ARCHIVED - Management of Government Information Holdings (Review Guide) - November 11, 1995

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Organization, Transmission, Use and Retrieval

Service to Users: Objective 6

Holdings are organized in order to make the widest possible use of information. (MGIH policy statement.)

Criterion

6.1 Information holdings are organized in order to facilitate efficient access and retrieval by users, subject to legal and policy constraints.

Questions/Practices

6.1.1 Are users - both internal and external to the institution - satisfied with their access to and retrieval of information holdings? Is the information that users need available? Is it easy for them to retrieve? How is user satisfaction measured?

6.1.2 Do custodians of information holdings, e.g. Records Management, Library Services, Data Management, know the information needs of users? Do custodians tailor their services to better meet the needs of users for quick and easy access, e.g. retrieval response time, efficient and effective technology for transmission, friendly formats for use, etc? Do they tailor their services to meet user needs economically, efficiently and effectively? Do they use standards-based technology?

6.1.3 Are information holdings available for public dissemination? Are they sold to the public where appropriate and where there is significant demand? (MGIH policy, requirement 5.) Is the Depository Library System used to make information more widely available to the public?

6.1.4 Are information holdings available for use by other institutions within the government, subject to any legal or policy constraints, e.g. the Privacy Act and the Government Security policy? (MGIH policy, requirement 5.)

6.1.5 Does the institution have an up-to-date publications catalogue? Are all publications deposited in the institution's library? Is published material catalogued according to established standards? Is the resulting bibliographic information reported to the National Library's Union Catalogue or made available to other libraries by other means?

6.1.6 Is all material published by the institution easily accessible to decision makers within the institution and available to the public on request? (MGIH policy, requirement 5.) Does this include "grey literature"? (MGIH policy, guideline 11)

6.1.7 Are all confidences of the Queen's Privy Council managed in accordance with government-wide standards established by the Privy Council Office. (MGIH policy, requirement 1.)

Criterion

6.2 Information holdings are identified and described in a manner that is meaningful to users.

Questions/Practices

6.2.1 Are users satisfied that the organization and description of information holdings are such that information holdings are rendered understandable and useable? Are information holdings identified and described such that users can easily and quickly find the information they need? Are the classification and thesaurus functions effective in helping users to identify and locate the information they need? Do the classification and thesaurus functions, as well as other means of identification and description, cross all media boundaries? Is grey literature identified and described so that users can have access to individual documents?

6.2.2 Does the institution keep track of electronic information on a basis consistent with other forms of media? Information stored on different media may be located in different places, under the custody and control of different information specialists. Therefore a common identification function such as a common classification system is needed.

6.2.3 Are information holdings identified and described in the appropriate public reference sources for use by the public (e.g. InfoSource)? Is information effectively disseminated where there is a duty to inform the public? (MGIH policy, requirement 5.)

Service to Users: Objective 7

Systems for information transmission, use and retrieval respond efficiently and effectively to the needs of users.

Criterion

7.1 Levels of service - in terms of getting information to users - are identified and meet operational needs and user requirements.

Questions/Practices

7.1.1 Does the institution attempt, on a periodic basis, to determine the level of user satisfaction with information products and services? Is formal feedback from users requested and received through mechanisms such as:

• user surveys?
• questionnaires distributed at the completion of major service cycles, or selected intervals?
• participation of user representatives on information management committees designed to solicit input and feedback?

7.1.2 Are the services of information specialists tailored to volume or demand requirements? Are resources shifted to meet changing user needs? Are considerations such as the following used:

• volume of activity, e.g. responses or information requests satisfied, on an annual basis?
• response times for various types of requests?
• number of user complaints or problems?

Criterion

7.2 Responsiveness to users is balanced against cost effectiveness.

Questions/Practices

7.2.1 Has the institution determined the full costs of existing information systems and services? Has the institution compared the cost of the existing systems and services to possible alternatives? Has the institution looked for ways of decreasing costs, e.g. by combining systems or dropping little used services or features?

7.2.2 Where new systems are developed, is there a requirement to integrate them with existing systems and/or to justify costs?

 

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