When an agency’s records department sends responses via the postal service (affectionately known as snail mail), those communications, including acknowledgment letters, status updates and responsive documents, come to us for processing. The materials we receive range from letters and packets of files to CDs and thumb drives. We even get a few boxes of records every week.
When these arrive we scan, digitize and upload everything onto the MuckRock site, so all of the agency’s communications and records are right on your request page. No removing staples, sifting through documents or paper cuts for you!
But for the first time since 2014, that address is changing. Our old mailing address — a UPS store in Somerville, Massachusetts — is closing. We have arranged for a smooth transition to a new UPS location just one city over in Boston, and we have begun giving agencies a heads up.
Every MuckRock communication lists our address, which has been updated to reflect our new location. We will be contacting agencies and making sure we have clear messaging around this change.
We are also using mail forwarding with the US Postal Service for items sent to our old address.
We have seen a decrease in mail over the years as agencies (slowly) transition to using email and online portals for request management. But there are still plenty of responses arriving in our mailbox every day. In the last year alone, we’ve received over 1,700 pieces. For those curious, the agencies that send the most mail are the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Internal Revenue Service.
Our goal is that you can file requests and access documents without ever having to think about mail. But if you ever find that something is missing, an item is taking too long to arrive or anything else looks off, we can help. Please let us know via the “Get Help” button on the request page or by emailing info@muckrock.com
Header image features Sergeant William Story, a guard at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, sorting the mail addressed to former President Harry S. Truman after Mr. Truman gave a press conference, via the Library. Photograph by Cecil Schrepfer and in the public domain.
