The Center for Democracy and Technology's 10 Most Wanted Government Documents. It is no wonder the number of judicial documents on list considering the stranglehold Lexis and Westlaw have on the legal information database market. One of the biggest issues in the next several years (though I hope it is raised sooner, rather than later), is the use of free government information by private services, that then turn around and provide those services to consumers at exhorbitant rates.
Currently, the policy is that if the vendor attaches enough added value to the information, such use is allowed. Lexis certainly provides value to the government information contained in its database. But, there should be a time, and soon, when more judicial information is available online, through better interfaces, and directly from the government, and it'd be a shame if Lexis' juice prevented that information from being made available for free (which it seems is currently the case).
Just because the Freedom of Information Act requires the transfer of government documents doesn't mean it is neccessarily easy to actually attain the information. There is a definitive process that must be followed, and it can certainly be confusing for the average citizen. I happened to run across the Department of Justice's FOIA site. It includes documents available without having to make a FOIA request, the FOIA request process (including appeals), a list of FOIA contacts in each federal agency, links to those agencies' FOIA web sites, and a reading room that includes relevant federal regulations, information about FOIA cases, and FOIA Post, a newsletter for federal agencies offering guidance on how to apply the law to their organization.
Making a FOIA request is always going to be confusing, but this is an excellent starting point (especially the links to agency websites, contacts, and reference sources). As much as we may worry about the infringement of our civil liberties, this (Federally mandated) site is tool in ensuring the transparency of government.
The National Archives and Records Administration has released an online version of the Warren Commission Report, presumably in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of the JFK assasination last week (link via beSpacific).
The reminds me of a couple years ago when the Starr Report was published online and so many millions visitors hit the site. It was, for many people, their first interaction with eGovernment. People love a scandel, but if it encourages the citizenry to interact, ask question, and become aware of resources otherwise unfamiliar, I'd have to say that's a good thing.
An excellent resource on information about restrictions on access to Government Information. This resource is maintained by the Government Documents interest group of the American Library Association, who also maintain this list documents regarding Freedom of Information issues. I wish I'd run across these about two months earlier while I was working on a paper about the Federal Depository Library Program, GPO Access and the neccessity to continue funding for both programs.
Here is another good resource on access to government information post 9/11. Though, OMB Watch are probably a tad too radical for my tastes.
There is a soon to be released survey on legal issues of information on the web and here is an interesting little pre-article about it. The question of how do you make information easily available (in accordane with the Freedom of Information Act), but still protect privacy issues (in accordance with the Data Protection Act). It seems impossible to abide by one set of legislation without runnign afoul of the other. To make matters even more difficult, the real problem, one information expert suggests, "is a lack of trust and confidence in the Government keeping and handling the information properly.”
You can preorder the report here. If it is available free somewhere at a later date, I'll take a look and provide a link then.