An Open Government approach for libraries: collections and services

Abstract

Derived from the Federal Law of Access to Public Government Information (LFTAIPG) of 2002, formal mechanisms to promote access to public information and transparency formally began in Mexico. Since 2009, the international “Open Government” proposal aims to create even more open mechanisms for access to information and accountability through three foundations: transparency, collaboration and citizen participation. To this date, there are no concrete pro-posals on how to integrate libraries into collaborative efforts to foster citizen formation and transformation. This text integrates elements and approaches from socio-political disciplines to the principles and struc-tures of libraries and archives to make an analysis and a summary of those elements that can be used in a comprehensive conceptualization of library and ar-chival collections as well as their respective services under Open Government principles, so that such institutions can collaborate more proactively in the formation and participation of citizens, improving access to information.