In his welcoming remarks at Monday’s Sunshine Week celebration at the National Archives (video), the Archivist of the United States noted the substantial effort our agency has put towards improving open government over the last few years, and noted that there is – of course – a lot of work left to do. Our newly-released … Continue reading OGIS Releases its Fiscal Year 2016 Report
Earlier this year, the National Archives committed in both the Third U.S. Open Government National Action Plan and its Fourth Agency Open Government Plan to develop tools to help teach the next generation about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The tools will draw upon real-world examples that foster democracy and explain how the public … Continue reading Teaching the Next Generation about the Power of FOIA
As the Archivist of the United States announced earlier this week, you can now review and comment on the National Archives and Records Administration’s Open Government Plan 4.0 on Github. The plan covers steps the National Archives intends to take over the next two years to strengthen open government within our agency and across the … Continue reading National Archives’ Open Government Plan 4.0 Open for Comment
At its September 15, 2016, meeting, the Chief FOIA Officers Council will continue discussing the implementation of a “release to one, release to all” Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policy, which calls for agencies to post copies of all records released under FOIA on their websites. The Department of Justice’s Office of Information Policy (OIP) … Continue reading Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting Scheduled for September 15
Conventional wisdom holds that one strategy for improving the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process is to routinely publish agency records that might be of interest to the public. The term of art FOIA enthusiasts use for publishing agency information before anyone makes a FOIA request is proactive disclosure. We at OGIS make it a … Continue reading OGIS Embraces Transparency
In October 2015, the White House released the Third U.S. Government National Action Plan. While NAP 3.0 includes a number of useful commitments from the National Archives, we are particularly excited about OGIS’s commitment to develop curriculum tools to introduce secondary students to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA is a powerful tool for … Continue reading Introducing FOIA to a New Generation of Requesters
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
The Administration released its third Open Government National Action Plan (NAP) on Tuesday October 27. The release of NAP 3.0 coincided with the Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Mexico. The multi-national Open Government Partnership was created to encourage governments to commit to making their country more open and accountable to the public. Countries participating … Continue reading New U.S. Open Government NAP No Snore for FOIA Fans
On Tuesday, October 20, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee held its sixth meeting in the Archivist’s Reception Room. The purpose of the meeting was for the Committee’s three subcommittees – Oversight and Accountability, FOIA Fees, and Proactive Disclosure – to provide updates on their work. As the Committee moves into the backstretch … Continue reading FOIA Advisory Committee Meeting Round-up
One of the most common questions that we receive about OGIS’s work is: “What kinds of FOIA disputes do you see?” If you are interested in learning more about our cases, check out the case closure letters posted on our website. We first announced that we would post our case closure letters during Sunshine Week 2014. … Continue reading OGIS Case Closure Letters Available on our Website
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