Access to Information and Open Government Resources
The topic of the 2014 fall membership meeting was Opening the Government ~ Access for All. Mary Treacy, local information pioneer and Outreach Coordinator for Washington, DC-based OpenTheGovernment.org, shared her unique experience working to keep government-related information free and open to all constituencies. Below is a list of additional resources for further exploration of these topics, provided by Mary and MALL members.
Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act - H.R. 1380 (113th Congress) - introduced
Access to Justice Initiative - US Department of Justice
Coalition for Court Transparency Videos
Community Justice Project - University of St. Thomas
E-Government Advisory Council - Minn. Stat. 16E.071
FOIA Improvement Act - H.R. 1211 (113th Congress) - Article by Mary Treacy re: why Minnesotans should care.
FOIA Online - portal for Freedom of Information Act filings
Full Disclosure blog - James Eli Shiffer, Star Tribune
Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) - the federal FOIA ombudsman
Open Government Initiative - supervised by the White House. Agencies are required to develop a plan to facilitate greater transparency. The Justice Department plan is here.
Open Twin Cities - Citizens driven to improve civic technology
Open Twin Cities/Twin Cities Brigade - Google group for civic hackers
Public Record Media - public record research, FOI, and transparency
Sunlight Foundation - advocates for open government globally
World Bank Transparency series podcasts