Information Quality Resources

Increased cross-collaboration among state, local, tribal (SLT), and federal justice entities to share personally identifiable information (PII) forms the information and records that underlie justice decision making. With this increased sharing, it is also imperative that justice entities address the quality of this information. Failure to do so can result in harm to individuals, lawsuits and liability, public criticism, inefficient use of resources, spread of inaccurate information, or inconsistent actions within agencies. Further, the collection and sharing of poor quality information raises serious privacy concerns, because the two concepts are inherently linked. Quality information plays an extremely important role in the protection of the privacy rights of individuals.

GLOBAL INFORMATION QUALITY SERIES

To assist justice agencies in their reliance on quality information, DOJ’s Global has published an information quality (IQ) series that provides practical guidance on how to develop and implement an agencywide information quality program. Using a progressive “step” approach, this series provides agencies with resources from beginning to end—from raising awareness of IQ to the evaluation of the agency’s information, ending with the implementation of an agencywide IQ program. Global’s IQ series contains a suite of products designed to meet a range of IQ program needs for any size justice entity. To download an overview of the IQ series, refer to the overview flyer entitled Global Information Quality Series Improves the Quality of Justice Information or review the synopsis of these products below.

STEP 1: EDUCATE AND RAISE AWARENESS

Information Quality: The Foundation for Justice Decision Making

This document provides an overview of information quality; problems associated with it; and its framework, dimensions, and scenarios.  It also explains what can be done to promote information quality within electronic data exchanges.

9 Elements of an Information Quality Program

Developed for high-level, managerial, and administrative personnel within an organization, 9 Elements of an Information Quality Program provides a brief outline of the nine key steps that should be followed when developing and implementing an agencywide information quality (IQ) program.

STEP 2: PERFORM AN ASSESSMENT

Information Quality Self-Assessment Tool

The purpose of this tool is to provide practitioners with guidance in evaluating the information quality of justice information reports associated with justice events by way of a self-administered worksheet, designed to provide practical, hands-on assistance to information systems personnel. Evaluating the quality of agency information is a mandatory step for any agencywide IQ program.

STEP 3: DEVELOP POLICY AND AN AGENCYWIDE PROGRAM

Information Quality Program Guide

This Guide is intended to help justice managers develop an information quality program for their organizations and is designed to support managers who must analyze their justice entity’s information and determine what is needed to ensure good quality information. In support of that effort, the Guide features a step approach to the development and implementation of an agencywide IQ program and includes a variety of resources and tools, as well as a framework for analyzing a justice entity’s business rules for information quality.