Reviews the origins of information resources management (IRM) in the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, the Act's implementation and its 1995 reauthorization of appropriations, and current challenges confronting IRM. Discusses linking IRM to program performance, clarifying roles to improve accountability, and the integration of access and…

Focuses on the link between electronic databases and institutes of higher education, particularly the rapid increase of commercial databases. Discusses the issues that digital and electronic resources present to colleges and universities, including the implications of recent Congressional legislation and the Feist case. (EV)

The intention of S.1090 is to improve the existing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but in its current form, it is technologically out of date, will burden the administrative process, and will delay disclosure. Examines general considerations for amendments, technology and information law, and technological and administrative problems with the…

Access to information through technology brings information policy to the forefront of legislative debates and libraries must articulate their interests in the process. Defines information policy and highlights conflicting perspectives and opinions. A model of technology practice explains the interest in information policy, where a change in one…

Presents an interview with Reed Hundt, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who implemented the Education Task Force to coordinate the FCC's role in educational provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. He asserts that writing clear rules for the communications sector will promote competition and ensure educational…

Asserts that the federal government should adopt a centralized governmental structure for the privacy protection of personal information and data. Discusses the roles of federal law, federal agencies, and the judiciary; the concept of information privacy; the impact of current technologies; and models of centralized government structures for…

Discusses the control of digital content and the stakes for libraries and our democratic culture. Highlights include copyright term extension, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, use of contract law to limit the public domain, database legislation, trademarks versus the public domain, the void in our cultural vocabulary, and the concept of the…

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 (PL. 104-191) is a multitiered, comprehensive, convoluted, and controversial federal law for sweeping health care reform. Although HIPAA is dramatically broader in scope than privacy protections for health care information, a provision for privacy in the form of a Privacy Rule…

Provides current awareness sources, both paper-based and on the Internet, that are useful for keeping up on recent developments in federal information policy legislation. Coverage includes columns regularly appearing in the professional literature, trade publications, listservs, newsgroups and bulletin boards, lobbyists, and sources for tracking…

Presents an overview of statutory and non-statutory data-protection provisions currently governing the processing of personal data in Canada's private sector, including federal and provincial legislation and efforts at self-regulation through voluntary codes of practice. Considers a more comprehensive system of regulation, contemporary policy…

New Zealand's Official Information Act (OIA) has been in force for almost two decades. During these years, there has been little research published about how citizens use the legislation or how agencies have responded to requests made under the Act. The aim of this project is to produce basic research data from a range of agencies to quantify use…

Provides an overview of information policy, including its importance, its key instruments, and its complexity. Information policy issues that may create new roles for libraries include the ramifications of the public's right to information, the organization and retrieval of electronically networked information, information literacy training,…

Since federal law prohibits school systems from releasing disciplinary information contained in a student's school record, administrators are often vilified and left defenseless against angry charges lobbed by students and parents. A North Carolina district leveled the playing field by asking disgruntled parents to sign a waiver allowing school…

Examines the law for libraries, i.e. potential risks and liabilities of regulating, or not regulating, Internet access and use. Discusses the Communications Decency Act, use of filtering software, Internet policies, liability under local criminal statutes, ordinances for disseminating child pornography, obscene material, and hostile work…

This article addresses practice issues related to school health records and school nursing documentation. Because the issues have been posed by practicing school nurses, the article is in Question and Answer (Q&A) format. Specifically, the questions addressed concern the following: ownership and storage location of student health records when…