The following are excerpts from a handout presented during the "Backgrounding the individual by Web and computer" panel at the 1999 IRE Conference.
Start with as much info as possible: Who are you searching for and why? Even if you're starting with just a name, it helps to know why you're looking for this person and what the story is about. This will give you other ideas on where to look for information.
Is your subject a lawyer? Check an online legal directory. Does his bio say where he or she went to school? Check the school's alumni Web page for any stories on him or her. Every nugget of info you have will help, but look especially for approximate age, geography and occupations.
The computer is often the fastest way to background an individual. The following is a list of Internet sources of information. These are in the general order I go through, but it varies each time according to the amount of info I already have, the type of info I'm trying to find and how long I have to get it.
Search engines
I've found good information before just by punching someone's name into a search engine. I often start with a quick keyword search through a few of my favorite search engine Web sites.
Pros: They're quick, free and can lead you to a lot of personal information if you're lucky.
Cons: You can end up with too many possibilities and get bogged down in trying to wade through all the John Does to find your John Doe. Good places to start include: AltaVista (www.Altavista.com) InferenceFind (www.inference.com) HotBot (www.hotbot.com) Dejanews (www.Dejanews.com)
Public records
The best and most accurate information is in public records. Some are available on the Internet, some on dialup bulletin-board systems and some you need the individual databases from the appropriate agency.
If I already have a good ID on someone (name, DOB, address), I go to these places first to look for info relevant to the story. Here's a list of the ones I hit most often.
County court: Check for Web page or dialup BBS to get access to court docket information. County Recorder: Find property records and more in these like liens, tradenames, etc. County Assessor: See who's paying the taxes on a property or what it's worth. Secretary of State/USS: These help when trying to nail down business associated with someone's name or finding some lines State Corporation Commission: Maybe yours is on the Web. Ours is a dialup BBS that charges a small fee. Professional registrations: Is your subject registered with a state agency (doctor, police officer, child care, center owner, contractor) Check for Web sites that have the info and get an electronic copy of the data so you can have a back up and do database-matching projects. Federal Bankruptcy District Court via PACER: This is slowly coming back to the Web, but for now, it's a dialup BBS in most places. See www.uscourts.gov/PubAccess.html or call 1-800-676-6856 for info. Feds charge 60 cents per minute for PACER access. You can get bankruptcy docket information and it's great on deadline.
Public record databases
These sites below have public record databases already online: THOMAS, home of bills, laws and the Congressional Record (www.thomas.loc.gov) EDGAR Securities & Exchange Commission filings (www.sec.gov/edaux/searches.htm) Internet Non-Profit Center based on IRS records (www.nonprofits.org/locl/index.html) Social Security Death Index (www.ancestry.com/ssdi/advanced.htm) Aircraft Owners and Pilots. Watch for outdated info. (www.landings.com) Docfinder with links to state medical boards on the web. (www.docboard.org) MilitaryCity.com. Subscription-based search for military members and veterans. Free for Gannett companies. Property Records Online, University of Virginia page. Lists where to find property record Web Sites (www.people.virginia.edu/~dev-pros/Realestate.html)
Private people finders
These are great for locating hard-to-find people, relatives, crisscrossing addresses and finding non-local leads. If I'm in a hurry and it's worth the cost, this may be my first stop instead of my last. These services are usually not very good for finding people under age 22.
Autotrack charges $2 a minute and an average in-depth search takes about 8 minutes. (www.dbtonlin.com) CBD Infotek charges $17 for an in-depth Discovery Plus! Report (www.cdb.com) Knowx Web-based service, search cost ranges from free to $1.50 per individual database, detail records range from 95 cents to $6.95 per record. (www.knowx.com)
These are the ultimate tools for quick and thorough research. The catch: They're very expensive and can waste your time when you come up with a hundred John Doe listings and you don't even have a middle initial.
Wes Williams can be reached by e-mail at williamsaz@worldnet.att.net