This handout accompanies a presentation, 10 Habits of Highly Effective Open-Records Users, by Joey Senat, associate professor at Oklahoma State University, for NewsTrain in Norman Oklahoma, on March 4, 2017. It offers tips on where to find information on an individual, business, nonprofit or government agency. NewsTrain is a training initiative of Associated Press Media Editors (APME). More info: http://bit.ly/NewsTrain

1. Provided by Joey Senat, Ph.D., Associate Professor, OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications
405-744-8277 / joey.senat@okstate.edu / @joey_senat
Where to Find Information on …
Individual
• Newspaper archives
• Phone book
• Reverse Directory: Find a phone number when you have the street address but not the
name of the person living there
• Athlete Agent Registration (Oklahoma Secretary of State)
• Court Filings (www.oscn.net) (county court clerk)
o Civil and Criminal cases
o Small claims Court
o Divorce/Domestic Court
o Probate Court: wills, guardianships, administration of estates
o Federal: Legal Information Institute (www.law.cornell.edu/federal/opinions.html)
• FEC and State Ethics Commission campaign finance reports (Does the person donate to
political campaigns?)
• Marriage Licenses (county court clerk)
• Misc. Licenses at County Court Clerk
o Beverage
o Pool Hall
o Process Server
o Transient Merchant
o Going out of Business
o Bingo
o Minister Credentials
• Professional Licensing Records (search among the online services provided by Oklahoma
state government: https://www.ok.gov/about/license_renewal.html)
• Property Taxes (county assessor)
o Information on taxable real property and tax-exempt real property within the county.
o Each record includes the property's legal description, owner's name and address, and
the homestead exemption status of the owner.
• Real Estate and Personal Property Transactions (county clerk)
• Tax Liens Placed on Property (county treasurer)
• U.S. Bankruptcy Court
• Uniform Commercial Code (county clerk)
o Filed by lender when person borrows money and promises to repay on schedule
o Filed under the borrower’s name
• Voter Registration Records (county election board / Oklahoma Election Board)
Business
• Corporation Charter/Articles of Incorporation (Oklahoma Secretary of State)
o Reveals intended functions, capitalization, incorporators and directors
• EDGAR (https://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml)
o SEC’s database of filings by publicly traded domestic companies
• Directory of Companies Required to File Annual Reports with the SEC.
• Registration Application or Statement:
o Completed by all companies wishing to have their securities (stock) registered and
listed for public trading on a stock exchange.
o Contains more financial and director information than the corporation registration
filed with the state.
• Thomas Register of American Manufacturers
o Directory of U.S. manufacturers.
• Standard & Poor's Corporation Records
o Descriptions and brief financial statements of publicly owned companies.

2. Provided by Joey Senat, Ph.D., Associate Professor, OSU School of Media & Strategic Communications
405-744-8277 / joey.senat@okstate.edu / @joey_senat
• Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives
o Includes principal business affiliations, business address, residence, DOB and place of
birth, college and fraternal affiliations of directors and executives.
• World Market Share Reporter
o Collection of tables showing market share of brands, products, services and companies.
• Microcosm
o Comprehensive list on microfiche of U.S. companies.
• Disclosure CD-ROM
o Financial information on companies and executives.
• Standard & Poor's Industry Surveys:
o Reports on current status, trends and projections of major industries.
Not-for-Profit
• Form 990: IRS tax form required of nonprofits
o Listing of all annual revenues and expenditures, wages and benefits for top employees,
amount spent on fundraising and legal fees.
o Revenue Act of 1987 requires that the corporation make the Form 990 available for
inspection upon request.
o Application for Recognition of Exemption: IRS form in which group makes its case for
nonprofit status.
Government
• U.S. Government Manual: List of federal agencies, histories, descriptions of activities,
personnel, addresses and telephone numbers, organizational charts.
• State Blue Book: Compilation of governmental, historical and statistical information, including
biographies of elected officials, descriptions of state agencies and lists of local officials.
• Statutes:
o Federal: Library of Congress (www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes.php)
o State: OSCN.net (Click: Legal Research / Okla. Statutes Citationized)
• Regulations:
o Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/ECFR)
o Oklahoma Secretary of State (www.sos.ok.gov/oar/)
• Audits:
o U.S. Government Accountability Office (www.gao.gov)
o Okla. State Inspector and Auditor (www.sai.ok.gov/)
• Oklahoma General Records Retention Schedule (libraries.ok.gov/state-employees/records-
management/records-scheduling/)
• Politics in America: Biographical source on U.S. legislators, including brief reports on election
statistics, campaign finances, voting records and interest group ratings.
• Congressional Quarterly Weekly Reports: magazine on congressional activity.
• Congressional Index: guide to the status of bills proposed in the Congress.
• CIS Index and Abstracts: index to committee hearings, reports, documents and prints related
to bills.
• CIS Index and Abstracts Legislative Histories: list of all documents related to bills that were
passed into law.
Statistics
• Statistical Abstract of the United States: tables on a variety of topics, reprinted from
government documents and other publications.
• Vital Statistics of the United States: statistics on U.S. births and deaths.
• Digest on Educational Statistics: data related to education in the United States.
• Crime in the United States (Uniform Crime Reports): statistics on crime and criminal justice
personnel.
• Statistical Yearbook: statistics on other countries on a variety of social and economic topics.
• U.S. Census Bureau