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Later in the memo this reason was reiterated in the section under "Current Challenges" which states "Content is either outdated or does not reflect the priorities, philosophies, or goals of the present administration."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 In addition, others deemed "outdated" would also have no links under the plan.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's 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/communications/news/021121.htm ----------------------------- American Educational Research Association 1230 17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 223-9485 Fax: (202) 775-1824 webmaster at aera.net