It’s common wisdom in the library and information science community that if you have something and you can’t find it, you don’t have it. This principle is as true for agencies’ records as it is in university libraries, and it directly affects the efficiency and effectiveness of agency FOIA programs. We’ve written before about President … Continue reading Records Management Directive Shifts Into Gear
While many (correctly) associate OGIS with mediation services to resolve FOIA disputes, those services are not the full extent of our mandate. Congress created OGIS to also review agencies’ FOIA policies, procedures and compliance. Sounds great, but how does OGIS learn what agencies are doing, and what do we do with that information? Obviously, our … Continue reading A Peek Inside the Sausage Factory
When University of California–Los Angeles economics professor Dora Costa started looking at aging processes and extreme longevity, she knew military files of Civil War veterans would be crucial to her research. Costa planned to compare medical records and life histories of Civil War veterans with present-day veterans’ records for soldiers who lived to be at … Continue reading Civil War-era Pension Records: An OGIS Case Study
OGIS will offer an all-day Dispute Resolution Skills for FOIA Professionals training program on Monday December 3, 2012, at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. While we’ve offered this training program -- which equips FOIA professionals with practical communications and dispute resolution skills -- for nearly three years, this session will be a little … Continue reading Small Agencies, Big Issues: Upcoming Training Opportunity for FOIA Professionals
Experienced FOIA requesters can attest that FOIA requests follow a well-established process: a requester submits a request; the agency responds to that request; if the requester is dissatisfied with the response, he/she submits an administrative appeal; the agency responds to the appeal. Before OGIS opened in 2009, a requester who remained dissatisfied after the agency … Continue reading Timing is Everything: When Does OGIS Get Involved?
When you request records about yourself from the Federal government, agencies apply both the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act of 1974 (Privacy Act) to grant the most access possible. FOIA and the Privacy Act have different purposes. FOIA provides the public with a right of access to government records while the … Continue reading Reconciling FOIA and the Privacy Act
Both the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Privacy Act contain provisions that grant a right of access to Federal records. Hear from government experts in both fields about The Intersection of the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act at the next FOIA Requester Roundtable on October 24, 2012. OGIS, along with the … Continue reading Upcoming Requester Roundtable Discussion: The Privacy Act and FOIA
Conflict Resolution Week is October 15-19, 2012. To help celebrate, the federal Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group is sponsoring a number of events. OGIS is pleased to be part of that celebration by offering the upcoming brown bag meeting/teleconference, "Dispute Resolution’s Impact on the FOIA Framework." If you are interested in how OGIS is using … Continue reading Make a Lunch Date with FOIA and Alternative Dispute Resolution
We at OGIS are always looking for ways to streamline our procedures and we’ve encouraged your input. This time is no different as we seek your support in ginning up some mojo for an OGIS routine use! Yes, an OGIS routine use, as in a Privacy Act system of records routine use. Without getting too technical (or … Continue reading Who has the mojo, baby?
Back in January, we reported that several Federal agencies had partnered to develop an online system aimed at expanding public access to information requested under FOIA. We’re pleased to report that FOIAonline is live! Beginning October 1, requesters seeking records from five Federal agencies can use FOIAonline to submit FOIA requests, track their progress, communicate with … Continue reading Live from D.C. … It’s FOIAonline!
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