John- I think this is extremely helpful. As you note, the sheer number of
entities, combined with their overlapping jurisdictions, makes it very
difficult to get a handle on this area. I think it would be great to have a
central location with all of the entities and links listed.
A few thoughts.
It seems to me that I have seen a listing of the various depositories for
document collections of former members of Congress. It may have been in the
Advisory Committee Report. That might be a useful addition.
I don't know that there is any reason to include the Office of House
Historian separate from the Clerk's Office of History and Preservation. The
former has been pretty much defunct since the departure of Christina
Jeffrey.
Not sure about the Senate Historical Office, but the Senate Office of Public
Records falls under the Secretary of the Senate.
If you are going to include the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee (presumably because of its jurisdiction over governmental
information), you probably want to include its House counterpart (the
Government Oversight and Reform Committee, I think it is now called).
Best regards,
Mike Stern
From: openhouseproject@googlegroups.com
[mailto:openhouseproject@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Wonderlich
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 1:50 PM
To: openhouseproject@googlegroups.com
Subject: [openhouseproject] indexing jurisdictions
After writing this rather
<http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/2008/01/11/fdsys-gpos-vision-fdlp/>
convoluted post, I decided to try to list all of the competing jurisdictions
of the government bodies, agencies, and support agencies responsible for
public information access in one way or another. Here's what I've got
<http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddj3rw4t_210hb7mz6dt> so far (from a google
document that will update its corresponding web page as it is updated). I'm
looking for things I've missed. (I'm also including the current list at the
end of this email.)
Perhaps it will be helpful to have a single place indexing the various
bodies responsible for access to government information.
Looking at the list, it makes me think again that the jurisdiction of these
various bodies is not necessarily based on a logical division of
responsibility, but instead based on whatever the developmental history is
of each institution. Navigating this sort of complex system of overlapping
responsibilities can be confusing, to say the least.
-John
(start list)
support agencies need to be systematically described, in order to clarify
this post
<http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/2008/01/11/fdsys-gpos-vision-fdlp/> ,
and to set up for government information sources (those with a transparency
function).
Governmental Support Entities with a Role in Transparency: Statutory Basis
for Negotiated Terrain
Congressional Budget Office (CBO <http://www.cbo.gov/> ): CBO intro PDF
<http://www.cbo.gov/aboutcbo/introCBO.pdf> from their website, see also
Congressional Budget Act of 1974
General Accountability Office (GAO <http://www.gao.gov/> ):
Office of Technological Assessment (defunct, then reinstated
<http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/2008/01/04/ota-update/> )
Library of Congress (LOC <http://www.loc.gov/> ):
THOMAS, Congressional Research Service (CRS) running LIS on LIMS, DLR
Government Printing Office (GPO)
Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) (
<http://freegovinfo.info/node/483.> jurisdiction from FGI)
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA
<http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/1/14/12636/5764/7#c7> )
Center for Legislative Archives (CLA <http://www.archives.gov/legislative/>
)
Chief Administrative Officer (of the House) (CAO <http://cao.house.gov/> )
Speaker of the House (link <http://speaker.house.gov/> )
House Historian (link
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historian_of_the_United_States_House_of_...
entatives> ) (under the speaker's jurisdiction)
Clerk of the House (link <http://clerk.house.gov/> )
Office of History and Preservation ( OHP
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerk_of_the_United_States_House_of_Repr...
tives#Office_of_History_and_Preservation_.28OHP.29> )
Secretary of the Senate (link
<http://www.senate.gov/reference/office/secretary_of_senate.htm> )
Senate Historical Office (link
<http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Senate_His...
l_Office.htm> ) (is this under the secy of the senate?)
Senate Rules Committee (link <http://rules.senate.gov/purpose/> )
Senate Sergeant at Arms (link
<http://www.senate.gov/reference/office/sergeant_at_arms.htm> )
Committee on House Administration (CHA <http://cha.house.gov/> )
Joint Committee on Printing (JCP <http://www.house.gov/jcp/> )
Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (HSGA
<http://hsgac.senate.gov/> )
Advisory Committee on the Records of Congress (link
<http://www.archives.gov/about/laws/advisory-committee.html> )
Senate Historical Office (link
<http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/Senate_His...
l_Office.htm> )
Senate Office of Public Records (SOPR <http://sopr.senate.gov/> )
Legislative Resource Center (LRC
<http://clerk.house.gov/about/offices_lrc.html> )
Executive Branch
General Services Administration (GSA
<http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/home.do?tabId=0> ), (executive branch)
CIO Counsel ( link <http://www.cio.gov/index.cfm?function=aboutthecouncil> )
(also see federal indexes: usa.gov, info.gov, (fedworld.gov by us commerce
dept)
Office of Management and Budget ( OMB <http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/> )
Judicial Branch
Federal Judicial Center (FJC <http://www.fjc.gov/> )
--
John Wonderlich
Program Director
The Sunlight Foundation
(202) 742-1520 ext. 234
