[NLA] but wait, there's more--USDE web site

Tue Nov 26 11:14:39 EST 2002

Regarding:

EDUCATION RESEARCHERS, social scientists, and library
> representatives have charged that the Education Department is
> preparing to delete information from its Web site, in part,
> because the material does not reflect the philosophies of the
> Bush administration.

Before I get too excited, does anyone--Jon--know if this is unusual?  I
would think that eventually all administrations get around to reshaping
public information to "fit philosophies". I'm interested to see what
results, as testimony to those philosophies, but I routinely expect
anything from the DOE to carry with it the biases of the respective
administration.  Debbie   

Deborah W. Yoho
Co-moderator, NIFL-Health Listserv
President, SC Adult Literacy Educators
Executive Director, Greater Columbia Literacy Council
2728 Devine Street,  Columbia, SC  29205
803-765-2555   Fax  803-779-8417   dwyoho at earthlink.net

> [Original Message]
> From: George E. Demetrion <sophocles5 at juno.com>
> To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Date: 11/25/2002 9:34:02 PM
> Subject: Re: [NLA] but wait, there's more--USDE web site
>
> On Mon, 25 Nov 2002 07:55:08 -0500 mev at litwomen.org <mev at litwomen.org>
> writes:
> > From the Chronicle of Higher education
> >
> >*  EDUCATION RESEARCHERS, social scientists, and library
> >    representatives have charged that the Education Department is
> >    preparing to delete information from its Web site, in part,
> >    because the material does not reflect the philosophies of the
> >    Bush administration. More than a dozen groups expressed their
> >    concerns in a letter sent to the secretary of education last
> >    week.
> >    --> SEE http://chronicle.com/daily/2002/11/2002112501n.htm
> >
> Thanks for posting this Mev.
>
> Yesterday I went to the AERA (American Educational Research Association
> web site and found two interesting things.  The first is the latest
> edition of the AERA journal which has devoted its entire edition to
> scientific based educational research.  The articles can be downloaded at
>  (http://www.aera.net/pubs/er/eronline.htm)  Currently (today) access to
> these articles or the entire AERA website is unavailable.  
>
> More importantly at least in regard to your posting, Mev, is the
> following Action Alert about the USDE internal memo that refers to the
> Department's web site policy.  Also included in what follows is the
> letter to Secretary Paige.  Rather than comment at this time, I'll simply
> post the information which then may evoke commentary from others. Because
> I had to format this data to my juno address, some of the original
> formatting of the message has been lost.  
>
> George Demetrion
> Sophocles5 at juno.com
> _________________________________________________________________
>
> ACTION ALERT
> ED Web Information Disappearing 
>  
> Background Information
>
> The U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued an internal memo, Criteria
> and Process for Removing Old Content from www.ed.gov" on May 31, 2002.
> The memo established Criteria for Keeping Information on the Web dated
> prior to February 2001. One concern cited as reason for removal was that
> some content runs counter to current Administration priorities.  Later in
> the memo this reason was reiterated in the section under "Current
> Challenges," which states "Content is either outdated or does not reflect
> the priorities, philosophies, or goals of the present administration."
>
> Items would be removed unless they meet the following criteria: needed
> for legal reasons; supports Administration priorities and initiatives;
> important for historical perspectives; important for policy reasons
> identified by an Assistant Secretary; or useful or valuable to parents,
> students, or educators and is consistent with the Administration's
> philosophy. There have been estimates that as many as 13,000 documents of
> the more than 50,000 total on the Web site would be in jeopardy due to
> their content. In addition, others deemed outdated  would also have no
> links under the plan. 
>
> It appears the web information removal activities are occurring
> throughout the federal system. On October 21, a group of 12 House Members
> sent a letter to Secretary Tommy Thompson, U.S. Department of Health and
> Human Services, identifying a pattern of events at the Department of
> Health and Human Services suggesting that scientific decision-making is
> being subverted by ideology and that scientific information that does not
> fit the Administration's political agenda is being suppressed &
> Scientific information that does not serve the Administration's
> ideological agenda is being removed from HHS websites. Health issues
> involved include abortion, programs addressing risky behavior in youth,
> and contraception. Other federal government Web sites are reported to be
> facing similar problems.
>
> Action Taken
> AERA has joined with the American Library Association to lead an effort
> to retain documents on the ED Web site. A letter, signed by 14 national
> organizations, has been sent to Education Secretary Rod Paige requesting
> all ED materials retain the level of accessibility now available and
> advocating the inclusion of stakeholders in the web revamping process.
> Following is the letter sent to Secretary Paige:
>
> The Honorable Rod Paige
> Secretary of Education
> U.S. Department of Education
> 400 Maryland Avenue, SW
> Washington, DC 20202
>
> Dear Secretary Paige:
>
> We are writing to express the concerns of our organizations about the
> recently reported initiative within the U. S. Department of Education
> (ED) to remove from public access information that "does not reflect the
> priorities, philosophies, or goals of the present administration." While
> the Department is aware of the problems such a move would create, the
> steps it has recently suggested to address these problems still fall
> short because archived material would clearly not be as accessible.
>
> We recognize that the Department may reorganize its Web site, and we
> applaud your attempts to improve the transparency of this site so that
> the public can find information more easily. However, the Department's
> announced initiative to remove documents has raised significant concerns
> and questions among the library, educational research, and related social
> science communities, and we would value and appreciate a response. 
>
> One of our primary concerns centers on the fate of information scheduled
> to be removed from your publicly accessible Web site. As you are aware,
> information created or collected by the government, whether in tangible
> or electronic form, is a federal record. Therefore, we would like to know
> what steps the Department is taking to preserve information and provide
> the easiest possible permanent public access to any materials that are
> removed? Because the Internet has become by far the method of choice for
> disseminating information and research data widely and efficiently, we
> are concerned about efforts that would diminish access and use of these
> records.
> .
> Secondly, we are equally concerned with any actions that would remove
> from access research, data, and other digests of information that
> otherwise have been publicly available, irrespective of administrations,
> by the Department of Education. Such materials are essential to advancing
> scientifically-based research and need to remain accessible to the
> library, educational research, and related scholarly communities. For
> example, we are uncertain about ongoing access to materials in the
> Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) on the Department of
> Education Web site. Will a link to the ERIC site be established and
> maintained on the Department's site? Will it be visible to experienced
> and new researchers who can add knowledge and insights analyzing such
> information? 
>
> Finally, we are concerned about the role of educational researchers,
> related social and behavioral scientists, librarians, those with
> expertise in data dissemination and preservation, and other public
> stakeholders in the development of any plan to access materials on the
> Department Web site. Information available through the U. S. Department
> of Education Web site is used by a wide variety of professionals,
> including educators, scholars, public decision makers, and the public
> more broadly, and they should be consulted throughout this process. We
> urge you to hold meetings with them and listen to their concerns and
> ideas.
>
> Members of our associations appreciate your attention to this important
> matter. We, as well as the general public, need Internet access to the
> research, data, reports, and other digests and information that may be
> removed from the Department's Web site. We would appreciate hearing what
> steps the Department intends to take to ensure ongoing access to
> documents scheduled to be removed.
>
> Action Requested
> If you wish to support AERA in its effort to retain ED Web site documents
> in the most accessible form, please write to Secretary Rod Paige and send
> copies of your letter to members of Congress in your state and AERA.
>
> Letters may be addressed to:
> The Honorable Rod Paige
> Secretary of Education
> U.S. Department of Education
> 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Room 7W301
> Washington DC 20202
>
> If you have questions or would like additional information, please feel
> free to contact Felice J. Levine, AERA Executive Director, (202)
> 223-9485, ext. 122, flevine at aera.net or Sandi Wurtz, Government Relations
> Associate at AERA, (202) 223-9485, ext. 103, swurtz at aera.net . 
> To read the related news release, go to http://www.aera.net/communication
> s/news/021121.htm 
>
>
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