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Research Guide

The investigative journalists' cheat sheet to the best places on the web and beyond to find the facts and documents you need.

4chan

Media and Other Open Sources

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WARNING: This source contains illegal, explicit and offensive content. 4chan is an English-language imageboard where people can post and discuss images. It has lax censorship and moderation policies, and people have used it to harass websites and internet users and post illegal and offensive content. 4chan automatically deletes threads after they reach a ‘bump limit,’ a certain number of posts in a single conversation, but some boards are scraped and preserved by archivists. Archives of the most controversial boards are available at 4plebs for /pol/ and The B Archive for /b/.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media, Associated People

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8kun (8chan)

Media and Other Open Sources

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WARNING: This source contains illegal, explicit and offensive content. 8kun (which replaced the now-defunct website 8chan) is an imageboard, similar to 4chan, where users contribute to message boards on different topics. 8kun/8chan has historically hosted content that even 4chan has moderated against, including massive targeted harassment campaigns, archives of child and revenge pornography, gore, manifestos and videos connected to mass shootings or posted by the shooters themselves.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media, Associated People

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Aircraft Photo Websites

Media and Other Open Sources

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Plane spotting enthusiasts take photos of airplanes and upload them to these websites, which occasionally provide information on the beneficial owner or lessee of an aircraft that may not be available in registration documents. The images may also show tail numbers, which you can use on plane tracking websites (described here) to track the movements of planes and look for patterns. You can also submit public-record requests to the FAA for passenger manifests to identify individuals who traveled on an aircraft.

Area of Investigation:

Personal Finances, Associated People

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Aircraft Tracking Websites

Media and Other Open Sources

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These websites provide real-time and historical location data on aircraft. The current location and itinerary of an aircraft is available for free, but data on historical movements may be behind a paywall.

Area of Investigation:

Personal Finances, Associated People

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Ancestry Yearbook Archive

Media and Other Open Sources

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The Ancestry Yearbook Archive allows you to search a database of scanned U.S. school yearbooks from 1900 until 2016. You can search using a person’s name, their birth year, and where they lived. You can also search by keyword and publication date.

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Associated People

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Archive.Is

Media and Other Open Sources

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Similar to the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, Archive Today/Archive.is is a digital preservation tool for saving “snapshots” of websites. Unlike the Wayback Machine, Archive Today is privately funded and owned by an individual rather than a nonprofit. It serves as a backup for website snapshots on Wayback and other tools, which occasionally remove archives because of requests and court orders.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media

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BRB Publications

State and Local Records, Federal Records

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BRB Publications lists resources for locating public records. It links to government agency sites and free online records portals.

Area of Investigation:

Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Associated People, Background and Family, Professional History

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Background Check Websites

Proprietary Databases

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If you don’t have access to TLO or LexisNexis, use these links to check out alternative options. These are paid resources.

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Professional History, Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Associated People

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Ballotpedia

Media and Other Open Sources

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Ballotpedia offers information on American politics, politicians and elections. Search here for information on a candidate, their opponent, or historical information about the district in which they are running.

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Campaign Finance

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Bing Visual Search

Media and Other Open Sources

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Use Bing Visual Search to search the internet using images instead of words. Using this tool, you can find similar images, products, and pages that include an image.

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Professional History, Political History, Civil Litigation and Criminal Cases, Nonprofits, Campaign Finance, Personal Finances, Social Media, Associated People

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California CAL-ACCESS

State and Local Records

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Use CAL-ACCESS to search for lobbying disclosure within California. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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City of Austin Lobbyist Data

State and Local Records

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Use the City of Austin's Lobbying Disclosure Database to search for lobbyists, business entities, clients, subject, or terminated registrations in the city of Austin This website also has links to various datasets, including a master list of lobbyists. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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Classmates.com

Media and Other Open Sources

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Classmates.com is an online social network for U.S. high school alumni and an archive of nearly half a million digitized school yearbooks. The archive is searchable by high school and student name. It includes student and alumni photos.

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Educational History, Associated People

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Colorado Secretary of State Online Lobbyist System

State and Local Records

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Follow this link to search lobbying disclosure in the state of Colorado. Here, you'll be able to search by lobbyist or lobbying firm, client, bill number, and manual filings. You can also search a directory of registered professional lobbyists in the state. 

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Lobbying

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Cook Political Report

Media and Other Open Sources

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Cook Political Report describes itself as an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns for Congress, governor and president. It also analyzes American political trends. Use this page to understand more information about a political candidate, their opposition and the district they are running in.

Area of Investigation:

Political History, Campaign Finance

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County and Municipal Building Permits

State and Local Records

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Depending on the location of a property, county or municipal permits may be required for any significant construction. Some local governments provide online databases of these permits, and records available from these databases can provide further details on an individual’s lifestyle and spending. These records may be maintained by county clerks, city offices like a Department of Buildings or Department of Licenses and Inspections or other local government agencies.

Area of Investigation:

Personal Finances, Background and Family

Link will vary depending on jurisdiction.

County-Level Elections Authority

State and Local Records

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County elections offices typically maintain voter registration records and voting histories. Accessing this information usually requires a public records request, though sites such as https://voteref.com/ post some voter registration information. Identifying the relevant county authority and its public information request guidelines in advance will speed up the research process. Using these tools, you can verify an individual’s voter registration history and the elections in which they cast a vote.

Area of Investigation:

Political History

Link will vary depending on jurisdiction.

Crowdfunding Platforms

Media and Other Open Sources

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You can search these websites for crowdfunding campaigns on a variety of projects, charitable purposes or emergency community support. GiveSendGo, a Christian-focused crowdfunding site, allows crowdfunding campaigns connected to organizations and causes that other platforms may not allow due to content moderation, including campaigns by political ideologues, legal support funds for fringe organizations.

Area of Investigation:

Social Media, Associated People, Personal Finances

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Crunchbase

Media and Other Open Sources

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Crunchbase is a database and search tool providing information about businesses with a particular focus on tech companies and startups. Results compile information on company ownership, governance, funding, markets and news coverage.

Area of Investigation:

Background and Family, Professional History, Educational History

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DOJ FARA Database

Federal Records

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Agents of foreign clients who seek to influence U.S. policy on behalf of foreign governments and private clients must register with the Department of Justice. The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) database collects these filings.

Area of Investigation:

Associated People

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