Frequently Asked Questions

Does the archive include the Purdue Pharma public document repository? 

No. In June 2024 the US Supreme Court ruled against the proposed bankruptcy settlement for Purdue Pharma, which had included a provision for document disclosure through a public repository. However, documents from and about Purdue do appear in other OIDA collections—consult an archivist for assistance.

How is the archive funded? 

The public opioid archive was created and funded in part through settlements of public interest lawsuits by states. In addition, both universities are pursuing various options, including grants and philanthropic gifts.

Can I use documents or media clips in my project? 

Ultimately, you are responsible for determining whether you need permission to make use of a work. As a public document repository, OIDA makes its collections available for research and education but does not hold copyright to these materials. Please see Copyright and Fair Use for more information.

Can I download a large batch of documents all at once, or query the archive programmatically? 

Yes. You can download up to 200 documents at a time through the IDL website interface. (You must be signed in to your “My Library” account). You can query our Solr API to search and download metadata records and full text. We are also currently developing the OIDA Toolbox, which provides additional options for working with the data programmatically.

What are Bates Numbers? How can I use them to search? 

Bates numbering is an indexing system used for legal and other documents. Law offices assign a sequential numeric or alpha-numeric identifier to a set of documents used in a case, allowing a user to easily navigate to the previous or next page, or previous or next document. Most often, a document is identified by a singular Bates number from the first page, like 2070278438; if the field includes a range of numbers, this represents all pages of the document, like 524113724 - 524113729.

Bates numbers are unique within a specific production but may not persist beyond a particular case. Some documents were assigned new Bates numbers when they were transferred to OIDA. Please contact us with any questions.

How can users help improve metadata in the archive? 

Most of our metadata is machine generated as part of the legal discovery process. We correct and improve it as resources allow. We encourage you to report errors to us using the “report issue” feature in the toolbar above the page viewer in the Industry Documents Library interface.

What does the archive contain that hasn’t already been publicly reported through opioid litigation? 

For a number of prominent opioid cases, the archive includes all of the previously internal corporate communication and other significant files that were shared with the plaintiffs, not just those materials cited in litigation documents. There are many stories about the opioid crisis in these documents that have yet to be publicly reported.

How does the archive acquire its opioids collections? 

Most of our larger collections are acquired via document disclosure in opioid litigation. OIDA solicits and receives these publicly disclosed documents via court order, attorneys, expert witnesses, and PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) downloads.

OIDA archivists and librarians also research document sets that may become available from future legal settlements or judgments, and we assess them to determine if they are appropriate for inclusion in the archive. Please see the OIDA Collection Development Policy for more details.

Can the archive help to acquire documents that are not currently in the collections? 

The OIDA team can help point researchers to resources for obtaining court documents and for filing public records requests, but we do not make those requests ourselves.

What kind of support is available for users of the archive? 

OIDA has a team of librarians and archivists that can provide support to users, including tours of the archive, search strategy assistance, and much more. Please see the Ask Us page.

Does the archive offer any internships or fellowships? 

The archive has hosted interns and fellows to work in our collections in the areas of research and community engagement, data science, metadata enhancement, and natural language processing (NLP). Subscribe to our email list to be notified of upcoming opportunities.

Is there a way to be notified in advance of upcoming releases 

To stay up-to-date on document releases and other OIDA news, subscribe to our email list. We may occasionally share news of upcoming releases ahead of time.

How can I support the archive? 

Let us know if you have any upcoming publications, presentations, or projects that use OIDA documents to help us see how the archive is being used. Please cite OIDA whenever possible to help spread awareness of the archive. Stay connected with us on X (formerly known as Twitter), Mastodon, and LinkedIn.