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64 Days to Government Information Liberation
Another day of transition, spending most of it talking about the future of government information and the federal depository library system. Now waiting to go home and think about everything -- again. One note of interest -- this is the first time in years (and I am talking about the time before 2001) -- that I felt there was an edge of hope to the future of a robust, accessible, permanent and freely available system of government information distribution. It isn't just the technology -- its the people I met that reminded me again of why we do this. We might disagree on the details of structure and purpose, but the goals are astoundingly similar. Jet lag strikes. See you on Day 63 Continue reading
65 Days to Government Information Liberation
Today is going to be one of those slow moments in this long slog to liberation. Still mulling over some of the ideas raised in earlier responses to my posts. While I organize my thoughts, I am pleased to see that government information and its implications continue to get mentioned in the popular press -- especially the Plum Book. I am also pleased to see that elements within the American Library Association are making an effort to link e-government services and libraries. See the ALA wiki. Indeed, the historic connections between traditional depository library service/practice and the evolving suite of possible library e-government service remains considerably under-developed. I hope more of us can jump in and contribute to the conversation. See you on Day 64 Continue reading
66 Days to Government Information Liberation
I want to pick up a theme I explored a bit in an earlier posting, especially in light of Jim’s references to Vince Stehle’s article about what kind of hybrid institution would be demanded by the Web’s infrastructure to sustain and “…promote a vibrant and diverse exchange of educational information, cultural expression, and political discourse over the Internet?” Though Stehle doesn’t say it, Jim does – a library. But, Jim offers the answer never assumed by Stehle’s question. In fact what Sthele describes are three web institutions that are nothing like libraries – but more like socially enhanced search engines – helping elevate and sort the vast amount amount of Web data in some kind of structured way and then allowing for some kind of interactivity between the creator and searcher. By my estimate, Stehle is talking about evolved tools that are comparable to the library’s traditional catalogs and indexes. But they are not akin to a library's purpose. From Stehle’s argument there is a clear assumption that the Web -- and all its content -- is the “new” library – “free” to use by profit and non-profit forces. To him, as well as others who argue from the perspective, the library/web morphing together into some kind of global resource is a done deal. The struggle now revolves around on how the tools of access and knowledge integration are spread through society. Stehle clearly argues for what Benjamin Barber calls a strong democracy approach, best captured by Thomas Jefferson’s statement long embraced by government information librarians, but not in its rich contextual meaning – “I know of no safe depository of the ultimate power of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion.” In other words, we are moving away from the formats and distribution mechanisms born from the several centuries of technological innovations sustained by Gutenberg’s paper and print technologies -- and the hundreds of years of library tradition and practice these fostered. We must now deal with technologies that create far different information relationships with our communities, and knowledge building opportunities for our institutions. It is something no longer centered on possession and/or control, and by extension -- geography. We are no longer Gutenberg Librarians. This new age of librarianship might best be named after Marshall McLuhan and his observations about the impact of expansive modern telecommunications throughout society. For the McLuhan Librarians – the medium is the message. So too, I think, for government information librarians. Our future work will depend not so much on how well we preserve or organize the information sources (don't get me wrong, this will remain important -- but is no longer our exclusive responsibility.) Rather, our success will rest on how well we knit together the medium of governance (politics, policy, law, and programs) with how our communities use the civic message to inform their daily lives. See you on Day 66. Continue reading
67 Days to Government Information Liberation
Today I got to thinking about history and the concept of significant time events to either mark change or anticipate it. Much has been made of the historic quality of last week's national elections and how many pundits and writers spoke of the electoral changes as, possibly, the first electoral event to anticipate the needs, or demands, of the 21st century. Which made me wonder -- how many state governments incorporated the concept of the 21st century into their observations, recommendations or attempts to reorganize how they do things. Briefly, here is a small sample of what I discovered using Google government search and usa.gov. California -- Commission on the 21st Century Economy Minnesota -- Governor’s 21st Century Tax Reform Commission. North Carolina -- 21st Century Transportation Committee Texas -- Ten Principles for Texas in the 21st Century Which got me thinking how libraries could use this wide spread policy and programmatic interest in change at the state level and get some civic discussions going by linking it to the huge interest in what is happening at the national level. One doesn't need ground-breaking national election to help their communities make the connections at the state level. See you day 66. Continue reading
68 Days to Government Information Liberation
As I watch and read the what is happening at the national level (presidential transition, financial crisis, two major world wars, a major meeting of the 20 largest economies in Washington, D.C.), I wonder if government/civic information librarians can learn and sustain a collective knowledge building effort that captures the added value, bibliographic structures, and shape of the policy narrative I refer to in earlier posts. What I have in mind is modeled on the weather alerts here in the Midwest -- trying to get early word out about violent weather nearby; are the various community alerts issued about missing people or crime nearby. So, what I suggest is something that I call an Adelaide Alert (in honor of Adelaide Hasse.) The purpose of these alerts would be to put together web tools or resources that help explain and track major complicated public policy and government events. These events are so profound (and at times, predictable) that if an organized group of government information librarians can get their act together to cooperate across geographic and institutional lines, they could sustain a major reference source that would be free to anyone with access to the web. Think of it as an information grange or cooperative. These tools would list significant official sources that discuss the event; would provide a timeline or outline of how the event came to be and what might happen; would list secondary or authoritative non-government resources. It would be updated on a regular basis and maintained by the cooperative. Yes, they could by wikis, they could be web pages, they could be whatever social software we would choose to use. If we truly get radical, these large-scale reference cooperatives could be coming the cutting edge for preservation. In other words, for those of us so inclined, we could be sure that the important government/official sources part of the Alert are preserved in some coordinated fashion (much along the lines LOCKSS project.) This kind of collaborative large-scale work would mean we are not reacting to our community's need for information, but actually anticipating them -- liberation might be the easy compared to sustaining the fruits of that liberty. See you on day 67. And Jim, thanks for the substantial response to Day 69 -- I am composing a reply to be posted in the next couple of days. Continue reading
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