The much-anticipated report on the future of the Foreign Relations Series of the United States (FRUS) and the Office of the Historian from a Review Team appointed by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice surfaced this week in a story by Steven Aftergood in Secrecy News. The report has not yet been officially released by the Department of State, but Aftergood was able to obtain a copy through another source. The report can be accessed by clicking here.
What federal government documents would you most like to see released? Now is the chance for you to vote in a new survey entitled, Show Us The Data—The Most Wanted Federal Documents. The deadline to submit documents and vote on-line ends March 9, 2009.
President Barack Obama has appointed Carole M. Watson, Assistant Chairman for Partnership and National Affairs, as the Acting Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Watson will serve as acting chairman until the presidential nomination and Senate confirmation of the agency’s next chairman.
This week, the House of Representatives approved H.R. 553, the “Reducing Over-Classification Act of 2009,” which directs the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop and implement a DHS-wide strategy to prevent the over-classification of information. It is identical to a bill that passed the House last session, but was not considered in the Senate.
The Smithsonian’s Board of Regents recently approved a revised request for information policy, consistent with the principles of the Freedom of Information Act. The policy, titled “Requests for Smithsonian Institution Information,” is an update of one that has been posted on the Institution’s Web site since November 2007. In January 2008, the National Coalition for History joined thirty other organizations in expressing concerns about the original version of Directive 807.
Historian Allen Weinstein, most recently ninth Archivist of the United States, has joined the faculty of the University of Maryland, College of Information Studies – Maryland’s iSchool – as a visiting professor. Dr. Weinstein resigned his post as Archivist this past December.
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) recently announced that the vacancy announcement for the Director of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) has been posted on the USAJOBS website. The application deadline is February 27, 2009.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently announced the appointment of Patrice Walker Powell as the agency’s acting chairman. In this position, she will provide oversight for agency grant-making and day-to-day agency operations and supervise administrative activities. She assumed the role on January 29. Former-NEA Chair Dana Gioia announced last September he would be leaving the post in January 2009.
History recently announced the launch of the 2009/2010 Save Our History Grant Cycle. The Save Our History Grant Program provides funding to history organizations that partner with schools on a local community preservation project. Since launching the Save Our History Grant Program in 2004, History has awarded over $1 Million Dollars in grants to organizations and schools throughout the United States.
