Designing Government Information Access Programs: A Holistic Approach

Many people and organizations need government information: the researcher trying to understand trends in education, the local charity documenting the need for senior housing, an engineering firm preparing an environmental impact statement, a sixth-grader writing a term paper about the history of her town. Increasingly, the information they need or prefer is in electronic form. Many different kinds of organizations provide access to government information—libraries, government archives, and all kinds of public agencies at every level of government. Universities and nonprofit organizations may also be repositories of government information. They, too, are making the transition to a largely electronic way of working. A quick look at the e-government agendas of many states as well as the federal government shows that electronic records access strategies and programs are a consistent feature of e-government initiatives. The President’s E-government Management Action Plan, for example, consists of 24 initiatives grouped into four portfolios [11]. Each of the portfolios -Government to Citizen, Government to Business, Government to Government, and Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness -have within them initiatives that depend on electronic records access. In support, the National Archives and Records Administration and the National Science Foundation, as well as other granting organizations, are increasing their investment in research and practical guidance for those who seek to create electronic records and make them accessible and usable over the Web [10.] The growing demand for electronic information and for direct access to electronic records is changing the design and management of records access programs. Programs are becoming increasingly focused on electronic data and records as the format desired by users. They are also shifting from staff-supported access models to direct user access models, now made possible over the Web. Making a successful transition to this increasingly userand usage-focused electronic model requires careful assessment of the users, uses, content, operation, and cost of a desired program. This shift often requires program managers and content experts to join information access