A wide range of online calendars from agencies and Congress offer valuable information to researchers that includes: release dates for topical reports, news, surveys, meeting and official travel schedules, historical commemorations, House and Senate bill histories, and links to speeches and testimony. Peggy Garvin includes numerous examples of e-gov sites with such services that should be on your radar.
The Government Domain
Summer Infosnacks
By Peggy Garvin
Peggy Garvin of Garvin Information Consulting is author of The United States Government Internet Manual (Bernan Press) and Real World Research Skills (TheCapitol.Net).
Scott A. Hodes updates the status of the Open Government Act of 2005, offering a glimmer of hope that FOIA amendments may pass this year.
Scott A. Hodes is a sole practitioner in Washington, D.C., practicing Information and Privacy Law. Mr. Hodes assists clients in gaining access to government records under the FOIA, Privacy Act and other federal agency access provisions. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Hodes was an attorney at the Department of Justice for over a decade. He served in the FBI’s Freedom of Information/Privacy Act Section from 1998 until 2002 as the Acting Chief of that Section’s Litigation Unit. Mr. Hodes served at the Department of Justice’s Office of Information and Privacy from 1991 until 1998. His website is InfoPrivacylaw.com , and he is a member of the DC and Maryland bars.
FOIA Facts
CongressLine, by GalleryWatch.com Floor Fight
By Will Hall and Dan Peake
Published January 15, 2006
Susan Nevelow Mart examines the legal basis of the public’s right to access government information, reviews the types of information that have recently been removed from the Internet, and analyzes the rationales given for the removals. The article suggests that the concerted use of the Freedom of Information Act by public interest groups and their constituents is a possible method of returning the information to the Internet.
Scott A. Hodes’s commentary addresses the recent Executive Order requiring that each federal agency improve its FOIA performance.
Peggy Garvin reviews the new searchable catalog of current and historical federal congressional, executive, and judicial publications that are in print, electronic, and other formats.
Scott A. Hodes reminds us why the goal of Sunshine Week, which is to elevate the public’s awareness on the importance of governmental disclosure laws, is one that has become increasingly important to pursue every week, year round.