Twenty years ago on November 4, the American embassy in Tehran was seized by militant students, an act which radicalized the revolution and severely damaged relations between the two countries. The National Security Archive (last discussed in the October 22, 1999 Scout Report) has recently placed online a small collection of documents related to this event. This collection is a sample from the...

Created by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Challenge.gov is an online platform "that empowers the U.S. government and the public to bring the best ideas and top talent to bear on our nation's most pressing challenges." The "challenges" included here are created by one party (or a "seeker") to a third party or parties to "identify a solution to a particular problem or reward...

If you have a few hours to spare and you're curious to know what the CIA has been interested in over the past half century or so, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room might be the site for you. Start on the homepage, where you can read about functionalities of the Reading Room and browse overviews of the FOIA, the Privacy Act, and Executive Order 13526, which clarifies the...

The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) at the National Archives and Record Administration (NARA) oversees the security classification programs in both Government and industry, and reports to the President each year on their status. As in previous years the Federation of American Scientists' (FAS) (last mentioned in the February 19, 1999 Scout Report) Project on Government Secrecy has...

This report, from Darrell M. West, Brown University, updates his report for 2000 (discussed in the September 22, 2000 Scout Report) on the electronic delivery of government information and services. The 23-page report looks at the functionality and accessibility of state and government Websites, progress made from last year, and differences among the states. In general, the project found that...

This very important new electronic briefing book from the National Security Archive (last mentioned in the January 28, 2000 Scout Report) offers analysis and background materials regarding a recently passed (July 13) measure in the FY 2001 Defense Authorization Act that -- if approved by the full Congress -- would severely reduce the amount of information released by the Defense Intelligence...

The Library of Congress new World Wide Web server, the first step in the Library's Electronic Digital Library project. The first collections include approximately 4000 prints and photographs from the American Memory project, and Country Studies from the Federal Research Division. All collections are searchable through an advanced text retrieval system. Also available is an Online Exhibits Program...

At one time, creating and maintaining a Web site was an option for government agencies. However, with the increase in Internet traffic, laws and executive orders are now mandating that governments provide, at a minimum, basic online information and services to the Internet community. This report, produced by the Pew Internet and the American Life Project, states that nearly 68 million American...

The Transactional Records Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, a widely respected independent and non-partisan "data gathering, data research and data distribution organization," has done it again. TRAC's new FBI site is unparalleled for the amount of information it offers on one of the least monitored federal agencies. After free registration, users can access over 23,000 pages of information,...