On Apr 7, 2006, at 7:25 AM, Andrew Gray wrote:
Yeah, the fact that you obtained the document yourself (e.g. by siccing FOIA on the FBI) does not IMHO make it original research - any more than going to the library and finding a book to read about the subject, and then citing that book as a source.
But... it doesn't pass WP:V because it has not been published in a reliable source.
The FBI puts most of its released FOIA material online; much more is held by places like the National Security Archive and, again, accessible to the public. Wouldn't this class as publication by a reputable source?
I don't think they put "most", but "a significant amount of material with wide public and historic interest" is put online by the FBI. But the FOIA also allows one to, for instance, request their own FBI file and submit corrections. For the most part, this is private information that won't be published publicly.
The FOIA requires one to specifically request the information in question. Information that is just released by the government separate from specific requests for that information falls outside FOIA.