data
The FAA has issued definitive guidance on the public nature of flight plan data ensuring open and unfettered access to the vast majority of flight plans and removing an allowed owner privacy exemption.
Read MoreDocumentCloud Public Records Tool
Use DocumentCloud to find primary source documents used by journalists at The New York Times and many other outlets.
Read MoreWhat Faye Dunaway's NYC Housing Court Case Teaches about Public Records
Actress Faye Dunaway's New York City Housing Court case teaches about housing (and specialized courts) and the circumstances under which car and voter registration records can be accessed
Read MoreUse JSTOR to Search Academic Journals
JSTOR is a resource for searching academic journals to confirm expert credentials or determining their area expertise
Read MoreWorld Bank Open Data Initiative
Over 2,000 World Bank datasets once available only to subscribers are now available to app developers, business consultants and researchers looking for international data.
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