48 and 49 Days to Government Information Liberation
It's been a rough couple days, sorry about not transmitting yesterday. For the next three weeks I want to try and sum up what I believe are the critical issues the government/civic information librarian community must confront and resolve to remain viable in the evolving government information infrastructure. For the past month we have talked about many of these, and other FGI bloggers opened the conversation in other directions.When the next 48 days are behind us, a new federal executive and legislative leadership assumes responsibility in late January, we will need to keep the pressure going. This will mean some consensus among the various interest groups who try to influence the library policy agenda. It means individual librarians will need to work at the institutional, regional, and state levels to assure some kind of coordinated and collaborative response to the challenges ahead of us for the next few years. So, starting tomorrow, here are the eight points I am going to emphasize till the end of the year. 1. Recognize the importance of librarians and their institutions in the sustainability of a dynamic civic culture. 2. Seek to establish the most effective techniques individual bibliographic institutions can contribute to a national system of government information access, preservation and organization. 3. Create standards/protocols to inform best practices on how to integrate the impact of e-government services into our institutions. 4. Develop a model graduate curriculum/studies to prepare the next generation of government information librarians. 5. Build effective rhetoric of advocacy for open, free and permanent access to government information that binds the shared interests of our various professional associations. This shared rhetoric should come from consensus and not assent. 7. Deliver various programs of public education and outreach about government information policy structure that takes into account the cyclical nature of partisan election, but is not dependent on it. 8. Fashion new models of management and public service for government information resources in our institutions. See you on Day 47. Continue reading
The White House: America’s Most Famous Home on C-SPAN
This announcement from C-SPAN may be of interest:
Join C-SPAN for White House Week! This 7-day television event kicks off on December 14 with the premiere of a 90-minute feature documentary, The White House: Inside America's Most Famous Home -- a C-SPAN original production. White House Week takes you beyond the velvet ropes to the private residence, sharing exclusive interviews with the First Family, the White House staff, and renowned presidential historians. The White House: Inside America's Most Famous Home, which headlines the weeklong series, recounts highlights of America's most famous home -- from George Washington's first design decisions to an exclusive tour of the private residence given by First Lady Laura Bush. And that's only the beginning. After the documentary premiere, six additional nights of special White House programming will air on C-SPAN. Programs will feature rare footage, behind-the-scenes video, and extended interviews with historians, White House staff, and other experts -- all providing an unprecedented look into the public spaces of the White House and the private home of our nation's First Families. Produced with assistance from First Lady Laura Bush and the White House Historical Association, this weeklong series is the most comprehensive look at the White House ever offered in video, bringing this treasured landmark alive for viewers across the country. You can get inside the White House ahead of time by visiting www.c-span.org/whitehouse today. View the trailer, interviews with historians, footage from the documentary, and content from the C-SPAN archives -- with more video added every week. The White House: America's Most Famous Home premieres December 14 at 9 pm ET on C-SPAN. Additional original programming will air nightly at 9 pm ET through December 20.Continue reading
Federal Register Electronic Public Inspection Desk
federalregister.gov is back online today. So, we can feature the new Federal Register Electronic Public Inspection Desk!
This new desk grants the public access to documents that will be published in the next day’s Federal Register as early at 8:45 a.m. EST. Previously, such documents could only be seen by viewing the documents physically located at the Office of the Federal Register in Washington, DC. This development is perfectly timed for the 2008 Presidential election. Traditionally, after an election the Federal Register experiences a large increase in regulations, and this year is no exception. Now, anyone, anywhere, can monitor this flurry of activity through the click of a mouse. The web site has been particularly useful in providing up-to-the minute access to Treasury Department and Federal Reserve regulations issued in response to the ongoing financial crisis.See the press release for more... Continue reading
A visionary plan for broadband access for all
One of the problems government information specialists face is that, as so much government information is born digital and available only online, a large percentage of people have less access than they did when a paper copy of government information was within relatively easy reach at their local FDLP library. We all imagine that this is a temporary situation and hope for a time when broadband access is as available as electricity and telephones and television. But, as the reports and surveys continue to reveal, the digital divide is real and is not shrinking very fast if at all. The Benton Foundation has released a new report that addresses this issue head on.
- AN ACTION PLAN FOR AMERICA: Using Technology and Innovation to Address Our Nation's Critical Challenges A report for the new administration, Benton Foundation, by Jonathan Rintels, December 1, 2008. [more links and HTML at http://benton.org/initiatives/broadband_benefits/action_plan ]
Problems of Access to Congressional Information
In a CQ Weekly cover story, Tim Starks examines openness and secrecy in Congress:
- A Dome Under Lock and Key, By Tim Starks, CQPolitics, Nov. 30, 2008.
- The Senate voted almost two years ago to disclose more information from the letters senators write requesting appropriations earmarks but the provision was quietly dropped the bill became law.
- A bill drafted behind locked doors in one committee, is debated in open session by another.
- Senate committee votes on a presidential nominee kept secret
- Some committees restrict access to amendments made during markup so tightly that no paper is circulated except on the dais were the members sit.
- The House Appropriations Committee has a surveys and investigation team assigned to investigate the worthiness of federal programs, similar to the function of the Government Accountability Office, none of the team's reports have been made public in at least two years.