Fee or free: Public interest and the freedom of information act

This article examines Executive agency fee waiver guidelines for public interest requesters, including scholars, the media, and public interest groups, within the larger context of F.O.I.A.'s costs and benefits to the public. Information transmitted to the public by these requesters enhances citizen oversight of government activities and assists Congress in formulating public policy. However, arbitrary interpretation of the statute's fee waiver provision and the lack of standard and consistent fee waiver guidelines clearly inhibit use of the Act by public interest requesters. Continuing efforts by some Members of Congress and Executive agency personnel to further limit certain types of information available under the F.O.I. A. prompted renewed consideration of the economic aspects of Federal information policy in general and, in particular, the Freedom of Information Act.     

Assessing the performance of freedom of information

How well has the UK FOI Act worked in practice now that it has been in force for 4 years? This article discusses how to measure the performance of FOI regimes. It presents the evidence on the performance of FOI in the UK measured against comparative data from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Ireland, countries with access to information legislation and similar political systems. On a range of measures, the UK Act is found to have performed reasonably well, but it also suffers from problems common to all FOI regimes. The article concludes with some observations on what makes for a successful FOI regime, and how to measure it.     

建构主义视角下的西方信息行为研究述评

用户信息行为的研究,直接影响对档案信息资源开发利用的信息内容、信息资源管理、结构体系的研究。建构主义是继认知主义对信息行为研究产生重要影响的思想之一,本文从建构主义的三种流派,即认知建构主义、社会建构主义以及社会建构论探讨了它们在用户信息行为研究中的应用与发展。     

Compliance with freedom of information legislation by public bodies in South Africa

In South Africa, freedom of information (FOI) is entrenched in section 32 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right of access to any information held by the state or by any other person that is to be used for the protection or exercise of any right. The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) is the law that gives effect to section 32 of the Constitution. Regardless of a remarkable trend towards the adoption of FOI laws, international trends have shown this does not automatically translate into fulfilment of people's right to information. This study utilised mixed method research through the explanatory sequential design to assess compliance with FOI legislation by public bodies in South Africa, with a view to develop a model for implementation of FOI. The study first conducted a quantitative study by analysing the reports of the South African Human Rights Commission from the reporting years 2006/07 to 2016/07 to assess compliance with sections 14, 15, 16, 17 and 32 of the PAIA. Thereafter, a qualitative study through interviews with purposively chosen participants was conducted to substantiate the findings of a quantitative study. Key results suggest that over the years, there were problems in the implementation of the FOI legislation in South Africa and its use was limited. Where implementation has taken place, it has been partial and inconsistent. The responsibility for the implementation of FOI legislation in most public bodies is assigned to legal departments that do not have knowledge of what records are created, and where and how they are kept. With regard to compliance, in terms of the degree of comparison, the situation was better in national departments, worse in provincial departments and worst in municipalities. The study recommends the establishment of an information governance unit to implement FOI in public bodies. Failure to assign responsibility to a relevant unit would perpetuate the non-compliance with FOI legislation by public bodies in South Africa. A model for the implementation of PAIA within a public body is suggested.     

Freedom of information legislation and its impact on press freedom: A cross-national study

This empirical study examines the effect of the Freedom of Information legislation on press freedom by analyzing cross-sectional data at the national level of aggregate indicators across 191 countries in 2010. The prediction by two-stage least square regression found that the impact of the legislation on press freedom is determined by control of corruption, the type of political regime (democratic or authoritarian regime), and the level of national economy. For recent adopters of the legislation, it could be no more than a legislative luxury. As the legislative effect on press freedom is mostly limited to less corrupt, advanced industrial democracies, the workings of the legislation require political and economic prerequisites.     

Effective use of health care information

A new book commissioned by the BritishLibrary looks at research in the field and highlights opportunities for health care librarians. Theauthor, Peter Merry, is a freelance consultant editor and writer, and editor of the NHSConfederation’s NHS Handbook.     

Media effects on information sharing: A field experiment

The purpose of this field experiment was to test hypotheses concerned with media effects on the ability to share and discuss information in administrative appeals hearings in the area of unemployment insurance. Three communication modes were compared: (a) face‐to‐face, the traditional mode; (b) split telephone, in which participants speak from locations convenient to each; and (c) office telephone, in which the agency representative is at one location and all other participants are located together at another agency office. Of the numerous tests conducted, few revealed significant differences among the three modes. These results corroborated findings from previous laboratory and field research: in‐person hearings compared favorably with the two telephone modes, and the split conference hearing tended to receive higher ratings than the office telephone configuration.     

Congress and freedom of information: A retrospective and a look at a current issue

When Congress refined and finally enacted the Freedom of Information Act during the mid-1960s, there were various reasons why this new law was not made applicable to the Senate and the House of Representatives. One of these was the long and impressive congressional record of publishing information regarding the activities and operations of the House, the Senate, and their officers and committees. There has been of late, however, evidence of some lapses in this tradition. Moreover, the availability to the public of the reports of the Congressional Research Service has also recently become a heightened issue. These matters are examined in this overview.     

The use of paradigms in information research

Studies of human behaviour usually require the adoption of a research paradigm with the objective of improving the credibility and generalisability of the study. Applying research paradigms in information research is noted to vary from one researcher to another based on the investigator's choice as well as the character of the issue under investigation. The differences in the application of research paradigms in information research do not rely on philosophical assumptions alone, but also on the practical consequences of the inquiry and the interpretation of the findings. The four most broadly applied paradigms in research - pragmatism, interpretivism, positivism, and post-positivism and how the adoption of these paradigms fit into information research was examined. Findings indicate that application of research paradigms in information research is beneficial. However, information researchers are advised to be cautious of the weaknesses of the paradigm they would adopt for a study.     

Non use of health information kiosks examined in an information needs context

Whilst great emphasis has rightly been placed on the increased availability and use of health information, little research has been undertaken into the non use of such material, particularly with regard to electronic sources. Computer transactional log data from health information touch screen kiosks, collected as part of an ongoing Department of Health-funded study being carried out by City University, showed that females in the 55-74 age group were particularly under-represented as users. To explore reasons for this, in-depth interviews were carried out with 13 non-kiosk-using, primary-care out-patients fitting this profile, at a surgery which had a kiosk that was being monitored. Subjects were interviewed at length about their information needs and information-seeking behaviour, to determine reasons (if any) they might have had for non-kiosk use. The study utilized an interview schedule and technique loosely based on the 'Sense-Making' methodology of Brenda Dervin (Talk Presented at the International Communication Association Annual Meeting, May 1983, Dallas, Texas, USA. Available from: http://communicationsbsohio-stateedu/sense-making/art/artdervin83html.). Findings elicited many factors accounting for non use of the system. The first and major source of information remained the doctor, with written or other sources only being consulted where recommended or provided. There was evidence that patients wanted little more than the minimum information or instructions required to deal with their condition. Many appeared unaware of the presence of the kiosk and others assumed either that it was not for patient use or that it would not serve their needs. The methodology proved itself, with certain caveats, to be an appropriate vehicle for this kind of exploratory work.     

Weblog信息的开发与利用

文章论述了正以迅猛的态势在中国发展的互联网上被中国人称为“博客”的weblog信息的特点和图书馆如何对这些“博客”信息进行开发与利用,以及开发这些信息时的注意事项。     

The demand for and use of outcomes information

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Evolution of methods to measure student information use

Over the past decade, there has been an increase in the application of the case study method to investigate the process used by students in secondary school and undergraduate academic settings to locate and use information through the library. The case study method has, in most recent years compared to investigations of 20 to 30 years ago, become established as the primary research technique used to document student thought processes in topic focus and in source selection. Direct observation and interviewing successful library users, two tools common to the case study method, may also lead to examination of student selection and critical use of evidence for research projects as students move beyond the traditional library collection. These tools have also proven to be useful as researchers in recent studies are more interested in an analysis of student use of information as evidence rather than conducting studies which only document student location and citation of resources. Selected studies which illustrate this evolution are drawn from the dissertations and field studies related to secondary school and undergraduate bibliographic instruction.     

Enactment and use of information and the media among older adults

Active use of information and the media may promote healthy aging. The everyday information behavior of older adults' is examined, and the activating role of the media thereon—that is, the use of television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet. Enactment, an evidence-based concept, is introduced as a theoretical tool that refers to the phenomenon of information and media use leading to action in concrete daily activities. The research strategy was qualitative, consisting of content analysis of semi-structured interviews of 13 retired teachers and the media diaries of 306 older adult Finns. Fifteen categories of information and media use were proposed and grouped into four forms of enactment on the basis of their temporal nature, namely, direct or indirect engagement: 1) general routines and housework, 2) healthy lifestyle, 3) cognitive tasks, and 4) interaction with others. Enactment takes place when older adults' everyday information behavior leads to observable actions, such as organizing their daily activities, preparing food, exercising and engaging in healthy activities, practicing language skills, or filling in crossword puzzles. These findings support the notion that use of information and the media can motivate older adults to stay active in life. Therefore, the concept of enactment may prove useful in gaining a better understanding of certain physical, cognitive, and social aspects of everyday information behavior and their impact on people's well-being. However, the findings should be validated in a broader population.     

论学术会议信息资源的开发利用

长期以来,从事社会科学研究、管理工作的人们进行了不断的探索和总结,找到了一些促进社会科学成果转化的路径和形式,包括向决策领导部门推荐、介绍或直接呈送要报、阅件;与决策部门、实际工作部门共同设立课题组,开展调查研究;组织学术会议,邀请有关领导专家、学者参加等等,都收到了很好的效果.     

Getting the actor to act

The hypothesis that a self‐contradictory communication is less persuasive than a non‐contradictory one was tested. The data supported the hypothesis only for those subjects who perceived the contradiction; neither open and closed‐mindedness nor initial attitude toward the policy advocated in the communication accurately distinguished the perceivers of the contradiction from the non‐perceivers.     

元数据信息在地球科学数据导航系统中的应用

目前，元数据的研究和应用越来越受到重视，我们在自己所建信息平台基础之上，利用网络地球科学数据资源已经公布的元数据信息，根据地球科学数据元数据信息的内容和特点，确定了地球科学数据导航系统的元数据元素项目内容，经过多重的扩展和定义以及选择利用，有效地实现了对这部分信息的系统揭示，体现了较完整的导航功能。本文就作者2年多来利用元数据在地球科学数据导航系统中的实践应用谈一点体会和认识。     

Survey of library and information use by health-care students

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