The document provides resources for obtaining public records through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests at the state and federal level in the United States. It includes sample request letters for several states and links to organizations that can help with the FOIA process. It also lists training opportunities and books/resources for learning about data journalism and data visualization techniques.

1. More help with obtaining public records and
How to learn more about data journalism
Jill Riepenhoff | The Columbus Dispatch | jriepenhoff@dispatch.com | @jriep
More help with obtaining public records
Ohio
Ohio Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/ohio-foi-resources
Ohio sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/ohio-sample-foia-request
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/pennsylvania-foi-resources
Pennsylvania sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/pennsylvania- sample-foia-request
West Virginia
West Virginia Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/west-virginia-foi-resources
West Virginia sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/west-virginia- sample-foia-request
Indiana
Indiana Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/indiana-foi-resources
Indiana sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/indiana-sample-foia- request
Mighigan
Michigan Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/michigan-foi-resources
Michigan sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/michigan-sample-foia- request

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Kentucky
Kentucky Freedom of Information Resources from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/kentucky-foi-resources
Kentucky sample records-request letter: http://www.nfoic.org/kentucky-sample-foia- request
Other states
Freedom of Information Resources for all states from the National Freedom of Information Council: http://www.nfoic.org/state-foi-resources
Sample records-request letters for all states: http://www.nfoic.org/state-sample-foia- request-letters
Federal
A treasure trove of resources on public records at SPJ’s Journalist’s Toolbox: http://www.journaliststoolbox.org/archive/public-records/
FOIAMachine.org: https://www.foiamachine.org/ A letter generator and tracker with social support
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: http://www.rcfp.org/
Its iFOIA.org (letter generator and tracker): https://www.ifoia.org/#!/
Its Digital Journalist’s Legal Guide: http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law- resources/digital-journalists-legal-guide
Its Legal Hotline: 1-800-336-4243 or ifoia-help@rcfp.org
MuckRock: https://www.muckrock.com/ Provides a free repository of hundreds of thousands of pages of original government materials. Filing requests through MuckRock starts at $20 to file up to 5 requests, which includes advice, postage, follow-up, and hosting of the materials. MuckRock is funded in part by grants from the Sunlight Foundation, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Knight Foundation.
Student Press Law Center: http://www.splc.org/
U.S. Department of Justice site on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): http://www.foia.gov/

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The Art of Access: Strategies for Acquiring Public Records, by David Cuillier and Charles N. Davis, CQ Press, 2010. A 200-page paperback: http://www.cqpress.com/product/Art-of-Access.html
The Art of Access blog with quick list of links for help: http://theartofaccess.com/foi-resources/
GWU National Security Archive: http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
Publishes declassified documents obtained under FOIA
The Sunshine in Government Initiative: http://sunshineingovernment.org/
A coalition of media groups dedicated to promoting openness in government.
Five Great Online Tools for Mining Public Records: http://truth- out.org/news/item/15306-five-great-online-tools-for-mining-public-records From Truth-out.org
At least 25 databases every newsroom should have: http://businessjournalism.org/2010/06/10/at-least-25-databases-all-newsrooms- should-have/ From David Donald, data editor for The Center for Public Integrity

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How to learn more about data journalism
Jill Riepenhoff | The Columbus Dispatch | jriepenhoff@dispatch.com | @jriep
Training
 Free, massively open online course (MOOC) on data journalism open through Dec. 31, 2014: http://datajournalismcourse.net/ Offered by the European Journalism Centre.
 Computer-assisted reporting boot camps through Investigative Reporters and Editors: http://ire.org/events-and-training/boot-camps/ Fellowships are available: http://ire.org/events-and-training/fellowships-and-scholarships/
 Webinar: The Basics of Data Journalism http://stateimpact.npr.org/toolbox/2013/04/15/webinar-the-basics-of-data- journalism/ Created by the NPR StateImpact pilot project. Includes other links.
Books
 Data Journalism Handbook: http://www.datajournalismhandbook.org/ free e- book from the European Journalism Centre and Open Knowledge Foundation
 Computer-Assisted Reporting: A Practical Guide, 3rd Edition, e-book: http://store.ire.org/products/computer-assisted-reporting-a-practical-guide- 3rd-edition-e-version By Brant Houston, $15 from Investigative Reporters and Editors
 Data+Design: https://infoactive.co/data-design/ free e-book on data visualization from Infoactive and the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute
 Getting Started with Data Journalism: Writing Data Stories in Any Size Newsroom https://leanpub.com/datajournalism By Claire Miller, $14.99 from Leanpub
Other resources
 Top data journalism resources from the International Journalists Network: http://ijnet.org/blog/top-data-journalism-resources
 Search for a federal dataset: http://catalog.data.gov/dataset The federal government’s catalog of datasets
 Join Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) for $70 ($25 for students) http://ire.org/membership/ Get access to more than 3,000 tip sheets, many of which deal with data journalism, and join the very active National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) listserv for help with computer-assisted reporting questions: http://ire.org/resource-center/listservs/subscribe-nicar-l/ Gain access to the NICAR Data Library with state-specific slices available for nominal fees: http://ire.org/nicar/