Other Records From Commercial Databases
For free public access to professionals' licensing records (such as doctors and lawyers), many states, like Florida (http://www.state.fl.us/dbpr/pro/index.shtml) and California (http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllquery$.startup), offer access to all their licensing boards from one central page. You can link to professional license information on all 50 states from Search Systems at http://www.searchsystems.net.
To verify medical licenses, you can also check AIM's DocFinder site at http://www.docboard.org/, which links to many states' medical licensing boards. Click on "California" or go directly to the California state agency that licenses doctors by typing in http://www.medbd.ca.gov/.
To locate more public information about doctors, check their associations' web site to discover what type of information is available (in addition to licensing information), such as disciplinary or biographical information. The American Medical Association is at http://www.ama-assn.org/; the Texas Medical Association is at http://www.texmed.org/; and if you're looking for a list of medical associations in Haiti, you'll find it at http://www.haitimedical.com/aso.htm.
- Links to other select medical associations can be found at http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Medicine/Organizations/Professional/
- Medical_Associations_and_Societies/.
Most state bar association websites can verify whether an attorney is licensed in that state. In California, check the California State Bar's Member Records Search at http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10114. History of disciplinary information, if any, is also noted. In Texas go to http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&Template=/CustomSource/
MemberDirectory/Search_Form_Client_Main.cfm. Or in Florida try http://www.floridabar.org/names.nsf/MESearch?OpenForm. FindLaw lists links to the bar Associations of all 50 states at http://www.findlaw.com/06associations/state.html.
There are a number of other professions, from cosmetologists to funeral directors that are licensed and regulated in various states. Here, too, Search Systems at http://www.searchsystems.net can be a very helpful resource, offering links to various licensing board sites in all 50 states. Some of the hundreds of available categories include Colorado architect licensing at https://www.doradls.state.co.us/lic_database_req.php, Georgia auctioneers at https://secure.sos.state.ga.us/myverification/, New York state interior designers at http://www.op.nysed.gov/opsearches.htm, and a searchable directory of Arizona Accountants at http://www.accountancy.state.az.us/scripts/BOAsearch.exe.
Information on all licensed professions in California (from Funeral Directors to Repossession Agencies) can be accessed at http://www2.dca.ca.gov/pls/wllpub/wllquery$.startup.
Search the American Institute of Architects membership at http://www.aia.org/. Select "Architect Finder" at the top of the page. The site does not allow you to input an architects name directly, but you can retrieve a list of members geographically (by major city).
A database of 1.5 million non-profit professional associations may also be searched to obtain information about professionals at http://www.guidestar.org/search.
