ABSTRACT
Thousands of Web sites offer access to government records and other types of public information compiled by agencies, nonprots, news organizations, and commercial enterprises. Investigators should remember that as with other published materials, verication is necessary before accepting any record as fact, and before assuming that when a record is not found in an online database, it does not exist. In all probability, even a very thorough search will not include absolutely every database that could contain a record of the subject. However, by maintaining an up-todate, complete list of URLs and searches, the analyst can credibly assert that a search was as thorough as possible. Not all government records are offered online, not all online are offered free, and it is not always possible to obtain identiable records, because many records offer only a name to match, without other identifying data to verify that it is the same person as the subject.
