Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) queries are often very important to our genealogical
research. Though, we are often
challenged on how to best make our request given that every Federal agency,
State agency and County agency seem to have their own means of handling such
queries. I don’t know about you and I
will do just about everything possible before I start jumping through hoops to
make an FOIA query.
Historically, I would make requests and because the
responses would come in 6 months or longer afterwards, I’d have to figure out
why I had placed the request! And, I'd have to dig through my files for any related paperwork.
Now, making our life a little easier, a few of the Federal
Agencies have banded together and created a centralized online site, FOIAonline. This
website lets you request information and track your requests from participating
agencies. Also, you can search other people's requests without a need to submit
your own request. Information
you can search varies by agency.
Currently, participating agencies are: The
Department of Commerce (except the US Patent and Trademark Office), the
Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of General Counsel of the National
Archives and Records Administration, Merit System Protection Board, and Federal
Labor Relations Authority.
To learn more about the nitty-gritty of
using this site, check out the FOIAonline Public Users Guide.
I do hope that in the future, we find more and more agencies
participating.
Have you recently filed an FOIA request via FOIAonline or
elsewhere? How did it work out for you?
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