All researchers, regardless of their research area, should be aware of the proper institutional procedures for responding to state open records requests and federal FOIA requests.
Identify a point person within the institution who will be responsible for state open records requests and federal FOIA requests to ensure the system facilitates an orderly response.
Understand which records are subject to disclosure.
Be aware of commonly requested documents.
Understand how animal rights activists target you.
Do not post personal information in the public domain.
Always be in full compliance with relevant laws and regulations, but do not provide extraneous information that is not required by law; extraneous information may be taken out of context and used by animal rights activists to target you.
Accurately estimate the costs of complying with a state open records request.
Review all exemptions to determine whether sensitive information falls within the protection of an exemption.
Apply institutional document retention policies and keep all records required by law or otherwise necessary for business, research or operational purposes.
