Does the DoD use searchable databases?
By Bill Allison Mar 28 2007 2:54 p.m.Reading over the letter that Anu got back from Will Klammer of the Department of Defense's Office of Freedom of Information, I'm beginning to get a sense that this project--obtaining logs of the correspondence that members of Congress send to all federal agencies--may be even more difficult than I originally thought. This sentence particularly jumps out:
After reviewing your request carefully, we have determined that your request as presently written, since it would appear to apply to all 535 Members of Congress, is much too broad to enable this Office to conduct an adequate' and effective search for responsive records. As a result, I have determined that the records that you seek are not reasonably described.
Now, I would think that anywhere from one to six computer searches would be sufficient, depending on how DoD keeps track of its correspondence. If they get a letter from Rep. Bob Forehead, do they log it as Rep. Bob Forehead, Reperesentative Bob Forehead, Congressman Bob Forehead, or Hon. Bob Forehead? Do they log in letters from Sen. Joseph Harrison Paine as coming from Sen. Joseph Harrison Paine, Senator Joseph Harrison Paine, Congressman Joseph Harrison Paine, or Hon. Joseph Harrison Paine? And do they also maintain a field for the organization for which the correspondent works, as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission does (see attached).
Obviously, we won't take DoD's denial as the final word here.
Search the Blog
Related Content
- Correspondence 21
- Logs_6553 19
Real Time Ticker
Recent Posts
- Thanks to lobbying, farm bill yields crop insurance funds
- Surge of immigration lobbyists fueled by push for high-skilled foreign workers
- Health group airs ad backing Obama EPA nominee
- Apple lobbies on taxes more than any other subject
- Reporter's notebook: How we came up with that campaign finance maze
Reporting we're watching
- OpenSecrets: Millionaire Freshmen Make Congress Even Wealthier
- OpenSecrets: Just Who Was Rand Paul's Apology For?
- OpenSecrets: Shape-Shifting by Liberal Dark Money Groups Seems Meant to Confuse
- Sunlight Foundation: OpenGov Voices: Network, collaborate, and innovate at CityCamp NC
- Sunlight Foundation: 2Day in #OpenGov 5/22/2013
