Cheryl McCoy - Florida Public Record Resources

After sitting through a tedious instructional video on Florida public record resources, and then reexamining the same material with the composer, I was able to determine one thing.

Physically being able to follow along with Mrs. Cheryl McCoy noticeable made the information more impactful.

Mrs. McCoy is the coordinator for general collections as well as government documents for the University of South Florida (USF) Tampa campus library. Rather than just watching a video and taking note on which references and sources during our first attempt to meet, McCoy walked through an entire listing guide of beneficial, public record search engines that she put together.

Interestingly enough, Mccoy discussed the availability of records and why some information is presented on one form but maybe not another. A prime example of document information availability is the USF budget, online versus hard copy. Online, the budget is simply stated for each department; however, if an individual was to go to USF Human Resources and ask for the budget, they would get a print out breaking down each individual employee’s salary and benefits, along with the originally stated department budgets.

Where to find Florida law updates and links to government challenges was also displayed by Mrs. McCoy. This type of information is crucial when keeping up with open government issues and changes within state law. Mrs. McCoy also discussed Joe Adams website, idiganswers.com, in detail. This website provides links to local newspaper outlets throughout the state of Florida as well as what current actions legislators are taking.

Websites dealing with property information, vital health records and any legal suit brought for or against an individual was also showcased in Mrs. McCoy’s demonstration. When searching for personal information, for a background check or project, these websites provide outstanding detail with ease. Although in some particular cases, such as medical records or performance evaluations, the wanted information will not be given.

Mrs. McCoy’s session was educational and insightful. Additionally, the guide Mrs. McCoy has provided is an excellent launching pad for Florida public record searches.

Currently, the guide can be found at USF libraries website.

Tim Nickens - Public Record

Who knew so many types of records are available for the public. Editorial page editor, Tim Nickens briefed class on why public records are public and what determines whether or not a document is public. An important concept to understand when evaluating why we examine public records is that when a document becomes public, whether it's notes or a recording, they help keep a checks and balance system, particularly between public money and elected officials actions. What's interesting is the definition of a public meeting varies. In the state of Florida, if more than two people converse about legislative action, the meeting is deemed public, although it's loosely regulated. In numerous other states, a third party must be present to qualify a meeting a public. Also, since the state of Florida has had quite aggressive newspapers from the 60’s and 70’s, enlightened governors and interesting secret cases, more and more public records have been opened up with the likelihood of this tread to continuing Technology has even altered the way public documents work. Texts and emails are public, if they contain public affairs problems, however, since there is no paper-trail or electric record kept for IM's and BlackBerry's, they are categorized as non-public.

Looking to provide reporter's assistance, Nickens has become a trustee of the First Amendment Foundation, which helps reporters cover the costs of court case records. Also, Nickens and his staff developed a claims database, Politifact, providing an objective source of information using public record. Politifact is an organized, disciplined way to analyze claims made my politicians and from what we were told, many news outlets will be providing access across the country to sites similar to Politifact. The short lecture on public record was quite interesting, especially learning what is and is not public, and how technology is evolving the way we source documents.