When Ohio University recently revised its public records policy, it got some things right — but it also got some things wrong.

“Anyone who expresses an interest in inspecting or requesting copies of a record,” says the revised policy, “is entitled by law to ‘prompt’ inspection and copies within a reasonable period of time.” Perhaps the university left those quotation marks hanging over “prompt” because requests for information might not always be so.

What’s the holdup? Under the new policy, the university will charge requesters for photocopies of public records. This is a reasonable policy when a request involves large numbers of records, but the same can’t be said for small details that could be easily provided over the phone. Requesters face an additional unnecessary — and untimely — procedural barrier that can result in formal requests for nuggets of factual information, such as the number of people who apply for a job.

The unwillingness of Ohio University to relay basic information to requesters over the phone is a little ridiculous. Those in need of information might have to file a request for a large number of documents to obtain a single small detail. Ultimately, this system will require more time and resources on behalf of everyone.

Parts of the policy are deliberately ambiguous to allow the university discretion in releasing records — a prominent example is the line stating that the university can withhold personnel files when there is a “high risk of victimization resulting from release.” It is troubling that the university included such an easily abused clause.

Fortunately, the new policy isn’t all bad news. Besides this oversight, the new policy guidelines conform quite nicely to the recommendations made by The Post in February. It makes sense that requesters be charged for copies or for the cost of mailing the records, and it’s good that OU will recoup some of its losses.

Charging for photocopies is reasonable, but the university also needs to remember that access to the information itself is still supposed to be free. OU should not allow these charges to bar information from those who might not be able to afford to pay for it. The spirit of public records law is to make information available to all of the general public, not just the privileged.

Overall, the new policy isn’t bad, and we want to compliment the university for presenting it in a clear and concise manner. The ability to have small requests fulfilled quickly and easily, however, should not be ignored.