Newspaper Web site use of public records databases

We surveyed more than 130 newspaper Web sites, including the 100 largest circulation newspapers in the U.S., examining their use of database features to provide public records and other database information to readers. The summaries of those that feature centralized database pages on their Web sites are presented below, showing both the public records data being offered to readers as well as the “bulletin board” or “public lookup” information that is presented alongside in these broad information banks.

As the findings reflect, the breadth and depth of public records and other information presented varies widely, as does the display and the ease of use. Where we found an active database page, we show the title and URL, provide a brief description of the format, then list, by category, the databases presented or linked. There’s also a brief, italicized, note on how the Web site promotes or keys to the database page.

The individual data pages use a wide variety of category titles to group the databases they present. For ease of comparison, we created a composite list, selecting commonly used groupings and then listing each of the specific databases in one of those “universal” categories. We found a number of databases that could logically be grouped in any of several categories. In this report, we have tried to be consistent in the category selections but you may find some overlap. It’s worth noting that some of the Web sites, in an effort to be user-friendly, double or triple-listed some items.

One other note: The findings presented below are a onetime look at a changing environment. It is probable that all of the sites have made changes since we took our look, adding and in some cases subtracting databases. This survey will give you a general sense of what’s offered, but we’d urge you to take a fresh look at any site of interest if our summaries prompt specific questions.