District Dispatch has posted a new item, 'ALA’s Committee on Legislation
releases toolkit to guide librarians with E-Government services'
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Library Association (ALA) Committee on Legislation (COL) announces the release of the E-Government Toolkit, created by the committee to assist librarians with addressing the growing public demand for assistance with online government services.
According to ALA research, 61 percent of libraries report providing access to government information is one of the most critical Internet services they provide. As government agencies at the local, state, and federal level continue to shift the availability of services directly to the public by putting them online, new opportunities as well as challenges emerge for the nation’s
libraries.
“COL established a goal to produce this toolkit with tips and other information to guide librarians in planning, managing, funding and promoting E-Government services,” said Jessica McGilvray, assistant director of the ALA Office of Government Relations (OGR), who serves as ALA staff liaison to COL’s E-Government Subcommittee.
“We are excited to contribute this tool to libraries, and we hope that it will be a go-to source librarians can count on when addressing this growing trend.”
McGilvray said the Washington Office’s break-out session, “E-Government Services and a New Toolkit” during Annual Conference in Washington is a great opportunity to learn more about this issue. The session will be held from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, June 26, in Convention Center, Room 204 B/C.
The panel discussion will feature the following speakers: Nancy Fredricks, a Pasco County Florida Librarian; John Bertot with the University of Maryland; Richard Huffine with the U.S. Geological Survey; and Michelle Chronister representing the U.S. General Services Administration.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=4998
Thursday, July 8, 2010
'Institute of Museum and Library Services and Department of Labor announce new partnership'
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration held a press conference today at the Washington Convention Center during ALA’s Annual Conference to announce a new partnership that will help job seekers access employment and training services in public libraries.
“Public libraries are working diligently in our urban, suburban and rural communities to be an essential partner in putting people back to work, helping people stay in their jobs, and giving people a step up to a better job. We are pleased to be here to announce the partnership between the Department of Labor and the Institute for Museum and Library Services,” said Public Library Association President Sari Feldman, who opened the event.
Feldman added that by working together at the federal level, IMLS and the Department of Labor can help shine a spotlight on what works and encourage even greater more effective collaborations at the state and local levels.
Jane Oates, assistant secretary for the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, acknowledged the significant efforts libraries across the country make to aid job seekers and expressed excitement that this new partnership.
More information on this partnership, including a Webinar to be released in July, will be available on District Dispatch.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=5048
“Public libraries are working diligently in our urban, suburban and rural communities to be an essential partner in putting people back to work, helping people stay in their jobs, and giving people a step up to a better job. We are pleased to be here to announce the partnership between the Department of Labor and the Institute for Museum and Library Services,” said Public Library Association President Sari Feldman, who opened the event.
Feldman added that by working together at the federal level, IMLS and the Department of Labor can help shine a spotlight on what works and encourage even greater more effective collaborations at the state and local levels.
Jane Oates, assistant secretary for the Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, acknowledged the significant efforts libraries across the country make to aid job seekers and expressed excitement that this new partnership.
More information on this partnership, including a Webinar to be released in July, will be available on District Dispatch.
You may view the latest post at
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=5048
'Libraries are winners in new BTOP and BIP awards'
Libraries were well represented in the 66 BTOP and BIP awards that the White House announced today. Several libraries were named as grantees, and a number of the awards include libraries as key components of the projects.
“It is tremendously satisfying to see libraries receive badly needed support for improving their broadband connectivity,” said Dr. Alan Inouye, director of the ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). “ALA and others invested a lot in advocacy and education for the library community in the past year, and we’re pleased that our efforts helped to lead to a beneficial outcome for the library community.”
Projects with significant library-specific benefits include those based in Arizona, the District of Columbia, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, and Oklahoma. Additional projects benefit community anchor institutions generally, which include libraries. In particular, the award to create the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) is expected to benefit many libraries. Other projects improve broadband infrastructure in particular geographic areas, which benefit everyone, including libraries, in those areas.
“Many libraries will be able to improve their technological capabilities,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office. “Such capabilities are essential to support patrons’ use of libraries for job searches, skills improvement, access to government resources and services, and schoolwork.”
Broadband is the new critical infrastructure for the 21st century, and ALA initiatives to promote BTOP and BIP and beyond will continue.
“ALA is engaged on many of the issues in the National Broadband Plan,” said Marijke Visser, OITP information technology policy analyst. “Currently, we are focused on the FCC’s initiative to reform the federal E-rate program, which is critical for the long-term sustainability of BTOP and BIP investments in the library community.”
View the White House announcement at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/background-presidents-recovery-act-announcement-tomorrow
View the list of awards at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/Broadband_Award_Roster.pdf
You may view the latest post at
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=5097
“It is tremendously satisfying to see libraries receive badly needed support for improving their broadband connectivity,” said Dr. Alan Inouye, director of the ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP). “ALA and others invested a lot in advocacy and education for the library community in the past year, and we’re pleased that our efforts helped to lead to a beneficial outcome for the library community.”
Projects with significant library-specific benefits include those based in Arizona, the District of Columbia, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, and Oklahoma. Additional projects benefit community anchor institutions generally, which include libraries. In particular, the award to create the U.S. Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN) is expected to benefit many libraries. Other projects improve broadband infrastructure in particular geographic areas, which benefit everyone, including libraries, in those areas.
“Many libraries will be able to improve their technological capabilities,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office. “Such capabilities are essential to support patrons’ use of libraries for job searches, skills improvement, access to government resources and services, and schoolwork.”
Broadband is the new critical infrastructure for the 21st century, and ALA initiatives to promote BTOP and BIP and beyond will continue.
“ALA is engaged on many of the issues in the National Broadband Plan,” said Marijke Visser, OITP information technology policy analyst. “Currently, we are focused on the FCC’s initiative to reform the federal E-rate program, which is critical for the long-term sustainability of BTOP and BIP investments in the library community.”
View the White House announcement at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/background-presidents-recovery-act-announcement-tomorrow
View the list of awards at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/Broadband_Award_Roster.pdf
You may view the latest post at
http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=5097
federal Department of Labor provides guidance to workforce agencies on partnering with libraries’
The Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) officially
encouraged its state and local workforce investment boards, state workforce
agencies, and One-Stop Career Centers to partner with public libraries to
extend their career and employment services to job seekers and unemployed
workers. The ETA's Training and Employment Notice (TEN) cements a partnership
between the ETA and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that
was announced on June 25, 2010, at the American Library Association annual
meeting.
Read more about this initiative in the IMLS announcement at
http://www.imls.gov/news/2010/063010b.shtm.
encouraged its state and local workforce investment boards, state workforce
agencies, and One-Stop Career Centers to partner with public libraries to
extend their career and employment services to job seekers and unemployed
workers. The ETA's Training and Employment Notice (TEN) cements a partnership
between the ETA and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) that
was announced on June 25, 2010, at the American Library Association annual
meeting.
Read more about this initiative in the IMLS announcement at
http://www.imls.gov/news/2010/063010b.shtm.
Video and photos of Google program, rally, and other Annual events available from Washington Office’
Photos and video of Washington Office activities during Annual 2010 are now
available on Vimeo and Flickr. See the list of links below.
Video
• Library Advocacy Day (promo) http://vimeo.com/8576264
• Library Advocacy Day Rally http://vimeo.com/12974793
• Library Advocacy Day Video Contest Winners
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/libraryadvocacyday/videocontest/index.cfm
• Washington Office 2010 Update http://vimeo.com/album/247628
• Google Book Settlement Panel http://vimeo.com/album/247425
Photos
• Library Advocacy Day Rally
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624267125311/
• Google Book Settlement Panel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624254502701/
• Washington Office Update
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624253648249/
• Mark Bard Memorial Dedication Ceremony
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624378329020/
• Patterson Award Reception
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624318243179/
available on Vimeo and Flickr. See the list of links below.
Video
• Library Advocacy Day (promo) http://vimeo.com/8576264
• Library Advocacy Day Rally http://vimeo.com/12974793
• Library Advocacy Day Video Contest Winners
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/libraryadvocacyday/videocontest/index.cfm
• Washington Office 2010 Update http://vimeo.com/album/247628
• Google Book Settlement Panel http://vimeo.com/album/247425
Photos
• Library Advocacy Day Rally
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624267125311/
• Google Book Settlement Panel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624254502701/
• Washington Office Update
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624253648249/
• Mark Bard Memorial Dedication Ceremony
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624378329020/
• Patterson Award Reception
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alawash/sets/72157624318243179/
Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration to offer two webinars regarding collaboration with libraries’
The Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration will soon offer two webinars related to collaboration with libraries as part of its new partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS):
July 19: This webinar will highlight promising state and local examples of workforce-library collaboration. Details to be announced on the Workforce3One website. (Registration is required to access site content.)
http://www.workforce3one.org/
August 11: This webinar on WebJunction will present an introduction to the
workforce system and the electronic tools most helpful to library staff. Free
registration is open now.
http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1661.
July 19: This webinar will highlight promising state and local examples of workforce-library collaboration. Details to be announced on the Workforce3One website. (Registration is required to access site content.)
http://www.workforce3one.org/
August 11: This webinar on WebJunction will present an introduction to the
workforce system and the electronic tools most helpful to library staff. Free
registration is open now.
http://evanced.info/webjunction/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=1661.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Audit Reveals Wide Variation in Agency Plans to Make Government More Open'
SOURCE: http://www.ombwatch.org/node/10968
Audit Reveals Wide Variation in Agency Plans to Make Government More Open NASA, HUD, EPA Produce Strong Plans; DOJ Plan Disappoints
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2010—A ranking of agencies’ Open Government Plans compiled during an independent audit reveals the strongest and weakest agency plans, with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the top of the list and the Department of Justice (DOJ) at the bottom. Strikingly, the audit also found that several agencies that are supposed to lead by example on the government openness front failed to do so in their Open Government Plans.
The audit was organized by OpenTheGovernment.org and conducted by volunteers from nonprofit groups, academia, and other organizations that serve the public interest, including OMB Watch, who have experience working with the agencies and evaluating information policies.
The Obama administration’s Dec. 8, 2009, Open Government Directive (OGD) required executive agencies to develop and post Open Government Plans by April 7, 2010. The OGD specified elements related to transparency, participation, and collaboration that must be included in the plans. The audit acknowledges that all the agencies required to produce a plan completed them within the four month deadline. This alone is an important indicator of the administration’s commitment to openness.
The evaluation forms used for the audit rate the extent to which agencies meet the administration’s standards as spelled out in the OGD and provide bonus points for exceeding the requirements. In some instances, the results of these evaluations differ significantly from evaluations recently released by the White House. The differences are to be expected given our evaluators’ perspectives as independent non-governmental organizations and our awarding of bonus points.
Including the bonus points, NASA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency created plans that serve as models for other agencies by going beyond all the OGD requirements. Many agencies have taken innovative steps in their plans. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made specific commitments for identifying and publishing high-value data sets this year. NASA is inviting the public to collaborate in the development of technologies that are core to its mission. And agencies have already begun to implement commitments made in their plans, such as the Department of Labor’s Online Enforcement Database on workplace safety, and to improve on work in place, like the Department of Energy’s Open Energy Information platform.
The five lowest scores went to the Department of Treasury, Department of Defense, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice.
Of particular disappointment to many of the evaluators is the low ranking of plans developed by OMB and DOJ. Given that OMB has responsibility overseeing portions of the OGD, the evaluators expected the agency to seize this opportunity to lead by example. For example, OMB easily could have taken this opportunity to make its new contractor accountability database – the Federal Award Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) – accessible to the public. Similarly, DOJ’s ranking at the bottom of the stack is disappointing given its charge to implement the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), America’s oldest public access law, and Attorney General Eric Holder’s guidance to federal agencies in 2009, which stated his strong support for President Obama’s commitment to open government.
The evaluators view these plans and the audit as the beginning of a process to make government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. Many of the weakness noted in the plans can, and should, be easily addressed if agencies live up to their commitments to treat these plans as “first drafts” and “living documents.”
We invite agencies to revise their plans by the end of May. OpenTheGovernment.org will revisit those plans in early June to see how agencies have responded to this audit. In the final analysis, an open government plan is really only as strong as its execution, and there is much work left to do to make sure agencies live up to their promises.
For a full list of how the agencies’ plans rank, click here:
http://bit.ly/OGovRank
For the full results of the audit and links to agency evaluations, click here:
http://bit.ly/OGovEvals
OMB Watch will have more on the audit and its implications in the coming days on its blog, The Fine Print, and in its newsletter, The Watcher.
Evaluators: American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Center for Democracy and Technology, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, OMB Watch, OpenTheGovernment.org, Project on Government Oversight, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Sunlight Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, faculty and students at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, and a volunteer, Ted Smith (Health Central, for identification purposes only).
# # #
OMB Watch is a nonprofit government watchdog organization dedicated to promoting government accountability, citizen participation in public policy decisions, and the use of fiscal and regulatory policy to serve the public interest. Find OMB Watch on Facebook and Twitter.
OpenTheGovernment.org is a coalition of more than 65 consumer and good government groups, librarians, environmentalists, labor, journalists, and others, focused on pushing back governmental secrecy and promoting openness.
Audit Reveals Wide Variation in Agency Plans to Make Government More Open NASA, HUD, EPA Produce Strong Plans; DOJ Plan Disappoints
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2010—A ranking of agencies’ Open Government Plans compiled during an independent audit reveals the strongest and weakest agency plans, with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the top of the list and the Department of Justice (DOJ) at the bottom. Strikingly, the audit also found that several agencies that are supposed to lead by example on the government openness front failed to do so in their Open Government Plans.
The audit was organized by OpenTheGovernment.org and conducted by volunteers from nonprofit groups, academia, and other organizations that serve the public interest, including OMB Watch, who have experience working with the agencies and evaluating information policies.
The Obama administration’s Dec. 8, 2009, Open Government Directive (OGD) required executive agencies to develop and post Open Government Plans by April 7, 2010. The OGD specified elements related to transparency, participation, and collaboration that must be included in the plans. The audit acknowledges that all the agencies required to produce a plan completed them within the four month deadline. This alone is an important indicator of the administration’s commitment to openness.
The evaluation forms used for the audit rate the extent to which agencies meet the administration’s standards as spelled out in the OGD and provide bonus points for exceeding the requirements. In some instances, the results of these evaluations differ significantly from evaluations recently released by the White House. The differences are to be expected given our evaluators’ perspectives as independent non-governmental organizations and our awarding of bonus points.
Including the bonus points, NASA, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Protection Agency created plans that serve as models for other agencies by going beyond all the OGD requirements. Many agencies have taken innovative steps in their plans. For example, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made specific commitments for identifying and publishing high-value data sets this year. NASA is inviting the public to collaborate in the development of technologies that are core to its mission. And agencies have already begun to implement commitments made in their plans, such as the Department of Labor’s Online Enforcement Database on workplace safety, and to improve on work in place, like the Department of Energy’s Open Energy Information platform.
The five lowest scores went to the Department of Treasury, Department of Defense, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Department of Energy, and the Department of Justice.
Of particular disappointment to many of the evaluators is the low ranking of plans developed by OMB and DOJ. Given that OMB has responsibility overseeing portions of the OGD, the evaluators expected the agency to seize this opportunity to lead by example. For example, OMB easily could have taken this opportunity to make its new contractor accountability database – the Federal Award Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) – accessible to the public. Similarly, DOJ’s ranking at the bottom of the stack is disappointing given its charge to implement the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), America’s oldest public access law, and Attorney General Eric Holder’s guidance to federal agencies in 2009, which stated his strong support for President Obama’s commitment to open government.
The evaluators view these plans and the audit as the beginning of a process to make government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative. Many of the weakness noted in the plans can, and should, be easily addressed if agencies live up to their commitments to treat these plans as “first drafts” and “living documents.”
We invite agencies to revise their plans by the end of May. OpenTheGovernment.org will revisit those plans in early June to see how agencies have responded to this audit. In the final analysis, an open government plan is really only as strong as its execution, and there is much work left to do to make sure agencies live up to their promises.
For a full list of how the agencies’ plans rank, click here:
http://bit.ly/OGovRank
For the full results of the audit and links to agency evaluations, click here:
http://bit.ly/OGovEvals
OMB Watch will have more on the audit and its implications in the coming days on its blog, The Fine Print, and in its newsletter, The Watcher.
Evaluators: American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Center for Democracy and Technology, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, OMB Watch, OpenTheGovernment.org, Project on Government Oversight, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Sunlight Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, faculty and students at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, and a volunteer, Ted Smith (Health Central, for identification purposes only).
# # #
OMB Watch is a nonprofit government watchdog organization dedicated to promoting government accountability, citizen participation in public policy decisions, and the use of fiscal and regulatory policy to serve the public interest. Find OMB Watch on Facebook and Twitter.
OpenTheGovernment.org is a coalition of more than 65 consumer and good government groups, librarians, environmentalists, labor, journalists, and others, focused on pushing back governmental secrecy and promoting openness.
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