Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) is a data gathering, data research, and data distribution organization associated with Syracuse University. Transactional refers to data about individual activities. Data collected from the federal government, mostly under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is made available to the American people via our massive data warehouse. (See About Us for more information.)

TRAC's general data procedures are to (1) obtain the data (requires background research on agency information systems, informal requests, formal FOIA requests, and sometimes lawsuits), (2) run statistical validity checks, and (3) prepare the data for entry into the warehouse (includes initial preparation to intrepret codes, merge files, and more, plus monthly update preparation of searching for and adding new codes, linking records, etc.).

TRAC’s Websites (URL, internet address):

• TRAC (trac.syr.edu) is a free public web site that provides easy access to TRAC's published reports, spotlights, and other information, mostly about federal enforcement issues.
• TRACFED (tracfed.syr.edu) is a subscription site offering direct dynamic access to a wide range of federal data concerning enforcement, staffing, spending, and other matters.

Website Navigation:

• Most graphics are clickable – look for the “hand” symbol when the cursor hovers over an active link.
• Click on above if you want to return to this page.

TRAC Help will help you:

• Determine what information is available through TRAC and TRACFED
• Decide where to go to find data you need
• Learn how to use the tools effectively to create customized analysis

Suggested starting points:

• TRAC Help table of contents
• Quickstart: TRAC public access site.
• Quickstart: TRACFED subscription site.
• How to use the TRAC Help "SHOW ME" tutorial movies.
• How to create a TRAC Internet shortcut on your desktop.