FINDING PUBLIC

RECORDS

JOURNALISM GUIDE

OBJECTIVES

• To identify how search engines work and how that impacts your access to information

• To explore tools for finding public records

TAKE THE QUIZGo to http://www.socrative.com/.Click on "Student login."Enter the room name COMMRESEARCH

ANSWERS• When you type keywords in the Google search box, Google then searches the

internet for results.– FALSE

• Google's relevancy ranking puts the best, most reliable sources at the top of your results.

– FALSE• There are certain types of information that are not able to be found by Google.

– TRUE• When two people type the same exact keywords in the Google search box, the

results will be exactly the same.– FALSE

• Google is not a good place to start for complex information problems.– TRUE

HOW DOES GOOGLE WORK?

THREE PARTS OF A SEARCH ENGINE

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR SEARCH?

N O T E V E RY T H I N G IS F I N D A B LE BY SE A R C H E N G IN E S

Hidden web is estimated to represent most of the internetConsists largely of database content (like library databases and government statistical tables)

PAGES ARE RANKED BY ALGORITHM

Google has over 200 factors, only some of which are knownIncludes personalization which leads to filter bubbles

INTERESTED PART IES WILL ALWAYS TRY TO BEAT THE SYSTEM

Search engine optimization (SEO)Content farmsGoogle tweaked algorithm in 2011 and may again with Knowledge-Based Trust

FINDING PUBLIC RECORDS( S I N C E YO U C A N ’ T J U S T G O O G L E S E A R C H F O R T H E M )

ASK YOURSELF, “WHO WOULD WANT TO COLLECT THIS INFORMATION?”

START AT THE SOURCEFIND SOURCES

• Directories• Associations• Journalism guide• Citation trails• Google search for a

homepage• Government homepage

for county or state

GOOGLE TRICKS• Keyword search for topic and…

– “LibGuides”– “database”– “government”– “association” or “organization”– “directory”

• Related:URL for similar sites– Ex.

Related:http://censusreporter.org/• Site:URL to search within a site

TEST YOUR SKILLSG E T I N T O G R O U P S O F 2 - 3

LO G I N T O S O C R AT I V E , F O U N D O N T H E “ F I N D YO U R C O U R S E ” PA G E

SPY ON YOUR NEIGHBORS

1. Go to the page for finding public records on the journalism guide.2. Click in to the Free Public Records Directory.3. What is the market value of 3501 High Countryside Dr. Grapevine, TX?4. Who was the original owner (a person, not the builder/company)?

ANSWERS: $313,189Steve Henderson

HOW DIRTY IS YOUR LOCAL RESTAURANT?1. Come up with a search strategy for finding the health inspection record

for Chito’s Mexican Restaurant on 75 in Plano.2. What was their grade on the latest report and what were they cited for?

ANSWER: B

FUN WITH THE CENSUS

1. Go to www.censusreporter.org found on the public records page of the journalism guide.

2. Find the demographic spread of Plano, TX.3. What is the median income for Plano?4. Find how people in Plano, TX commute to work by gender. (Hint: the

keyword search here is VERY picky.)5. How many women living in Plano, TX carpooled to work?

ANSWER: $81, 571 median income, 5,049 women carpooled to work

CRIME WATCH

1. How many homicides occurred in Plano, TX in 2008?2. Be sure to find official government data.

ANSWER: 7

ANY QUESTIONS?