Editor’s note: this blog post was written by Gbemende Johnson, an Associate Professor of Government at Hamilton College. Her research areas include executive-judicial relations, government transparency, and race and politics. She received her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 2012. During the fall of 2021, I worked with the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) as … Continue reading Thinking About OGIS’s Work: An Academic Perspective
Attention Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesters! The co-chairs of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be available to listen to your comments about and experiences with the FOIA process from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday February 2, 2022. Please join Alina M. Semo and Bobak Talebian, the directors of the Office … Continue reading Chief FOIA Officers Council Co-chairs Seek Requester Input
When Agency Records Officers and Chief FOIA Officers work in harmony, FOIA works better. National Archives ID: 535858 The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on FOIA processing and the use of e-discovery are among the topics in our latest report, Assessing Freedom of Information Act Compliance through the 2020 National Archives and Records Administration’s Records Management Self-Assessment. … Continue reading OGIS Publishes Results of FOIA Compliance Self-Assessment Survey
"Do You Have Any Bright Ideas" (National Archives ID: 514120) Interested in sharing with OGIS your thoughts about and experiences with FOIA? There are a number of ways to do that, and we’re happy to help you figure out where to best share your ideas. The best venue to share your FOIA experiences and suggestions … Continue reading Got an Idea? Here’s How You Can Share It!
If the government produces a record, requesters will want it. That is according to a new paper published by the Video Redaction Working Group of the Chief FOIA Officers Council's Technology Committee, which describes ways that agencies can meet this challenge when processing requests for video records such as law enforcement body camera footage, security … Continue reading New Paper Outlines Best Practices for Processing Video Records
Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) Director Alina M. Semo joined 63 information commissioners and ombudsmen overseeing access to public information from around the world in the first ever virtual convening of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC) closed meeting on June 23-24, 2021. During the two-day session, Director Semo updated participants on the … Continue reading OGIS: Spanning the Globe
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4492629 While you may not be familiar with the term “enterprise search,” those who have recently submitted a broad FOIA request for email records are likely to be familiar with the challenges agencies face in conducting records searches across vast electronic repositories. On May 6, 2021, OGIS hosted a webinar with Centers for Disease Control … Continue reading Recap: Recent OGIS/CDC Webinar on Enterprise Searching
Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of our professional and personal lives. OGIS’s 2021 Report for Fiscal Year 2020 provides a window into the ways that the pandemic has affected the FOIA process across federal agencies, and describes OGIS’s work to assist requesters and agencies with the FOIA process in … Continue reading OGIS Report on Fiscal Year 2020 Now Available
In accordance with the FOIA statute, OGIS will host an annual public meeting on Wednesday, May 12th at 10 a.m. EDT. Join us virtually to hear about our annual report for fiscal year (FY) 2020 and our recommendations to Congress and the President. Members of the public will also have the opportunity to present oral … Continue reading Join us May 12 for our Annual Open Meeting
Allan Blutstein, Senior Vice President at America Rising Political Action Committee Today we present an interview with Allan Blutstein, Senior Vice President at America Rising Political Action Committee and a member of the 2020-2022 FOIA Advisory Committee. This is part of a series of posts on the Committee, whose members are FOIA experts from inside and … Continue reading Getting to Know the FOIA Advisory Committee: Allan Blutstein
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