A new tool, FOIA Mapper, will allow reporters and others to know the contents of government databases previously opaque without an index. FOIA Mapper is a searchable catalog for offline government data allowing a user to enter a topic, find out government agencies dealing with it, the format of storage and how to request the information under the Freedom of Information Act. (FOIA Advisor, March 29, 2016, by Allan Blutstein)
Writer and blogger Max Galka developed the mapper with the Knight Foundation by requesting the FOIA logs of government agencies, then organizing the information revealed by the logs and making it searchable. Investigative reporters will be able to find out what’s available, expedite their search and cover more ground. Previously they would get bogged down in filling out multiple FOIAs just to see what records are out there. (The Poynter Institute, March 29, 2016, by Kristen Hare)