New Resources Available on OGIS Website

Book Reading GIF by US National Archives - Find & Share on GIPHY
Book reading by US National Archives via GIPHY. From National Archives Identifier 12065.

We recently published two resources that are now available on the OGIS website. The first is an Ombuds Observer on the decommissioning of FOIAonline. It highlights the history of FOIAonline and what the next steps are for requesters and agencies as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moves through the decommissioning process. EPA staff were at the March 2, 2023, FOIA Advisory Committee meeting to provide updates on the sunsetting of FOIAonline, which formed the foundation for the Ombuds Observer. 

The second resource is our Issue Assessment Recommendations and Best Practices table. This tool was developed in conjunction with the Agency Recommendations Tables. The tables contain nearly 50 recommendations and best practices that OGIS has issued in assessments of various FOIA issues since 2016, and 130 recommendations and best practices that OGIS has issued in individual agency assessments since our first in 2014. Although each of the 130 recommendations or best practices is targeted at a specific agency (e.g., National Archives, U.S. Postal Service, etc.) other agencies may find them helpful to inform their policies and procedures.