Freedom of information and ‘vexatious’ requests — The case of Scottish local government

This paper investigates the cost and incidence of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests within councils in Scotland and in particular, the cost and incidence of requests which have been defined as ‘vexatious’ in order to investigate if the negative perceptions surrounding the cost and misuse of the legislation are justified. Additionally, the criteria and guidelines that councils are using to define ‘vexatious’ are also examined. The approach taken to the research in this study is a survey of the 32 councils in Scotland using freedom of information requests as the data collection method.     

Managing presidential records and archives in Tanzania

Presidential archives play a key role in preserving and making all historical materials from presidential administration available in one place, for research purposes and raising public awareness of the burdens of presidential decisions. This article seeks to develop a policy framework for managing presidential records in Tanzania. It employs interviews, focus group discussions and documentary reviews as data collection instruments. The article establishes that management of presidential records, apart from the Founders of the Nation initiative, is not clearly regulated by existing laws and policies. The article, therefore, recommends that the Tanzanian Government pay more attention to preserving presidential records, as they contain useful and sensitive information.     

Information governance,records management,and freedom of information: A study of local government authorities in England

In many democratic states political rhetoric gives weight to increasing public participation in and understanding of the political process; (re)-establishing public trust in government decision making; increasing transparency, openness, and accountability of public authorities; and, ultimately, improving government decision-making on behalf of citizens. Access to the public record and freedom of information (FOI) are mechanisms which help to facilitate the accountability of public authorities. Many jurisdictions have introduced legislation related to these mechanisms, and the UK government is no exception with its enactment of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 2000. University College London (UCL) ran a research project over 12 months in 2008–2009, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. The research project examined what the impact of the UK FOIA had been on records management services in public authorities, especially local government. This article reports on some of the findings of the study. It considers how FOI compliance and records management functions are organized in local government and the role of information governance which is emerging as an umbrella for such functions. It draws some conclusions about the contributions that records management services make to the ability of local authorities to comply with the FOIA and identifies some ways in which user experience may be affected by the management of records.     

Government records and records management: Law on the right to information in Turkey

Operating of the laws on right to information is related to effective management of government records and information having social value. This article contains the relation of government records and records management considering the role of records management at institutions in execution of law on right to information in Turkey, and the evaluation of Turkish Law on the right to information that came into force in 2004 in view of records management and archival approaches.     

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.     

美国信息自由法:从《信息自由法令》到《电子信息自由法令》

本文主要介绍了美国<信息自由法令>的产生及发展过程及美国联邦各机构对<信息自由法令>的执行情况,从中简要概括出美国<信息自由法令>及其执行情况对于我国<政府信息公开条例>的贯彻实施的可借鉴之处.     

Accountability in an information age: Opportunities and risks for records management

Electronic records of government organizations are becoming increasingly important for accountability. Managing electronic records, however, proves to be difficult since information and communication technologies confront organizations with various opportunities and risks. In this paper the findings of an international expert survey on electronic records management are presented. These findings identify opportunities and risks for e-mail systems, database management systems, office systems, web technology systems and smart systems. They also point to five crucial questions that must be addressed in order to guarantee the availability of electronic records for accountability.     

Emerging themes in Finnish archival science and records management education

The paper focuses on the convergence of Finnish research and education in archival science with information science in general and in records management with information management in particular. Two issues influencing this development are: the convergence of professionals previously worked in the archival and library sectors and in information management and services; and the wide-spread, extensive growth in the use of digital technology to manage internal and external organizational information. At the level of society the opportunities provided by digital technology to manage heritage information in memory organizations like archives, libraries and museums, are tremendous and the role of documentary heritage at the global, European and national levels is well recognized. These developments are changing the information and operating environments of memory organizations and public and private enterprises. These changes, in turn, are generating new requirements in archival science and records management education and research. This paper focuses on the implications of these changes for the planning, implementation and further development of an information studies curriculum. This curriculum development is considered crucial in order to respond to the new demands, and is also implicitly linked to the emerging Finnish information society. This article is based on Huotari, M.-L. and Valtonen, M.R., “Integrating Records and Archives Management with Information Studies in Finland”, in L. Ashcroft (ed.),Continuity, Culture, Competition—the Future of Library and Information Studies Education, Proceedings of the 4th British-Nordic Conference on Library and Information Studies 21–23 March 2001, Dublin, Ireland, pp. 249–254 (Dublin: MCB UP Limited, 2002).     

Internet information-seeking and its relation to support for access to government records

Public access to government records is essential for democratic self-governance, and attitudes toward that right can facilitate or hinder public policy regarding transparency. As more people use the internet for gathering information about their governments and communities, it is unknown whether such online information-seeking is related to increased support for government transparency and the right to request public records. This paper applies a uses and gratification theory approach to examine internet information use and its relation to support for citizen and press access to government records. Three U.S. studies examined media-use correlates with support for government transparency: a paper questionnaire survey of college students (N = 614), an online survey (N = 1819), and a random-digit-dial telephone survey of randomly selected U.S. adults (N = 403). Analyses indicated varying results for television and newspaper use, but in all three datasets reliance on the internet for information was positively associated with support for access to public records. Implications for government transparency in a society increasingly reliant on the internet for information are discussed.     

公共危机管理中政府信息公开存在的问题与对策

文章分析了政府信息公开在公共危机管理中的作用,指出公共危机管理中政府信息公开存在的问题,并从制度、法律、政府、媒体、公民等多方面,提出加强公共危机管理中政府信息快速、高效公开的对策。     

Progress and problems in declassifying U.S. government records

For the first time ever, Executive Order 12958 signed in 1995 established a process to greatly reduce the huge number of classified federal records accumulated since world war II. Although some progress was made under it, subsequent orders and legislation significantly decreased its effectiveness. The U.S. government must take certain actions now to reverse this trend.     

Information seeking in pre-trial investigation with particular reference to records management

Information seeking is part of information science, and its aim is to study how people seek and use information in their work, for what purpose the information is sought, how this information influences the effectiveness of the work and what barriers people perceive in their search for, and use of, necessary information. This study examines information seeking in pre-trial police investigation. There has been no previous attempt to examine information seeking in pre-trial police investigation, of the earlier studies in information seeking only those concerning lawyers represent a somewhat similar field. In both fields the work is subject to confidentiality, which is strictly regulated by law. This study was carried out partly in cooperation with another study, which examines documentation in pre-trial investigation. During the research project it became obvious that information seeking with its different components is something also to be taken into account in documentation and records management.     

Lakota winter counts,pictographic records,and record making and remaking histories

Winter counts are pictographic calendars created and used by certain Native American communities as mnemonic devices for remembering the sequence of events that mark each year, and for retelling community stories. Drawing on resources from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Anthropological Archives’ winter count collections and related literature, this study reviews and discusses the characteristics of pictographic records, traces their making and remaking histories, and revisits the pictorial tradition in the American history of records and record keeping.     

People,records and power: what archives can learn from WikiLeaks 1

The 2012 International Council on Archives congress theme of ‘Trust. Archives Supporting Good Governance and Accountability’ invited exploration of the nexus between recordkeeping and holding powerful people and organisations to account. By comparing the formation, management and use of a set of records under currently accepted frameworks for recordkeeping in Australia with the formation, management and use of the WikiLeaks Cablegate archive, we can examine how effectively archives and recordkeeping professionals today are meeting their stated goal of upholding accountability, while ensuring the creation of an inclusive societal memory. By analysing these two cases from the point of view of recordkeeping activities supporting appraisal, access, use, trust and authenticity, it is then possible to draw conclusions about lessons that recordkeepers should be learning from WikiLeaks and the changing nature of information generally, if we are to remain relevant and useful as a profession.     

美国政府信息公开中的隐私权保护制度

美国政府信息公开立法中建立有较为完备的隐私权保护制度，对我国政府信息公开制度建设具有重要的学习借鉴意义。     

数字化病案管理系统的研究现状与发展趋势

介绍了数字化病案管理系统的功能要求、支撑技术的选择与应用和尚待解决的问题,分析了数字化病案管理系统的发展动向。     

大学图书馆的信息资源管理

大学图书馆既要做好网络信息分类专业化．又要做好信息的专题门户服务。这样才能更好地为读者服务。而这个目的的基础和平台是信息资源管理，文章重点是理解并做好基础工作．以理论指导实践．并在实践中检验自己，总结大学图书馆读者服务的具体实践。     

Public sector readiness for digital preservation in New Zealand: The rate of adoption of an innovation in records management practices

Recent legislation in New Zealand has placed statutory obligations on its government organizations to introduce sound records management practices and to ensure long-term access to their digital records. To obtain a base level of knowledge on current digital preservation practices and on awareness of digital preservation issues, an online survey was conducted of the nation's government organizations in March 2006. The survey, which achieved a response rate of 42.4%, found that most organizations were knowledgeable about basic aspects of their digital resources but their awareness of digital preservation was generally low, and digital preservation activity was modest overall. To identify possible reasons for this situation, Rogers' (Diffusion of innovations. 5th ed. New York: Free Press. 2003) Diffusion of Innovations model is used to discuss digital preservation as an innovation and the level of readiness for digital preservation as the innovation's rate of adoption. The paper concludes by using Rogers' model as the basis for making recommendations aimed at helping the government's lead agencies to increase New Zealand's public sector readiness for digital preservation.     

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。