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Statement
of
Sharon A. Hogan
University Librarian
University of Illinois at Chicago
On
behalf of the
American Library Association
American Association
of Law Libraries
Association of Research Libraries
Before
the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs
on S. 803,
The E-Government Act of 2001
July 11,
2001
Good
morning. I am Sharon Hogan, University Librarian at the
University of Illinois at Chicago. I am also Chair of the
Committee on Legislation of the American Library Association
(ALA) and the Committee on Information Policies of the
Association of Research Libraries (ARL.)
I am very pleased to appear this morning on behalf of the
American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) as well as ALA and
ARL in support of S. 803, the E-Government
Act of 2001. The library community has a strong interest in
federal information policy and collectively, our associations
represent thousands of libraries and librarians across the
Nation.
Today
we will focus our comments on the key provisions of S. 803 that
enhance public access to government information. There are many
other important provisions in the legislation, and our
associations stand ready to continue to work with you and your
staff on all provisions as the bill is further refined.
Librarians
working with and for the American public know first-hand, on a
daily basis, the importance and impact that government
information has on the health and lives of all Americans, on the
economic well being of our Nation and on the preservation of our
democracy. Public,
school, academic, law and research libraries, including the more
than 1300 Federal Depository Libraries across the country,
provide access to and assist the American public in finding and
sorting through this tremendous amount of critically important
Federal government information on all subjects and in many
formats.
Our
public, school, academic, law and special libraries across the
Nation are key access points for the American public and already
are and should be members of e-government teams at the federal,
state and local levels. Libraries, including Federal Depository
libraries, assist thousands of Americans on a daily basis in
locating and using the government information they need as well
as connecting our public with government services and/or agency
personnel. The American public relies on librarians, who are the
knowledge experts and who understand the complexities and
importance of organizing information by building directories and
catalogs, and of preserving information.
In the electronic environment, libraries function in
several important roles in e-government including:
·
Providers of information through their collections, the
organization and cataloging of information, and other functions;
·
Public access points for access for connecting to the
Internet and providing local information and community services,
and in closing the digital divide for those without access to
the latest technology;
·
Educators and intermediaries by providing the necessary
tools and expertise to assist and inform the public in accessing
government information through physical and virtual collections
and services;
·
Partners with other government agencies in the
development of the infrastructures, policies and information
collections in all formats;
·
Partners with the government in recognizing the need for
continuous, permanent public access to government information.
Our
democracy is based on the public’s right to have access to
information by and about their government. Government has an
affirmative obligation to disseminate and provide broad public
access to its information, to guarantee its authenticity and
integrity, to ensure that government information remains in the
public domain, and to ensure its continuous, permanent
availability and preservation. There is also a Federal
responsibility to adequately fund these functions for the public
good.
During the
past decade, Federal agencies, Congress and the courts have
moved increasingly to rely on the Internet as the preferred
system of public information access and dissemination. It is estimated that Federal entities today provide public
access to more than 30 million web pages.
This number will continue to grow exponentially. The
public searches through the web sites of their elected
representatives and congressional committees as well, to learn
about the latest legislative proposals and their Members’
position on issues of importance to them.
The courts also are moving towards a fuller electronic
environment that will provide access to opinions, dockets and
even Electronic Case Files.
There are
many agency success stories exemplifying good practices for
public access to Federal government information.
And yet, with all the growth towards a fuller electronic
environment, the government’s financial investments in
technology, and the individual progress in many agency programs,
overall progress governmentwide from the users’
perspective has been slow, uncoordinated and without a clear
vision for the future. But the move to an e-government has not
been accompanied by the development of a comprehensive policy
framework focusing on the life-cycle of electronic government
information. Access in many cases has been disorganized and
untimely. Lack of
adequate funding has further eroded information access and
compromised a reasonable transition to electronic dissemination,
which affects all branches of government - Federal agencies,
Congress, and the courts. We cannot have an effective
e-government without effective access to government
information.
A strong
and positive framework is absolutely necessary to ensure that
the public will have seamless, continuous and permanent access
to important electronic information. The E-Government
Act of 2001 addresses the need to increase the visibility of
the many unresolved challenges of e-government and to develop a
coordinated approach to make optimum use of digital technologies
for the benefit of our citizenry. Without sound and reasonable
information policies supported by adequate funding for the
life-cycle of government information, e-government cannot move
forward. A system
that is already overwhelmed due to the lack of financial support
will need an investment in adequate funding to succeed.
As
we come together this morning to comment on S. 803, I would like
first to commend the Committee on Governmental Affairs for
initiating over a year ago a virtual public square for comment
through the committee’s web site that encouraged citizen
participation in the development of this legislation.
That open
process exemplifies e-democracy and e-government at work.
Sen. Thompson and Sen. Lieberman - we appreciate your
joint vision and leadership in creating e-Government: An Experiment in Interactive Legislation.
This
successful initiative provided a broad public forum through
which the American public was given the unique opportunity to
comment on issues of concern to them about e-government. S. 803
reflects many of the concerns and the issues raised during this
dialog “to make the government more Internet-Friendly.”
There is little doubt that the American public would be
well served if more congressional committees and members were to
emulate this successful model in participatory government.
I
would also like to recognize the diligent efforts of your Staff
Counsel Kevin Landy in working with a broad array of
stakeholders to develop this legislation. It has been a pleasure
for us in the library community to work with Mr. Landy on key
provisions of the Act. We look forward to continuing to work
with you as you refine and perfect this important legislative
effort.
Mr.
Chairman, when you and Sen. Conrad Burns and your other
cosponsors unveiled S. 803 on May 1, 2001, our associations were
pleased to have the opportunity to voice support for your
efforts intended to improve public access to government
information and services. This morning I would like to address
three specific issues regarding the e-Government bill that are
especially important from our perspective but especially focus
on the access issues.
First,
S. 803 articulates important purposes and goals of e-government,
and establishes a new Office of Information Policy for the
Executive Branch that will bring greater coordination and
guidance to agencies.
Second,
S. 803 includes important provisions that recognize the
government’s responsibility for the entire life-cycle of
electronic government information, creating new policies and
procedures to assist agencies in improving access to important
information and services.
Third,
in introducing S. 803, Sen. Lieberman called it a “work in
progress.” As you continue efforts to improve this
legislation, we believe it is important to recognize the current
statutory responsibilities of key agencies, and the important
role of individuals within agencies who have specific
responsibilities in the life-cycle of electronic government
information.
First,
access to government information is a basic right of all
Americans, young or old, rich or poor, in our largest cities or
most remote rural areas. It is also the government’s
affirmative obligation to provide the public with no-fee access
to government information created and maintained with their tax
dollars. This principle is fundamental to the open and
participatory government that Congress and the library community
have long affirmed. In
order to meet this principle, the government must provide
adequate funding for information technology, permanent public
access and preservation. Our
democracy is based on the absolute right of all citizens, with
nobody left behind, to know what actions their government is
taking, to hold government accountable and to be able to
participate in the workings of their government. This
governmental obligation should include assuring access for those
on the "other side" of the Digital Divide including
those without electronic access and those with disabilities.
Reaching these three goals through the exciting
opportunities brought about by e-government will lead to greater
public trust and confidence in our government.
Our
Nation’s libraries play a uniquely important role in this
process. Your constituents have equitable no-fee access to
Federal government information, created with their tax dollars,
through the collections and services provided by their local
library. From its earliest days, Congress wisely recognized the
importance of the public's right and need to have access to the
information created by the Federal government. The Annals of Congress, precursor to today's Congressional Record, were first published in 1789 to provide
citizens with an official record of the debate and deliberations
of their representatives in Congress.
Our
Founding Fathers determined that an open and free government
would guarantee a strong, vibrant and lasting democracy. Our
challenge in the electronic age is to affirm these principles
and recognize that the time has come to provide a policy
framework to optimize and coordinate policies for electronic
government information and services. S. 803 is an important
effort to develop an efficient model to harness the strengths
and benefits of the electronic environment more effectively to
improve public access.
The
findings and purposes of S. 803 are important for recognizing
several shortcomings in the current model of electronic
dissemination by Federal agencies. Numerous studies have
concluded what many frustrated users of government information,
including librarians, know for a fact—that locating the
government data or document one needs is often exceedingly
frustrating because "finding tools" are inadequate and
not comprehensive. This problem is complicated by the fact that
web-based government information that one might have accessed a
month or year ago may have disappeared from an agency web site
into a black hole. While many agencies do a great job of posting
important electronic documents to their web site, there is often
no recognition of the value of that information to the public
and the need for it to be available for continuous future use
and for preservation.
We agree
that there is currently a lack of coordination, cooperation,
guidance or a means to oversee and measure agency compliance
with many existing statutes. In the executive branch, the lack
of enforcement for such policies as A-130, the lack of adequate
funding for agencies, and the lack of coordination to guide
agencies towards efficient use of technology to improve the
public’s access to information and services have become
barriers between our citizens and their ability to easily locate
and use government information. Policies and procedures are
needed to assist agencies in becoming more efficient and
effective in their dissemination responsibilities, and to ensure
agency compliance with current statutes and the need for
government accountability.
Adequate funding must also be provided to support current
functions as well as the transition to a more fully digital and
electronic system.
S.
803 raises the visibility and improves coordination among
agencies with respect to information policy issues. It
establishes a new position of Federal Chief Information Officer
in charge of a new Office of Information Policy at OMB. This
proposal merits long overdue attention because it encompasses
consideration of the challenges of e-government and provides
coordination that will result in a strong framework for new and
existing policies. The coordinating role of the Federal CIO is
vital to ensure that agencies develop front-end solutions for
the entire life-cycle of electronic information and services.
Generally,
those who serve in the position of agency CIO come with strong
backgrounds in technology, in IT procurement and in cyber
security issues but they lack an understanding of the agency’s
responsibilities for public access. The CIO Council has focused
its energies on important issues such as Y2K, cybersecurity, and
privacy. The
Council now needs to focus on the equally important
responsibilities for the life-cycle of agency information. S.
803 will promote collaboration, consultation and teamwork
between those who manage technology and those who manage
information. A
systematic and common sense approach that implements
comprehensive life-cycle management of information policies is
absolutely necessary to develop e-government. Again, the
emphasis should be on access and coordination, not merely or
strictly centralization.
Second,
our organizations strongly believe that the Federal
government is responsible for ensuring the entire life-cycle of
electronic information, from creation to permanent public access
and preservation. For many years now, we have testified before
other committees within Congress that the Federal government
must carry out these responsibilities in the electronic
environment and must develop governmentwide policies and
procedures to assist agencies in all three branches.
Librarians
and information scientists--not information technologists—are
the specialists in establishing cataloging, classification,
indexing and metadata standards for government information
products. Cooperative international bodies set current
cataloging and classification standards using the combined
knowledge of information professionals as a resource. The
Library of Congress, the Government Printing Office, the
national libraries, and other governmental agencies already
cooperate with professional library organizations to create
internationally recognized cataloguing standards such as MARC
cataloguing records, AACRII, GILS and Dublin Core. In addition
to the work of these agencies and organizations, it should also
be recognized that information technology standards that
facilitate the integration of information technology are a
separate issue from descriptive information science standards.
Each is important in implementing an e-government
proposal. The standard-setting bodies, however, are
separate and need to be differentiated.
With the
rapid and pervasive growth of electronic government information,
one of the greatest challenges for users is simply identifying
and locating the database or source that they need.
In today’s distributed electronic environment, there is
a critical need for increased and enhanced coordination. In
fact, an increased electronic environment requires greater
coordination to bring all participants together on issues such
as standards and guidelines.
I
would like to highlight some specific provisions of the
legislation:
· Sec.
215 “Accessibility, usability and preservation of Government
information.
We
believe that an important benefit of the approach advanced in
this legislation will be to bring together more closely within
the planning and policy functions how an agency manages its
information technology resources and the flow of information
within agencies as well as to and from the public. In this way,
agencies can engage in life-cycle planning, and ensure that
technology plans are consistent with agency responsibilities for
providing public access to their information resources.
It
is critical to recognize the responsibility of the Federal
government to provide for permanent public access to and
preservation of electronic government information. Without a
coordinated national program to systematically capture,
preserve, and maintain ongoing access to electronic government
data, important information is lost every day as files come and
go from agency Web sites and computer servers.
The information becomes inaccessible and thus useless to
the American public whose tax dollars have supported its
creation. We believe that changes are necessary to correct the
inadequacies in current law and to ensure permanent access to
electronic government publications for future generations.
We believe that this system of permanent public access
can be accomplished through a comprehensively coordinated
program that includes Federal agencies, the Superintendent of
Documents, the National Archives and Records Administration, the
Library of Congress and other national libraries, depository
libraries, and other library partners.
I
would like briefly to describe two such successful partnerships.
The first is at my institution, the University of Illinois at
Chicago. The U.S. Department
of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) is a collaborative
effort between the State Department's Bureau of Public Affairs,
the University of Illinois at Chicago Library and the Federal
Depository Library Program to provide permanent worldwide access
to foreign policy information. (www.dosfan.lib.uic.edu/)
When the collaboration began in 1993, DOSFAN official press
briefings became available to the public for the first time.
The site includes current and authenticated information,
including the State Department's dispatches and advisories,
information on human rights issues, consulate and embassy
information, and information about travelling or living abroad.
The site provides an easy way for citizens to submit
questions or opinions about U.S. foreign policy through several
email lists and contact points.
And the
second is the Federal agency “Cybercemetery” maintained at
the University of North Texas (http://www.library.unt.edu/govinfo/research/research.html),
another federal depository library, under a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Government Printing Office (GPO). The
“Cybercemetery” is a unique archive that provides the only
continuous public access to information from defunct government
agencies and special commissions. The web site was created in
1997 after the closing of the Advisory Commission on
Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR), and since then the
publications and working documents of eight other defunct
government bodies have been added.
During the first month that the “Cybercemetery” was
expanded to include the publications of the National Partnership
for Reinventing Government (NPR), approximately 187,000 users
accessed information from the NPR.
The “Cybercemetery” was developed to provide
continuous public access to valuable government information that
is not otherwise available.
The University of North Texas Libraries is to be
commended for stepping in to fulfill what we believe is the
government’s responsibility for continuous permanent public
access to important government information.
· Sec.
205 Federal Courts and Sec. 206 Regulatory Agencies.
We
are very pleased that, based on comments from the public during
the past year, S. 803 contains important provisions to improve
access to information from the Federal courts and regulatory
agencies. While
much progress has been made throughout the court system to use
the Internet for improved public access, including the creation
of the official Supreme Court web site last year, Sections 205
and 206 provide an explicit framework for the courts to follow
in creating and maintaining content on their web sites. We fully
support these provisions, with the caveat that we believe that
the courts and regulatory agencies should not be given a
permanent opt-out. We ask that you strengthen the opt-out
provisions so that there is an annual statement of progress each
year and that there be a set timeframe for compliance.
In addition, while the public has no-fee access to
electronic information from agencies and Congress, the same
cannot be said for public access to the courts’ fee-based
PACER system. We
therefore fully support Sec. 205(e) that repeals current
statutory language permitting the Administrative Office of the
U.S. Courts to charge fees to access PACER, and we urge Congress
to appropriate adequate funding for this purpose.
And
third, as you have
noted, Chairman Lieberman, S. 803 is a “work in progress.”
The foundation for an effective e-government across all three
branches of government already exists and can be expanded
successfully without creating new institutions. Rather, many
existing Federal government policies, services and resources
should be maintained, enhanced, properly funded and integrated
into the vision that the E-Government
Act of 2001 proposes.
To
strengthen provisions of this legislation that are most
important to achieving your goal of enhancing citizen access to
government information, it is very important to recognize the
current statutory responsibilities of key agencies, such as the
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) that has
statutory responsibility for the preservation of government
records and the Government Printing Office (GPO) that has
successfully fulfilled the mandate of the GPO
Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act
(P.L. 103-40) to build the award-winning GPO
Access system. This legislation should more clearly involve
the many Federal entities already providing access to government
information. We
would like to see a clearer recognition of these institutions,
including the Library of Congress and the national libraries.
For
example, we would like to suggest that the legislation recognize
the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Federal
Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) as well. The
IMLS plays an important role in funding digital projects that
use the latest sophisticated technologies to improve access to
valuable state and federal government information. Through the
agency’s National Leadership Grants, IMLS has funded 20-25
digital library projects each year, bringing together libraries,
museums, archives and historical associations to create valuable
collaborative projects.
In
addition, the IMLS is working closely with the National Science
Foundation to address the challenge of integrating large digital
collections across many different institutions. Based on the
knowledge and expertise of the IMLS in cutting-edge technologies
and their important national coordinating role, we believe the
agency should have a statutory role in the development of the
Online National Library. In addition, with its fingers on the
pulse of our nation’s libraries, the IMLS is naturally suited
to play an important role in the further development of
Community Technology Centers, including libraries, to enhance
citizen access to government information and services.
It is also
important that the legislation recognize the broad array of
Federal agency personnel who need to work together to
successfully implement provisions of S. 803. While CIOs play an
important role in issues related to technology per se, they
often don’t have a strong background in information
dissemination, nor are they always aware of the agency’s
responsibilities for public access. Agency records managers, web
masters, privacy officers, public affairs staff, and agency
librarians should all be working together to ensure that the
agency is fulfilling its responsibility for the life-cycle of
web-based information.
We must
also develop mechanisms to ensure the authority and integrity of
information available on agency Web sites. Users must be assured
that the information they locate is, in fact, official.
Protecting one’s privacy is another challenge of
e-government and users must also be assured that government does
not intrude into personal privacy and that all appropriate
privacy policies and practices are adhered to by all segments of
government. And,
ultimately, you will need to address how the different branches
of government will coordinate their lifecycle management of
government information.
The
Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC), an
interagency council of 55 information managers from all three
branches of the U.S. Government, would be a tremendous asset in
helping coordinate agency personnel to work together to fulfill
the new responsibilities mandated by S. 803. The Committee was
established in 1965 by the Library of Congress and the Bureau of
the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) to foster
excellence in federal library and information services through
interagency cooperation. FLICC carries out its mission by
promoting efficient and effective information services,
coordinating the sharing of available resources, and providing
training and educational opportunities for federal information
professionals. FLICC also serves as a forum for discussion of
federal library and information policies, programs, and
procedures to help inform the Congress, federal agencies, and
others about these issues.
We recommend that you recognize the expertise of agency
librarians by carving out a role for FLICC in this legislation.
In
conclusion, while these are very exciting times in many ways
because technology offers many promises of improved public
access, we must put into place government wide policies and
practices that will make the vision of e-government a reality.
In order to harness the Internet to enhance public
access—the laudable goal of S. 803—it is incumbent upon the
government to fulfill its responsibility for the entire
life-cycle of electronic government information. Effective
public access for the American people is the first step toward
effective e-government.
The
Electronic Government Act
of 2001 includes important provisions that will result in
improved public access, and we share its vision. We believe that
collaborative approaches and governmentwide policies across all
three branches are necessary to implement the most effective
system of e-government. We
are committed to working with you to improve this important
legislation so that the American public benefits fully from
e-government. Thank
you very much.
ORGANIZATIONAL
BIOGRAPHIES
THE
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF LAW LIBRARIES (AALL)
The
American Association of Law Libraries is a nonprofit educational
organization with over 5,000 members nationwide.
Our members respond to the legal and governmental
information needs of legislators, judges, and other public
officials at all levels of government, corporations and small
businesses, law professors and students, attorneys, and members
of the general public.
THE
AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION (ALA)
The
American Library Association is a nonprofit educational
organization of over 60,000 librarians, library educators,
information specialists, library trustees, and friends of
libraries representing public, school, academic, state, and
specialized libraries. ALA is dedicated to the improvement of
library and information services, to the public's right to a
free and open information society--intellectual
participation--and to the idea of intellectual freedom.
THE
ASSOCIATION OF RESEARCH LIBRARIES (ARL)
The
Association of Research Libraries is a not-for-profit
organization representing 122 research libraries in the United
States and Canada. Its
mission is to identify and influence forces affecting the future
of research libraries in the process of scholarly communication. ARL programs and services promote equitable access to, and
effective use of, recorded knowledge in support of teaching,
research, scholarship, and community service.
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