You are browsing the archives of March 2009.

To facilitate disclosure of how the $787 billion stimulus package will be spent, President Obama recently appointed Earl E. Devaney to chair the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board. To ensure that the spending is well accounted for, the Board has put together the web site recovery.gov as a public resource to follow the money.

The National Security Archive recently awarded its fifth annual Rosemary Award to the Federal Bureau of Information.

In a January 21st memo, President Obama called for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to set new federal guidelines to carry out a more transparent interpretation of the Freedom of Information Act. On March 19th, Holder issued a memo to the heads of federal agencies with instructions to err on the side of openness when responding to FOIA requests.

This week, the Sunshine Week 2009 Survey of State Government Information Online published the results of its survey, which ranks state governments on the online accessibility of public records.

Freedom of Information Day is celebrated annually on March 16, the birth date of the fourth US President James Madison.

While aware that police reports are often required after traffic accidents for insurance purposes, many people do not realize that other police reports are available to the general public. The detailed reports can be helpful in preparing for related court proceedings or due diligence backgrounding; or, on a personal basis, to learn more about police activity in your neighborhood.

According to a recent press release from the California Office of the Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has mandated increased transparency within his office by requiring the online publication of personal financial disclosure and travel disclosure filings for his senior staff and department heads.

Also known as digital asset managers or digital preservation officers, these people adapt all types of documents and written materials for use in computer databases, making the information readily accessible for future researchers.

A PACER trial at several libraries nationwide allowed unlimited access to court records last fall. Open-government activist Carl Malamud recruited others to download documents from the free servers to publish for free on the Internet, sparking a debate about practical obscurity.