Tracking down public records

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Tracking down public records

• J. Robert Port
• Investigative Reporter
• New York Daily News

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Your client The reporter
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Reporters lead difficult lives

• Daily deadlines
• Irrascible editors
• Hunting and traveling
• Forced to work by phone
• Demand for accuracy
• Incessant pressure to be creative

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An Interview
Most stories have their beginnings with
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This Story Began With a Government Document
By SANG-HUN CHOECHARLES J. HANLEYand MARTHA
MENDOZAAssociated Press Writers It was a story
no one wanted to hear Early in the Korean War,
villagers said, American soldiers machine-gunned
hundreds of helpless civilians, under a railroad
bridge in the South Korean countryside. When the
families spoke out, seeking redress, they met
only rejection and denial, from the U.S. military
and their own government in Seoul. Now a dozen
ex-GIs have spoken, too, and support their story
with haunting memories from a "forgotten"
war. These American veterans of the Korean War
say that in late July 1950, in the conflict's
first desperate weeks, U.S. troops -- young,
green and scared -- killed a large number of
South Korean refugees, many of them women and
children, trapped beneath a bridge at a place
called No Gun Ri.
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Source National Archives, College Park, Md.
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Why Government Records?

• Records dont lie
• Records dont forget
• Records dont pursue an agenda
• Recorded information creates leads
• Documentary evidence bolsters a story
• Defense against libel lawsuits

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The Candidates Words
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The Official Record

• Also in Archival Records
• Names of State Draft Officials
• Names of Some Local Draft Board Members
• Large Numbers of Local Men Drafted

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The Top Officials Quote
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Tools for Government Records

• The National Archives and Records Administration
  (NARA)
• Agency reading rooms
• The Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
• State Freedom of Information or public records
  laws
• Federal Courts - PACER

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So Many Governments, So Little Time
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So Many Jurisdictions
Federal Court Districts 93
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Sources

• Congressional Quarterlys Washington Information
  Directory
• Congressional Quarterlys Federal Regulatory
  Directory
• The Yellow books
• New York Citys Green Book

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The Internet

• E-FOIA slowing taking hold
• Web sites growing daily
• Sophistication steadily increasing
• Many traditionally paper records going
  all-electronic
• Hybrid vendors evolving

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PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records)
http//www.uscourts.gov
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The future actual court records scanned or
created electronically everywhere
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TRAC (Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse)

• 2 million federal employee records
• Justice Dept. case tracking data
• IRS enforcement data
• Judge/prosecutor report cards

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Deeds, liens, etc.
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Uniform Commercial Code filings
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Electronic Data

• Increasingly, most useful government records are
  in data form, not paper
• Data is better than paper
• Learn to use a spreadsheet
• Better still, learn to use relational database
  software

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Government Records and Clothing

• NYS Dept. of Labor enforcement data
• Federal Trade Commission RN data
• Womens Wear Daily
• U.S. Dept. of Labor union data
• OSHA data

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NYS DOL, license and FTC
Microsoft Access
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115
BATF gun tracing data available
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The story
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Licensed nurses aides
Criminal records
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The story
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Public records are the backbone of investigations
At sunrise, Jose Madrid, 11, begins picking red
chilies in New Mexico.
At days end, Jose counts his tickets and
prepares to collect his pay 30.52.
They will be sold for use in Paul Newmans salsa.
His employment is a violation of federal law. The
product of his labor becomes hot goods.
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The Tip Go to certain farms or factories and you
will find children working illegally.
We tested this with a trial run in Ohio using one
reporter and photographer. We found...
We found others and they were all paid for their
labor
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We decide to use a web site to manage
We wanted our web site to...
Let reporters file interview notes and see their
colleagues notes.
Share a library of legal research, news clips and
data.
Share computer files and electronic records in
native form.
Let reporters see photos and artwork as theyre
collected.
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MS Internet Info Server, SQL Server and Lotus
Notes
What we were thinking...
Microsofts web server because it can be set up
fast.
SQL Server to use a big machine to share large
databases with many different programs, including
the web server.
Lotus Notes because it can interconnect with many
systems.
They all work with Windows, allowing easy
interchange of graphics.
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Research assembled to prep reporters
Web material can be pasted with links intact.
Forms can be customized
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Searchable in-house data
Reporters can search DOL case records for child
labor cases, such as they are.
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Web can provide detailed reporting aids.
Staff can assemble lists and tip sheets and post
to the web server.
even maps to obscure places.
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Reporters search for underage workers
and find them.
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and find them.
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and find them.
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and find them.
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Quotes, anecdotes, interviews meshed
Writers everywhere can choose best stuff.
Comment interviews can be documented with a
spreadsheet.
Editors can categorize a mass of material.
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The story moves on the wire
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(No Transcript)
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Finding Mimi

• Chapin School
• Class secretaries
• Miss Porters
• Social Register
• Weddings
• Obituary
• Voter rolls

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Must-have public records data

• State and local payrolls
• Corporate officer registration records
• Criminal court records
• Civil court records
• Property/tax assessment records
• Professional licensing records
• Voter registration records

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Bobs Top 10 Web Sites

1. NYS Department of State http//dos.ny.state.us/
2. Leadership Library http//ldi.bvdep.com/
3. GuideStar http//www.guidestar.org/
4. 10K Wizard http//www.tenkwizard.com/
5. opensecrets.org http//www.opensecrets.org/
6. nexis.com http//www.nexis.com/research/
7. NYC Campaign Finance Board http//www.cfb.nyc.ny.u
   s/
8. Government Printing Office http//www.access.gpo.g
   ov/
9. TRAC http//trac.syr.edu/
10. General Accounting Office http//www.gao.gov/