Information Management, Fascicle 1: Access to Information Glossary - Foreword

Terminology Bulletin 286

The Access to Information Act gives Canadian citizens, permanent residents and any individual or corporation present in Canada the right of access to records under the control of a government institution, subject to limited and specific exceptions. Canada was one of the first countries in the world to offer such protection to its citizens.

Information is therefore an essential component of effective management across federal departments. The availability to decision makers of high-quality, authoritative information supports the delivery of programs and services, thus enabling departments to be more responsive and accountable to Canadians.

Information management touches all aspects of government operations, such as access to information, library science, record keeping, architecture and information technology, privacy and security of information. The mechanisms put in place to ensure effective information management have inevitably generated many new terms, official titles and phraseologisms, thus creating the need for a glossary in this field.

The Translation Bureau of the Government of Canada is proud to present the Access to Information Glossary. This first in a series of fascicles on information management was produced in collaboration with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada.

Nathalie Bédard
Director, Terminology Standardization