OMB Circular No. A-130, the management of federal information resources: Its origins and impact

An OMB circular is a policy directive that tells Federal executive agencies how they shall implement laws or presidential policies. OMB Circular No. A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources, prescribes a general policy framework within the Paperwork Reduction Act for developing uniform and consistent Federal information resources management policies. The need for the policy framework was identified by the Commission on Federal Paperwork, and reaffirmed by the General Accounting Office and the Congress. The Circular enunciates some policies regarding dissemination of information for which Congress has not provided explicit statutory guidance. The Circular is quite general in its policy statements and does not subdistinguish various categories of government information. The principal impact of the Circular will be a continuing emphasis on planning for information resources management.     

U.S. office of management and budget circular no. a-130: Old and new

In June 1993, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget issued a formal revision to OMB Circular No. A-130, Management of Federal Information Resources. This article examines what has changed and what has remained the same in Circular A-130 as compared with the original circular issued in December 1985. The 1993 revision changed principally those parts of the circular dealing with information management policy. It added new materials on the role of state and local governments and on records management. It eliminated most of the language concerning OMB Circular No. A-76. and provided clearer direction with respect to user charges. The 1993 revision contained new emphases on planning, information dissemination management systems, electronic collection and dissemination of information, depository libraries, and enforcement. In September 1993, OMB also proposed new revisions concerning federal information technology management. The article concludes that the revised Circular A-130 has come a long way toward being a viable framework for managing federal information resources.     

Does the Federal government need an A-130 for STI?

The article argues that the Federal government needs to develop special government-wide policies, similar to OMB Circular No. A-130, which would be applicable to scientific and technical information (STI). After exploring the relation between government information and government STI, the author points out that Federal statistics has its own special set of policies known as Statistical Policy Directives. STI's situation is different from other government information because it is carried out in the culture of science and academia, in the culture of classified information and export controls, and in the international arena. A policy circular for STI would touch on Federal research and development, technology transfer, classified and export control information, international considerations, interagency sharing, and several existing areas of policy. The Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, or the National Science and Technology Council could issue the policy.     

Helping the public find information the U.S. Government Information Locator Service (GILS)

As part of the National Information Infrastructure, the U.S. federal government is establishing a Government Information Locator Service (GILS). GILS will identify and describe public information resources throughout the federal government and provide assistance in obtaining the information. It will be decentralized and will supplement other agency and commercial information dissemination mechanisms. The public will use GILS directly or through intermediaries, including the Government Printing Office and the National Technical Information Service, as well as federal depository libraries, other public libraries, and private sector information services. Direct users will have access to a GILS Core accessible on the Internet without charge. Intermediate access may include kiosks, 800 numbers, electronic mail, bulletin boards, FAX, and offline media such as floppy disks, CD-ROM, and printed works. GILS will use network technology and the American National Standards Institute Z39.50 standard for information search and retrieval so that information can be retrieved in a variety of ways. Direct users may have access to many other major federal and nonfederal information resources, linkages to data systems, and electronic delivery of information products. An Office of Management and Budget Bulletin in 1994 will provide implementing guidance to agencies. The National Institute of Standards and Technology will also establish a Federal Information Processing Standard specifying a GILS Profile and its application for agencies establishing information locators.     

Information under siege: The reagan administration's federal information policy

In this article, Congressman Owens assesses OMB's Circular No. A-130 on the management of Federal information resources. He finds the Circular highly deficient and a potential threat to the public's access to information that the government collects, produces, and maintains.     

Electronic Government Information Dissemination

SUMMARY

The federal government, “the largest single producer, consumer, collector, and disseminator of information in the United States,”¹ has begun to disseminate most of that information electronically. Legislation and more economic production and dissemination of government information have produced changes in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and federal agency dissemination. This chapter examines the dissemination of electronic government information from the Government Printing Office (GPO) through the FDLP and executive branch agencies and discusses the impact that this has on users, libraries, and government information specialists.     

Rhetoric versus reality: a reexamination of access to U.S. government information during the presidency of Ronald Reagan

This article examines information policies implemented during the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Of special interest is an analysis of OMB Circular A-130 and the assumptions that underlay its mandates. In addition, a rhetorical analysis of articles from the period is undertaken to examine the assumptions authors used in their defense of or arguments against U.S. federal information policy of the time. Finally, an analysis of the budget of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the number of items distributed to depository libraries, and the sales of the Government Printing Office (GPO) is made to determine changes as a result of the implemented policies.     

Grant Writing Information in Federal Depository Collections

Federal government documents collections are a rich source of information about grant writing. This article describes the establishment and ultimate demise of the college's grants office and subsequent efforts to serve the grant writing information needs of faculty and reference librarians. The bibliography lists federal documents by broad subjects and, under each, by government agency.     

The management of United States government information resources: An assessment of OMB circular A-130

In late 1985, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget issued its controversial circular on the “Management of Federal Information Resources. ”This article assesses that circular in four areas relating to public access to government information: information resources management, economy and efficiency in that management, the adequacy of selected definitions, and implications for the depository library program. The conclusion emphasizes that the circular is severely deficient and requires public scrutiny and modification, as well as congressional review.     

Implications of harmonizing the future of the federal depository library program within e-government principles and policies

For more than 150 years, the United States Government Printing Office (GPO), along with its Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), has supported an informed citizenry and democracy by ensuring access and preservation to a broad swath of federal government information. This collaborative national public information program between local libraries and the national government, if it is to survive beyond its second century of service, must overcome profound challenges within a rapidly evolving complex of e-government policies and principles. The FDLP can (and must) find a way to serve its traditional values – permanent and public access to government information – that allows for growth and change within the demands of a dynamic electronic environment between the governors and the governed.     

NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND OLD-FASHIONED ECONOMICS:: Creating a Brave New World for U.S. Government Information Distribution and Use

New technologies, including the ability to distribute government information globally across the Internet, are creating a need for new ways to view the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The changing needs and roles of government information’s five stakeholders: federal agencies, the Government Printing Office (GPO), the depository libraries, the commercial sector, and the American public will need to change drastically in reaction to improved technologies and to the pure economics of information dissemination. The concept of the FDLP network may have outlived its relevance. Experiments should begin to explore new ways to provide users with assistance in locating government information in a timely and economically feasible manner. Shoring up a program that has outlived its relevance in today’s world is not an option.     

Electronic government in the age of terrorism

The events of September 11, and subsequent investigations, suggest that some public information available on the Internet could aid terrorists in planning other attacks. This article provides examples of how federal agency officials have responded to the possibility that their Web sites provide such potentially compromising information. The federal government has not yet issued a government wide policy that addresses this specific contingency. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued an Internet content advisory and the Attorney General has released a relevant policy statement on the Freedom of Information Act. Both documents are reviewed here. The removal and alteration of information has implications for citizens, as does the Bush Administration’s mixed messages on the objectives and procedures of electronic government post-September 11. This article concludes with suggestions for developing a governmentwide Web site-specific policy.     

The federal depository library program in transition: A perspective at the turn of a century

The basic legal framework covering government information procurement, production, and dissemination has been in place for over 100 years. Congress is currently developing revisions to Title 44 of the United State Code in order to reform this system. Fundamental principles of public access to government information, embodied in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), must guide these revisions. The strategic planning process, currently underway by federal agencies, must give due consideration to the entire life cycle of government information, particularly the dissemination and public access responsibilities.     

Paperwork reduction act reauthorization and government information management issues

Replacing the ineffective Federal Reports Act of 1942, the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (PRA) was enacted largely to relieve the public of the mounting information collection and reporting requirements of the federal government. It also promoted coordinated information management activities on a governmentwide basis by the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and prescribed information management responsibilities for the executive agencies. The management focus of the PRA was sharpened with the 1986 amendments which refined the concept of “information resources management” (IRM), defined as “the planning, budgeting, organizing, directing, training, promoting, controlling, and management activities associated with the burden, collection, creation, use, and dissemination of information by agencies, and includes the management of information and related resources such as automatic data processing equipment.” This key term and its subset concepts received further definition and explanation in the PRA of 1995, making IRM a tool for managing the contribution of information activities to program performance, and for managing related resources, such as personnel, equipment, funds, and technology. The PRA currently authorizes appropriations for its administration by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), located within OMB, through FY2001 (44 U.S.C. 3520). Reauthorization of OIRA appropriations provides an opportunity to upgrade the PRA’s provisions and to address prevailing government information management issues.     

Trends in information technology and private sector activities

As the largest single producer, consumer, and disseminator of information in the United States, the Federal government has enormous power to influence the development and diffusion of new information technologies. Through the use of electronic information systems, it also has the opportunity to make more government information readily available to more public users. Defining the appropriate uses of, and controls on, this power are of critical importance in determining whether the government will be a positive or a negative force, particularly with respect to the private sector. Although there has always been, and probably always will be, some competition between government and private sector information products and services, there is agreement that the laws and policies regulating government information practices do not, and should not, require or permit a Federal agency to provide information products and services in the same manner as a private company. Federal agencies must be careful not to exploit the power inherent in electronic data systems by providing nonessential services to the public simply because the capability to provide such services exists. Instead the government should assume an affirmative obligation to review each electronic information activity carefully in order to avoid unnecessary government interference in the marketplace for information products and services. Further, as the government becomes increasingly involved in the use of electronic collection and dissemination, it must also learn to differentiate among levels of service and requirements of various user communities. Positions of the Association of Research Libraries, the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the Information Industry Association are presented and are shown to be in surprising harmony with the policies of OMB Circular A-130 and the views of the House Committee on Government Operations. The Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR system and recent development in distribution og government information on CD-ROM are reviewed as examples of the implementation of these policies.     

Policy implications of a model public information service: the DOSFAN experience

The unique three-way partnership formed by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s federal depository library, the U.S. State Department, and the Government Printing Office (GPO) to deliver and preserve foreign policy information through servers housed at the University’s library offers some critical insights into the assumptions and policies of the GPO’s Federal Depository Library Program. Ultimately, the Internet’s explosive growth, combined with powerful graphical interfaces of the major Web browsers, undermines several recently enacted laws that attempt to standardize (or centralize) effective information resource management within the federal government. Not only has GPO steadily lost political and economic support over the last decade from both legislative and executive leaders for its production and distribution programs, many agencies now consider their “.gov Webspaces” the natural successors to the GPO and its depository library program. As a result, a new model of government information distribution is being forged within the highly decentralized and interactive environment of the World Wide Web.     

Toward best practices for strategic information technology management

Federal agencies are under pressure to do more with less—to improve the services they provide to the public, with greater accountability for achieving results, more quickly and at lower cost. In a 1994 study of leading organizations, the General Accounting Office (GAO) identified 11 strategic information management (SIM) practices, which became the foundation of the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996. In 1997, the Federal Chief Information Officers (CIO) Council and the Industry Advisory Council prepared 20 case studies demonstrating the use of information technology to achieve a positive return on investment within the federal government. Focusing on these 20 case studies, this research first looked for evidence that supported or refuted each of GAO’s SIM practices. Second, the research looked for best practices that may be unique to a federal environment. Third, the study identified other best practices.     

Federal publications cutbacks: Implications for libraries

Since President Reagan's April 1981 moratorium on new government publications and audiovisual products, the restrictions this administration has imposed on executive agency data collection and publishing activities have provoked considerable controversy both in Congress and in the media. This article attempts to characterize the impact on libraries of the restrictions. An examination of the Office of Management and Budget's List of Government Publications Terminated and Consolidated by Agency as compared with depository distribution patterns, agency publication policies established by the President's Task Force on Management Reform, and reductions in data collection activities directed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs are reported. A pattern of neglect in federal information collection and dissemination is shown to increase libraries' dependence on private sector publishing of government information, and to reduce the availability and comparability of certain federal statistical documentation collected by libraries.     

Partners on the net: FDLP partnering to coordinate remote access to internet-based government information

In June 1996, the Government Printing Office (GPO) published a plan for its transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). This plan assumes that federal information policy requires that the FDLP provide permanent public access to remotely-accessible electronic government information products and indicates that such access will be provided through a network of partnerships comprised of the GPO, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), federal agencies, and FDLP libraries. GPO has established its first library partnership in this FDLP network with the University of Chicago at Illinois' Richard J. Daley Library and the Department of State (DOS) to ensure that DOS materials will be available for permanent public access through the FDLP. To extend the partnership network to publishing agencies, a partnership has been arranged with the Department of Energy (DOE) to ensure direct FDLP access to technical reports maintained on a DOE World Wide Web site.