We looked forward to meeting with the requester community today, but it seems that Mother Nature has other ideas. The FOIA Requester Roundtable scheduled for Wednesday, January 22, 2014, “Providing Estimated Dates of Completion,” is canceled because of the government's delayed opening status. Please keep an eye out for announcements of future Roundtables, and stay warm! … Continue reading Requester Roundtable Canceled
Author: cmcguire
Upcoming FOIA Requester Roundtable: Estimated Completion Dates
We’ve written before about the importance of providing estimated completion dates to requesters -- not only is it good customer service, but since 2007, it’s the law. Unfortunately, OGIS still hears from many requesters with delayed requests who have not heard when they might expect a response. In those cases, OGIS contacts the agency, talks … Continue reading Upcoming FOIA Requester Roundtable: Estimated Completion Dates
Do You Copy?
When agencies respond to a FOIA request with released records, they retain a copy of those records along with the response letter in a file documenting the request. This is important for a couple of reasons—so that the agency can respond to any questions from the requester, or that the information can be passed along … Continue reading Do You Copy?
Giving Thanks
In this season of reflection and good cheer, we at OGIS are giving thanks for some improvements we have seen recently in the FOIA world: While backlogs remain a significant problem, agencies are making strides in reducing them—they are down 45% in five years—even as requests increase and staffing decreases. OGIS constantly beats the drum … Continue reading Giving Thanks
Upcoming OGIS Training Session: Developing Dispute Resolution Skills
Do you find yourself flummoxed when faced with an angry FOIA requester? Do you regularly take "no" for an answer from your agency’s program people? We can help! OGIS will present a training session designed to help FOIA professionals develop dispute resolution skills on Monday, December 9, 2013 at the Archives building on Constitution Ave … Continue reading Upcoming OGIS Training Session: Developing Dispute Resolution Skills
Upcoming Requester Roundtable Discussion: Appeals
We at OGIS talk quite a bit about the importance of the FOIA administrative process, which includes the all-important appeal. But what is an appeal, exactly, and what should it include? What are some best practices for an agency’s appeal process? How can the FOIA and the appeals offices better work together? We will discuss … Continue reading Upcoming Requester Roundtable Discussion: Appeals
FOIA Fever: It’s Contagious
We’ve written about the positive difference that executive support for FOIA can make in federal agencies. We’ve made this point in our recommendations and, whenever we can, we encourage agencies to make FOIA a priority (and communicate this across the board). One effective way that agency heads can spread the word that FOIA matters is … Continue reading FOIA Fever: It’s Contagious
Open For Business
The Federal government is back in business, and so are we! OGIS stands ready to assist FOIA requesters and Federal agencies with their FOIA disputes. We look forward to hearing from you.
Shutdown
Due to the Federal government shutdown, the Office of Government Information Services and the National Archives are closed. We are unable to post to the FOIA Ombudsman during this closure. All National Archives facilities are closed, with the exception of the Federal Records Centers and the Federal Register until the Federal government reopens. We hope to see you soon.
Meeting Our Challenges
This post was written by Miriam Nisbet, former Director of the Office of Government Information Services We’ve made no secret of how proud we are of all that OGIS has accomplished in its four years. We have assisted hundreds of FOIA requesters and dozens of agencies by resolving FOIA disputes that might otherwise have gone to … Continue reading Meeting Our Challenges
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