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Your guide to understanding US government data and crafting better FOIAs

The US government collects data from the public using almost 10,000 different kinds of forms. Each year, according to government estimates, over 100 billion individual forms are filled out, requiring over 10 million hours of work. Thanks to a 1980 law called the Paperwork Reduction Act, each new type of form, or "Information Collection Request," must be given a unique number by the OMB (Office of Management and Budget) and tracked centrally on a website.

This project provides a simple to use spreadsheet that includes key data on each of the ~10,000 forms and links to further information about each of them. The included parser file will show you how it's created.

While things like personal and business income tax returns are among the most commonly completed US government forms, there is in fact a wide and dizzying universe of things that are counted and tracked. To name just a few:

• Feral Swine Survey (OMB: 0535-0256)
• Application for United States Flag for Burial Purposes (OMB: 2900-0013)
• Distilled Spirits Plants Warehousing Records (OMB: 1513-0039)
• Department of Defense Telework Agreement (OMB: 0704-0611)
• Notice of Naturalization Oath Ceremony (OMB: 1615-0054)
• Small Unmanned Aircraft Registration System (OMB: 2120-0765)
• ...

Every form tells a story. By combing through the Information Collection Requests made by various government agencies, you can understand more deeply their bureaucratic and administrative concerns. While every form will not be accessible through FOIA requests, and each form may not neatly map onto an underlying database maintained by an agency, they provide a map of what to look for. Best of all, each form must by law have a named individual who is responsible for it, so you can email or call them to learn more.