2. Policy Advocacy
Technology Development
Journalism Press Outreach
3. 4 Arguments
3.The internet has changed public
expectations on access to information.
4.Traditional institutions are struggling to
keep up.
5.New information intermediaries and
tools are emerging.
6.Libraries must be bold in this new era.
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
4. -1-
The internet has changed
public expectations on
access to information.
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
5. 82 percent of adults
use the internet.
- Pew Internet Survey
February 2012
67 percent of
internet users visited
gov’t websites.
- Pew, May 2011
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
6. Even in 2009,
many Americans
turned to the
internet for
legislative
information,
government data,
federal spending
information, and
campaign
contribution
Pew, 2009 Study records.
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
7. Private sector
internet
adoption has
raised public
expectations
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
8. -2-
Traditional institutions
are struggling to keep up.
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
9. Executive Branch
•Open Government Directive (and
agency publication plans)
•Data.gov
•IT Spending Dashboard
•White House Visitor Records
•Ethics.gov
•Recovery.gov
•Open Government Partnership
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
10. House of Representatives
•Webcasting hearings
•Leadership statement on bulk
access
•Docs.house.gov
•3 transparency conference
•Madison Project (Issa)
•72-hour rule
•Statement of Disbursements
•Twitter/YouTube
•Earmark Requests
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
12. U.S. Supreme Court
•Minor upgrades to website
•Release of audio of argument at
end of week
•Small pilot with GPO to release
opinions
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
13. Unfortunately, government data often…
• Is unavailable or incomplete
• Is locked in unusable or difficult-to-use
formats
• Is trapped in clunky or poorly-designed
websites
• Is trapped behind pay walls or restrictive
licensing
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
14. For example:
PDFs are
pictures of
information,
useful for
humans to read
but not for
computers to
process.
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
15. 87% of adults feel it’s
important or very
important for the
government to provide
general information to
the public on
government websites
Source: Pew
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
16. How can these rising expectations be met?
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
17. -3-
New information
intermediaries and
tools are emerging.
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
28. Notable ongoing legislative activity
around releasing data
•Bulk access to legislative data
•The DATA Act
•Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (HR
1974, S 1411)
•Public Online Information Act (HR 1349, S 717)
•CRS Electronic Accessibility Act (H Res 727)
•DISCLOSE Act
•Lobbying Disclosure Enhancement Act (HR 2339)
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
31. Law libraries fit everywhere.
• Inform government on how best to catalog, release
information.
• Partner with technology developers to build websites and
webservices.
• Original publisher of hard-to-find documents.
• Experts that point the public and researchers to the best
sources of information.
• Collaborative gathering and online publishing of useful
information (e.g. committee hearings, agency reports).
Daniel Schuman, Policy Counsel
33. Photo Sources
(those that aren’t credited on the page where they appear)
• Political leaders: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/5641045140/sizes/l/in/photostream/
• Obama: http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/6857417284/sizes/z/in/photostream/
• Boehner: http://www.flickr.com/photos/speakerboehner/6883247500/sizes/m/in/photostream/
• Reid: http://www.flickr.com/photos/senatorreid/5569541248/in/photostream/
• Roberts: http://www.sdakotabirds.com/feathers_and_folly/?tag=john-roberts
• This is not a pipe: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/6203803658/sizes/z/in/photostream/
• Matrix: http://www.dan-dare.org/freefun/games/matrixwallpaper1024.htm
