Smaller Parcels Quicker Service! (National Archives ID: 44267059) The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) has delivered the Final Report and Recommendations of the 2018-2020 term of the FOIA Advisory Committee to the Archivist of the United States, David S. Ferriero. The report is the result of two years of hard work by the Committee’s … Continue reading Final Report of the 2018-2020 FOIA Advisory Committee Delivered to the Archivist
Registration is now open for OGIS’s Annual Open Meeting on Monday, July 20, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be virtual. Please register by Thursday, July 16, 2020, to virtually attend the meeting. We will send instructions by email to all registrants for accessing the … Continue reading Register now to virtually attend the July 20, 2020 OGIS Annual Open Meeting
"Buy a share in America" (National Archives ID: 513994) The deadline for nominating yourself or someone else to the 2020-2022 term of the FOIA Advisory Committee has been extended until July, 10, 2020. We are looking for a wide range of FOIA experts from both inside and outside government who have a passion for FOIA and … Continue reading Deadline Extended for Nominations to 2020-2022 FOIA Advisory Committee
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted agency FOIA programs in various ways– some of which we have discussed previously in this space, and others that were addressed in recent Department of Justice Office of Information Policy guidance. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has seen a staggering increase in its FOIA caseload in the … Continue reading Recap: Recent OGIS/CDC Webinar on Requests for COVID-19 Records
Federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) websites are more likely than not to be silent on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting agency FOIA processing. A majority of federal FOIA websites – 62.6 percent – reviewed by the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) in May and early June do not alert requesters to changes … Continue reading OGIS Publishes Results of COVID-19 FOIA Website Review
If you or someone you know have a passion for FOIA and a commitment to improving the FOIA process, please consider submitting a nomination for the 2020-22 term of the Federal FOIA Advisory Committee. We are looking for a wide range of FOIA experts from both inside and outside of government. We seek, at a minimum: … Continue reading Nominations Open for 2020-2022 FOIA Advisory Committee
On May 28th, the Department of Justice, Office of Information Policy (OIP) posted Guidance for Agency FOIA Administration in Light of COVID-19 Impacts. Here are some highlights: Agencies’ legal obligations under the FOIA continue even as agencies are working during COVID-19. All of FOIA’s statutory time limits continue to apply during workforce adjustments. Agencies have … Continue reading COVID-19 and FOIA: DOJ Releases New Guidance
Including the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in agency strategic plans, providing mandatory annual FOIA training, and briefing new senior leaders on their obligations and responsibilities under FOIA are among 22 recommendations in a draft final report from the third term of the FOIA Advisory Committee to the Archivist of the United States. The Committee … Continue reading 2018-2020 FOIA Advisory Committee Draft Final Report Available for Public Comment
In a recent statement, Turning the threat of COVID-19 into an opportunity for greater support to documentary heritage, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic, which many countries have already declared to be modern history’s gravest health emergency, will one day become a part of our shared history. In … Continue reading The Importance of Preserving Pandemic Records
The COVID-19 pandemic — and the Federal government’s response to the outbreak — has resulted in a steep increase in FOIA requests submitted to agencies on the front lines of that response. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received nearly the same number of requests in the first half of Fiscal Year (FY) … Continue reading May 12th Webinar: FOIA Requests for CDC COVID-19 Records
