Government Information Quarterly
Volume 5, Number 3, 1988
Discussion Forum:
Computer Matching and Individual Rights: A Canadian Perspective
Alan Leadbeater .............................................191
Introduction
Jane Bortnick .................................................... 197
Authorizing EDGAR: Information Policy in Theory and Practice
Robert M. Gellman ............................................... 199
Policy Perspectives on Electronic Collection and Dissemination
of Information
J. Timothy Sprehe ................................................ 213
OMB Source Documents..........................................................................223
Trends in Information Technology and Private Sector Activities
Judith Coffey Russell........................................................................251
Technology & U. S. Government Information Policies:
Catalysts for New Partnerships
Association of Research Libraries .................................... 267
Implications for the Future
Jane Bortnick ..........................................................279
Selected Federal Documents on the Electronic Collection and
Dissemination of Federal Government Information .......................... 281
NTIS Privatization Update and NTIS Source Documents ..................... 283
Contributors ......................................................... 301
Reviews
David C. Heisser, Editor
Balancing the National Interest: U. S. National Security, Export
Controls, and Global Competition
Reviewed by Manley R. Irwin ....................................... 303
Directory of Government Document Collections & Librarians
Reviewed by David Heisser ....................................................305
Federal Statistical Directory:
The Guide to Personnel and Data Sources
Reviewed by James L Beasley ...................................... 306
Federal Statistics: A Special Report on the Statistical Programs and
Activities of the United States Government Fiscal Year 1987
Reviewed by Patrick J. Wilkinson .................................... 307
Government Documents Cataloging Service on Impact
Reviewed by Benjamin T. Amata .....................................307
LePac: Government Documents Option
Reviewed by Benjamin T. Amata .......................................310
Presidential Libraries and Collections
By Fritz Veit
Reviewed by Ruth P. Morgan .....................................................312
World Atlas of Elections; Voting Patterns in 39 Democracies
By Dick Leonard and Richard Natkiel
Reviewed by David Heisser................................................313
List of Titles Received.....................................................................313
Authorizing EDGAR:
Information Policy
in Theory and Practice
Robert M. Gellman
The Securities and Exchange Commission's new EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) database of prospectuses, securities registration statements, and other SEC filings was recently authorized by the Congress. EDGAR is the first large Federal electronic information system authorized at a time when both the legislative and executive branches have been actively considering policies for electronic information systems. The legislative conditions established for EDGAR provide insight into the future direction for Federal information policy.
This article discusses the relationship of OMB Circular No. A-130, the Management of Federal Information Resources, to the Paperwork Reduction Act. Information collection and information dissemination are treated unequally in the Act. OMB's proposed policy guidance on electronic collection enumerated conditions favorable to electron ic collection, and criteria for design and development of electronic collection systems. Issues raised by commenters included the response burden for electronic collection, the importance of benefit-cost analysis, and the advisability of waivers. Policy issues to be treated in forthcoming proposed OMB policy guidance on electronic collection include requirement of agency inventories of information dissemination products and services, the meaning of adequate notice prior to initiating or terminating dissemina- tion, and other general guidance.
As the largest single producer, consumer, and disseminator of information in the United States, the Federal government has enormous power to influence the development and diffusion of new information technologies. Through the use of electronic information systems, it also has the opportunity to make more government information readily available to more public users. Defining the appropriate uses of, and controls on, this power are of critical importance in determining whether the government will be a positive or a negative force, particularly with respect to the private sector. Although there has always been, and probably always will be, some competition between government and private sector information products and services, there is agreement that the laws and policies regulating government information practices do not, and should not, require or permit a Federal agency to provide information products and services in the same manner as a private company. Federal agencies must be careful not to exploit the power inherent in electronic data systems by providing nonessential services to the public simply because the capability to provide such services exists. Instead the government should assume an affirmative obligation to review each electronic information activity carefully in order to avoid unnecessary government interference in the marketplace for information products and services. Further, as the government becomes increasingly inv olved in the use of electronic collection and dissemination, it must also learn to differentiate among levels of service and requirements of various user communities. Positions of the Association of Research Libraries, the National Commission on Libraries and In- formation Science and the Information Industry Association are presented and are shown to be in surprising harmony with the policies of OMB Circular A-130 and the views of the House Committee on Government Operations. The Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR system and recent development in distribution of government information on CD-ROM are reviewed as examples of the implementation of these policies.
Technology, moving faster than policy development, has left U.S. government information programs resting on uncertain foundations. This article, an abridgement of a report by the ARL Task Force on Government Information in Electronic Format, is the result of an effort to develop a framework for understanding--philosophically, functionally, and fiscally-- the patterns that exist for government information today, and the shifts in those patterns resulting from the introduction of government information in electronic formats. Four questions are identified that should be considered by government agencies and libraries as decisions are made about how to provide the public with government information in electronic format. The report points to the need for a clearer picture of how government responsiblities for public availability of government information in elctronic formats might be fulfilled in partnership with the private sector without the loss of the characteristics that make this information distinctive: the absence of restric- tions on use, including for basic government information, absence of a fee.