¿Dónde quedaron los administradores del acceso a la información en la nueva Ley de Acceso a la Información? = Why the documental information access experts have been banned from the debate about the new Mexican Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the making?

Abstract(s)

This paper ( Why the documental information access experts have been banned from the debate about the new Mexican Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in the making?) discusses the issues of the Mexican Law of Transparency and Access to the Public Governmental Information, which initiative has been aproved on April 22nd 2002 by the Federal Commission of Interior at the Mexican Parliament. It does not debate on which materials should or should not be disclosed and accessible to the public. It is believed that this Law has been abundantly debated on the grounds of its content, and even that the debate could go on for longer time, it could be pass as a ruling law in 2003. This contribution, on the other hand, reivindicate the role of information workers (librarians and archivists) who are the missing links on this chain of information access. It fully advocate for the leading role of librarians and archivists to be considered on this law so that citizens will actually have guaranteed the real access to information by the experts: librarians and archivists, otherwise they may have the right to access public information, but that alone is not enough. Librarians and archivists, information workers, are the only true people who would guarantee this access to information in Mexico or anywhere; and they are the ones neglected in Mexico.

El presente trabajo trata de la Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información Pública Gubernamental, cuya iniciativa de ley ha sido aprobada el 22 de abril de 2002 por la Comisión de Gobernación de la Cámara de Diputados. No entra en debate sobre lo que se ha venido discutiendo en el mundo iniciando con Suecia en 1766, o más recientemente en México desde los años setenta, sobre cuál información debe ser accesible al público y cuál no. Creemos que esta iniciativa de ley ha sido bastante debatida en su contenido y, aunque aún da para mucho más, bien podría empezar felizmente su camino hasta ser aprobada dentro de un año. Esta contribución, en cambio, viene a reivindicar a los administradores del acceso a la información (para efectos del presente le llamamos así a los bibliotecarios y archivistas, los eslabones perdidos de la cadena de la información de esta iniciativa de Ley).