What is LittleSis?
LittleSis is a free database of who knows who at the heights of business and government. It is a public wiki and purpose-built database for researching powerful organisations, tracking conflicts of interest and visualising networks of political influence. Started in 2009, it holds more than 1.6 million relationships between more than 400,000 people and organisations, such as board seats, donations, lobbying ties and positions.
LittleSis is a project of the Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit research organisation focused on corporate and government accountability. Researchers and volunteers add and edit records, and the Oligrapher tool lets you draw annotated network maps of a board, an industry or a campaign. The site's research blog, Eyes on the Ties, publishes investigations built on the data, and the application is open source.
Main Features
- Profiles of executives, politicians, companies, funders and institutions
- More than 1.6 million documented relationships, from board seats to donations
- Public wiki editing so researchers can add and correct records
- Oligrapher for drawing and sharing annotated network maps
- Lists for grouping entities, such as a company's board or a donor network
- Research published on the Eyes on the Ties blog
- Open source code released under the GPL
How to Get Started with LittleSis
- Go to littlesis.org and search for a company, institution or public figure.
- Open the profile to see relationships grouped by type, with sources for each one.
- Use Oligrapher to build a map of the connections you want to explain.
- Sign up for an account if you want to add records or correct existing ones, and cite a source for each change.
LittleSis Pricing
LittleSis is free to use. It is run by the non-profit Public Accountability Initiative and its software is open source.
Who Should Use It?
- Journalists researching conflicts of interest and political influence
- Activists and campaigners mapping corporate power
- Academics studying elite and board networks
- Teachers and students learning how power research works
- Researchers who want to share network maps alongside their findings
LittleSis Alternatives
- OpenCorporates: an open database of official company records and their officers.
- OCCRP Aleph: an investigative data platform for cross-referencing people and companies against records and leaks.
- Maltego: a link analysis tool for visualising relationships across many data sources.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is LittleSis free?
Yes. LittleSis is free to search and use, and it is run by the non-profit Public Accountability Initiative. You need a free account only if you want to add or edit information.
Who does LittleSis cover?
LittleSis focuses on powerful people and organisations at the heights of business and government, such as executives, board members, politicians, donors, lobbyists and the institutions they are connected to. It is built for accountability research, not for looking up private individuals.
Where does LittleSis data come from?
Researchers and volunteers enter relationships from public sources such as filings, news reports and official records, and records cite their sources. As with any wiki, check the cited source before you rely on a detail.