Medical Library Association | Public Policy : MLA Position Statements and FAQs

MLA Position Statements and FAQs

Access to Government Information Position Statement

MLA's Position

Why MLA Supports This Position

Basic Principles

Background

Conclusion

Author

MLA's Position

The Medical Library Association believes that government-generated information is a public good and a vital national resource. Everyone needs access to such information to fully exercise their rights as citizens. Therefore, all available government information should and must be equally accessible to all Americans.

Why MLA Supports This Position

Health sciences librarians serve society by providing the information needed for the delivery of health care, the education of health professionals, the conduct of research, and enhanced public awareness of health care issues. To support this goal, health sciences librarians work together to improve the quality of available information resources and to provide timely, accurate, and relevant information.

As the federal government establishes a National Information Infrastructure (NII), it is crucial that health sciences librarians be included in the development of any national information policy, and that the policy support equal access to government information, including medical information.

The medical library community has identified several issues that should be factored into the development of a national information policy. These include universal information access by the public, quality control of agency materials, when and whether to charge user fees, keeping these fees reasonable and fair, and ensuring funds for the development of computer and communications technologies. Because these issues affect government efforts to disseminate its information products and services, including medical information, the Medical Library Association has endorsed several related national information principles.

Basic Principles

Because government-generated information is a public good, MLA believes that any discussion of privatization or costs and benefits of alternative dissemination methods must proceed from this premise and not from purely tangible definitions of economic value. Questions of commercial profitability cannot be the deciding factor in the decision to offer continuing access to government information.
Because government information is generated with public funds, it must be disseminated to the public with as few barriers as possible.
If user fees must be charged, they should be restricted to recovering the costs of reproducing information and making it available. While MLA recognizes that the user, be it an institution, agency, corporation, or private citizen, must bear some of the reproduction and access costs beyond initial development of the databases, the association maintains that access should be as free of charges as possible, because taxpayers have already paid for the development of the databases.
Maximum reliance on the private sector may not be the best way to disseminate government information. Complex issues related to security, proprietary controls, profit-motivated fees, integrity of databases, confidentiality, archival access, and the appropriateness of public subsidies for commercial interests must also be taken into account.

Background

Access to information empowers individuals to confront issues that impact their social, economic, and physical well-being. As health sciences librarians, MLA members are committed to improving the quality of health care that all Americans receive through the provision of accurate, timely, relevant biomedical information.

In recent years, MLA has addressed legislative and public policy issues related to dissemination of government information to the public. Although this legislation addresses all public information, it also applies specifically to biomedical information.

GPO Windo.
MLA has supported GPO Windo legislation (i.e., the GPO-Wide Information Network for Data Online Act of 1991 and the GPO Gateway to Government Act of 1992). This legislation resulted in passage of the GPO Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993, which establishes a public electronic gateway to a wide range of federal databases (e.g., Federal Register, Congressional Record).

In addressing this legislation, MLA maintained that access to government information benefits the library community and society at large. MLA recognized that although taxpayer money has funded the research and printing of federal documents, user fees that approximate the GPO's incremental cost of disseminating the data must be fair to the agencies providing the information as well as to the consumer. However, the fees should not be so great that they dissuade individuals from accessing federal information. Many federal electronic databases remain unused by the public because of the high access prices imposed by private vendors. MLA recommended that this be taken into consideration when determining the incremental costs of disseminating the data.

Another concern addressed quality control of the federal databases accessed under the GPO Windo legislation. Increased access to federal databases gives private vendors a greater opportunity to provide information dissemination services to clients unwilling or unable to access federal databases on their own. These vendors, upon purchasing the information, would be free to amend and edit it and then re-sell the information to consumers. MLA advocated that information gleaned from federal sources maintain its original integrity and not be resold under the guise of a governmental publication. Maintaining the integrity of the National Library of Medicine databases is particularly important because it relates to the delivery of health care.
Depository Library Program (DLP).
MLA also recognizes the major role of the depository libraries in the dissemination of public information. Many academic health sciences libraries have cooperative arrangements with depository libraries to support access to crucial biomedical information for health care professionals, educators, researchers, students, and the public. For this reason, MLA has supported the provision of adequate funding to maintain the DLP. The association also believes that electronic communication may remove barriers to public access to valuable biomedical information. For this reason, MLA has supported the position that electronic information should not be treated differently from printed information and has encouraged the GPO to make information in electronic format available through the DLP.

Conclusion

Providing the public with access to government information through the emerging National Information Infrastructure is an increasingly complex endeavor. The Medical Library Association recognizes that issues such as universal information access by the public, quality control of agency materials, when and whether to charge user fees, and funding for the NII require the best thinking of our elected officials and national leaders of both the non-profit and profit sectors.

Toward this end, MLA continues to establish coalitions to ensure that the public interest is addressed in any national information policy. The association will continue to play a leadership role in addressing these issues as legislation and policies are developed.

MLA members can support the association's advocacy efforts by understanding this philosophy of information access. And occasionally, association leaders will issue action alerts which ask members to communicate this philosophy to members of Congress and other government officials.