freegovinfo.infoFree Government Information (FGI) - Because Government information needs to be free

Because Government information needs to be free About FGI Library Guide to unreported” docs Less Access… LostDocs StateDocs Best Titles Ever! About FGI Library Guide to unreported” docs Less Access… LostDocs StateDocs Best Titles Ever! Search Search Our mission Free Government Information (FGI) is a place for initiating dialogue and building consensus among the various players (libraries, government agencies, non-profit organizations, researchers, journalists, etc.) who have a stake in the preservation of and perpetual free access to government information. FGI promotes free government information through collaboration, education, advocacy and research. Reference question and the saga of chasing down a Congressionally mandated report April 13, 2024 / Leave a comment I had a student come to me looking for a federal document called Population representation in the military services.” She was doing research into the history of enlistment in the armed forces and was interested in finding statistics on the number of enlistments and applications to enlist per state from 1985 – 2000. The report has supposedly been published since 1970 , but unfortunately was only available online from 1997 forward on the DoD site and most library catalogs only had the link. It appeared after much digging that this report was never distributed to libraries in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) even though it was a Congressionally mandated report, reports that are required by statute to be submitted by Federal agencies to the Senate, the House of Representatives, or to Congressional committees or subcommittees (check out the long saga of Congressionally mandated reports which have historically been hard to find but after many years of advocacy by government transparency groups, librarians and others are not required to be sent to GPO!). After consultation with my many govinfo librarian colleagues on the govdoc-l Listserv — the amazing hive mind of govinfo librarians around the country! — I was able to piece together reports back to 1983 from our own collection (which were not cataloged but buried in the microfiche of the American Statistical Index (ASI) which is at least indexed in the subscription database Proquest Statistical Insight ), the agency itself, a couple of editions available on the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) database , and a solid run in paper back to 1983 at the Pentagon Library. There are still a couple of gaps in the series, but I have at least been able to piece together 1983 – present. I requested the Pentagon Library volumes (1983 – 1997) and Stanford Library’s awesome digitization services team are in the process of scanning them. After the volumes have been scanned, I’ll send the files to the Government Publishing Office (GPO) through their unreported documents” process (the process whereby federal publications that should be but are not for some reason in the FDLP’s National Collection can be collected, cataloged, and made available to the public). I do hope that GPO’s new Congressionally Mandated Reports collection will help to solve the issue of access to these important reports that are often lost in the ether. But it will take the dogged work of countless govinfo librarians to continue to hunt these unreported documents down for students, researchers, journalists, and the public. Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit Email Print More Tumblr Pocket PEGI charts a FAIR direction for the US government information ecosystem March 8, 2024 / Leave a comment The PEGI Project has just published a new blog post Charting a FAIR Direction for the US Government Information Ecosystem.” This is meant to be added context for our presentation at next week’s Research Data Access & Preservation (RDAP) Summit . We seek to expand the conversation about FAIR principles — the F indability, A ccessibility, I nteroperability, and R euse of digital assets. FAIR — and it’s natural outgrowth CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance or C ollective benefit, A uthority to control, R esponsibility, and E thics — are seeing an increase in operationalization in the data community and as it applies to the curation of research data funded by the US government. But PEGI advocates that those principles should be applied across the expansive federal government information landscape. These principles, which resonate for the research data community, can and should be applied to all government information. Please read on and feel free to leave a comment, question, or idea here. Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit Email Print More Tumblr Pocket Supreme Court ethics with John Oliver March 7, 2024 / Leave a comment John Oliver discusses the Supreme Court, the ethically questionable gifts some of the justices receive, and an offer for Clarence Thomas that he definitely shouldn’t refuse. Once again, Oliver gets to the heart of the issue of SCOTUS ethics or lack thereof. Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit Email Print More Tumblr Pocket Happy 16th Birthday to the LOCKSS-USDOCS network! March 5, 2024 / Leave a comment Wow it’s hard to believe that the LOCKSS-USDOCS network of over 30 libraries has been up and running for 16 years ! We can finally get our driver’s permit ? LOCKSS-USDOCS harvests all of the content currently published on the Government Publishing Office (GPO)’s GOVINFO content management system and includes the most recently created collection of Congressionally Mandated reports . If you and your library are interested in participating in this collaborative digital preservation project of the digital FDLP(!), please contact James R. Jacobs at jrjacobs AT Stanford DOT edu. The USDocs Private LOCKSS Network (PLN) was launched in 2008 as a digital repository for the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), a network of over 1,100 participating libraries across the United States. The FDLP has for over 200 years ensured the safeguarding of documents published by the U.S. Federal Government through the same lots of copies keep stuff safe” principle that now drives LOCKSS digital preservation networks. FDLP libraries select a basic subset of federal reports and documents, with individual libraries providing a wide range of additional specialized services and collections… …At the heart of the FDLP lies the idea that libraries across the United States are not just passive repositories but active stewards of these vital materials. They dedicate themselves to preserving content for the good of society and to safeguarding democracy. FDLP libraries are driven by a mission: to provide free public access to official information, thereby empowering citizens with knowledge and fostering transparency. As the FDLP becomes increasingly digital, the GPO will print and distribute a decreasing number of titles in hard copy to just a few libraries in each of the four National Collection Service Areas (NCSAs), and the USDocs PLN will be collecting and preserving a growing percentage of the U.S. Federal Government’s output. Share this: Twitter Facebook Reddit Email Print More Tumblr Pocket National Archives to Host Sunshine Week Panel on Artificial Intelligence and Government Access February 27, 2024 / Leave a comment Sunshine Week (March 10-16, 2024) and Freedom of Information Day (March 16, 2024) are coming up fast. Sunshine Week is a nonpartisan collaboration among groups in the journalism, civic, education, government and private sectors that shines a light on the importance of public records and open government. Besides all of the regular events that are happening this year, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is going to host a Panel on Artificial Intelligence and Government Access . This panel of really interesting speakers will be Thursday, March 14, at 1 p.m. ET. in person at the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives in Washington, DC, and livestreamed on the National Archives YouTube Channel . Hope you can make it or tune...