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Government Information Quarterly

Volume 10, Number 2, 1993

CONTENTS

Data Management and Global Change Research:
Technology and Infrastructure
Wayne A. Morrissey ................................................................................ 159

Canadian Government Electronic
Information Policy
Kirsti Nilsen ............................................................................................ 203

Improving the Impact of Federal Scientific
and Technical Information: A Call for Action
David Gold ............................................................................................ 221

SPECIAL FEATURES

Interagency Workshop on Public Access: A Summary for Historical Purposes
John Okay and Roxanne Williams ............................................................... 237

A Policy Framework on the Dissemination of
Government Electronic Information: Some Remarks
Vincent M. DeSanti ........................................................................................ 255

The 1991 White House Conference on Libraries and Information
Services: Whatever Happened to Information Services?
Kenneth B. Allen ....................................................................................... 261

Media Coverage of Military Activities in the
Persian Gulf .......................................................................................... 265

Contributors .................................................................................................... 283

To the Editor ............................................................................................ 285

Reviews
John A. Shuler, Editor

Federal Systems of the World: A Handbook of Federal,
Confederal and Autonomy Arrangements
Edited by Daniel J. Elazar Reviewed by Janita Jobe ........................................................................ 289

Government Documents and Reference Services
Edited by Robin Kinder
Reviewed by Joel Zucker ....................................................................... 290

Historic U.S. Court Cases 1690-1990: An Encyclopedia
Edited by John W. Johnson
Reviewed by Steven McKinzie .................................................................. 291

Introduction to United States Government Information Sources (Fourth Edition)
By Joe Morehead and Mary Fetzer
Reviewed by Peter Hernon ........................................................................ 292

National Information Policies: Strategies for the Future
Prepared by David R. Bender, Sarah T. Kadec, and Sandy I. Morton
Reviewed by Faye L Couture .................................................................... 293

Policy through Impact Assessment: Institutionalized Analysis as a Policy Strategy
Edited by Robert V. Bartlett
Reviewed by Faye L. Couture ............................................................... 294

Revolutionary & Dissident Movements of the World: An International Guide
(Third Edition)
By Guy Arnold et al.
Reviewed by Janita Jobe ...................................................................... 294

Speak No Evil: The Promotional Heritage of Nuclear Risk Communication
By Louis Gwin
Reviewed by Michael T. Hayes ................................................................... 295

Symposium of Law Publishers
Edited by Thomas A. Waxland
Reviewed by Donna L. Burton .................................................................... 297

Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology
By Neil Postman
Reviewed by Steven McKinzie .................................................................... 298

The National Research and Education Network (NREN):
Research and Policy Perspectives
Edited by Charles R. McClure
Reviewed by Raeann Dossett .................................................................. 299

Wayne A. Morrissey

There is a consensus among many scientists who would perform global change research that global-scale scientific data management programs, and enabling policies need to be developed and implemented concomitantly with, if not in advance of, global change research programs. They are hopeful that U.S. Federal government policies for scientific and technical data and information management will provide timely archival, analysis, and dissemination of global change research data and will enable them to share that data with colleagues, internationally. Federal data managers believe that data management technology and infrastructure requirements for global change research programs can be met through existing or planned enhancements to systems in operation used for scientific data gathering, processing, and dissemination. Scientists are concerned, however, that because of the scope and diversity of global change research programs entirely new systems and approaches to data management may need to be devised.

Kirsti Nilsen

Issues surrounding government electronic information policy in Canada include preservation of data, information industry involvement in government data development and marketing, the role of Crown copyight, and public access to government information in electronic formats. This article examines the development and evolution of Canadian government information policy in response to these issues. In recent years, policy initiatives have addressed the management of government information in a restraint environment which increasingly encourages the commoditization of government resources. There is a need to ensure the recognition of a government information safety net, but Canadian policy is motivated as much by government restraint initiatives as by access enhancement.

David Gold

The key barrier to obtaining increased benefits from Federal scientific and technical information (STI) is a lack of Executive Branch leadership to coordinate Federal STI activities in an effort to enhance ease of access to users. There is a window of opportunity for an Administration initiative to improve access to Federal STI. In addition, technological oppotunities exist for a significantly improved information infrastructure.

A policy level inter-agency committee should be initiated to coordinate Federal STI activities. A goal needs to be set for the committee; that goal should be both achievable and beneficial, should encompass the plethora of detailed STI issues within it, and should be "flashy' enough to sell politically. In this way, the goal will provide a context for solving the many problems confronting the Federal STI system. This goal should be the long-term vision of a Federal technology information locator, the purpose of which the article discusses.

John Okay
Roxanne Williams

In May 1991, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored the first interagency conference on public access at Solomons Island, Maryland. The conference was in response to a growing need for increased public access, apparent in legislation and mission requirements, to government information. It offered departmental and agency representatives an opportunity to share experiences and to discuss the need for an integrated approach among the Federal departments and agencies to public access and dissemination of government information [see Government Information Quarterly, 9 (1992): 187-198].

The U.S. Depatment of Agricu1ture's Office of Information Resources Management sponsored the second of these interagency meetings. Convened at Solomons, Maryland on November 18-19, 1991, the workshop focused on the issues surrounding public access to Federal computers, and the need for the development of policy statements that the vairous departments and agencies could adapt. This article provides an historical record of that conference.

Vincent M. DeSanti

This article, a companion to the "Interagency Workshop on Public Access," provides an outline from which an analytical framework guiding dissemination planning might emerge.

Kenneth B. Allen

This article complements the symposium appearing in Government Information Quarterly, 9 (3), and adds another perspective--that of a person participating in both the preconference and conference.

Vincent M. DeSanti, as Director in the Information Management Technology Division (General Accounting Office), directs various government-wide and agency-wide reviews of Federal information resources management activities. He has more than 25 years of professional experience in managing information resources to achieve governmental, organizational, and commercial objectives.
Prior to joining the GAO, he served with the Office of Economic Opportunity. Before this, among his other activities, he was a consultant and conducted special studies of state-local government information needs. He holds a B.S. degree from the City College of New York and a M.A. from the University of Alabama.

David Gold, formerly with the Office of Management and Budget, now serves as Regional Manager for the Manufacturing Technology Centers program within the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He received Masters' degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Technology Policy from M.I.T., and a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado.

Wayne A. Morrissey, a Technical Information Specialist in the Science Policy Research Division of the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, in Washington, D.C., responds to inquiries from members of Congress and their staff on various legislative issues relating to global climate change and atmospheric sciences. Prior to joining CRS he attended Boston State College from 1973-1975, worked for the U.S. Copyright Office, and is currently completing a B.A. in Geography and Regional Sciences at the George Washington University.

Kristi Nilsen, is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Library and Information Science at the University of Toronto, specializing in government information policy. As an associate instructor, she has taught resources, collections, and government publications. Her professional experience has concentrated on academic and special libraries, including government publications librarian at the University of Rhode Island. She is editor of Guide to Reference Materials for Canadian Libraries, 8th ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992).

John L. Okay, Director, Office of Information Resources Management, U.S. Department of Agriculture, serves as the senior career official responsible for oversight and direction of automatic data processing, telecommunications, and information management for the Department. He joined the Department as an economist with the Soil Conservation Service in 1967.
He holds three degrees from Michigan State University: B.S. in Agricultural Science, M.S. in Agricultural Economics, and Ph.D. in Resource Economics. He studied information systems management at the Harvard Business School in 1983 and is a 1988 graduate of the Federal Executive Institute. He was the recipient of the General Services Administration's "Excellence in Administration Award" in 1988, and he received the Presidential Rank Award of "Meritorious Executive" in 1989.

Roxanne R. Williams is Special Assistant to the Director, Office of Information Resources Management, U.S. Department of Agriculture. She supports the Director in his responsibilities to manage the Department's IRM program. Her recent major emphasis has been on the Departmental initiative to develop a USDA IRM Strategic Plan. She is also involved in programs and policies related to the dissemination of USDA information to the public. One of her key projects is the electronic dissemination of perishable and time-sensitive data to the public and the related policy issues of public access to Federal information.
She joined the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service of the Department of Agriculture as a computer specialist in 1973. She was transferred to the Office of the Secretary in the same year. Prior to joining the USDA, she worked for Univac as an instructor, systems analyst, and program manager. She received a B.S. degree from Cornell University and has completed the program in executive leadership and management at the Federal Executive Institute and the information systems management program at the Harvard Business School.