Report 15 - Access to Information Review Task Force

THE MEANING OF "PUBLISHED" FOR PURPOSES OF THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT

Web-Publishing Considerations

The Internet and the World Wide Web have changed the way in which information can be made available and accessed. Web-sites are designed for different purposes and different audiences. They can be used for internal communication purposes within an organization and access can be restricted as required. Internal documents which are made available on an organization's intranet are designed for a specific audience, are not scrutinized, edited or reviewed for content and are not subject to publishing guidelines. Alternatively, web-sites on the Internet are created to disseminate information to the public and information content is designed according to an agreed upon set of criteria. In this new era anyone can create his or her web-site and make information available. However, there is no way of verifying the accuracy of the information or its authenticity.

While information is "published" on a web-site, the intended audience for the web-site must also be considered. Is the information on a government web-site and intended for the general public, or on an internal intranet for information exchange within and between government departments? The intent for which the information is created becomes more critical, as does the need for clear guidelines on what constitutes an official government publication and the process by which it is created and made available.

Given this new communications environment, it is important to look beyond technology. In determining whether or not a government information product is "published" consideration should be given to the intended audience and whether or not the product:

• Has gone through a selection, review/approval, editing and distribution process;
• Is intended to be distributed through the government publications process and how it will be distributed;
• Is published in accordance with the requirements in the Government Communications Policy;
• Appears on the Weekly Checklist of government publications or on a departmental catalogue of publicly available government information products.

The legislative and policy documents within which many of the definitions are found were created before the invention of web technology. From a library collections management perspective, old terminology (published) is being used for new paradigms (the Internet).

Procedures for reviewing, editing, cataloguing and providing bibliographic references should be required if documents are to be "published" on the organization's web-site, similar to those required for publishing a book. Without this type of control over the process, there is no way of verifying that the source is reliable, and that the content has been approved for distribution, is what it attests to be and is trustworthy.

Government of Canada Internet Guide, 3^rd Edition

Recognizing the potential impact of the Internet on government institutions, the Deputy Ministers of the Treasury Board's Information Management Sub-committee (TIMS) instructed the Secretariat to develop guidelines on using the Internet within the federal government. The guide states that:

"PWGSC is the registry for all Government of Canada institutions posting information on the Internet, and lists the name of each organization on the primary Internet site to ensure Canadians comprehensive access to government-wide and departmental information and services."

Once again, the policy framework and related guidance are in place to create, manage and distribute government publications on the Internet.

Long Term Preservation of Government Publications

The Information Management Forum was established in 1997 to serve as a mechanism to investigate potential future IM trends and resolve government-wide information management issues. Lead agencies such as the Treasury Board Secretariat, the National Archives, the National Library, and Justice Canada, as well as associations such as the Council of Federal Libraries, the Records Management Institute, the Association of Records Managers and Administrators, and the Data Processing Institute are represented on the Forum.

Recognizing the impact of the web-sites on government information resources, the IM Forum published Managing Internet and Intranet Information for Long Term Access and Accountability - Implementation Guide (1999). The implementation guide defines the requirements for ensuring long-time access to government publications and states that:

For published material, this entails preserving long term access to material which has ongoing value, by depositing it with the National Library at the time of publication, in accordance with the Legal Deposit provisions of the National Library of Canada Act; and, where warranted, by depositing published material in the departmental library where departmental staff and the public (where appropriate) may have ongoing access to it.

The guide recommends that:

Departments may establish a departmental e-library that encompasses the functions of selection, bibliographic control, electronic storage, access, service and preservation.

In addition it states:

In keeping with the requirements of the National Library Act, all government publications posted to a departmental web-site should be identified for deposit with the National Library. For the purposes of the Implementation Guide, the following categories of electronic publications that are made available to the public through a communication network should be included for deposit:

Annuals, annual reports, bibliographies, briefs, conference proceedings, directories, fact sheets, handbooks, indexes, market studies, monographs (books), musical recordings, newsletters, periodicals and other serial publications, recorded books, research reports, technical reports and working papers made available to the public.

The implementation guide was created as a companion to the Government of Canada Internet Guide, which outlines specific criteria for publishing documents onto government web-sites.

Infrastructure: Implementing Publication Schemes - The U.K Model

The recently enacted United Kingdom Freedom of Information Act requires government departments to develop publication schemes. It is intended that information items listed in an approved publication scheme would not be subject to the Act.

In a document provided as a general introduction to the Act the implementation of publication schemes is described as follows:

"The Act places a duty on public authorities to adopt and maintain publication schemes which must be approved by the Information Commissioner. Such schemes must set out the types of information the authority publishes, the form in which the information is published and details of any charges. The Commissioner may also approve model schemes for groups of similar bodies, for example: schools."

It was expected that public authorities would adopt broad publication schemes that allowed them to make information available to the public in a less formal manner than under the new Freedom of Information Act. However, there has been some criticism of the rigidity of the schemes. By way of example, an authority would be committed to publishing in its entirety, now and in future, all information in any class or type listed in an approved scheme such as corporate and management information, minutes of particular meetings, etc.

A detailed process has been defined to clarify the requirements and is available on the United Kingdom Freedom of Information web-site (noted in Appendix C).

Findings

The terms "published" and "published materials" were created and applied prior to the creation of the Internet and World Wide Web. With the introduction of new technologies, terminology which has been used for many years within specific contexts is now being adopted and adapted to meet different needs. As new transmission media are introduced and the public has access to new delivery mechanisms, we will continue to question whether or not something is published if we focus on the medium, rather than the content and the intended audience.

A review of the definitions shows that "published" means more than simply placing information in a departmental library or on a departmental web-site. There was a common theme throughout - wherever reference is made to "published", "publishing" or "published" the definitions relate to a series of activities which include:

• Commissioning/selecting;
• Editing/reviewing/approving;
• Cataloguing/providing bibliographic references;
• Publishing/printing;
• Disseminating/marketing/distributing;
• Making available and accessible to the general public.

There are a number of policies and procedures which set guidelines for how to publish, and how to ensure access both in the short term and the long term.

The policy infrastructure is in place to ensure that published material is identified and is made available either through the National Library or the Depository Services Programs.

Guidelines are in place to support the publishing process through the Common Services Policy, Internet guidelines and Communications Policy. While guidelines exist within a number of policy areas, government institutions are not applying them.

Recommendations and Proposed Options

The World Wide Web is creating challenges in all realms. Several recent studies provide further background on proposed solutions. See Appendix "C". For purposes of the report, and based on the project terms of reference, three options are proposed with regard to the use of the terms "published" and "published material" within the Access to Information Act.

Option 1)

Clarify what is considered as "published" for purposes of the Access to Information Act by including a definition that reflects:

• The publishing process;
• The published format;
• The intended audience;
• How publications are disseminated and through what delivery channels they are made available;
• How publications are maintained for short-term and long-term access.

More details are provided in Appendix "D"

Option 2)

Outline the components of "published" in the Treasury Board Access to Information Policy and Guidelines. This would allow greater flexibility to specify what is required to ensure availability and accessibility to the public, including reasonable cost, as well as to develop links with the related policies and guidelines noted in the report.

Option 3)

Adopt elements of the United Kingdom's proposed "publication scheme" model in order to put more structure around the creation and control of government publications. Among other things, the U.K. Information Commissioner has suggested that:

• schemes should include already-published information and information that has been frequently requested in the past;
• public authorities should consult the public on the types of information they would like to see routinely published; and
• the preferred medium of publication will be electronic (web sites should be reasonably easy to navigate and regularly updated) but provision should also be made to make information available to those who do not have access to the Internet or have special needs.

Conclusion

Up until the late 1990s, the majority of government information products were available to the public as books, periodicals, brochures, computer files, microfilm, microfiches, CDs, videocassettes and sound recordings. The way information is created and disseminated has changed dramatically since the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1995. Today not only is government information available on the earlier media but also on government web-sites. Tomorrow it will be available through portals and mobile transmission devices.

Section 68 of the Access to Information Act excludes published material from the coverage of the Act and section 26 provides a 90-day exemption for material which is to be "published". Since both of these provisions are based on the assumption that information which is "published" is generally available through means other than a request under the Access to Information Act, the criteria to define the term published for the purposes of the Act should ensure general availability.

"Published" and "published material" cannot only be defined as a media issue in an ever-changing technological environment. Determining if a government information product is "published" must also consider the reason for which it is created, the content and the intended audience. Therefore any definition must address the function and audience as well as the format and proposed definitions of "published" and "published material" should:

• Apply to any or all media on which government publications are created;
• Reinforce existing policies and procedures for creating and making available government information so that access issues raised through the introduction of new technologies are considered as the new infrastructure is designed;
• Ensure that the mechanism for dissemination provides the necessary access both in the short-term and long-term;
• Ensure a means of long-term access to the end product through departmental e-libraries, the Depository Services Program and the National Library of Canada.

Since government publications are increasingly made available electronically, it will be critical to provide a strong electronic publications management program to ensure that government publications continue to be available and accessible regardless of the medium on which they are created and disseminated.

Any definition must consider both the access requirements and the pace with which technology is providing new methods of creating, disseminating and making government publications available.

Appendix "A"

Standard Definitions of "Published" and "Published Material"

To provide a basis for a review of the terminology, The Shorter, New Oxford English Dictionary, Harrod's Library Glossary and The International Organization of Standards definitions were reviewed.

The New Oxford Dictionary defines "publish" as

• Make generally known, declare or report openly, announce, disseminate; announce in a formal or official manner;
• Bring a thing to public notice;
• Of an author, publisher, etc. prepare and issue a book, newspaper, report, piece of music, etc. for sale to the public; also prepare and issue the work of an author, composer, etc.;
• Make a work, information, etc. generally accessible or available;
• Place before the public;
• Make (news, data, research findings) generally available through the medium of a newspaper, book, journal;
• Come into public circulation; be issued.

"Publication" is defined as "the process of producing and issuing for public sale a book, newspaper, report, piece of music or other printed or reproduced matter. A work published; a book, etc. produced and issued for public sale".

Harrods Librarian's Glossary provides the following definition of "Publish"

• The action of a publisher in issuing and offering for sale to the public, a book or print produced on some kind of printing, copying or photographic reproducing machine. The action of an author, artist or composer of music in creating something and arranging for it to be reproduced in quantity and offered for sale.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

ISO's Technical Committee on Information and Documentation Standards created a glossary of terms and definitions used in ISO standards for the presentation, identification and description of documents. In its glossary it defines a "publication" as a "document usually published in multiple copies, and offered for general distribution". (ISO 5127/2, referenced in ISO 12083). While "publisher" is defined, there is no definition of "published".

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