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Lloyd Sealy Library
John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Special Collections - Lloyd Sealy Library: FOIA

This is a guide to the Manuscript Collections, Rare Books and John Jay College Archives in the Special Collections at the Lloyd Sealy Library of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

FOIA Definition

Peltz, R. J. (2009). Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In C. H. Sterling (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Journalism (Vol. 2, pp. 629-633). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference. Retrieved from Gale Virtual Reference Library.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is an information disclosure statute that provides the principal means of access to records of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The FOIA, codified at 5 U.S.C. section 552, was enacted in 1966 and has been amended several times since, significantly by the Electronic FOIA Amendments of 1996. Read more of this article here (JJay log in required).

Information about making a FOIA Request

National Security Archive Effective FOIA Requesting for Everyone

FOIA Wiki free and collaborative resource on the U.S. Freedom of Information Act is provided by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, with contributions from The FOIA Project at TRAC, MuckRock, The National Security Archive, FOIA Mapper, and users like you

Spenser Mestel My Journey to the Heart of The FOIA Request  on Long Reads

Federal FOIA Appeals Guide by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

U.S. National Archives FOIA Ombudsman

Freedom of Information Laws in other countries -  Global Guide to FOI and RTI [Right to Information]

Websites Providing FOIA'd Data and Information

New York FOIL This site is intended to provide New Yorkers with recent and important news as it relates to New York's Freedom of Information Law, including recent caselaw.

Reinvent Albany advocates for transparent and accountable New York State government and increased transparency in New York City.

An Interview With New York's New Open Government Czar Gothamist (2/20/2020)

Alt Government

Archive Team a loose collective of rogue archivists, programmers, writers and loudmouths dedicated to saving our digital heritage.

Black Vault

Memory Hole

Muck Rock non-profit, collaborative news site that brings together journalists, researchers, activists, and regular citizens to request, analyze, and share government documents, making politics more transparent and democracies more informed.

National Security Archive investigative journalism center, research institute on international affairs, library and archive of declassified U.S. documents

 Property of the People Comprised of leading attorneys, activists, and scholars, Property of the People is a nonprofit specialist organization dedicated to the aggressive pursuit of governmental transparency in the service of democracy.