by Catherine Sanders Reach

This review first appeared in Legal Information Alert, February 2002. It is reprinted here with permission.

The Sourcebook to Public Record Information, 3rd edition was published in October 2001 by BRB Publications, Inc. A familiar product to many law librarians and researchers, this reference work provides detailed information on how to retrieve public records at the county, state, and federal levels. While this annual title is only in it's third edition it is no newcomer, as it is a combination of four former BRB Publications including the County Court, State Records, Federal Courts, and County Assets and Liens titles. The Sourcebook is packed with valuable details and is very reasonably priced, making it a useful addition to business, law, or public libraries. BRB Publications also publishes the Sourcebook in a CD-ROM version and an Internet based product, which is available for a free demonstration.

Two notable features of the Sourcebook are its introductory information and the Public Record Primer. The introduction is divided into two parts - basic information about the book's contents and an organizational overview, which details the arrangement of information and how to use the book. For persons unfamiliar with searching public records or for the librarian evaluating this title, the organizational overview is a quick read which provides invaluable information. In this introductory information one learns that the Recording Offices section of each state chapter has been enhanced with additional information, including statements regarding real estate, UCC, and tax lien records and over 5,000 additional agency phone numbers. Following the introduction, the Public Record Primer provides the layperson or newcomer to public record searching with a very complete overview of how records become public domain, search strategies, finding records online, and how to use a vendor to obtain public records.

Once a user is familiar with the organization of the book and has developed a comfort level with the theory of public record searching, delving into the third edition is easy. The content is arranged alphabetically by state. For each state there are general help numbers, state specifics such as capital, time zone, population and website, followed by the listings for state and licensing agencies, federal courts, county courts, and recording offices. Each agency and court listing provides details well beyond general contact information, including Website addresses, fees and payments, requirements to search, how the records are indexed and stored, turnaround times, accessibility, and more. At the end of each state chapter is a county locator with a city/county cross reference and ZIP/city cross reference.

In addition to providing a tremendous amount of information regarding public record availability, the Sourcebook has an added bonus for each of the state county court sections. The introduction to this section provides a detailed summary of the state's court structure. Included in this summary are several charts. The first chart describes the type of court (circuit, district, probate, etc.) and then provides its jurisdiction, the number in the state and its organization. Other charts provide details on the structure of the civil and criminal courts and the types of cases tried in each. For someone who is unfamiliar with court structure outside of his or her own state, this information could certainly save time and effort.

Available on standing order from BRB Publications, Inc., the 3rd edition of The Sourcebook to Public Record Information provides a tremendous value for low cost. The care and detail in the organization of this book make it accessible to experts and novices alike. While the Internet does provide a tremendous amount of information regarding public records, it merely scratches the surface of what the BRB Sourcebook provides in detail.