First edition gives Hetherington first on title page; Sankey has primary responsibility for the work overall.

"Increase your profits using cyber-intelligence"--Cover.

"Updated 4th edition"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references.

1. Online public record fundamentals and site evaluation techniques -- Types of data you will find online -- pt. I. Where to find public records -- Searching government agency sources -- Record indexing and the importance of identifiers -- About record fees and charges -- Subscription accounts or pay as you go -- Searching private sector sources -- Record vendors -- About distributors and gateways -- Web data extraction (a.k.a. screen scraping) and online public records -- Search firms -- Verification firms -- Record retrievers -- Know the difference between consumer and professional vendor sites -- About consumer-oriented sites -- About professional oriented sites -- pt. II. How to evaluate the accuracy and value of online record content -- Are the correct questions being asked? -- Analyze the search mechanics -- Analyze the viewable data -- Analyze top disclaimer -- Putting it altogether -- 2. Using search engines for locating public information -- The reliance on search engines -- Getting the most out of Google -- Other useful Google tools -- Other worthy search engines -- Using eBay.com -- Craigslist searching -- SearchTempest.com & Claz.org -- Bing.com -- Zoominfo.com -- Wayback Machine on Archive.org -- 3. Researching social networks -- The quest for public exposure -- Facebook -- Pinterest -- Instagram -- Myspace -- Blog.com -- Linkedin -- Twitter -- Flickr -- Using search engines to find social network users and information -- Pipl -- Yoname -- Lococitato -- Other recommended search engines -- Using search engines to find content -- Icerocket -- Technorati -- SocialMention -- Kurrently -- Bing-com/Social.

4. Resources and search tips by topic -- Archives -- Aviation records -- Banks & financial institutions -- Business entity records -- Copyrights -- Court records (includes civil, criminal, etc. records) -- Court records of Native Americans -- Courts records on statewide judicial systems -- Criminal records at state repositories -- Elections : candidates, PACS, lobbyists, and voters -- Environmental information -- Federal agencies -- Federal sanctions & watch lists -- Genealogy resources -- GIS and mapping -- Incarceration records -- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) records -- Media resources -- Military records -- Missing persons -- Most wanted lists -- Motor vehicle records (includes drivers, vehicles, vessels, accident reports, etc.) -- Occupations & licensing boards -- Patents -- Privacy and privacy rights resources -- Recalls, products and safety -- Recorded documents, judgments, and liens (includes UCC filings) -- Securities and securities dealers -- Sexual offender registries -- Tax assessor and collector records -- Telephone numbers -- Trademarks & service marks -- Unclaimed funds -- Vital records (includes SSA Death Index and obituaries -- Voter registration -- Workers' compensation -- World Wide Web -- 5. Online public record database vendors -- Advantages online public record vendors provide -- Types of public record vendors -- Vendors and privacy concerns -- Beware of instant web-based background checks -- Where to find a vendor -- Resource lists of selected vendors by topic -- 6. State and local government online sources -- 51 state chapters with profiles of these online record providers : major state agencies, occupational licensing boards, state and local courts, assessors and recorders -- 7. Searching federal court records -- Federal court structure -- How Federal trial court case records are organized -- Case assignments and court locations : electronic access -- CM/ECF and PACER : bankruptcy records and the Multi-court Voice Case Information System (McVCIS) -- Federal Court record searching hints -- What to do when record search results do not include identifiers -- Obtaining closed case files and the Federal records centers -- Other Federal courts.