The federal government and information technology standards: Building the national information infrastructure

For many years, standards have been important considerations in the Federal government's policies for the use of information technology. The Computer Systems Laboratory (CSL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology develops and issues technical standards that are used by the Federal government in its information technology systems. The new Federal initiative for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) and the National Performance Review (NPR) make information technology an agent for change and emphasize standards as a means for achieving connectivity of computer and telecommunications technologies and for easy access to information. The Federal government will be challenged to address the technical, organizational, and policy issues that affect the development of the standards needed for future information systems.     

The role of government information officers

In most countries, a key figure in the provision of public information at the central government level is the government information officer (GIO). These individuals may be known as spokespersons, press officers, press attachés, public affairs officers, or public information officers. A GIO contributes to public understanding of government policies and raises awareness of the roles of decision makers and purview of state institutions, the availability of social services, noteworthy trends, and risks to public health and safety. In Central and Eastern Europe, a GIO's responsibilities typically include: monitoring media coverage of public affairs; briefing and advising political officials; managing media relations; providing information directly to the public; sharing information across the administration; formulating communication strategies and campaigns; and researching and assessing public opinion. Because of the region's communist heritage, GIOs in Central and Eastern Europe confront a number of special challenges, starting with poorly performing public administrations. Other problems include immature media, secrecy and political influence, and a lack of training and skills. However, as democratic, market, and media practices in Central and Eastern Europe come to resemble those in Western Europe, the activities and attitudes of GIOs in the former region are becoming more like their counterparts in the latter.     

中日图书馆文献信息资源共建之比较研究

总结了中日两国图书馆在献信息资源共建上的相同和不同之处，并简要分析了造成其异同的原因，指出了日本图书馆在献信息资源共建方面值得我国借鉴之处。     

高校合并后资料室的建设与发展

基于高校合并后资料室的特点,本文分析了新形势下资料室建设中存在的若干问题,阐述了资的地位和作用,提出了资料室建设与发展的几点建议。     

我国电子政务建设与政府信息公开的关系刍议

论文从几个不同的方面阐述了电子政务建设和政府信息公开这二者之间的关系，提出：我国的电子政务为政府信息公开提供网络平台；电子政务的制度建设与政府信息公开的制度保障密不可分；政府信息公开是我国电子政务建设的前提和基础；政府信息公开是我国电子政务建设的重要目标之一。     

The dissemination of federal government information: Prospects for the immediate future

The Government Printing Office is currently undertaking a study to “Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program.” With an anticipated date of 1998 for the implementation of an “electronic depository library program” this GPO study will become the blueprint for restructuring the FDLP. The ability of GPO to secure agency dissemination of electronic information through the FDLP as well as the willingness of depository libraries to remain in the Program will ultimately determine the long-term viability of the FDLP.     

政府信息公开过程中的个人信息保护策略

政府信息中包含有大量个人信息。本文具体分析了政府机关在履行职责过程中可能收集、处理和利用的个人信息类型,提出了政府信息公开过程中个人信息开放与保护的基本策略。     

Freedom of information and open government: The European community/union dimension

While the UK government has faced increasing pressure to introduce freedom of information legislation, freedom of information and open government are becoming crucial questions in relation to the operation of the European Community and European Union. The European Community and Union are under growing pressure to make themselves more open and “transparent” in their operations, and recent reforms have allowed greater access to Community documents by individuals. However, these reforms have left many questions unanswered, or even unaddressed, and the whole subject of national parliaments and their right to Community and Union documents is unresolved. What is emerging is a very difficult and complex set of relationships which must be addressed if the European Community and Union are to maintain credibility as democratic institutions among member states and their citizens. The author believes that achieving greater openness at the European level is vital if the Community and Union are to succeed.     

NTIS: Potential roles and government information policy frameworks

Despite major technological and document capture advances in the 1990s, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) became a privatization target again in 1995 as part of Republican efforts to dismantle its parent agency, the Department of Commerce. After examining NTIS's current operational status and its user profile, this article explores six future role options for the agency. Finally, NTIS's “fit” with four competing information policy models is examined. NTIS has become an innovative, entrepreneurial agency with the potential to assume an expanded role in government and scientific/technical information dissemination, but it is still politically and financially vulnerable in the current Washington climate.     

Science, government, and information: 1988 perspective

Twenty-five years have passed since the appearance of Science, Government, and Information (SGI), the 1963 report by the President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC). The Information Analysis Center, which was prominently recommended in SGI, has not become a central element of the information system. Instead automation, which was only beginning in 1963, has become dominant. Though extreme automation may be appropriate for those activities that are time constrained, it may lead to clogged information channels for those scientific activities for which time is less important than depth of understanding.     

The message of the medium: The risks and opportunities of migrating pre-electronic government information products to the Internet

During the mid-1997 to early 1999 period, a major study was undertaken by the United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) for the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), at the request of the Government Printing Office (GPO), entitled “Assessment of Electronic Government Information Products.” A contractor specializing in survey research, Westat, of Rockville, MD, was engaged to assist the government in the detailed data collection, interviewing, background research, and related tasks. The contractor delivered a final report to the government on March 30, 1999. On behalf of the government, NCLIS accepted the findings and recommendations, and delivered the report to all three branches of government. A limited number of hard copies are available from NCLIS. This article highlights the study's major findings, conclusions, and recommendations, their significance, and speculates on possible future actions the government could take. The major conclusion of the study was that there is a need to pinpoint overall responsibility for public information dissemination and electronic publishing at the top agency level. Presently authorities and responsibilities are unclear, uncoordinated, fragmented, and overlapping among many different agency line and staff units.     

政府信息公开基本原则的落实障碍

2007年4月24日新华社授权发布了《中华人民共和国政府信息公开条例》(以下简称《条例》),首次对我国政府信息公开的原则和范围、方式和程序、监督和保障等内容作出了全面、系统的规定,《条例》的颁布为政务公开提供了法律依据,也为公众知情权提供了法律保障.     

Providing access to local government information: The nature of public library activity

This article focuses on the problems associated with providing access to local government information. The research on which it is based is from a 1986 survey conducted by the author of 265 public libraries in six library systems in northern Illinois, the largest comparative study of public library providers of local government information conducted to date. Fifty-five active providers of local government information (those that received requests for this information at least every two weeks) were identified: the findings are based on telephone and group interviews with key staff of those libraries. The article examines a variety of methods that might be used to increase access to local government information. It analyzes the nature of requests received and the types of responses given by these libraries. It examines the major problems associated with providing access to local government information and discusses the reasons given by librarians for providing access to local government information sources. The article concludes that a serious local government information gap exists and that librarians who seek to over-come it must articulate a role that addresses the serious barriers that must be overcome before a library can provide meaningful access to local government information.     

政府信息公开的障碍机制

本文所讲的政府信息公开区别于日常生活中被泛化了的“公开”之义,是要令公开的信息对公众达到可得性、可理解性和可接受性。文章拟通过对政府信息公开过程中的主体环境、知识平台、资源分布三方面的探讨,初步构建政府信息公开的流动性障碍模型。     

Social science research in Canada and government information policy: The statistics Canada example

This research on government information policy's effects on use and users of government information considered social scientists' use of information from Canada's central statistical agency, Statistics Canada. Using a triangulated methodology, the investigation focused on Canadian mid-1980s federal cost-recovery and restraint initiatives which applied to government information. The case study revealed Statistics Canada's response to the initiatives. Bibliometric research objectively documented policy effects on use of statistics sources, examining Canadian social science journal articles in five disciplines. Textual examination revealed use of Canadian and foreign governmental and nongovernmental statistics sources over the years surrounding policy implementation. An author survey supplemented bibliometric findings. Higher prices and increased electronic data dissemination by Statistics Canada were confirmed, however bibliometric analysis indicated no significant change over time in use of statistics sources. Survey respondents expressed unhappiness with the price increases, but did not change sources used. Many (in 1995) still used paper products rather than electronic ones, a finding which provides baseline data but which does not reflect the more recent explosion in Internet use.