Issues in public access: The Solomons conferences

Abstract

In 1991 and 1992, officials in the offices of information resources management in several federal agencies held interagency conferences on public access to electronic government information. The conferences were held at Solomons, Maryland, and became known as the Solomons conferences. The first conference, sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency in May 1991. consisted principally of the sharing of ideas and experience with regard to agency information dissemination programs. The second conference, sponsored by the Department of Agriculture in November 1991, concentrated on the question: under what conditions should the public have online access to federal computers? An outcome of the second Solomons conference was a working draft policy framework on public access to government electronic information. In July 1992. the author sponsored a public/private sector dialogue to critique the draft policy framework. The dialogue addressed questions such as: Who is(are) the public(s)?; security controls and public access: value enhancement in the public sector; user charges and restrictions on redissemination; and networks and public access. The public/ private sector dialogue served as input to the third Solomons conference, sponsored by the Department of Commerce in September 1992. The third conference concentrated more on cost recovery and pricing of information products.