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Posts Tagged ‘People Finder’

Free Public Records Searches: An Overview of What is Free on the Internet

February 18th, 2010 No comments

Since its inception, the Internet has been billed as something of a mega-library, giving searchers access to more information at their fingertips than anything in human history.

Of course, this claim is true. There’s just one problem: the methods, techniques and tools we collectively use to search for information has not caught up with the sheer overwhelming volume of information available to us. In other words: often, we know that what we seek is out there somewhere, but we just do not always know how to find it. It is like finding a needle in a haystack.

The world of online public records access is no exception. It is true that if you are looking for free public records searches on the Internet, the information you need is out available somewhere. But, how do you know which are the best free sites?

Here, categorized by type of information sought, are some of the best sites I have found when you want to conduct free public records searches online:

1. Personal searches: people and contact information

Looking for that high school classmate, a past neighbor, an old flame or an ex-business associate? You need a people finder, and there are plenty to choose from. Try these free sites: ZabaSearch.com and Yahoo! People Search (people.yahoo.com).

2. Vital records: birth, death, marriage, divorce info

“Vital” comes from the Latin word for “life,” so of course vital records are any records related to the big events of our lives, such as births, marriages, and deaths. Visit VitalRec.com to obtain records such as birth certificates, death records, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, naturalization, adoption and land records.

3. Licensed professionals

Need to find a good doctor or lawyer in your area or who are working in a certain area of practice? For lawyers, check out the online directory FindLaw.com. (Caution: note that while the service is free, the lawyers pay for position on the site, so do not expect the highest-ranking lawyers to necessarily be the best choice). To find a doctor in your area or one working in a certain specialty, see AMA Doctor Finder (ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm).

4. Criminal records

Looking to find out where someone you know is doing hard time or behind bars in a minimum security prison? Check out the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp). Search by name, age, race and sex and find out the prison name or release date.

5. Background checks

If you are considering hiring a new employee but need to run a background check, I recommend ZabaSearch.com. Note that while regular “people searches” on this site are free, background checks fall under their premium service and do involve a fee.

6. Military personnel records

National Personnel Records Center (archives.gov) is one of the National Archives and Records Administration’s largest sites. They claim to be “a central repository of personnel-related records, both military and civil service. [Their] mission is to provide world class service to government agencies, military veterans, former civilian Federal employees, family members, as well as researchers and historians.” This free site is worth checking out.

7. Copyright, patents and trademarks information

Got that creative itch, or looking to find out which existing writings, products, processes, idea and logos are already spoken for? The U.S. Copyright Office runs an amazing site at copyright.gov that gives you access to free copyright information. Meanwhile, the United States Patent and Trademark Office runs a very easy-to-use, free site (uspto.gov) that allows you to conduct comprehensive patent and trademark searches.

8. Phone directory

If you are trying to find the phone number of someone special or looking for the number of an old acquaintance or colleague, check out AnyWho (anywho.com) and Infobel (infobel.com/teldir/), both fre online phone directory services.

Susan Willis
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/free-public-records-searches-an-overview-of-what-is-free-on-the-internet-749011.html

Free Public Records Searches: An Overview of What is Free on the Internet

February 16th, 2010 No comments

Since its inception, the Internet has been billed as something of a mega-library, giving searchers access to more information at their fingertips than anything in human history.

Of course, this claim is true. There’s just one problem: the methods, techniques and tools we collectively use to search for information has not caught up with the sheer overwhelming volume of information available to us. In other words: often, we know that what we seek is out there somewhere, but we just do not always know how to find it. It is like finding a needle in a haystack.

The world of online public records access is no exception. It is true that if you are looking for free public records searches on the Internet, the information you need is out available somewhere. But, how do you know which are the best free sites?

Here, categorized by type of information sought, are some of the best sites I have found when you want to conduct free public records searches online:

1. Personal searches: people and contact information

Looking for that high school classmate, a past neighbor, an old flame or an ex-business associate? You need a people finder, and there are plenty to choose from. Try these free sites: ZabaSearch.com and Yahoo! People Search (people.yahoo.com).

2. Vital records: birth, death, marriage, divorce info

“Vital” comes from the Latin word for “life,” so of course vital records are any records related to the big events of our lives, such as births, marriages, and deaths. Visit VitalRec.com to obtain records such as birth certificates, death records, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, naturalization, adoption and land records.

3. Licensed professionals

Need to find a good doctor or lawyer in your area or who are working in a certain area of practice? For lawyers, check out the online directory FindLaw.com. (Caution: note that while the service is free, the lawyers pay for position on the site, so do not expect the highest-ranking lawyers to necessarily be the best choice). To find a doctor in your area or one working in a certain specialty, see AMA Doctor Finder (ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm).

4. Criminal records

Looking to find out where someone you know is doing hard time or behind bars in a minimum security prison? Check out the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator (bop.gov/iloc2/LocateInmate.jsp). Search by name, age, race and sex and find out the prison name or release date.

5. Background checks

If you are considering hiring a new employee but need to run a background check, I recommend ZabaSearch.com. Note that while regular “people searches” on this site are free, background checks fall under their premium service and do involve a fee.

6. Military personnel records

National Personnel Records Center (archives.gov) is one of the National Archives and Records Administration’s largest sites. They claim to be “a central repository of personnel-related records, both military and civil service. [Their] mission is to provide world class service to government agencies, military veterans, former civilian Federal employees, family members, as well as researchers and historians.” This free site is worth checking out.

7. Copyright, patents and trademarks information

Got that creative itch, or looking to find out which existing writings, products, processes, idea and logos are already spoken for? The U.S. Copyright Office runs an amazing site at copyright.gov that gives you access to free copyright information. Meanwhile, the United States Patent and Trademark Office runs a very easy-to-use, free site (uspto.gov) that allows you to conduct comprehensive patent and trademark searches.

8. Phone directory

If you are trying to find the phone number of someone special or looking for the number of an old acquaintance or colleague, check out AnyWho (anywho.com) and Infobel (infobel.com/teldir/), both fre online phone directory services.

Susan Willis
http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/free-public-records-searches-an-overview-of-what-is-free-on-the-internet-749011.html

How to Find People Online Free–old Family, Classmates, Lost Love, Friends and Anyone From Your Past

February 7th, 2010 No comments

If you’re trying to find anyone on the Web, whether a long lost friend from high school, lost love, long lost part of family history, or anyone from your past , I suggest you some steps below which will help.
Step1.Google
Do a Google search on the name, of course.

Step2.People Search EnginesThere are a few search engines that fine-tune regular Google results top focus on people-finding.If you’re trying to figure out how to find people online or offline, then you may very well be interested in something called an online people finder service. These services allow you to find people such as an old classmate, an old friend, a relative or whomever else for that matter. There are various sites such as these available online, some of which are free and some of which have paid inclusions. The paid ones give you a little more info and more individualized for more of an investigation type of a situation. The free ones will give you things like the person’s name, relatives, location and even a phone number.
These website services are incredibly useful but also convenient technology wise. Back in the day before these sites and the Internet existed you would have to do some hefty detective work for yourself in order to find any information about anyone, even going as far as hiring a private investigator which could cost thousands of dollars! Now you simply turn on your computer, visit the website, enter in the information it asks for, and voila you’re home free.

You can find anyone you want, day or night, simple as that, all you need is an Internet connection and a clue! Also, I’m finding that a lot of these services talk about celebrity people finders, and on a lot of these sites it actually does work! The inclusions will include things like fan email address, fan p.o box, location, age of celebrity, and a lot more. Pretty cool stuff, and as said above it’s a great way to get reintroduced to an old mate, friend, or a relative and YES these do work, check them out the next time you are looking for someone online!

The Internet is a great place to find old family and friends – if you know where to look. Two websites you should check out if you need to find an old colleague are WhoWhere at www.Reunion.com, and FreePeopleSearchInfo at www.FreePeople-SearchInfo.com . These sites give you a variety of ways to search for people on and off the Internet, and just might help you find someone you haven’t talked to in years.

Step3.Phone Book.The beauty of online searching is that there are now national (and international) phone books, so you can search the entire US.

Step4.Google News.If your person was mentioned in the news, then a search of news past and present may well turn up the name.

Step5.SSDI.The grimly-named Social Security Death Index has records of 82 million US deaths since 1963. Unless you’re sure you’re looking for someone who is still alive, SSDI is a good place to search.

Step6.Intelius.This is a fee-based service, but they have a deep database, and you can do a preliminary search for free, which will show (among other things) age, city and relatives.

Step7.Social Networks —Most of the people-information on the various “friends” sites on the internet will show up in a regular Google search, but they can easily get lost. Head directly to MySpace, FaceBook, and Classmates.com (for a school-specific search) to see if your person is listed (and pay attention to some of the advanced search functions offered, like the Friend Finder at FaceBook).

Step8Also search on Google Groups, and BlogSearch to unearth even more results.

Step9.Book Searches.Was your person ever mentioned in a book? A search at Amazon Books and Google Books will look inside the books themselves.

Step10.Jigsaw.comThis site is the best business contacts database in existence. It is a fee-based site, but you can do a preliminary search for free and find out if your person is in the database, and what company they are with.

Step11.Family History:I can only touch on the vast genealogy databases on the web, but for people searching (past and present), it’s hard to beat FamilySearch. The Ellis Island database has millions of records of immigrants to the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Cyndi’s List is a huge directory of other ancestry resources.

Step11.Public records.If you know a city or county where your person lives, then public records are another resource. They are too diverse to summarize here, but try a search on: registered voters COUNTY NAME, state.
Hoping all these helps you in your searching for the desired person.

Deep Chandra Pant
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/how-to-find-people-online-freeold-family-classmates-lost-love-friends-and-anyone-from-your-past-731669.html