Information Flows – The Real Art of Information Management and Freedom of Information

Archives and Manuscripts, Vol 35 No. 1 May 2007, 54-81

18 Pages Posted: 20 Dec 2014

See all articles by Rick Snell

Rick Snell

University of Tasmania

Peter Sebina

University of Botswana

Date Written: May 17, 2007

Abstract

Public access to government information is a long way from where it should be in an information age: citizens being able to routinely and easily access information on non-personal affairs. This paper puts forward ideas on how to address this problem, identifying a need to develop better theories and tools of analysis to enable government to achieve the aims of FOI reform and implementation. The work of Stiglitz provides such an instrument, providing for a better understanding of the relationship between access to information and records management. It is argued that the operating rationale of the corporate governance model can be applied to the public sector to address some of the problems of information asymmetry between the citizenry and the state, as identified by Stiglitz. Without good record management system, FOI cannot be an effective way to allow for information flow in the 21st Century.

Keywords: FOI, Freeom of Information, Information flow, Stiglitz, information asymmetry, records management

Suggested Citation

Snell, Rick Douglas and Sebina, Peter, Information Flows – The Real Art of Information Management and Freedom of Information (May 17, 2007). Archives and Manuscripts, Vol 35 No. 1 May 2007, 54-81, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2539441

Rick Douglas Snell (Contact Author)

University of Tasmania ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.ricksnell.com.au

Peter Sebina

University of Botswana ( email )

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4775 Notwane Rd
Gaborone
Botswana

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