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Government Information Quarterly

Volume 9, Number 2, 1992

The New Game in Town: Regulation, Secrecy, and
the Quayle Council on Competitiveness
Christine Triano and Gary D. Bass ........................................................ 107

Privacy and Data Protection in Japan
Srinija Srinivasan ......................................................................................... 121

Experiences with Information Technology Planning in
State Government: A Multiple-Site Based Assessment
Terry Anthony Byrd, V. Sambamurthy, Robert W. Zmud, and
William M. Hale ........................................................................................ 135

SPECIAL FEATURES

The Significance of "Admissibilty of Electronically
Filed Federal Records as Evidence"
J. Timothy Sprehe ............................................................................... 153

Admissibility of Electronically Filed Federal
Records as Evidence
Systems Policy Staff .................................................................................... 155

Easier Said Than Done: Practical Considerations in
User Interface Design
Raymond W. Crow Jr. and Robert F. Starbird......................... 169

Interagency Conference on Public Access
Alvin Pesachowitz .......................................................................................... 187

Online Public Access to Federal Agency Computers
J. Timothy Sprehe ............................................................................................... 199

Contributors ................................................................................................................. 205

Reviews
John A. Shuler, Editor

Compact Disc Federal Register, July 1990-
Counterpoint Publishing
Reviewed by Gary Cornwell ........................................................................ 207

Congressional Anecdotes
By Paul F. Boller, Jr.
Reviewed by Sever M. Bordeianu ...................................................................... 210

Democracy and the Arts: The Role of Participation
By Terri Lynn Cornwell
Reviewed by David C. R. Heisser ........................................................................... 211

Guide to U.S. Map Resources (Second Edition)
Compiled by David A. Cobb
Reviewed by Mary Redmond .................................................................................. 213

Political Communication in America (Second Edition)
By Robert E. Denton, Jr. and Gary C. Woodward
Reviewed by Michael Johnston ..................................................................................... 214

The Politics of National Security: Congress and U.S. Defense Policy
By Barry M. Blechman
Reviewed by Harold C. Relyea .............................................................................. 215

Research Guide to Libraries and Archives in the Low Countries
Compiled by Martha L. Brogan
Reviewed bv Megan Sniffin-Marinoff .................................................................... 216

Taking Liberties: National Barriers to the Free Flow of Ideas
By Elizabeth Hull
Reviewed by Joel Zucker ....................................................................................... 216

U.S. Energy and Environmental Interest Groups: Institutional Profiles
By Lettie Mcspaden Wenner
Reviewed by Donna L. Burton ............................................................................... 218

U.S. National Security Policy Groups: Institutional Profiles
By Cynthia Watson
Reviewed by Donna L. Burton ............................................................................... 219

Christine Triano
Gary D. Bass

Under the leadership of Dan Quayle, an increasingly powerful White House group called the Council on Competitiveness has launched a targeted attack on our nation's health, safety, and environmental programs. The Quayle Council, made up of high level offic ials but staffed out of the Vice President's office, works routinely as a behind-the-scenes lobbying group for big business. Since its founding in June 1990, the Quayle Council has meddled in numerous complex regulatory issues--including Clean Air Act reg ulations, wetlands protection, and nutrition labeling standards--inserting weakening changes designed to benefit business and industry. In addition, the Quayle Council recklessly pursues its deregulatory agenda in complete secrecy by refusing to comply wi th even the most basic standards of open government, such as the Freedom of Information Act.

Srinija Srinivasan

Japanese culture is marked by an emphasis on harmony and groupism which is pervasive throughout the society. The needs of society take precedence over the interests of the individual, thus protection of individual rights is not as strong in Japan as in th e West. In recent years, however, the government's increased use of personal information processed by computers has raised legitimate concerns over the possible infringement of individual privacy rights. In 1988, in response to international pressures, Ja pan passed the Act for Protection of Computer Processed Personal Data held by Administrativ e Organs. This Act acknowledges the threat posed by government databases to the individual's right of privacy. Its express purpose is to balance the interests of t he individual against the efficiaent administration of the government. Although this Act is an excellent beginning, the need for improvement is recognized.

Terry Anthony Byrd
V. Sambamurthy
Robert W. Zmud
William M. Hale

The emergence of advanced information technologies has placed computing capabilities into the hands of virtually every clerical, staff, and mangerial employees in public organizations. With the increased emphasis of information technology (IT) in support ing organizational activities in state governments and other public entities, IT planning has also increased in importance. This article reports on IT planning experiences of eight selected agencies in Florida, one of the leading states in IT management. The agencies differed on key dimensions such as size, environmental complexity, environmental turbulence, and other relevant attributes. Each agency in the state goes through a regualr two-year IT planning cycle which is guided by a centralized IT plannin g agency, the Information Resource Commission (IRC). Each agency must adhere to the planning guidelines of the IRC while attempting to produce a quality plan which addresses the agency's problems and opportunities. The article describes important lessons uncovered by discovering consistent patterns across the various agencies during their IT planning processes. These lessons should serve to guide other state governments that are trying to better plan and manage their IT resources.

This paper was prepared, in October 1990, by Justice Management Division staff, to familiarize Federal program managers and record cutodians with the rules of evidence as they apply to such records. It is intended to assist in the establishment of appropr iate procedures for the creation and maintenance of electronically filed records.

Raymond W. Crow Jr.
Robert F. Starbird

User interfaces for CD-ROM products in the academic library environment must accomodate a variety of user and task profiles. Here, one publisher discusses the practical considerations that govern the implementation of interface design principles for such electronic databases.

0n May 20-21, 1991, the first interagency conference on public access was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at Solomons, Maryland. The conference offered departmental and agency officials an opportunity to discuss issues surrounding pu blic access to government information, particularly that which is collected or generated and maintained in electronic format, and to share experiences to date. Congress is increasingly requiring that specific databases generated by an agency for its own u se be made available to the general public electronically, as with the EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). In addition, departments and agencies are more aware of their obligations to make information available in the format in which they are using it. Pu blic interest groups, professional associations, academia, libraries and the press are demanding access to government information in electronic format, through fear that movement to electronic media will eventually limit access to those with the means of accessing it. This, in turn, raises a fear that the citizen may not have access to the information necessary to exercise his or her rights effectively in a democratic society.

J. Timothy Sprehe

This article discusses the growing phenomenon of Federal agencies permitting online public access to their computers. Many agencies are experiencing public demand for such access, and the article discusses examples of public access programs. An agency's r esponse to the demand depends on its stance toward information dissemination. Consensus is growing that online public access is inevitable and agencies are seeking to devise relevant information policies.

Gary D. Bass is Executive Director of OMB Watch, a non-profit research and advocacy organization that monitors the Office of Management and Budget, and follows issues of Federal government information policy.

Terry Anthony Byrd is Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems in the Information and Management Sciences Department at the College of Business, Florida State University. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems from the University of South Carolina. His research interests include technological innovations and organizational change, technology education and organizational learning, and information and knowledge processing in organizations.

Raymond W. Crow, Jr., Ph.D., is Marketing Services Manager for Congressional Information Service, Inc. His work on interface design for CD-ROM products includes academic and commercial database applications.

William M. Hale was appointed Executive Administrator of the Information Resource Commission in 1983 for the state of Florida. In this capacity, he reports to the Governor and members of the Florida Cabinet and administers the Information Resources Management program for the state. His responsibilities include state-level planning, performance reporting, policy development, technical assistance, and budget review. He has an M.S. in Physics from the University of Virginia and an M.S. in Business Administration from Boston University.

V. Sambamurthy is Assistant Professor of MIS at Florida State University. His current research interests are focused on the impacts of information technologies on group work and management of technologies in organizations. He obtained his Ph.D. in MIS, in 1989, from the University of Minnesota.

J. Timothy Sprehe is president of Sprehe Information Management Associates, a Washington D.C. based consulting firm. In 1991, Dr. Sprehe retired from the Office of Management and Budget where he had been principally responsible for OMB Circular No. A-130, the Management of Federal Information Resources.

Srinija Srinivasan is an undergraduate at Stanford University pursuing a B.S. in Symbolic Systems, an integrated, interdisciplinary study of computer science, philosophy, and linguistics. She is also studying the Japanese language and will spend six months studying abroad in Kyoto and working for a technical firm in Japan. She hails from Lawrence, Kansas, where she graduated from high school as a Presidential Scholar. Her future plans include graduate study in an information-related area.

Robert F. Starbird manages electronic publishing for Congressional Information Service, Inc. He has managed the design and implementation of all three of CISs Masterfile databases, as well as the interface for a new database of scholarly book reviews.

Christine Triano is Program Associate of OMB Watch (1731 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20009-1146).

Robert Zmud is Professor and Thomas L. Williams, Jr., Eminent Scholar in Management Information Systems in the Information and Management Science Department at the College of Business, Florida State University. His current interests focus on the impact of information technology in facilitating a variety of organizational behaviors and on organizational efforts involved with planning, managing, and diffusing information technology. In addition to scholarly articles on these topics, he has recently co-authored two research books: Transforming the IS Oganization: The Mission, The Framework, The Transition and Information Technology Management: Evolving Managerial Roles. Dr. Zmud is currently an editor of Organization Science and serves on the Boards of Management Science and Information Systems Research. Both his Ph.D. (University of Arizona) and his S.M. (MIT) degrees are in management.