Insider's Guide to Using Information in Government
Abstract
Every day, the people inside government use information to develop policies, make decisions, evaluate programs, and deliver services. The Insider's Guide to Using Information in Government draws from real agency experiences to provide a practical resource for government professionals. It covers six related topics (strategy, policy, data, costs, skills, and technology) and illustrates them with stories of state and local agency projects ranging in focus from internal knowledge sharing to statewide program evaluation.
This Guide will help you see how these topics play out in any given project. If you are starting a project of your own, it can help you identify the right questions and lead you to resources that will help you answer them.
Suggestions for using the guide
The goal of the Insider's Guide is to help you become a more informed and effective information user. Whether you are using the information yourself or managing a project that will make it available to others, you will find helpful material throughout the site. It contains topic stories, case studies, summaries, and links to many different resources. You can use the Guide in several ways. Choose one that suits your needs:
Read the overview
This part of the guide summarizes the six topics and the lessons from the cases. It's a quick way to get the big ideas without the details.
Get the scoop on main topics
The main topics provide an in-depth discussion of the topic, related resources, and links to real-life cases that illustrate the ideas.
Scan the key points
This list of key points offers very brief "bullet points" that summarize the material covered in depth in all six topic stories.
Read about projects
The eight case studies are rich descriptions of how agencies like yours have worked through projects that focus on better use of information.
The guide is arranged in a series of interrelated topics and cases along with an overview and a summary of key points which can be accessed as PDFs in the links below.
Overview 
Presents the problems of using information inside government, brief summaries of the main topics, and a quick way to find which cases illustrate which topics. An Executive Briefing showcases the high level points in the Insider's Guide including short descriptions of the topics, cases, and lessons.
Topics
Offer discussion, case illustrations, and links to additional resources about six main topics: strategy, policy, data, cost, skills, and technology. For a quick look at all six topics, see the summary of key points.
Cases
Tell the stories of eight projects in which government agencies are putting information to use in human services, financial management, local government operations, IT investment decisions, and more.
- Building Trust Before Building a System: The Making of the Homeless Information Management System - NYS Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Bureau of Shelter Services
- Learning To Be "Up-Front" With Information Technology Investment Decisions - NYS Department of Transportation
- Information Resources for Information Professionals: Creating a Knowledge Bank in NYC Government - NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications
- Moving From Paper to the Web: How the Council on Children and Families is Transforming a Static Information Resource into a Dynamic One
- Planning, Listening, and Acting Accordingly: Implementation Planning for an Annual Reassessment Program - NYS Office of Real Property Services
- Listen Before You Leap: Revitalizing the New York State Central Accounting System - Office of NYS Comptroller
- Using Information for Organizational Change: The Transition From Regulation to Service in the Division of Municipal Affairs - Office of the NYS Comptroller, Division of Municipal Affairs
- Bigger Isn't Always Better: Managing With Statistical Data From Forensic Psychiatric Centers - Central New York Psychiatric Center