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Actual Sources of Public Records and Public Information

1837Online.com

13 September 2004. This commercial site provides fee-based access to indexes of England and Wales births, marriages and deaths. It recently added the records of those who died, or were married, while serving outside of the country for the British forces. Coverage of birth, marriage and death records extends back to 1837 and does not include Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands. According to site documentation, the indexes comprise "a full set of the publicly available records for England and Wales" from 1837 to present day. However, there is a lag of up to two years between a recording and its appearance online.

192.com

28 August 2000. This commercial site by i-CD Publishing (UK) Ltd. helps you find businesses and residences in the United Kingdom. You must register to use the site, and much of the information it provides is not free. However, if you're willing to work at it, you can find names, addresses and phone numbers without incurring a charge. To do this, run a query under the People Finder or Business Finder tab. Pass over the initial search results, and go to the bottom of the page where you will find a link labeled, "Search Free Directory Enquiries." Click it to retrieve the free basic contact information as well as a map of the company's or individual's location.

Paid subscribers can retrieve additional information, including electoral rolls from 2002 to present and company and director reports.

2000 Presidential Race Donor Lookup

22 May 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.

Access to Archival Databases (AAD) System

24 January 2006. The National Archives and Records Administration makes available almost 500 databases containing mostly older information about people or businesses. Find, for example, databases for conducting genealogy research or for finding records pertaining to labor unions. Technical note: The site requires session cookies and Javascript. It does not function as well in Firefox as it does in Internet Explorer.

ACIC (Arkansas Crime Information Center) Sex Offender Directory

6 December 2004. The Arkansas Crime Information Center makes available information about Level 3 and Level 4 registered sex offenders. Updated daily, the database lets you search by full or partial name, address, zip code or certain characteristics (race, sex or risk level). The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her last known street address, race, sex, date of birth, risk level, charge and sometimes, a photograph.

Alabama Alacourt.com

7 September 2004. The commercial vendor On-Line Information Services, Inc. provides fee-based access to the trial court records for all counties in Alabama. According to information available at the Web site, subscribers have access to active cases and select disposed cases since 1970. Coverage includes civil and criminal cases, domestic relations and child support, traffic cases, outstanding alias warrants, trial court dockets and attorney case information. You can also access the state's "real-time" database and set up tracking and notification.

Alabama Inmate Search

29 January 2003. The Alabama Department of Corrections offers a database of prisoners currently incarcerated. Search by AIS (Alabama Institutional Serial) number or name to find name, AIS, race, sex, birth date, current prison location, and release date. Results appear at the bottom of the page.

Alaska Appellate Courts Case Management System

25 February 2002. Look up information about civil and criminal cases on appeal in Alaska courts. Search by party name, appellate case number, or trial court number. The system provides basic case information, including parties names, attorneys, documents filed, transcript availability, and more.

Alaska Court System

25 February 2002. Search the trial court name index, which contains case information for lawsuits filed in 30 Alaska counties. It covers civil and criminal matters, but not appellate, confidential or traffic cases. Generally, the database covers 1990 to present, but searchers will find some older data. Some of the records include dates of birth along with the usual case information.

Alaska Sex Offender Central Registry

7 September 2004. The Alaska Department of Public Safety maintains a central registry of sex offenders convicted under AS 12.63.100. The Web site provides no information about dates of coverage. However, The Criminal Records Manual (Facts on Demand Press, 2004) states the database covers convictions since 10 August 1994. Search by name, type of address (registered, place of work, school--address is a school), zip code or city to find name, aliases, physical description, picture, employer, registered address and information about convictions.

All States National Sex Offender Public Registry

1 August 2005. The U.S. Department of Justice provides access to sex offender records in 22 states -- Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The site serves as a gateway to the state registry. Consequently, it provides the same information. However, it facilitates finding offenders who have moved to another state. The agency hopes to include access to registries in all states eventually.

All States SexOffender.com Database Search

21 June 2004. SexOffender.com offers a look-up feature for finding online sources of sex offender records. Select the jurisdiction of interest. The resulting information comes from other Web sites. It usually leads to state or county law enforcement sources of offender registries.

All States Stolen Jewelry Web Site

18 April 2006. The Jewelers' Security Alliance makes available this database for tracking stolen jewelry. Registered users (free) may search for stolen or recovered gems, watches or other jewelry. Search by a variety of criteria, including keyword, brand name, stone type, location or date. The information provided includes the month and year of the theft, theft location, a description of the jewelry, and more.

Arizona (VINELink)

7 September 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching Arizona. Search by name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and offender identification. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Arizona Criminal History Records

15 December 2005. Arizona official rapsheets, or information collected by the state criminal repository, is not public record. This Web page, maintained by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, explains the public access law and provides links to various forms for submitting requests. There is also an FAQ, which might answer additional questions.

Arizona Genealogy Birth and Death Certificates

20 May 2004. The Arizona Department of Health Services makes available a database of birth and death records. Search by full or partial name to find birth or death records for people whose birth or death occurred 75 years prior to the current date. A PDF image of the birth or death certificate is provided.

Arizona Inmate Datasearch

31 March 2003. The Arizona Department of Corrections provides a database of information about current and former inmates in custody since 1985. Search by inmate number or last name, sex and status (all three required to search) to find name, date of birth, inmate number, status, physical description, maximum term, admission date and institution. Links at the top of the page providing this data offer additional information. For example, follow the link labeled ADDITIONAL INFO to find a picture of the inmate, the inmate's state and federal identification numbers and more.

Arizona Public Access to Court Information

25 April 2002. The Arizona Judicial Branch offers a database of case information from 137 out of 180 courts in Arizona. The database covers criminal and civil cases, but does not offer information about sealed, non-served domestic violence, mental health, juvenile, or probate cases. It provides name, date of birth, city/state/zip (but not street address), criminal offense (if applicable), docket entries, and more. When testing the database, I received many browser error messages. It appears the state limits the number of simultaneous users. If you receive an error message, it's best to try again later.

Arizona Theft Database (Theft AZ)

31 July 2006. The Arizona Attorney General's Office maintains a public access database on stolen vehicle information. Search by license plate number or Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) to find contact and status information.

Arkansas Inmate Population Information Search

31 March 2003. The Arkansas Department of Correction offers a database of information about inmates. The site doesn't say, but the data appears to be available only for current inmates. Search by a variety of criteria, including name, identification number and criminal offense, to find inmate name, identification number, birth date, current facility, physical description, photograph, prison sentence history, eligible parole date and more.

Arkansas Online Criminal Background Check System

6 December 2004. Only employers and professional licensing boards can obtain access to this Arkansas State Police service. It is "[t]he only background check system that links directly to the Arkansas State Police database.... Businesses should beware of 'cheaper checks' or other services that claim to find a person's background but never tap into the resources of the Arkansas State Police. As a result, some businesses may pay for an incomplete background check."

These ominous words are often true of other states as well. If you perform an online check with a commercial vendor, be sure to ask about its data sources.

Individuals can use the service via the mail provided they submit a signed and notarized release using the agency's form ASP-122. Criminal rapsheets are not public information in this state.

Arkansas State Police Crash Records

10 May 2005. The Arkansas State Police make available online PDF copies of accident reports. Search by name. You may limit a query by several criteria, including accident date, county name, license number, birth date or vehicle type. Searching is free. Initial search results provide the document identifier, name of individual(s) involved, accident date, the county where the accident occurred and the number of pages in the report. Obtaining a full report incurs a fee.

Award Abstracts Database

13 September 2005. Search for information about research projects that the National Science Foundation has funded since 1989. Covering both completed and in-process research, the database contains abstracts that describe the research and provide the names of principal investigators and their institutions.

Bank of England Financial Sanctions

30 June 2004. The Bank of England publishes information about financial sanctions against groups and individuals suspected of financing terrorist activities. The lists make available information about new sanctions, and do not incorporate existing sanctions. Therefore, researchers should check all of the lists provided on the Web site.

BirthDatabase.com

26 July 2006. Find a database of birth dates. Search by name or name and approximate age to find the full name, full date of birth and current residence (city, state and zip only). The site claims to compile the information from public records. It appears to be available only for U.S. residents. Technical note: The site is supported by advertising. Queries generate multiple pop-up windows.

Buying of the President 2004, The

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.

California (VINELink)

11 April 2005. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific California counties. Select the county you want to search, and then enter a name. You may limit a query by date of birth or age range. No statewide search is available.

The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

California Appellate Courts: Case Information

5 November 2002. Find gateway access to case information on civil and criminal matters in California appellate courts. Features include docket entries, trial court information (including case number), future scheduled actions, and if applicable, a link to the case on appeal in the Supreme Court.

California Physician License Lookup

16 June 2004. The Medical Board of California makes available a database for finding information about a physician's license, including public disciplinary data, felony convictions, citations for minor violations of law, hospital disciplinary actions that result in termination or revocation of privileges, malpractice judgments and select malpractice settlements. Search by name, license or location.

Campaign Finance

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).

Campaign Finance Database

9 November 2004. C-SPAN provides a database of campaign finance disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission. Updated monthly, the database covers the 1994 through 2004 election cycles. You can search by donor name, donor zip code, or candidate name. Donor search results include the name of the donor, date and amount of the donation, business affiliation or employment, campaign name and donor's city and state. You can also retrieve an image of the disclosure filing.

Canadian Civil Aircraft Register

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.

CARFAX

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.

Certified Financial Planner

23 September 2004. The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. provides three lookup tools for finding board certified financial planners. Search by name or location to find a professional's full name, employment (or affiliated company), business address, phone number, certification status, certification dates and public disciplinary history.

CFIC Power Search

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.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Accident Report Database

1 June 2005. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Police Department offers a database of accident reports. The database covers incidents that occurred within one year. For reports of older incidents, you must contact the Division of Motor Vehicles in Raleigh. You may search by accident number, accident date, driver or crash location. Initial results provide the accident number and date, driver's name and accident location. Click a result to open a copy of the full accident report.

City of Madison, WI Accident Information Query

25 April 2005. The Police Department of the City of Madison, Wisconsin enables search access to police accident reports. Find reports for accidents occurring since 1 January 2002. Search by the date of the accident, victim's name, accident case number or date and insurance company. Initial results include the case number, date and time of the accident, victim's name, accident location and insurance company. You may also retrieve a full-text PDF copy of the accident report. This is a free resource.

Colorado Bureau of Investigation Records Check

7 June 2002. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation offers criminal histories online. There is a $5.50 charge per name searched. You must enter a date of birth, as well as a name, and a reason for the search.

The database enables statewide criminal checks "based on fingerprint submissions from law enforcement agencies within the State of Colorado. [It does] not ... disclose information from other state or federal databases. Warrant information, sealed records, and juvenile records are not available to the public. To locate information regarding registered sex offenders, you must contact your local law enforcement agency."

This means you should find felonies and misdemeanors committed in the state, but not federal or other state crimes or minor violations (e.g., traffic).

Colorado Court Database

25 February 2002. Search for case information about open or closed (but not sealed) matters from Colorado district and county courts. Types of cases covered by the database include civil, domestic relations, water, traffic, small claims, as well as, felonies and misdemeanors. Searchers will not find cases pertaining to probate, mental health and juvenile matters. Nor will they find social security numbers or street addresses.

Other public records available at the site include business information records, divorces, marriages, UCC liens, and the Social Security Death Index.

Colorado Inmate Locator System

31 July 2006. The Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) makes available information about active offenders, community corrections and parolees. Search by DOC number, name or date of birth to find name, DOC number, gender, date of birth, physical description and facility. Additional details include estimated discharge date, photo, offense and sentencing information.

Connecticut Civil/Family Case Look-up

15 April 2002. Search for civil and family court matters by personal or business name. The database covers courts in several Connecticut counties, but does not specify years included. It provides the names of the parties, docket number, docket summary, case type, disposition date, date filed, attorneys, and more.

Update: 29 June 2005. The June 2005 issue of Public Records Update, a free monthly newsletter of BRB Publications, warns researchers about incomplete data at the Connecticut Judicial Civil Records Web site. The site states that it makes records available for up to 10 years. However, it periodically purges the database, and many "cases closed by settlement, dismissal, withdrawal, and even stipulated judgments may be removed from the website within a year after disposition." Recently, over half of the records in the database were purged, reducing the number from 309,000 to 145,000.

The caution should serve as another example of the importance of manual verification when you need a complete picture of a person's or business's litigation history.

Connecticut Inmate Information Search

10 September 2003. Find information about inmates currently incarcerated with the Connecticut Department of Correction. The database also includes information about those incarcerated while awaiting trial. Search by identification number, name or date of birth to find inmate number, name, date of birth, date last incarcerated, current location, status, description of offense, sentence date, maximum sentence and more.

Connecticut Law About Criminal Records

15 December 2005. Connecticut Judicial Branch Law Libraries maintains a guide to obtaining criminal information in Connecticut. It provides useful links to pertinent information buried in state Web sites. One of the links, for instance, connects you to a letter that explains when arrest records may be disclosed. There are also links to relevant statutes and forms.

Court Rules, Forms and Dockets

28 September 2000. LLRX.com offers search access to source information for federal and state court rules, forms and dockets. The database includes links to over 700 sources. Search by keyword (e.g., pennsylvania forms to find links to federal and state court forms), or browse by one or more of the following criteria: jurisdiction, document type, or state. The database returns links to credible sources that match your query.

A tremendous improvement over the former court rules guide, this resource is easy to use, uncluttered, and fast.

CourtWeb

13 May 2003. CourtWeb enables access to information about select rulings, as well as the text of available rulings, by participating judges in several federal district courts. For case information, search each court separately. For opinions, search individual courts or all of them. Access the full-text search option by selecting any court from the main menu, and then click the full-text search button at the bottom of the screen.

Death on the Border

3 February 2005. Maintained by the Arizona Daily Star with data from the Mexico Secretary of Foreign Relations, as well as Arizona county medical examiners and local law enforcement, this database contains information about illegal immigrants, who have died in the Tucson Sector while crossing into the United States. Search by name, city of origin or age to find full name, city of origin, age, cause of death, location of the body, date found, and the medical examiner's identification number. Information is available for deaths occurring since October 2003.

Defaulted Borrowers (HEAL)

7 August 2000. Revised 14 October 2005. 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 name or keyword, or browse it by name, discipline, state, amount due or school. Search results provide the defaulter's full name, city, state, discipline, school, amount due and graduation date.

Delaware State Courts Opinions and Orders

11 April 2005. According to The Criminal Records Manual (Facts on Demand Press, 2004), criminal histories are not public in this state. If you have a signed release, you may request a criminal history through the Criminal History Section of the Delaware State Police. On the other hand, if the conviction resulted in an opinion or order, this site might help you.

It provides keyword search access to opinions and orders from Delaware state courts back to 2000. Matching documents are available in full-text PDF and free of charge.

Denied Persons List

16 June 2004. Revised 2 May 2005. The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains this list "to prevent the illegal export of dual-use items before they occur; [and to] investigate and assist in the prosecution of violators of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and the Fastener Quality Act (FQA)." While helpful, the list is not the official record of denied privileges. "Export Privileges are denied by written order of the Department of Commerce. Each order affecting export privileges is published in the Federal Register. These orders are the official source of information about denied persons and are controlling if there is an inconsistency."

The Excluded Parties List System provides integrated search access to several debarment lists.

Doctor Disciplinary Information on State Web Sites:

11 November 2002. Revised 28 January 2005. Consumer advocacy group Public Citizen grades the 50 states on their provision of health-related disciplinary information via the Web. Discover what individual states provide, where they provide it, and how easy or difficult the site is to use. Specifically, the reports cover the availability of information about disciplinary data on specific doctors, the action taken, the offense, a summary narrative, board orders, the doctor's personal information, license number, license expiration date, medical specialty, date of the action, and availability of at least 10 years of data. Another feature loads a chart of the grades for all states.

DocumentsOnline

29 March 2004. The National Archives in the United Kingdom makes available digitized copies of public records from academic and genealogical sources. Collections include the Medal Rolls Index (index cards used to store information about recipients of army medals during the First World War), Wills (wills filed with the Prerogative Court of Canterbury from 1384 to 1858), Famous Wills (original wills of famous people), Cabinet minutes and Cabinet memoranda from 1973, and more. Use the advanced search feature to specify the collections you want to query. The resulting information provided for free varies depending on the collection, but typically includes identifying information and a brief description. For a small price, you can purchase an image of the original public record online.

Donor Name Lookup

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.

EDGAR

7 March 1999. Revised 29 January 2007. Search the Securities and Exchange Commission's database of public company filings. The search engine enables querying the full text of filings from the last four years. You may also access mutual fund filings.

EdgarScan

7 March 1999. Revised 21 June 2006. PriceWaterhouseCoopers offers this interface to EDGAR. The simple search interface enables retrieval of public company filings by company name or ticker symbol. Filings are available in ascii text (as provided by the SEC), or in hypertext or Rich Text format. A new advanced search option enables full-text searching. You may also limit retrieval by company name, ticker symbol, industry, SIC, form or filing date.

Entity List

16 June 2004. Revised 2 May 2005. The U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) maintains this list of foreign individuals and companies, which "have been determined to present an unacceptable risk of diversion to developing weapons of mass destruction or the missiles used to deliver those weapons." Changes to the list appear officially in the Federal Register.

The Excluded Parties List System provides integrated search access to several debarment lists.

EPLS, Excluded Parties List System

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.

EWG Farm Subsidy Database

25 May 2004. The Environmental Working Group's (EWG) Farm Subsidy Database contains information about U.S. Department of Agriculture direct payments to farmers under the farm subsidy program. It compiles and analyzes the data revealing a list of Fortune 500 companies that receive farm subsidies and recipients of $1 million or more. The latter list provides name, location and the amount of subsidies received since 1995 or 1996. You cannot search the database. You can only review the lists provided.

FACSNET News Sources

19 November 2002. Revised 14 October 2005. Designed for journalists, FACSNET enables searching for experts 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. Experts listed in the database are FACS Scholars, or people known to, or who teach for, the Foundation for American Communications. The Foundation is a non-profit organization that "is dedicated to improving the quality of information reaching the public through the news."

Fatality Reports

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.

FCC General Menu Reports

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.

FCC Search for Filed Comments

11 October 2001. Revised 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.

Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator

27 November 2001. Revised 8 April 2005. 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 name (first and last required) or one of four different identification numbers, to find name, registration number, age, race, sex, released or projected release date, and location. Note that the name search is an exact match (e.g., "jon" will not find "jonathan"). You may click through on the location to obtain the prison's visiting regulations.

Florida Crime Information Center Public Access System

13 October 2000. Revised 9 January 2004. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement offers several databases for finding information related to crimes. Search for wanted persons, missing persons, stolen vehicles, stolen vehicle parts, stolen license plates, stolen license decals, stolen boats, stolen boat parts, stolen boat decals, stolen guns or stolen articles (appliances, TVs, stereos). Many of the databases require searching by registration or serial number. More search criteria is provided for finding wanted persons. Information provided includes name, aliases, offense, reporting agency, case number, warrant information, date of birth, physical description and last known city and state.

Florida Criminal History Information

1 June 2004. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement provides this secure Web site for obtaining criminal histories. You must pay to search the database. There is a per name search charge as well as a charge per record when more than one individual matches your search criteria. The Web site doesn't reveal what the record contains, but it should offer sufficient identifying information (date of birth, name, physical description). The Web site does note that Social Security numbers are suppressed for records requested via the Internet. It does, however, provide the last four digits for verification purposes.

Florida Offender Information Search

25 November 2002. Florida offers multiple databases for finding information about criminals. This database queries data contained in all the databases, BUT it only provides search options for criteria common to all. Find fugitives (whereabouts unknown supervisory purposes), escapees (from correctional facilities), inmates, and inmates released or scheduled for release. Search the individual databases here.

Florida Official [Court] Records

24 June 2003. Florida's Clerks of Court provide subscriber and non-subscriber search access to civil case information, and other official records, in several, but not all, Florida counties. Search individual county courts or all available courts. Data provided includes the parties, filing date, county, type of document and more. Because the research system covers more than civil litigation, you can use it to find deeds, incorporations, death certificates, liens and more. You can also order certified or non-certified copies online.

Fone Finder

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.

FundRace 2004

29 March 2004. Not-for-profit media arts organization Eyebeam developed this database, which lets you look up campaign contributions for amounts totaling more than $200 and given to a single campaign between January 1, 2003 and February 29, 2004. Search by name or address to find the donor's name and address, employment, contribution amount and campaign. The database is updated periodically.

Georgia Inmate Query

10 May 2002. Search for current or past inmates by identification number, name, alias, age, or other criteria. The database provides name, aliases, identification number, photograph, physical description, date of birth, offense, current status, place of incarceration, and more.

Georgia Parolee Database

20 March 2003. Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles provides a database of offenders currently under supervision. Search for parolees zip code, name or inmate number. The database provides the individual's picture, home address, physical description, beginning and ending parole date, most serious offense as well as the telephone number of his or her parole officer.

GovernmentRecords.com

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.

Historical Directories

9 November 2004. The University of Leicester provides access to a digital library of local and trade directories for England and Wales covering the period, 1750 to 1919. There are more than 600 directories available. To search one, you first locate a relevant directory by location, time period or keyword. Be aware: The menu keyword search option helps you locate a directory. It does not let you search all directories by keyword. After the directory you select loads, you can search it by keyword.

Historical Newspaper Collection

21 October 2004. Genealogy research site Ancestry.com makes available a searchable collection of local news, obituaries, legal notices, classified ads and personal announcements from more than 400 newspapers in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. Covering approximately 1815 to 2001 (some go back farther), the collection includes newspapers from 45 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

You can search the collection without charge. Initial results include the name of the newspaper and number of matches found. To display an image of the original article, you must be a paid subscriber. If you install the plug-in, Ancestry Image Viewer, your search terms will be highlighted and you can save or print the image.

Idaho Offender Search

14 October 2003. The Idaho Department of Correction enables searching for individuals under its jurisdiction; that is, those incarcerated, on probation, or on parole. Search by name or offender number to find name, offender number, status, date of birth, institution location and phone number, a brief description of the offense, sentencing county, case number, parole eligibility and date the sentence ends. If an individual has been discharged, you may also find a record of the discharge. Discharge records, however, contain only the name, offender number, status (discharged), date of birth and discharge date.

Illinois (VINELink)

7 April 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific Illinois entities. Select the facility (Department of Corrections, specific county, statewide) you want to search and then enter a name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Illinois Inmate Search

25 November 2002. Search by name, identification number, or birth date to find inmates in Illinois prisons. Information provided includes a physical description, including any marks, scars, or tattoos, current prison location and status, admission and projected release dates, as well as information about the crime and sentencing.

Illinois Judici

18 May 2004. Case information aggregator Judici offers free and commercial search services for Illinois courts. For free, searchers can access and search one court at a time (see Participating Courts) to find criminal and civil case files. Currently, the site provides access to about 15 county courts in Illinois. Coverage varies from court to court, but averages from the late 1980s to present. Search by case number or party name. You can also limit the number of results by keyword in the description of the charge. Information provided includes case number, party name, date of birth, disposition, case type, judge, last known address, fines and fees and more. Paid subscribers can search all courts simultaneously and receive case updates and other services.

Indiana Offender Public Information Search

29 January 2003. The Indiana Department of Correction offers a database of criminal offenders, but does not document the data it contains. Sample queries indicate that the database includes current inmates and those on parole. Search by name or offender number to find name, offender number, date of birth, gender, race, current location, release date, and sentencing information.

Indiana State Police Limited Criminal History Search

29 October 2003. The Indiana State Police offer a fee-based search service for finding criminal histories. The database contains felonies and class A misdemeanor arrests from the mid-1930's to present. The state considers the results of a search to be an official record. Information returned includes arrests older than one year and having no disposition. You will also find the name of the accused, aliases, arrest dates, charges and dispositions.

Inmate Locator

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.

Insolvency Name Search

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.

Iowa Courts Online

15 February 2002. The Iowa judiciary offers case information from civil, criminal, probate, and traffic courts in all of its counties and from appellate courts. System documentation indicates coverage runs from 1997 to present, but the sample queries I ran found many cases dating farther back.

Iowa State Patrol Crash Reports

11 April 2006. The Iowa Department of Public Safety makes available state police crash reports for the past 15 days. Older reports are available at the Iowa State Patrol District Office. It appears the state is looking into an archiving feature that will make older reports available online in the future. Search by date, type of accident (injury, fatal) or county to retrieve "minimal" or "full" reports. Some of the information available includes vehicle make, model and year, drivers' names, ages and city of residence, passengers' names, ages and city of residence, and a description of the accident.

JurisPro Expert Witness Directory

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.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation Registered Offender Search

10 September 2003. This database contains unconfirmed information about registered sex offenders, who were convicted after 14 April 1994. Search by name, city, zip code or county to find a convicted offender's name, last known address (including date last verified), county, race, sex, date of birth, date of first registration and a description of offense.

Kansas Criminal History Record Checks

18 May 2004. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation provides varied access to criminal histories depending on who is requesting the information and why. In accordance with Kansas law, the general public may obtain criminal history information about convictions for several classes of misdemeanors, convictions for violations of municipal ordinances, imprisonments in state institutions and arrest records without dispositions for the past 12 months. There is a per name charge for conducting an online check.

Kansas Post-Release Supervision Lists

29 July 2003. The Kansas Department of Corrections publishes four separate lists containing information about those on parole or offenders released from supervision. There is no database, but rather four lists containing timely information. To find a parolee, you will need the name of the supervising county. You may find it by searching the KASPER database. Look for the location of the incarceration.

KASPER (Kansas Adult Supervised Population Electronic Repository)

29 July 2003. The KASPER database contains information about offenders in the custody of the Secretary of Corrections since 1980. It provides information about current and past offenders. Search by name, alias, unique identification number or social security number to find a convict's name, aliases, birth date, location, physical description and summary of convictions.

Kentucky Offender Online Lookup System (KOOL)

5 June 2002. Revised 5 March 2004. Search for information about inmates, who are currently housed in a state institution, or who are Class D felons housed for the state in a county jail. Note that the system contains NO information about former inmates. Nor does it provide information about those out on parole or parole eligibility. Also, KOOL LIMITS the number of convictions listed to ten. Search by full or partial (best results) name to find inmate identification number, physical description, photograph, name, aliases, criminal offenses and more. An advanced search interface provides searching by other criteria. The database does not provide date of birth or social security number.

Landings.com Databases

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.

Legal Dockets Online

28 August 2000. Revised 25 June 2004. This subscription-based site provides a portal to case information and court docket systems for federal, state and local courts in the United States. It covers civil and criminal courts. Find online access to court docket sheets, basic case information, court calendars, opinions, orders, decisions, inmate information and document images. It also offers a Weblog on electronic filing and public records retrieval.

List of Excluded Individuals/Entities Search

11 January 2006. The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services offers a separate interface (from the Excluded Parties Listing System) for finding individuals or businesses excluded from doing business with the agency. Search by full or partial name to find name, date of birth, reason for exclusion, health-related specialty, last known location and the date of exclusion. While the data provided appears to be the same as that available via the EPLS, this interface makes it easy to verify the Social Security Number for the record found. This helps to ensure that the record matches the identity of the research subject. The exclusion type is also more precisely defined here than at the gateway site.

List of Parties Debarred for Arms Export Control Act Convictions

21 June 2004. The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls of the U.S. Department of State provides two lists--one statutory and one administrative--of companies and individuals convicted of violations involving the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) or the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Both lists are alphabetical and include a Federal Register citation, although not a link to the relevant issue.

Louisiana (VINELink)

7 April 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific Louisiana entities. Select the facility (Department of Corrections, specific county, statewide) you want to search and then enter a name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Louisiana Non-Custodial Parent Delinquency List

15 February 2007. The Louisiana Department of Social Services provides a list of individuals who are under a legal obligation to pay child support, but have not made a payment in the last six months. The list is arranged alphabetically by the name of the delinquent payer. It is available only in PDF. It provides the name of the delinquent payer, date of birth, the amount due, and the city and state of the last known address. A separate list linked at the bottom of the referenced page consists of a most-wanted list. This list offers pictures, the complete last known address, name, age, occupation, number of children and amount owed.

Maine Crash Reporting

1 June 2005. The State of Maine provides fee-based access to crash reports from the Maine State Police database. The database covers accidents handled by the state police from 2003 to present. You may search by the name of the driver, passenger, pedestrian or witness involved, the crash location, crash date or investigating police department. Initial results provide the names of individuals involved, the crash date, crash location, investigating police department and vehicle information. To download or display a copy of the crash report in PDF format, you must submit a credit card for the $5.00 fee or subscribe to the state's InforME system.

Maine Death History Search

25 April 2006. The Maine State Archives provides a searchable index of death records for deaths occurring from 1 January 1960 to 31 December 1996. The archive warns that the information provided is unofficial and that it does not have a budget for updating the information. You may search by name, town of death or date. The information provided includes the full name, certificate number, date of death, town of death and age of death.

Maine InforME

11 August 2003. The Maine State Police offers this fee-based database containing conviction information for adult and juvenile crimes committed in Maine. Searching requires a credit card, full name and date of birth. Note that because the database responds with conviction data only, and does not include arrest records, pending criminal cases or any matter that did not result in a conviction. Maine limits the dissemination of non-conviction data (16 M.R.S. §613).

Maryland (VINELink)

9 February 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific Maryland entities. Select the facility (Department of Corrections, specific county, statewide) you want to search and then enter a name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Maryland Inmate Locator

7 April 2004. The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services make available a locator tool for finding information about those currently incarcerated at the Division of Correction facilities, Patuxent Institution or the Division of Pretrial and Detention Services facilities. Be aware: This service does not provide information on everyone in the custody of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. Search by name (last name only is permitted) to find full name, date of birth, holding facility and location contact information.

Maryland Judiciary Case Search

28 February 2006. The Maryland Judiciary makes available information on traffic, criminal and civil cases from state District and Circuit courts. At present, case information from Montgomery and Prince George's counties is not included. Date coverage varies by jurisdiction. While Circuit court update frequency is almost immediate, the timeliness of District court data is indicated on the "Case Display" screen. Search by name or case number to find full name, date of birth (when available), court, case type and filing date. Click the case number for more information.

Massachusetts (VINELink)

9 February 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific Massachusetts entities. Select the facility (Department of Corrections, specific county, statewide) you want to search and then enter a name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Massachusetts Public Case Information

12 February 2004. The Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court of Massachusetts offers this single search interface to publicly available cases. Search by docket number, party, attorney, originating court or originating court judge to find appellate case information and court docket sheets.

Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board

21 September 2004. After years of litigation, the official state registry for level 2 (moderate risk) and level 3 (high risk) offenders is available to the public. To conduct a search, follow the links Community Search/Detail. Search by name or location (city or county or zip code). Results include name, age, physical description, photograph, address, and a summary of offenses and conviction dates.

MelissaData Phone Number LookUp

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.

Michigan (VineLink)

21 June 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific Illinois entities. Select the facility (Department of Corrections, specific county, statewide) you want to search and then enter a name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more.

Michigan Internet Criminal History Access Tool

14 October 2003. The Michigan State Police offers this criminal history search tool. Search the criminal history records of the state repository for a fee. Searching requires a name and date of birth. Although the repository contains information about arrests not resulting in convictions, this utility does not display it. The agency warns that it "does not always receive information from the criminal justice system in a timely manner." It also cautions that records dated prior to June 1987 may be unclear about whether the crime was a felony or misdemeanor.

Michigan Offender Tracking Information System

25 November 2002. Search by offender name, number or unusual marking (tattoo, scar) to find the convictions record of active offenders, including prisoners, parolees and escapees. The information provided includes offender number, name, date of birth, sex, race, penal code violation, location, status and projected or actual release dates.

Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry

15 March 2004. The Michigan State Police (MSP) offer this official source of sex offender registration information. Search by zip code or first and last name (partial entries okay) and approximate age to find name, date of birth, physical description, registration address and description of the offense.

MilitarySearch

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.

Minnesota Methamphetamine Offender Registry

9 February 2007. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension maintains this database of individuals who have been convicted under state law of felony level manufacture of methamphetamine. The registry provides the identity of the offender, the conviction, the arresting agency, the county of conviction and the sentence imposed. Specific identifying information includes date of birth. You may search by first name (or initial), last name and/or county.

Minnesota Offender Locator

5 June 2002. Search by name, date of birth, or identification number to find inmates current incarcerated or under law enforcement supervision. The database provides name, date of birth, facility, anticipated release date, case worker's name and phone, and criminal convictions. The database also links to the relevant statutory sections for the convictions.

Minnesota Public Criminal History Search

9 February 2007. The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension offers a database of criminal convictions. Convictions remain public for 15 years following the completion of the sentence. Public information includes: offense, court of conviction, date of the conviction and sentence information. Information not available on the Web site includes: arrest data, juvenile data, criminal history data from other states, federal data, data on convictions where 15 years or more have elapsed since the completion of the sentence, and other data deemed private or confidential. Search by exact name and date of birth.

MissingMoney.com

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.

Mississippi Inmate Search

25 September 2003. The Mississippi Department of Corrections enables searching for inmates. Click "Inmate Search" in the left navigational menu. No information about database coverage appears at this site. Search by name to find MDOC (Mississippi Department of Corrections) number, name, date of birth, physical description, date admitted, location, brief offense description, sentence, projected release date, and more. Some records include photographs.

Mississippi Parolee Search

25 September 2003. The Mississippi Parole Board enables searching for what appears to be current and former parolees. No information about database coverage appears on this site. Search by last name, city or county to find MDOC (Mississippi Department of Corrections) number, parolee name, address, county of supervision, brief description of offenses, date of birth, supervising officer, and more. Some records include photographs.

Missouri (VINELink)

11 April 2005. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific Missouri entities. Law enforcement entities available include county jails, detention centers and police department. You may also conduct a statewide search of available entities.

To conduct a search, enter a name. You may limit by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status and holding facility. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Missouri Case.net

15 February 2002. Find case information from civil, criminal, probate, and traffic courts in many Missouri counties as well as from the State's appellate courts.

Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1955

25 April 2006. The Missouri Secretary of State makes available a searchable index of deaths occurring from 1910 to 1955. Search by name, county of death or date of death. The information provided includes full name, date of death, county of death and death certificate number. For deaths occurring between 1910 and 1920, you may display an image of the death certificate online.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Crash Reports

11 April 2006. The Missouri State Highway Patrol makes available unofficial copies of accident reports for the past 10 days for free. For an annual fee, businesses and organizations may subscribe to the Crash Reports dB, which provides access to reports back to January 2004. The free service makes reports available by date only. While you may browse fatal crashes statewide, injury accidents are sub-divided by troop. Some of the information available includes the date and location of the accident, vehicle make and year, vehicle insurer, drivers' name, age and date of birth, and a description of the accident.

Montana Correctional Offender Network (CON)

10 May 2002. Find convicted felons in Montana by name, identification number, or date of birth. The database provides offender identification number, name, current status, gender, date of birth, physical description, aliases, offense, sentencing, and more.

NASD BrokerCheck

13 September 2004. NASD Inc. provides this resource for obtaining information about the professional background, registration/license statuses and conduct of NASD registered firms and their registered brokers. Information on over 850,000 current and former registered individuals and over 6,000 NASD registered firms comes from the Central Registration Depository (CRD) as reported on the industry registration/licensing forms--Form U-4 and Form BD. Be sure to review the document "What Is Disclosable?" for details about what you can expect to find. Note the limitation, which states information is provided on "persons currently associated with a member and persons who have been associated with a member within the last two years." Search is by name or CRD number.

National Obituary Archive

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.

National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology

2 January 2002. Find a database of qualified healthcare providers in psychology. The National Register verifies the credentials of those listed in the database. The general public may search the database free of charge, but queries are limited to those by zip code or by name.

National Unclaimed Property Database, The

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.

Nationwide Bankruptcy Index

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.

Nationwide Gravesite Locator

20 May 2004. The Veterans Administration makes available a database for finding burial locations for U.S. veterans. The database has some limitations. For example, you can only find burial information for the Arlington National Cemetery for interments occurring after 1999. Search by full or partial name. Information provided includes name, rank, date of service, date of death, date of interment, burial site, cemetery and cemetery contact information.

Nebraska (VINELink)

25 May 2005. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching Nebraska. Please note that some records in some counties may not be available. Search by name, and then you may limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status and holding facility. Select the "details" option to find offender identification number, race and gender. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Nebraska Inmate Search

10 May 2002. Find current or former inmates by name or identification number. The database provides identification number, name, aliases, physical description, dates sentence began and ended, criminal offense, and more.

Nevada Inmate Search

17 December 2002. Search by inmate identification number or name to find those incarcerated in state institutions. Data returned includes name, aliases, date of birth, inmate number, physical description, housing facility and security level, and information about the crime and sentencing.

New Hampshire Registered Offenders Against Children

4 October 2004. Search for registered offenders who have committed certain crimes against children, or who have an outstanding arrest warrant for not registering. The Web site warns that it does not provide a complete criminal history. You can download the entire list of offenders or the entire warrant list. You can also search by name or location. The information provided includes name, date of birth, physical description, last reported address, qualifying offense, and sometimes, a photograph.

New Jersey NJ Sex Offender Internet Registry

4 October 2004. The registry contains information about level 2 (moderate risk) and level 3 (high risk) sex offenders. Search by name, location or vehicle. Information provided includes the offender's name and address, aliases, a brief description as well as the date and location of the disposition of the offense, a re-offense ranking of moderate or high, age, race, sex, date of birth and physical description, a dated photograph, and the make, model, color, year and license plate number of any vehicle operated by the offender.

New Jersey Offender Search

23 April 2003. Find the offender search option in the left-hand menu. The database contains information about offenders, who are currently housed in Department of Corrections facilities as well as those who have been paroled or released from prison. Search by name or other criteria to find name, identification numbers, current location, parole eligibility date, sentencing information, admission and release dates, and known aliases. Unfortunately, the database was not working properly when we tested the site.

New Mexico Case Lookup

25 March 2002. Search for information about civil, criminal, and traffic court cases in district and magistrate courts in New Mexico. The system also provides docket sheets and covers cases initiated from 1997 to present. Some older cases also appear in the database. Some records contain dates of birth. The database permits searching by SSN and driver's license number.

New Mexico DWI Offender History

11 August 2003. Search by name or Social Security Number to find "all DWI cases that are available in the AOC Central Repository." Data retrieved includes the individual's name, date of birth, driver's license number, number of DWI cases and convictions, court, docket number, charge and disposition. You can also click through to the case summary or court docket from many of the database records.

New Mexico Inmate Search

10 September 2003. The New Mexico Department of Corrections offers information about the incarceration status of inmates. Search by name, partial name, identification number or state tracking number to find an inmate's name, current location, status, identification number and offense. Note that the data does not include identifying information like a date of birth or social security number. Therefore, further investigation may be required to confirm that the subject of the research is an inmate.

New Mexico State Police Accident Reports

10 May 2005. The Records Bureau of the New Mexico Department of Public Safety sponsors this Web site for obtaining state police accident reports. Scanned images of reports on accidents investigated by New Mexico State Police are available from January 2001 to present. Search by date, county or name. A name search matches a name found in the driver, registered owner, passenger or pedestrian fields. Searching is free. Initial results provide the report number, accident date, driver's name, and county where the accident occurred. There is a fee for downloading a report.

New York Inmate Population Search

17 December 2002. Covering 1970 to present, this database contains information about former and current inmates. Search by name or identification number to find prisoner name, identification number, date of birth, status, housing facility, release date, and information about the crime and sentencing. Name queries can be combined with a date or year of birth.

New York State Unified Court System

24 June 2003. New York's Future Court Appearance System lets you search for pending civil matters in several New York county courts. Search by plaintiff, defendant, court number, lawyer or law firm name to find case information and references to documents filed. Some detail is also provided. Full text opinions are available for select counties.

New York WebCrims Case Information System

31 January 2005. Revised 3 November 2005. Select criminal courts within the State of New York provide information about cases. Updated four times daily, the information provided includes docket number, defendant name, defendant date of birth, judge, appearance date, county, and more. You can search by the docket number or defendant's name. A second search option enables querying the court calendars by county, court, date, judge or court part. Currently, case information is available for Bronx, Dutchess, Erie, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Putnam, Queens, Richmond, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties.

WebCrims provides information on currently active cases with calendared appearance dates. For historical information, see Criminal History Record Search.

NLJExperts

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.

North Carolina District and Superior Court Query

25 March 2002. Search all, or individual, criminal courts in North Carolina for case information. The database provides the name of the defendant, date of birth, court date, case number, citation number, and offense code and description. Search by name only.

I found no information about database coverage. The database appears to include only active cases.

North Carolina Impaired Driving Query

25 March 2002. Search by name or zip code to find drunk driving cases. The database provides the name of the defendant, defendant's address, date of birth, court date, case number, citation number, and offense code and description. I found no information about database coverage. The database appears to include only active cases.

North Carolina Offender Information

11 August 2003. The North Carolina Department of Correction offers a database of public information about inmates, probationers or parolees from 1972 to present. Search by partial name or identification number to find full name, identification number, probation/parole status, physical description, photo (available only for inmates currently incarcerated), date of birth, criminal offense and sentencing as well as an incarceration history. The database also provides information about former inmates and those serving time in county jails.

North Dakota Sex Offender Web Site

31 January 2005. The North Dakota Office of Attorney General maintains this database containing information about "high risk" offenders and "lifetime registrants." The information provided includes name, registered address and date of verification, date of birth, physical description, dated photograph (some offenders have more than one photograph in the database), brief description of offenses, conviction dates, and disposition. You can search by name, city, zip code or county.

oes HUD Owe You a Refund?

16 February 2006. The Department of Housing and Urban Development maintains a database of information about those who may be eligible for a HUD/FHA refund. Search by last name or the FHA case number find full name, last known address, FHA case number and amount due.

Official Federal Land Patent Records Site, The

13 October 2000. Revised 13 February 2004. The Bureau of Land Management provides information about public land transfers. The database covers federal land title records for eastern Public Land States issued between 1820 and 1908 as well as land titles issued between 1908 and the mid-1960's. It does not cover the thirteen colonies, territories and a few other states. 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 information. It also provides a legal land description, images of the land patent in various formats and certified copies.

Ohio Offender Information Database

20 February 2003. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction provides a database of information about criminal offenders. The site offers no documentation concerning database coverage, but it appears to include former as well as current inmates. Search by name or offender number to find name, offender number, date of birth, offense category, county and institution where committed, status and, if applicable, release date and conditions, sentencing data, and in some cases, a photo.

OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities

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.

Oklahoma District Court Records

17 April 2006. County court records in Oklahoma are made available by the vendor, KellPro, which provides the case management software. Find both criminal and civil records. You may search by a variety of criteria. However, when searching for a specific case, you must enter the relevant county. Information provided includes the names of the parties, the county, date filed, docket entries, fine or judgment amount, disposition, and more.

Oklahoma Offender Information

1 June 2004. The Oklahoma Department of Corrections makes available two databases--one containing information about habitual and aggravated sex offenders and another on current and former inmates. You can search the offender database by a variety of criteria including name, alias, appearance (physical characteristics) and offense. Records provide name, physical description, sentencing information and the facility where the person is incarcerated.

Oklahoma State Courts Network

15 February 2002. Find case information and dockets for appellate and district courts served by the Oklahoma Court Information System. The system provides information for civil, criminal, probate, traffic and other types of cases. Also use this system to find information about marriage and drivers licenses, tax liens, workers compensation claims, and more.

Online Databases

23 September 2004. Vision Appraisal Technology provides access to its collection of databases containing real estate assessment data. Databases cover municipalities in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Virginia. You cannot search an entire state simultaneously; rather, browse to find a location of interest and then search its database.

Online Searchable Death Indexes for the USA

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.

Oregon (VINELink)

9 February 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific Oregon entities. Select the facility (Department of Corrections, specific county, statewide) you want to search and then enter a name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

OSFI [Canadian] List of Names

30 June 2004. The Canadian Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) publishes information about companies and individuals suspected of terrorist activities. A current list of names is available as an Excel or ascii text download. Memorandums to all banks regarding new information are also available in PDF format.

OurProperty.co.uk

27 July 2005. U.K. company, Fubra Limited, offers researchers 20 free real estate sales queries per week for addresses in England, Wales and Scotland. It covers England and Wales residential sales from 1 April 2000 to present, and Scotland residential, commercial and land sales from 1999 to present. Search by postal code, or other criteria to find the sale date, property location, type of sale (residential, commercial) and sale price. Technical note: You must register to access the search results. The registration process requests a U.K. postal code. However, if you enter a postal code outside the U.K., the site prompts you to enter your contact address manually. Unfortunately, there are no instructions regarding this workaround. But it's what worked for me.

Oyez, U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia

Revised 5 September 2003. Listen to digital recordings of U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments or review the biographies of the 100+ justices that have served on the Supreme Court. The site also provides news concerning the U.S. Supreme Court and a listing of cases argued but not decided. Search or browse the site's collection of U.S. Supreme Court cases to find an abstract of a case, its participants (justices, attorneys), audio files (if available) of the oral argument and oral opinion, a transcript of the oral argument (if available) and a link to the written opinion at FindLaw. Recently, the site announced that it was converting many of the audio tapes to MP3 files.

Pennsylvania Access to Criminal History (PATCH)

18 August 2003. The Pennsylvania State Police maintain this Web site, which provides criminal history data from the state repository. While anyone may access PATCH, criminal histories may be edited in accordance with state law. Searches incur a small fee per person investigated, and require a full name and date of birth. If the search is finds no records, users receive an immediate report. Reports indicating a criminal past are mailed in about two weeks.

The system offers no information about dates of inclusion, but because the data comes directly from the state repository, it appears to contain whatever the repository currently has on file. In other words, while not foolproof (The individual could have a criminal record in another state.), this is an excellent way to find out whether someone has a criminal history in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Inmate Locator

26 February 2003. Find inmates currently under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. It provides information about where an inmate is housed, the inmate's date of birth, physical description, and other details. Search by name, date of birth, and other criteria. The database does not provide information about the crime or sentencing.

Pennsylvania Megan's Law Website

31 January 2005. The Pennsylvania State Police makes available limited information about those convicted of specific sexual offenses. A list of the offenses that require registration appears on the home page. Search by county, city, zip code, name or alias to find name, county and city of current residence (but not the street address), zip code, type of offense, date of conviction, year of birth, and the county and city of the registrant's current employer.

A toll free number for the Megan's Law Unit of the Pennsylvania State Police -- 866-771-3170 -- is provided for reporting inaccuracies.

Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System

3 November 2005. Pennsylvania makes available a public docket service, which provides criminal information from county courts in 55 of the state's 67 counties. Once you connect to the site, select E-Services from the top pull-down menus, and then select Public Web Docket Sheets. Searches must include a full or partial last and first name or the name of an organization. Conduct a search of all available courts by entering a name and the docket type, criminal. The information provided includes the docket number, filing date, case caption, county, party name, status.

Pennsylvania Web Docket Sheets

12 February 2004. The Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System provides a single search interface to the case information and docket sheets of select courts in the state. First, choose whether you want to search select Courts of Common Pleas or appellate courts (Supreme, Superior, Commonwealth). Search by docket number or court and at least one of a variety of other criteria. Results appear in a small table at the bottom of the page. You click the "select" link next to the docket number in the results table to display the docket sheet. It loads in a separate window. Make sure you turn off any pop-up blockers.

Philadelphia Police Accident & Incident Reports

27 July 2005. The Philadelphia Police Department and Department of Records enable searching for, and obtaining, police reports of incidents that occur within Philadelphia city limits. Find reports on traffic accidents, burglaries, stolen automobiles or thefts. Search by incident date, street location, last name of complainant or district number. Obtaining the full report requires payment ($25.00 as of this writing). For free, you can find the district number, incident date, street location, last name of complainant and time of the incident.

Phone Number Analysis

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.

PoliceReports.us

25 April 2005. This commercial site helps you locate accident and incident reports from law enforcement agencies in the U.S. Coverage is NOT nationwide, but it does include several jurisdictions. Click a region of the map on the home page to discover whether the jurisdiction of interest is available. The search criteria varies by jurisdiction. Usually, one or more of the following is required: report identification number, date of the accident or incident, victim's name or the location of the accident or incident. Initial search results typically provide the indexed (what you can search) information. The full-text report is available for online viewing or in PDF. Technical note: Online viewing requires Java (Sun Microsystems). Fee note: Some jurisdictions require a fee for the full-text report.

Political Money Line

Find out how much companies contribute to political campaigns. This site was formerly FECInfo. Some databases now require a fee-based subscription.

Prisoner-of-War/Missing-in-Action Database

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.

Questionable Doctors

11 November 2002. Revised 28 January 2005. At one time, consumer advocacy group Public Citizen offered a commercial database of information about doctors, who had been disciplined by state medical boards and federal agencies during the past ten years. The database, which is still available to existing subscribers, is no longer updated. It appears the group stopped updating it during early 2003. The Web site provides no information about the availability of the book by the same title, but I suspect it too is no longer available.

RaDiUS

7 August 2006. Developed by RAND, in cooperation with the National Science Foundation, RaDiUS is a database of federally-funded research and development activities in the U.S. Search by keyword and year to find descriptions of research grant awards. Details include a description of the award or task, the type of funding, estimated start and end dates, the performing institution and its type and location, contact information and the amount of the award. You may download the information to a spreadsheet or as a Word document.

Records Pertaining to John G. Roberts, Jr.

13 September 2005. The National Records and Archives Administration maintains this Web page, which provides information about records released that pertain to John Roberts. On 5 September 2005, Bush nominated Roberts to succeed William H. Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Rhode Island Adult Criminal Information Database

15 April 2002. Search by name (full, partial, or phonetic) to find felonies, misdemeanors, traffic and other violations. Results include defendant name, aliases, criminal identification number, charges, date of birth, arresting agency, plea, disposition date, sentencing, judge, and more. The site offers no information about database years of coverage.

Road Rage Database

3 February 2005. Managed by a Phoenix-based police lieutenant, but unaffiliated with the Phoenix Police Department, this database contains motorist reports of reckless driving. Reports contain the license plate number as well as the date, time and location of the incident. Only paid subscribers and law enforcement may access the reports. Caution: This database contains unconfirmed reports of bad driving incidents. While it might be a useful people finding tool, you should assume it also contains mistakes or fraudulent information. USA Today writes about this, and similar resources, in an article entitled "Web Sites Let Drivers Flag Road Ragers." (USA Today, 17 January 2005)

S.C. State Salary Database

25 May 2004. South Carolina newspaper business, The State-Record, a Knight-Ridder company, offers a database of salary information for state employees. Search by agency or partial name of the employee to find the employee's name, title, agency and annual salary. It covers non-legislative annual salaries of $50,000 or more, and is current through July 2003.

Search for Burials

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.

Selective Service Online Verification

16 February 2006. This tool is useful for verifying personally identifying information for men born on or after 1 January 1960. You must enter name, SSN and date of birth.

SLED CATCH: [South] Carolina Access to Criminal Histories

20 February 2003. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division provides online access to criminal histories for a fee. Searching SLED incurs a charge, and requires full name, date of birth, and gender.

Social Security Death Index

Search this death claims database to find names, addresses and social security numbers.

Soft Money Laundromat

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.

Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) and Blocked Persons

16 June 2004. Revised 2 May 2005. The U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) publishes this list of individuals and companies controlled by targeted countries. The list includes "individuals, groups, and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers designated under programs that are not country-specific. Collectively, such individuals and companies are called 'Specially Designated Nationals' or 'SDNs.' Their assets are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with them."

The Excluded Parties List System provides integrated search access to several debarment lists.

Tennessee Felony Offender Information Lookup

9 April 2003. The Tennessee Department of Correction provides a database for finding information about the status of felony offenders in Tennessee. Although the site documentation does not say so, it appears to cover past and present offenders. Search by name, TOMIS (Tennessee Offender Management Information System) identification or SID (State IDentification assigned by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation when the offender's fingerprints are verified) number. The database provides name, TOMIS identification number, date of birth, alias, status, location, sentence begin and end dates, and more. The Department plans to provide more detail in the future.

Tennessee Meth Offender Registry Database

11 January 2006. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation offers a database specifically for finding individuals convicted of Methamphetamine offenses. Search by county or last name to find name, date of birth, summary of the offense and conviction date. Interestingly, the registry behind the database is mandated by law. However, according to site documentation, "TBI will only register persons convicted of a substantive violation of either statute; persons convicted on conspiracy, attempt, and facilitation charges related to the above statutes will not be registered."

Tennessee Open Records Information Services (TORIS)

21 September 2004. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is the central repository for criminal history information in Tennessee, provides criminal histories for a fee. Please note: It does not provide public access to the database. Rather, you can fax the online application requesting that the Bureau perform the search. Information required includes full name, race, sex and date of birth. The results will be mailed.

Tennessee Out of State Parole and Probation Supervision Registry

9 April 2003. Search the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's registry of "persons who have been placed on probation or parole in another state but who are residing in Tennessee." The database allows name searching only. It returns name, state of parole, offense, supervision status, and occasionally, a photograph.

Texas Crime Records Service

24 April 2002. The Texas Department of Public Safety offers two fee-based databases for obtaining criminal information. Search the Conviction Records Database by individual full name to find summary records containing name, known aliases, date of birth, known alias dates of birth, physical characteristics, arrest record, and a unique criminal identification number. Expanding the arrest record provides some information about the charges, sentencing, arresting agency and agency receiving custody of the individual.

Scant documentation about the database appears at the site. It appears to contain felonies and misdemeanors, but no information exists about dates of coverage.

The Sex Offender Database permits searching by full name or zip code. It provides sex offender name, known aliases, physical description, photo (juvenile records appear not to provide photos), date of birth, address, and offense data, including time served and current status.

Texas Sex Offender Database

15 March 2004. The Texas Department of Public Safety maintains this official source of sex offender registration information. Search by first and last name (partial entries okay), city and zip code or zip code to find name, aliases, date of birth, physical description, current address on file, information about the offense and more. An interesting feature of this database indicates whether the date of birth in the record is an actual one. (Red ink indicates false date of birth.) Click Map on the left-side navigation menu to find an interactive map that lets you locate sex offenders living near a particular address.

TitleX.com

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.

U.S. Amateur Radio Callsign Lookup

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.

U.S. Congress Votes Database, The

24 January 2006. The Washington Post offers a database of votes in the United States Congress since the 102nd Congress (1991). You may browse it by Congress, member or type of vote (e.g., impeachment, nomination). Data comes from several Web-based resources, including the Library of Congress' THOMAS Web site, the Web site of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Web site of the Senate. You may keep up to date with current votes by subscribing to RSS feeds.

U.S. Navy Personnel

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).

U.S. Party/Case Index

5 June 2000. Revised 8 April 2005. PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) provides access to an index of court filings in federal district, bankruptcy and appellate courts. Conduct one search in available courts nationwide, or search individual courts. Review the site's Courts Not on Index to determine whether the court you want is available via the index. This is an easy inexpensive way to find federal civil or criminal litigation involving companies or individuals. Access requires a subscription.

Unclaimed Persons

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.

USCerts

19 July 2005. A division of N-Cycles, Inc., a software solutions company, USCerts provides certified copies of birth, marriage, death or divorce certificates for events taking place in select states. Currently, the states covered include Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, New Hampshire and Utah. Each state has its own requirements for obtaining a certificate. USCerts is an authorized agent for the states it makes available online.

USMC/Vietnam Helicopter Association KIA Listing

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.

VINELink

9 February 2004. A service of Appriss Inc., VINELink provides access to information about the custody status of offenders in many states. First, select the state you want to search. Then choose whether you want to query Department of Corrections records, conduct a statewide search, or query the records of a specific county entity. You can search by SSN or name, and limit a search (optional) by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

Virginia Courts Case Information

5 November 2002. Civil, criminal and chancery courts in Virginia provide access to case information via this gateway page. You can search only one jurisdiction at a time, and date coverage may vary. You will find matters relating misdemeanors, felonies, civil litigation, divorce, traffic, etc. Those conducting due diligence or criminal investigations should note that these databases not contain criminal histories nor substitute for a manual search of court indexes.

VitalChek

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.

Washington Access to Criminal Histories

26 February 2003. Washington provides official online access to criminal histories for a fee. Establish an account or provide your credit card information to purchase a criminal history online. The database contains "conviction information, arrests less than one year old with dispositions pending, dependency proceedings, and information regarding registered sex and kidnap offenders." Searching requires name and date of birth.

Washington Courts Online

28 February 2006. A commercial service by Northwest Location Services, Inc. of Wauna, Washington, this database provides fee-based access to civil and criminal court records. It covers Superior (appellate) courts in 39 counties and District (lower) and Municipal courts in many counties. The site documents the jurisdictions covered as well as the availability of historical data. There is no coverage of small claims or civil cases -- excepting domestic violence protection orders -- in the lower courts. Queries may find information on felonies, misdemeanors, upper-level civil cases, divorce proceedings, probate matters, traffic violations and juvenile matters.

Washington State Digital Archives

21 October 2004. The official Washington State Digital Archives is dedicated "to the preservation of electronic records from both State and Local agencies that have permanent legal, fiscal or historical value." Collections include census records from 1847 to 1892, naturalization records from approximately 1854 to 1988, military records, birth and death records, marriage records and more.

You can search the collections free of charge. Results provide basic information as well as an image of the official document. Displaying the image requires installing the DjVu plug-in.

Washington State Sex Offender Information Center

15 March 2004. The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) offers a database of information about Level II and III (moderate and high risk) registered sex offenders. You can search by a variety of criteria, including name, street address, county and type of conviction. Information provided includes an interactive map with neighborhood indicated, incomplete street address (up to two characters removed from house number), address verification, name, physical description, type of offender, picture and a description of the conviction. Note that the database contains no information about Level 1 (low-risk) offenders.

Washington Superior Court Case Search

25 May 2005. Washington courts provide search access to lawsuits filed in trial level courts. Query individual county courts one at a time. You may search for domestic disputes, juvenile offenders, or civil, criminal or probate cases. You will not find disputes concerning adoption, paternity, juvenile dependency or mental illness.

Search by county, case type, year filed or last name. Initial results for criminal searches provide the case number, filing date, defendant's name, and occasionally, a broadly described cause of action (misdemeanor, felony) and defendant's street address. Initial results for civil cases provide the case number, filing date, party's name and cause of action. If the case is active, you may retrieve the docket sheet.

No information about date coverage appears at the site. However, queries on common names retrieved a few cases dating back to the mid-1960s.

West Virginia (VINELink)

9 February 2004. Intended to provide information about an offender's custody status, VINELink enables searching the records of specific West Virginia entities. Select the facility (Department of Corrections, specific county, statewide) you want to search and then enter a name or social security number. You can also limit a query by date of birth or age range. The information provided includes the name of the offender, his/her date of birth, custody status, holding facility and more. Victims may opt to register their names for notification when the individual's status changes.

West Virginia Vital Records Search

13 December 2005. The West Virginia Division of Culture and History enables searching for information about births, deaths and marriages. The information is available only for select counties. Coverage varies depending on the county and the type of record. However, there are no current (more recent than about 1970) records.

Where To Write for Vital Records

1 August 2005. The National Center for Health Statistics maintains information about obtaining state vital records. For each state, it provides information about the level of government responsible for maintaining the records, where to write, coverage, where to write for older records, requirements (e.g., proof of identity), cost and payment methods accepted, and if available, how to obtain certified copies via the Internet. The site serves as a great resource for determining the public status and availability of birth, death, marriage and divorce records in the 50 states.

Who's Certified

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.

Who's Suing Whom

22 February 2005. The Translation Station, a translation and interpretation services firm, offers this search tool for finding patent, trademark or copyright cases pending in federal courts. You may search by case type and party name, court, state or date to find basic case information. There is a charge to retrieve full-text court dockets. However, the information provided is sufficient for retrieval via the less expensive U.S. Party/Case Index.

Wisconsin Circuit Court Access (WCCA)

15 February 2002. This site provides access to criminal, traffic, forfeiture, family and civil case information and judgments in circuit courts for most (but not all) Wisconsin counties.

Wisconsin Criminal History Record Check

18 August 2003. Wisconsin's Crime Information Bureau manages and disseminates information from the state's Criminal History Repository. The repository contains arrest and conviction information dating back to 1971. The public may access the online system and conduct searches for a small fee per individual investigated. The system requires a name and date of birth. While not foolproof (The individual could have a criminal record in another state.), this is an excellent way to find out whether someone has a criminal history in Wisconsin.

World Bank Listing of Ineligible Firms

15 March 2006. Revised 30 June 2004. The World Bank makes available information about companies and individuals ineligible for World Bank-financed contracts for the specified periods. Those on the list were found to have violated the fraud and corruption provisions of certain World Bank guidelines. The list appears in reverse chronological order by the effective date of the ineligibility period, and not alphabetically by the name of the sanctioned individual or company. At the end of the list appears the names of those who have received letters of reprimand, but who remain eligible for financing.

World War I Service Cards Database

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.

 

Information Literacy: Search Strategies

Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need

Reverse Phone & Address Directory
Find People by Phone Number and Lookup their Name and Street Address. Lookup Street Addresses to Find People and Lookup their Name and Telephone Number. Find People by Name and Lookup their Phone Number and Street Address. Lookup Area Codes and Find Zip Codes for every City and State. Find a Company Name and Search by Business Type.

Information need Search strategy                     
I need a few good hits fast Google - largest index1 results ranked by general popularity with "blind spots."2  with cached copy when site unavailable.
Yahoo!Search - new search engine design, improved quality
I need to compare results quickly before I investigate them further. ZapMeta metasearch Quick View previews each page within your results; turn on "Result Snapshots" (set preferences) to preview thumbnails of sites.
I have a broad academic subject and need pointers to quality sites. Librarians' Index to the Internet - "thinking person's Yahoo"3 with weekly updates.
Infomine - librarian-selected directory with flexible search options.
I want to search on confusable (e.g. bush v. Bush) or ignored words (e.g. there v. There - a company) in a phrase (e.g., "Vitamin A" or "to be or not to be"). Alta Vista Advanced - use capital letter
Google - use quotes around phrase, or +word

Teaching Google? Use Soople to display and explain features.

I can't spell something (e.g. "Ku Klux Klan" or "Klu Klux Klan"). Use a dictionary for the correct spelling.
If an alternative spelling will  generate better results Google asks you, "Did you mean: (more common spelling)?"
I need a template to focus my search. AlltheWeb Advanced or AltaVista Advanced (full Boolean) template prompts you to include or exclude words and phrases, domain, format, date, etc.
I need to organize and refine my results. Combined major engine results (metasearch) clustered by topics.  Select keywords to pinpoint your search further.
  • Vivisimo - automatic clustering, hierarchical folders
  • Surf Wax - identify promising results using preview summary ("SiteSnap"); see context of key words on the page ("ContextZooming"), add "Focus Words" to narrow next search.
  • Ez2Find - gathers results from top engines (results include some invisible web information)
  • Dogpile - "fetch" and clustered results (Vivisimo) attracts younger students.
  • Altavista - displays the most common words from your results which you can add to your query for more focused results.
I need to see relationships among ideas. KartOO - intuitive interface visually "maps" relationships and refines ideas

Web Brain - visual view of related subjects.  Click on term to search dmoz database, a directory compiled by volunteer editors

I need a subject hub prepared by an expert. Teoma - excellent relevancy of results due to ranking by subject-expert popularity (links from authority pages), suggests expert hub-sites
Virtual LRC
- searches high-quality educational directories
Pinakes - a subject launchpad to major academic gateways.
WWW Virtual Library - worldwide volunteers maintain oldest academic subject-organized catalog of links to full-text, databases, and gateways.
BUBL LINK / 5:15 - directory of 5-15 academic sites (European focus) also organized by Dewey number and subject terms.
About.com - screened and trained volunteers create general-interest subject guides.
I need balanced information from verified sources for a school research project to take home For certain types of research, useful books and magazines may only be available in print.  Ask your local librarian.
I need biographical information. Infoplease Biography - search 30,000 people (encyclopedia, almanac, dictionary), or browse categories.
Biography.com - search 25,000 popular figures
Lives - alphabetical directory of dead people only
I need US government information. First Gov - search official site for U.S. government, state and local, or drill down topics in a directory.
I need the current buzz or breaking news. NewsNow - UK, fast and wide net, refreshes every 5 min.
Daypop - receives daily feeds from 1000 news sources, online magazines, and 19,000 weblogs (subjective, personal) - can use +, -, ""
Newsblaster - get a sense of day's major stories and images - automatically collects, categorizes, and summarizes news events, reflecting the media from a particular country.
Hotbot (Inktomi) - freshest database4
I need more complete news coverage. Yahoo News - unique depth and breadth
  +continuously updated, categorized news (7-30 days archive)
   +editor-selected "Full Coverage" provides background 
   +"Op-Ed," "News Photos," "Video" (political) and "Local."
Google News - 4500 news sources, automatically grouped, includes articles' leading sentences, 30 day archive.
World News Network - world news organized by region, topic, industry.  Country or regional hot-spots in "Special Reports."
I need to get a overview of the media in a region or industry. Headline Spot - directory of established media by subject, industry or area (large cities, states, countries, regions).
I need fuller news coverage to develop background to understand an issue. Behind the Headlines - key resources related to the latest headlines; resources are carefully selected, indexed and described by specialists in 60+ British educational and research organizations.
US News Briefings - editor-compiled overview, with links to stories, key biographies, relevant documents and Web sites.
I need accurate, objective information on hot topics (current and controversial). Social Issues - K-12 topics from public library Homework Center.
BIOTIN - solid topic information, Catholic perspective
Hot Topics Supersites - sites which have resources on many controversial topics of current interest selected by public-university librarian.
Public Agenda Online - background and analysis of social issues with public opinion studies
I want to get opinions on current issues. Yahoo Op/Ed - today, by country
Opinion-Pages - searches international editorials, opinions, commentaries and columnists.
PollingReport - aggregates national surveys of the American public
Google Usenet Advanced Search - searches newsgroups.
Blogdex - "most contagious information currently spreading in the weblog community."
I need to see news from other countries' perspectives. All the Web News advanced - search 7 days coverage, 3000+, multilingual
Search Engine Colossus - links to search engines and directories worldwide
Abyz News Links - links to international newspapers, news media, internet services, magazines, and press agencies.
World Press Review - succinct overviews of issues from international perspectives, views of U.S. from abroad.
I need simple reference information (basic facts, current statistics, name identification).  Search Reference - choose fact sites, then metasearch.
CIA World Factbook by country or search data.
InfoNation - compare data for (up to 5) UN countries.
Wikipedia - volunteer-created encyclopedia.
I need statistical data depth. Statistical Information help page
I need invisible web resources (access to databases not commonly indexed by search engines). Turbo10 - configurable search of deep net resources.

Invisible Web - small, high-quality directory list.
Resource Discovery Network - keyword search
Direct Search - links and search (boolean, date, fields)
Depth of Search: Choosing Invisible Web Databases - small list geared to K-12

I need primary sources. Online only:
   Library and Archival Exhibitions on the Web
    UNESCO Primary Sources Online
Print and online:
   Repositories of Primary Sources - by country, region
    Ready, 'Net, Go - metaindex to worldwide archives 
I need information found in presentations, spreadsheets and other formats [pdf] [doc] [xls] [ppt] [rtf] [ps]. Google Advanced - searches for Adobe Acrobat, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Rich Text Format and Postscript documents.
Search Adobe PDF Online - see summary before downloading.
I need images and sounds (photos, art, designs, logos, videos, music, noises), media types (Java, mp3) or file extensions [.gif]. AlltheWeb images, video, audio
Singingfish Advanced Audio Video - large index
Lycos MultiMedia - cross-search pictures, audio, mp3, video
AltaVista- select format, size, etc - images, audio, video
Google Image Search - indexes 425+ mill., advanced narrows by size or type.
ClassroomClipart - browse categories suitable for K-12.
Fine arts: ADAM, FAMSF, SILS, Richman's list of picture/art sites.
American Memory US historical maps, motion pictures, photos and prints, sound recordings.
FindSounds - locates sound effects and sample sounds.
I heard part of a radio program and want to hear all of it. PublicRadioFan - if you know the station or program, click through "tree" links.  Design a worldwide public radio programs list, check what's playing now.
HP Speechbot - keyword audio search, results include audio link and transcript of words in context, sort by date
I need free or inexpensive software. CNET - meta search engine for shareware.
I need a map. National Geo. MapMachine: world physical, political print.
Cornell Digital Earth - world maps: choose layers of geological, geographical, and geophysical data (GIS), then download image (.ps, .jpg)
TIGER Map Service
- U.S. Census information maps
Maptech MapServer - U.S. topographical, aerial and satellite, nautical maps - flexible searching, options for printing/e-mailing
MapQuest - U.S. driving directions.
I need a quotation. The Quotations Page Quoteland Quotations Archive, Search Creative Quotations, Bartlett (1901).
I want to get advice from experts.  Ask A+ Locator - browse, or search by keyword or subject, a database of high-quality "AskA" services.
AllExperts - volunteer experts (read self-profile to assess expertise)
SourceNet Experts - database of experts for journalists
Sources and Experts - directory maintained by news researcher
I need a virtual librarian. 24/7 - live reference from public library system.
Ask a Librarian - e-mail and live help from Library of Congress.
Ask on NoodleBoard if you subscribe to NoodleBib.
I want notice of new sites as they're announced. Scout Report review or weekly e-mail notification of new sites, often not yet listed elsewhere.
I need to periodically rerun a good search I've already composed. GoogleAlert- reruns your search periodically on its large index and sends alerts via e-mail.
HotSheet, AmphetaDesk, FeedDemon (beta) - desktop and RSS Headliner web page software to create custom pages with your own choice of news sources.
I need sites just for kids. KidsClick! - click through librarian selected and organized subject tree, or search 600+ high-quality sites. See Dewey classification of sites.
Yahooligans! - results from directory, clustered by category, and kid-safe popular sites.
Ithaki - metasearch engine (Dmoz Kids, Yahooligans, FactMonster, ArtKidsRule, AolKids, AppuKids, Discovery School)

1 Notess, Greg R. "Search Engine Statistics: Relative Size Showdown." Search Engine Showdown 31 December 2002. <http://www.searchengineshowdown.com/stats/size.shtml>

2 According  to Steve Johnson in "Digging for Googleholes." Slate 16 July 2003. <http://slate.msn.com/id/2085668/>, blind spots are a function of user demographics which affect link popularity consensus:


AltaVista


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Search Engine Submission

Get more visitors to your website. Just add meta tags to your website and submit to search engines. There are thousands of search engines on the web and 100's of companies who would charge you to post your link there. However the best practice is to get listed on the major engines first, most of them are free.

The link to the submission pages of few top engines are given below. They might take few weeks to months to get your site listed.

Add Meta Tags:

Meta tags improve your site's appearance in search result listings. Include a carefully worded title tag and a description meta tag to improve your result presentation. For example, begin your Web page like so:

    <html>
    <head>
    <TITLE>Windows & Unix Web Hosting Solution - ASPwebServer.com</TITLE>
    <META NAME="description" CONTENT="Windown 2000 Server & Unix hosting">
    <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="web,host,hosting,site,website">
    </head>
    <body>

Search engines use the title element and the description meta tag from your Web page to create a search result listing for your site.

Meta tags alone do not magically place your site atop search results everywhere, but they help your link stand out.

Optimize Your Content

When you register your site with a search engine, it sends a spider to dig through your pages and find relevant material for the engine's listings. Spiders tend to ignore certain types of content and formatting, so you should optimize your pages for crawling.

For example, most spiders examine only the text. If you make heavy use of images or other content that cannot be indexed, search engines are less likely to present your site in result listings. Images (including images of text, such as fancy section headings or drop-capital letters) and audio and video files (including Shockwave and Flash) usually won't appear when search engine users pose keyword queries. To make your site more accessible to spiders:

  • Avoid using frames. Many spiders won't touch content in HTML frames. Search results leading to frame-set pages can stop potential visitors dead in their tracks.
  • Express important points in text.
  • Place key content toward the top of each document. Some spiders index only part of your Web page, starting from the top.
  • Use alt attributes in img, area, applet, and input tags to provide textual descriptions of images and objects. For example, a spider doesn't have much to go on here:
      <img src="burningman1.jpg" alt="">
    By providing a descriptive alt attribute, you help search engine users retrieve your page and picture when appropriate:
      <img src="burningman1.jpg" alt="photo: Dante's Inferno at Burning Man 1997">

Submission Pages of  Popular Search Engines.

Alexa

Submission page: http://www.alexa.com/support/get_archive.html
Home page: http://www.alexa.com/

AltaVista

Submission page: http://addurl.altavista.com/addurl/new 
Home page: http://www.altavista.com/

Open Directory Project

Submission page: http://dmoz.org/add.html
Home page: http://www.dmoz.org/

AlltheWeb

Submission page: http://www.alltheweb.com/add_url.php
Home page: http://www.alltheweb.com/

Google

Submission page: http://www.google.com/addurl.html
Home page: http://www.google.com/

HotBot

Submission page: http://www.hotbot.com/addurl.asp
Home page: http://www.hotbot.com/

Lycos

Submission page: http://searchservices.lycos.com/searchservices/lite_step1.asp
Home page: http://www.lycos.com/

National Directory

Submission page: http://www.nationaldirectory.com/addurl/
Home page: http://www.NationalDirectory.com/

WhatUseek

Submission page: http://www.whatUseek.com/addurl.shtml
Home page: http://www.whatuseek.com/

Yahoo

Submission page: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/
Home page: http://www.yahoo.com/

 

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