Reference vocabulary

Glossary

Plain-language definitions anchored to official federal sources.

FOIA

Freedom of Information Act; the federal statute establishing a right to request access to executive-branch agency records, subject to exemptions.

TERM 02

PACER

Public Access to Court Electronic Records, the federal judiciary service for electronic case and docket information.

TERM 03

EDGAR

The SEC system for electronic company submissions and public filing access.

TERM 04

Docket

The chronological record of filings, orders, and activity in a court case.

TERM 05

Redaction

The removal or obscuring of protected information before a record is released.

TERM 06

FOIA exemption

One of nine statutory categories that protect specified interests from compelled disclosure.

TERM 07

Agency component

A bureau, office, or operating unit within a federal department that may process its own FOIA requests.

TERM 08

Record schedule

An approved instruction governing how long federal records are retained and when they may be disposed of or transferred.

TERM 09

Record group

An archival classification grouping records of a major government entity by provenance.

TERM 10

CIK

Central Index Key, the unique numeric identifier assigned by the SEC to EDGAR filers.

TERM 11

Accession number

A unique identifier assigned to an accepted EDGAR submission.

TERM 12

XBRL

A structured data format used in many SEC financial statement submissions.

TERM 13

Federal Register

The daily journal for rules, proposed rules, notices, and presidential documents.

TERM 14

Code of Federal Regulations

The codification of general and permanent rules published by federal agencies.

TERM 15

Public use file

A dataset prepared for public release, often modified to protect confidential information.

TERM 16

Metadata

Information describing a dataset, record series, document, or resource so it can be found and interpreted.

TERM 17

API

An application programming interface that permits software to request structured information.

TERM 18

Open data

Government data made available in machine-readable formats under applicable access and privacy rules.

TERM 19

Declassification

The authorized removal of national security classification controls from information.

TERM 20

Mandatory declassification review

A process for asking an agency to review classified information for possible declassification.

TERM 21

FRUS

Foreign Relations of the United States, the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions.

TERM 22

GovInfo

The Government Publishing Office service providing authenticated official publications.

TERM 23

Privacy Act

A federal law governing agency systems of records about individuals and providing specified access and amendment rights.

TERM 24

Disposition

The authorized final action for records, such as destruction or transfer to the National Archives.

TERM 25

FOIA Public Liaison

An agency official who assists in resolving requester concerns and reducing delays.

Using official terminology

Records systems use terms with specific procedural meanings. A docket is not the same as every document in a case; metadata is not necessarily the underlying dataset; and declassification is different from release under a public-record request. Open each entry for the linked official definition and practical context.

Definitions here are summaries, not substitutes for statutes, regulations, court rules, or agency instructions. The primary source linked in each entry controls when precision matters.

The glossary supports the procedure, agency, and record-type pages. It does not define or categorize private people and does not create a searchable profile system.