Annita Lucchesi, a doctoral student and freelance cartographer, has filed extensive FOIA requests to create the first centralized database on missing and murdered indigenous women. Lucchesi shared her experiences navigating a system that refuses to keep track of this data.

Next week’s Sunshine Week is a special one as we approach the Freedom of Information Act’s 50th anniversary, so I decided to speak with someone who hasn’t had public access as a right for as long as we have in the States. In the United Kingdom, Right to Know was only put into practice in 2005 — and has come under repeated fire by politicians ever since.

Brad Heath, investigative reporter for USA Today, has led investigations into environmental dangers in schools, prosecutor misconduct, and government surveillance. In this Requester’s Voice, he shares his tips and tactics to navigate the world of FOIA and the story behind his viral public records hit.

Kevin Poulsen, the news editor at WIRED.com, is currently front and center in one of the higher profile Freedom of Information Act lawsuits currently under way: The fight to have transparency activist Aaron Swartz’s Secret Service files released. In this week’s Requester’s Voice, Poulsen explains how WIRED uses public records to get the “big ones,” why leakers are the new FOIA and what’s next in the fight for Swartz’s files.