Coalition for Networked Information 
Information Policies:  A Compilation of Position Statements, 
Principles, Statutes, and Other Pertinent  Statements


U.S. National Commission on Libraries 
and Information Science (NCLIS)

1111 18th Street, NW, Suite 310
Washington, DC
202-254-3100

Source:  United States National Commission on Libraries and 
Information Science News Release, July 12, 1990

Principles of Public Information

Preamble

From the birth of our nation, open and uninhibited access to public information has ensured good government and a free society. Public information helps to educate our people, stimulate our progress and solve our most complex economic, scientific and social problems. With the coming of the Information Age and its many new technologies, however, public information has expanded so quickly that basic principles regarding its creation, use and dissemination are in danger of being neglected and even forgotten.

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, therefore, reaffirms that the information policies of the U.S. Constitution, and on the recognition of public information as a national resource to be developed and preserved in the public interest. We define "public information" as information created, compiled and/or maintained by the Federal Government. We assert that public information is information owned by the people, held in trust by their government, and should be available to the people except where restricted by law. It is in this spirit of public ownership and public trust that we offer the following Principles of Public Information.

1. The public has the right of access to public information. Government agencies should guarantee open, timely and uninhibited access to public information except where restricted by law. People should be able to access public information, regardless of its format, without any special training or expertise.

2. The Federal Government should guarantee the integrity and preservation of public information, regardless of its format. By maintaining public information in the fact of changing times and technologies, government agencies assure the government's accountability and the accessibility of the government's business to the public.

3. The Federal Government should guarantee the dissemination, reproduction, and redistribution of public information. Any restriction of dissemination or any other function dealing with public information must be strictly defined by law.

4. The Federal Government should safeguard the privacy of persons who use or request information, as well as persons about whom information exists in government records.

5. The Federal Government should ensure a wide diversity of sources of access, private as well as governmental, to public information. Although sources of access may change over time and because of advances in technology, government agencies have an obligation to the public to encourage diversity.

6. The Federal Government should not allow cost to obstruct the people's access to public information. Costs incurred by creating, collecting and processing information for the government's own purposes should not be passed on to people who wish to utilize public information.

7. The Federal Government should ensure that information about government information is easily available and in a single index accessible in a variety of formats. The government index of public information should be in addition to inventories of information kept within individual government agencies.

8. The Federal Government should guarantee the public's access to public information, regardless of where they live and work, through national networks and programs like the Depository Library Program. Government agencies should periodically review such programs as well as the emerging technology to ensure that access to public information remains inexpensive and convenient to the public.

Conclusion

The National Commission on Libraries and Information Science offers these Principles of Public Information as a foundation for the decisions made throughout the Federal Government and the nation regarding issues of public information. We urge all branches of the Federal Government, state and local governments and the private sector to utilize these principles in the development of information policies and in the creation, use, dissemination and preservation of public information. We believe that in so acting, they will serve the best interests of the nation and the people in the Information Age.

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info@cni.org