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NPAction Update Vol 3, Issue 19

NPAction Update
Vol 3, Issue 19
10/21/2005

Welcome to the NPAction Update. This week's update provides useful tips and links for using government information for advocacy.

You are receiving this newsletter as requested at NPAction.org. To unsubscribe, send an email to leave-npaction@lyris.ombwatch.org.

In This Issue:

*Featured Article- Showcase Groups: Nonprofits that Use Government Information for Advocacy*
*Featured Resource Link- Websites that Contain Useful Government Information *
*Related Articles- NPAction's Locating Government Information Page*

*Featured Article*

Nonprofits that Use Government Information for Advocacy
Public information- information provided to the general public by federal, state or local government on a range of issues- can be a vital resource for nonprofit organizations. This information is used by many groups to prepare testimony, educate the public, build grassroots support for a cause, and lobby for policy change. Two groups who rely on this resource to further their cause comment on the successes they have had and the challenges they face as they continue to mine the government for information.

Do you want your organization featured as a Showcase Group? Email us your ideas at npaction@npaction.org.

*Featured Resource Link*

The NPAction Resource Links Directory is a human-edited compendium of tools and references, contributed by nonprofits for nonprofits. This issue's featured link focuses on different websites that provide government data.

EPA's Envirofacts Data Warehouse
Envirofacts includes environmental information and database searches about waste, water, toxics, air, land, radiation, compliance, and maps.

The Right-to-Know Network
The Right-to-Know Network (RTK NET), a service provided by OMB Watch, provides free access to numerous environmental databases including: Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)- Releases and transfers of toxic chemicals from large facilities; Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS)- Information on potential and actual Superfund sites; Emergency Response Notification System (ERNS)- Toxic chemical spills and other accidents reported to the National Response Center; Toxic Substances Control Act Test Submissions (TSCATS)- Studies done on the health effects of chemicals; and many more.

*Related Articles*

Articles and Links on NPAction's Locating Government Information Page
The following articles are featured on NPAction's Locating Government Information Page. Check out the page for additional links to government information pages on the web.

How is Access to Information Considered Advocacy?
Activities to provide access that facilitates use and understanding of data and information to end users and stakeholders. When most people think of providing access to information, they don't think of it as an advocacy activity. While not as obvious or direct as telling your legislator how you feel on an issue, providing access to information can be a powerful means of change, especially in support of other types of advocacy.

Access to Information and the Federal Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act
A brief overview of the guarantees and limitations offered for access to information under the federal Freedom of Information Act and federal Privacy Act.

*"Steal This Code": Put NPAction on Your Site*

NPAction invites organizations to share our tools on their websites. Just copy the HTML code from our site, and you're ready to go (but when you steal the code, just let us know!).

"Steal the Code" today
http://www.npaction.org/article/articleview/600/1/1988

*NPAction Update Archives*
http://www.npaction.org/article/archive/210/
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NPAction Update is a service for NPAction subscribers. If you received this message from another party, and wish to subscribe, send an email to join-npaction@lyris.ombwatch.org.

NPAction, an online resource hosted by OMB Watch, provides access to tools and information for nonprofit advocacy from a wide range of organizational partners and sources in order to encourage greater participation by nonprofits in the policy arena.

For more information, contact:

NPAction
1742 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.,
Washington DC 20009
(202) 234-8494
E-mail: npaction@npaction.org
Web: www.npaction.org