How to Find Background Information on People or Properties
Cindy Ellis - February 22, 2024
Information has never been more abundant. With a quick Google search, you can find just about anything. Plus, you can learn about people or property by running searches with people search engines or address lookup tools. Ultimately, the world’s information is at your fingertips, but only when you use the right tools. Unfortunately, the wrong tools will cost you a fortune, waste your time, and yield bad results.
This is where Information.com comes into play. We can help you find background information about anyone, any address, or even a phone number. Furthermore, we can help you research people or places for historical projects that you might need background information for.
Read on to learn about how you can use our search tools to find information about people online.
What Is Background Information?
Background information can be just about anything as long as it refers to a specific topic. That said, the term is usually used in education or research when you want to learn more about someone. For example, you might want to learn about how great Emperor Trajan was, but you need background information to give you context about his accomplishments, what Rome was like before and after his rule, and much more.
On the other hand, background information can be used to research people. For example, you could learn more about the owner of an address or when it changed hands. In these cases, you can use an address lookup tool to view important information about the land, sale history, and owner of an address.
For this reason, background information is a general term, which is ironic because it’s used to help you continue research on a specific topic.
How to Find Background Information
There are a few ways you can find background information. The best method depends on what information you need to find. We cover the best tools you can leverage to find background information below.
1. Google
When you need to find background information about any topic, whether it’s a location, person, or history, Google is a great choice. You can enter anything you want into Google and learn about a wide range of topics. If you’re researching something for educational purposes, Google is a great place to start. In fact, it can even take you to databases like Jstor or Google Scholar that contain scholarly articles for the topics you’re researching.
While Google is effective, it’s not always the best option. You’re better off using a public records search tool for information about people and sometimes the information on Google isn’t reliable.
2. Public Records Search
When you want to find background information about a specific person, a public records search tool is a great option. Whether you want to find information about a person, place, or someone from history, you can use our public records search tool to find the background information you need.
When you run a public records search you can find someone’s name, phone number, email address, or any other information you may need. In fact, you can even view criminal records, social media accounts, dating profiles, and much more.
3. Libraries
Want to get information the old-fashioned way? Libraries are a great way to get information from primary sources that you can put in your hands, like books, documents, and even art. Some libraries will also have access to databases that you can’t access on your own. This is especially true at university libraries.
That said, libraries are one of the best places to find background information about a topic. Plus, most information from libraries is reliable and doesn’t need to be verified like something you find on Google. The only drawback is that you need to visit in person, and the library you visit might not have the information you’re looking for.
4. Social Media
Social media is one of the best tools you can leverage if you want to find information about someone. While it doesn’t cover public records or include criminal records, it does provide you with some personal information about people. For example, you can find someone’s employer, address, date of birth, and email address on social media accounts like Facebook. What’s more, many people have professional information and contact details on social media platforms like LinkedIn.
Social media also makes it easy to learn more about people’s social circles and relationships. You can usually find their friends and family members by looking at their friends list or who they’re following. Social media accounts may also include links to their websites or other social media profiles in their bio. For these reasons, social media is a comprehensive way to find information about people’s social and professional lives.
5. Private Investigator
When you need to find information about someone that may be hidden or otherwise difficult to source, working with a private investigator (PI) might be your best option. A private investigator will perform a background check for you and they can even find information that’s not always easily accessible to the public. For example, they can reveal court records, hidden dating profiles, and even secret social media accounts.
While private investigators are efficient, we don’t always recommend using them. This is due to their high cost and how long it takes to get results. Instead, start with one of our people search tools first and only turn to a PI if you had no luck finding what you were after.
Find Background Information Today
Background information about a property, person, or phone number can be the difference in reconnecting with your old friend or disregarding them as a scam or spammer.
While Google searches are broad and social media can be a hassle to get started, Information.com has plenty of effective and easy people search methods. Try any of our tools today to get started and discover the background information you’re looking for with our people search, address lookup, and phone lookup tools.
