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).

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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.

District Dispatch has posted a new item, 'House passes resolution honoring National Library Week'

Last night, the House of Representatives passed H.RES.1222 , a resolution tosupport the goals and ideals of National Library Week. Sponsored by U.S. Rep.Vernon Ehlers (MI-3-R), the resolution outlines the many ways libraries of all kinds serve our country.

The opening text of the resolution states, “Whereas the Nation's school, academic, public, and special libraries make a difference in the lives of millions of people in the United States, today, more than ever; Whereas librarians are trained professionals, helping people of all ages and backgrounds find and interpret the information they need to live, learn, and work in a challenging economy; Whereas libraries are part of the American Dream, places for opportunity, education, self-help, and lifelong learning.”

Click here(http://bit.ly/aZBc8S)to read the Congressional Record account of the proceedings, including the full text of the resolution and floor speeches.

Best regards,
Jacob Roberts


[Editor's Note: Thank you Congress Member Hirono for voting YEA!]

“TTYL” series tops ALA's 2009 Top Ten list of most frequently challenged books

CHICAGO –Lauren Myracle’s best-selling young adult novel series "TTYL," the first-ever novels written entirely in the style of instant messaging, tops the American Library Association’s (ALA) Top Ten list of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009.

Two books are new to the list: Twilight (series) by Stephanie Meyer and “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult.

Both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Robert Cormier’s “The Chocolate War” return after being dropped from the list in 2008.

“Even though not every book will be right for every reader, the ability to read, speak, think and express ourselves freely are core American values,” said Barbara Jones, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “Protecting one of our most fundamental rights – the freedom to read – means respecting each other’s differences and the right of all people to choose for themselves what they and their families read.”

For nearly 20 years, the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has collected reports on book challenges. A challenge is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed or restricted because of content or appropriateness. In 2009, OIF received 460 reports on efforts to remove or restrict materials from school curricula and library bookshelves.

Though OIF receives reports of challenges in public libraries, schools, and school libraries from a variety of sources, a majority of challenges go unreported. OIF estimates that its statistics reflect only 20-25% of the challenges that actually occur.

The ALA’s Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009 reflect a range of themes, and consist of the following titles:

1. “TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Lauren Myracle
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs

2. “And Tango Makes Three” by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality

3. “The Perks of Being A Wallflower,” by Stephen Chbosky
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide

4. “To Kill A Mockingbird,” by Harper Lee
Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

6. “Catcher in the Rye,” by J.D. Salinger
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

7. “My Sister’s Keeper,” by Jodi Picoult
Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence

8. “The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things,” by Carolyn Mackler
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

9. “The Color Purple,” Alice Walker
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

10. “The Chocolate War,” by Robert Cormier
Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

Seven titles were dropped from the list, including: His Dark Materials Trilogy (Series) by Philip Pullman (Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint, Violence); Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz (Occult/Satanism, Religious Viewpoint, Violence); "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya (Occult/Satanism, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Sexually Explicit, Violence); Gossip Girl (Series) by Cecily von Ziegesar (Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group); "Uncle Bobby’s Wedding" by Sarah S. Brannen (Homosexuality, Unsuited to Age Group); "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini (Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group); and "Flashcards of My Life" by Charise Mericle Harper (Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group).

Also new this year is an updated list of the top 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of the Decade (2000 – 2009). Topping the list is the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, frequently challenged for various issues including occult/Satanism and anti-family themes. A complete listing can be found at http://tinyurl.com/top100fcb.

For more information on book challenges and censorship, please visit the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom’s Banned Books Week Web site at www.ala.org/bbooks.

The Office for Intellectual Freedom is charged with implementing ALA policies concerning the concept of intellectual freedom as embodied in the Library Bill of Rights, the Association’s basic policy on free access to libraries and library materials. The goal of the office is to educate librarians and the general public about the nature and importance of intellectual freedom in libraries.

Planning and design of libraries for higher education.

In 2007, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) joined forces to provide a basic framework for architects, planners, and librarians embarking on the planning and design of libraries for higher education. The Guide provides information about the design of new and renovated library space, and points toward additional resources that can support, inform and enhance the academic library design process.

The ACRL/LLAMA Interdivisional Committee on Building Resources is pleased to announce that the wiki has been updated and is available at:>http://wikis.ala.org/acrl/index.php/ACRL/LLAMA_Guide_for_Architects_and_Librarians

The Committee welcomes your ideas. Please direct any comments or suggestions about the wiki to Susan Campbell scampbel@ycp.edu.

History contest for libraries

In honor of National Library Week (April 11-17), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), together with HISTORYTM and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, encourages libraries to enter a contest!

For Libraries of All Sizes: Create a special exhibit or media project about American history that will spark interest in your community’s history.

• Hurry up and register today at history.com/classroom!
• The Grand Prize Winner receives $15,000; two First Prize Winners receive $5,000 each; and 10 Second Prize Winners receive $1,000.
• HISTORYTM’s America: The Story of Us contest is an opportunity to get excited about American history and explore our nation’s diverse heritage.
• See the flyer (pdf) about the contest and refer to HISTORYTM’s website for more information.

Building coalitions is key in advocating for broadband, other library needs

Having spent two days last week with members of the Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition (SHLB), I’ve taken a minute to reflect on the importance of building coalitions in raising the voice of libraries.

ALA became a member of SHLB shortly after its founding in June of 2009. The coalition formed in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or the stimulus program, to support the provisions in the Act related to improving broadband access for community anchor institutions. Like other members of SHLB, ALA has long known that access to robust and scalable broadband is critical for these institutions to be able to provide the services they currently offer. Even more important is thinking about the broadband needs of the not-too-distant future as bandwidth-heavy applications become more and more commonplace. Advocating for the broadband needs of libraries often follows a similar path to that of other anchor institutions.

ALA advocates for big broadband for libraries on its own, but being part of a coalition allows ALA to participate in another level of advocacy. Aggregating the voice of many shows there are widespread concerns affecting a variety of stakeholders. In the case of adequate broadband for anchor institutions, pooling resources broadens the scope of what any one organization could achieve if acting singly. Coordinated effort successfully brought attention to the unique broadband issues facing multi-user institutions in critical arenas –the FCC, NTIA, RUS, and on Capitol Hill – as is evidenced previously by changes made between round one and round two of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and currently by the National Broadband Plan’s specific focus on anchor institutions in a number of their recommendations.

Building coalitions is not an easy process. Though there might be enough commonalities between the member organizations to advocate at a high level, once you move further away from the big picture, organizational differences become more apparent. In the end, ALA is responsible for the interests of its members and the library community. And, in the end, ALA has its own interests that may not coincide 100 percent with those of other coalition members. Coming to the coalition table understanding that each of us represents our own communities but that our communities have like interests is important to the success of the coalition. Equally important is for each coalition member to be open to hearing the views of the other members. We need to be supportive of one another, appreciate the expertise we each bring with us, and leverage the strength of the group to reach a common goal from which we all can benefit.

At the same time that we can come together on some issues, it is important to identify the issues where we have to step away and either defer to the expertise of another organization, or decide not to “sign on” to that particular issue. Coalitions are as strong as their members but in order to build on that strength, they need to be flexible enough to accommodate our differences. Hopefully, we can find common ground on which to focus.

Local coalition building is really no different than coalition building at the national level and is no less important to the success of advocating for the needs of local libraries – whatever they may be. Bringing together a variety of organizations with similar goals and missions can be a successful means to garner critical support for your common issues. Building partnerships around a common goal also opens up the possibility of future collaborations between members on new issues and in front of different audiences. At times, acting as a group provides individual members with a stronger voice. Coalition building requires commitment, but the payoffs can be well worth the effort.

The State of America's Libraries, 2010, is available

The report shows the value of libraries in helping Americans combat the recession. It includes data from a January 2010 Harris Interactive poll that provides compelling evidence that a decade-long trend of increasing library use is continuing—and even accelerating during economic hard times. This national survey indicates that some 219 million Americans feel the public library improves the quality of life in their community. More than 223 million Americans feel that because it provides free access to materials and resources, the public library plays an important role in giving everyone a chance to succeed. --- Don Wood