Making Sense of International Government Documents :Making Sense of International Government Documents Katy Marcy LIS 60001 25 October 2009


Government Documents :Government Documents Government documents have to meet certain requirements Made by a government agency Contain information pertinent to the government functioning The listing for public US government documents can be found at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/


Government Documents :Government Documents Individual administrations decide when to declassify documents The Freedom of Information Act signed in 1966 http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/ Makes all open meetings of federal agencies declassified information Any citizen can ask for transcripts from any of the meetings The agency has burden of proof to limit access Congress, the Courts, and state or local governments are not restricted by FOIA.


Access to Documents :Access to Documents Each agency can determine the classification of a document's status Individuals may access any open document at any time Closed meeting documents can remain closed until the agency declassifies the information. This can be determined by state law, common practice, or the result of calls for information, ie the demand for information regarding the torture practices of the US in securing information in the War on Terror.


International Law :International Law Laws for access to government documents vary according to country Many countries have adapted their own Freedom of Information acts. In doing so these many of these countries have made some of their documents available online.


Countries discussed :Countries discussed United Kingdom (UK) – developed from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy which now has a monarchical figurehead Russia – violently overthrown monarchy to an authoritarian oligarchy, which was violently overthrown again allowing some limited democracy South Africa – Colonial holding, extended fight for independence.


Government Docs - UK :Government Docs - UK Publication of government documents are often held confidential for 70 years after publication Some codes include: CM – Command Papers HCP – House of Commons Papers Other Papers Difficulty comes from the establishment of a multination depository Many of the documents can be found at http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/publications.cfm


Governmen Docs – Russian Fed. :Governmen Docs – Russian Fed. 1990s – Russia began using libraries as repositories for government documents Became much more open in dissemination of information Using the libraries made sense because of centralization and access – Rubin's ideas of how a library is formed


Government Docs – South Africa :Government Docs – South Africa South African government documents can be found at: http://www.pmg.org.za/gazettes?page=1 They seem to have much of their information on their website The transparent aspect of the South African government places them in a distinct place in Africa as a whole.


Electronic Access :Electronic Access Making documents available online has made access easier, but has caused certain problems Opened access to the greater public Allowed patrons to do the search themselves rather than relying on a librarians Public must have the skills to use the computers and databases Agencies are able to control their own media The cost of upgrading computers and other media hinders access Laskowski, Mary Schneider. “The impact of electronic access to government information: what users and documents specialists think”


International Documents :International Documents ALA has a International Documents Taskforce helps codify international documents that ends up in US libraries acts as a liaison to other nations regarding the documents Establishing an IGO and NGO aspect to their projects opens up new areas of research organizes information based not only on the country establishing a record