Eugene asks,
"Does anybody know what the story behind this move [dismantling ERIC] is?"
...see below--utterly disturbing political attack on our means of
continuity as a scholarly community.
David Kirshner
________________________
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From the American Educational Research Association [AERA] website. See
http://www.aera.net/communications/news/federal.htm
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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which states "Content is either outdated or does not reflect the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 In addition, others deemed "outdated" would also have no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 suppressedŠScientific
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@aera.net or Sandi Wurtz, Government Relations Associate
at AERA, (202) 223-9485, ext. 103, swurtz@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@aera.net
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