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Government Information Quarterly

Volume 8, Number 4, 1991

Discussion Forum:
Subpoenas: The News Media under Siege
Jane E. Kirtley .............................................................................341

The United Kingdom's Data Protection Act
Eric Howe ...................................................................................345

From Retrieval to Robotics:
The National Science Foundation's Support
of Information Research
Ellen Altman and Sara Brown ................................................359

SPECIAL FEATURES

Law and Technology:
Can They Keep Abreast?
Peter N. Weiss ............................................................................. 377

World Bank Activities in
Library and Documentation Services Provision
in Developing Countries
Brigitte Duces .......................................................................... 381

Memorandum: 'Cost Sharing' for
the Dissemination of Government Information
in Electronic Formats
Anthony J. Zagami ................................................................... 387

Government Information Policy Principles
Peter Hernon ............................................................................. 393

Contributors ................................................................................... 401

Reviews
John A. Shuler, Editor

Attorney's Guide to Government Studies and Reports
Edited by Bari Chase and Audrey Collins
Reviewed by Donna L. Burton ...................................... 403

Computers at Risk:
Safe Computing In the information Age
Computer Science and Telecommunications Board,
National Research Council
Reviewed by Stephen B. Gould ..................................... 404

Congressional Record, 1985, CD-ROM Edition
Government Printing Office
Reviewed by Allen Smith and Peter Hernon ........................... 405

Documents Assistant: A Program for Organizing,
Offering and Withdrawing Government Documents
Kensington Software
Reviewed by Patrick Ragains ....................................... 406

Government Information Insider
Edited by Gwen Rubenstein and Christine Triano
Reviewed by John Richardson, Jr . ................................... 407

Informing the Nation: A Handbook of Government
Information for Librarians
Edited by Frederic J. O'Hara
Reviewed by Susan E. Tulis ......................................... 408

The Relationship between the Use of
U.S. Government Technical Reports by U.S. Aerospace
Engineers and Scientists ard Selected Institutional and
Sociometric Variables
By Thomas E. Pinelli
Reviewed by James M. Matarazzo ................................... 408

Security Classification of Information.
Volume 1: Introduction, History and Adverse Impacts
By Arvin S. Quist
Reviewed by Harold C. Relyea ...................................... 411

Spy Saga: Lee Harvey Oswald and U.S. Intelligence
By Philip H. Melanson
Reviewed by Joel Zucker .......................................... 411

Statistical Masterfile Version 2 CD-ROM
Congressional Information Service, Inc.
Reviewed by Gary Cornwell ........................................ 412

Taking a Byte Out of History: The Archival Preservation
of Federal Computer Records
By the Committee on Government Operations
Reviewed by Megan Sniffin-Marinoff ................................ 415

Index/Volume 8 ...................................................... 419

Eric Howe

This articIe describes the United Kingdom Data Protection Act 1984 and its links to the Council of Europe Convention on Data Protection. It then outlines the role of the Data Protection Registrar and experience in implementing the Act. This is followed by consideration of some significant issues in both the public and private sectors. The article concludes with comments on transborder data flows and the wider international establishment of data protection regulations.

From Retrieval to Robotics:
The National Science Foundation's
Support of Information Research

Ellen Altman
Sara Brown

This article describes how the National Science Foundation's support of information research has evolved from NSF's original mission of improving the dissemination of scientific and technical information to it's present interest in information robotics and intelligent systems. The pattern of grant support, since a majot reorganization of the information science division in 1978, is analyzed in terms of the institutions, the investigators, and the disciplines that have been major grant recipients.

Law and Technology: Can They Keep Abreast?

Peter N. Weiss

This paper is based on a presentation given at the National Archives and Records Administration Conference, "Electronic Records Management and the Law," held May 22, 1991.

World Bank Activities in Library and
Documentation Services Provision in
Developing Countries

Brigitte Duces

The World Bank's lending activities to its member developing countries focus on providing loans for economic development. In this process, the Bank is also involved in improving the information activities in these countries. Many of these Bank's loans incIude an information component, often embedded within the project. In addition, even if the request for an information component in a project is not stated explicitly, the overall environment for activities with develop impact has changed. To ensure that a project is accomplished satisfactorily often requires an element of information transfer in. addition to infrastructure components. The Bank's support to these information activities has been Iimited, with the development of information services or libraries often forming only a minor component of the overall project. As the information age progresses, organizations such as the World Bank are likely to become increasingly involved in Iending for information services and documentation support. Questions arise on whether borrowing countries perceive an increasing need for projects in information development, especially given the fact that many of the muIti-lateral and bi-lateral aid agencies are working in information-related projects. The issue to be addressed for the World Bank is whether and to what extent there is a need for greater or different World Bank involvement in this area.

Memorandum: "Cost Sharing" for the Dissemination
of Government Information in Electronic Formats

Anthony J. Zagami

This memorandum was issued by Public Printer Robert W. Houk on March 25, 1991. It offers the interpretation of the General Counsel of the United States Government Printing Office, Anthony J. Zagami. [Editor's note: because of the importance of this memorandum, GIQ is reprinting it.]

Government Information Policy Principles

Peter Hernon

This article analyzes the utility of policy principles advanced by professional associations.

Sara Brown received her M.L.S. degree from the University of Arizona in August 1990. She has a B.A. in urban planning with a concentration in landscape architecture from Arizona State University. She is currently employed as an adult services librarian at Phoenix Public Library.

Peter Hernon, founding editor of Government Information Quarterly, is Professor at Simmons College in Boston. He is the author or editor of 26 books and more than 75 articles. He has conducted research for the Office of Technology Assessment, Department of Education, Government Printing Office, National Technical Information Service, and the Bureau of the Census.

Eric Howe, appointed as United Kingdom Data Protection Registrar in September 1984, is responsible for implementing the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1984. The Registrar is appointed by the Queen and reports directly to Parliament. After graduation in 1954 with an Honours Degree in Economics, Eric Howe worked for the British coal and cotton industries before joining a computer company in 1961. In 1966, he Joined the National Computing Centre and was a member of its Board of Directors. He has chaired, or been a member of, a number of national level committees. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, having twice served on its Council, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Data Processing Management. Eric Howe was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 1990.

Jane E. Kirtley is Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, an association of reporters and editors dedicated to protecting the First Amendment interests of the media. She holds bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University, School of Law. She is a former newspaper reporter, and has practiced law in Rochester, New York, and Washington, D.C.

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