McLain, Miss., Feb. 22, 2013 - FEMA assesses damages from flash floods in Greene County. (National Archives ID: 24475833) Federal agencies are generally complying with FOIA’s mandate to create procedures for preparing documents to post on FOIA reading rooms, and more often than not, the responsibility for prepping the documents rests with the FOIA staff. That … Continue reading OGIS Publishes Report Based on Agency Self-Assessments
We sometimes hear from FOIA requesters and agency personnel who are confused about why a FOIA request for records at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is not processed by NARA. The answer has to do with whether the federal agency or NARA has legal custody of the records, and requires a brief explanation. … Continue reading FOIA and NARA’s Federal Records Centers
There are still a few days left in Sunshine Week 2018, but we wanted to go ahead and share a recap of some exciting events that have already happened! On Monday, we were honored to host the third annual National Archives’ Sunshine Week 2018 celebration in the William G. McGowan Theater. After a kick-off introduction … Continue reading Sunshine Week 2018 (Early) Recap
Last week there was a surge of excitement surrounding the National Archives’ release of new government records concerning the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK). We thought this might be a good opportunity to join our colleagues in celebrating the release of this new historical material, and explain how the release of these records … Continue reading National Archives Releases New JFK Records
As you all begin to fill out your new 2017 calendars, we want to take a few moments to make sure you know about some special events we have planned in the coming months. Please take a moment to write down these dates, and we hope to see you there! Thursday, January 26 – As … Continue reading Mark Your Calendar for Our Upcoming Events!
1) Please tell us a little about yourself. I am the product of parents who emigrated to the United States to avoid continued religious, artistic and professional persecution at the hands of the Communist Romanian regime. In direct and indirect ways, the influences of my father, who made his living in classical music as a … Continue reading Q&A with OGIS’s New Director, Alina M. Semo
We hope you are all having a great Sunshine Week! We are only halfway through the week, but already we have so much news to share. Our Sunshine Week celebration started the week prior with a message from Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero to all of the National Archives staff reminding them … Continue reading OGIS Celebrates Sunshine Week 2016
We have learned through both our mediation services and agency assessment programs that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to administering a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) program. Agencies process different kinds of requests for vastly different records, and each agency faces its own challenges. For this reason, a practice that works for a small independent … Continue reading Smart Solutions to FOIA Problems
Archivist of the United States David Ferriero announced the appointment of James Holzer as the Director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) on July 21, 2015, effective August 9. We hope all of you will join us in welcoming Dr. Holzer to the OGIS staff! Dr. Holzer comes to OGIS from the Department … Continue reading Archivist Appoints New OGIS Director
There are few things in the federal government that do not go by a three letter acronym—or, in government-speak, a TLA. As we at OGIS (that’s the Office of Government Information Services!) are keenly aware, though, government acronyms are not limited to three letters—and they can refer to a wide variety of things. One acronym that … Continue reading What the Government’s Alphabet Soup Means for You
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