Citation Indexing
Source: ISI
+ Science in Switzerland, 1999-2003
+ Computer Science & Engineering: High-Impact U.S. Universities, 1999-2003
+ U.S. Universities with Highest Concentrations in Mathematics, 1999-2003
+ Journals Ranked by Impact: Developmental Biology
+ Top 20 institutions in Agricultural Sciences

Search Briefs
+ Searching for E-Books
+ Microsoft Search Research

Professional Reading Shelf
Information Seeking
Source: Information Research
A New Issue of Information Research is Now Online (Vol. 10 No.1, Oct. 2004)
This issues includes papers presented at ISIC 2004: the 5th Information Seeking in Context Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 1-3 September, 2004
Papers include:
+ Information behaviour that keeps found things found
+ Choosing people: the role of social capital in information seeking behaviour
+ A new model of information behaviour based on the Search Situation Transition schema.
+ From information behaviour research to the design of information systems: the Cognitive Work Analysis framework
+ Talking about the problem: a content analysis of pre-search interviews
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RFID
Source: News.com
RFID, coming to a library near you
From the article, “Some argue that libraries are ahead of the pack and that the lesson they learn could prove instructive to others. ‘Libraries are much further along with using RFID in a consumer environment than anybody else,’ said Jim Lichtenberg, an IT consultant to libraries. ‘They represent a wonderful test-bed in which to work through the issues of RFID because they have such a profound concern about the rights of their patrons.’”
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Government Printing Office
Academic Libraries
GPO Presents Southern Oregon University Library Of The Year Award
“‘Southern Oregon University, and especially our library faculty, staff and students, are being recognized nationally for their innovation in public service, and the University could not be more thrilled with this honor,’ said Southern Oregon University President Elisabeth Zinser. ‘I want to personally thank the Government Printing Office for this prestigious honor. The creation of the Southern Oregon Digital Archives exemplifies our long tradition of stewardship and accessibility to an impressive and growing collection of government documents at the Hannon Library,’ Zinser said.”
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Libraries–Research–African Americans
Source: Miami Herald
African-American Research Library: Vision fulfilled
“The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd. near Fort Lauderdale, one of three such establishments in the United States providing access to black literature and culture, is fulfilling its mission on its second anniversary, according to founder Samuel Morrison, former director of the Broward County Library System.”
–
Health Information
Source: CBC
Internet-based health information may be hazardous: study
“People with chronic diseases ought to pay more attention to what their doctor tells them rather than relying on advice from the internet, according to a new study. Researchers at University College London reviewed clinical trials that measured the effectiveness of computer-based tools called Interactive Health Communication Applications…The review appears in the October issue of the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research.”
–
Library Management
Now Available: Free (One Week Only) Full Text Access to Three Recent Issues of
+ Library Management
Access is provided via Emerald’s Journal of the Week program. Articles include:
+ Disruptive technologies: what future universities and their libraries? (Issue 6/7)
+ The power of influence: what affects public library staff’s attitudes to the Internet? (Issue 6/7)
+ Content in institutional repositories: a collection management issue (Issue 6/7)
+ View Managing fee-based public library services: values and practices (Issue 6/7)
+ Managing the information revolution: library management, the control of prescriptive technologies, and the future of librarianship (Issue 4/5)
+ Library weblogs (Issue 4/5)
+ Baby Boom generation librarians (Issue 4/5)
–
Open Access
Source: The Independent
US Public Library of Science launches rival to ‘The Lancet’
From the article: “A major new ‘open access’ journal for medicine is launched today, putting it in direct competition with the established publications in this lucrative area including Reed Elsevier’s The Lancet. The Public Library of Science (PLoS), a US-based not-for-profit organisation, is behind PLoS Medicine, which it said was ‘the most significant international general medicine journal to emerge in over 70 years’. It is the second journal launched by PLoS, which established a biology publication last year.”

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Business–United States–Lists & Rankings
Source: Forbes
Just Released, The 200 Best Small Companies
–
In the News
Flu Shot Shortage–United States
Source: CDC
New Fact Sheets:
+ 2004-05 Flu Vaccine Shortage: Who Should Get Vaccinated
+ Flu Related Public Health Legal Preparedness Materials
+ Interim Estimates of Populations Targeted for Influenza Vaccination
+ Flu Activity: Reports & Maps
+ Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan (via DHHS, 8/28/04)
–
Professional Sports–United States–Labor Agreements
Source: Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal
League Collective Bargaining Agreements
Direct links to collective bargaining agreements for Major League Baseball (PDF), the National Football League, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association and the Canadian Football League.
See also: U.S. Sports Commissions (directory)
–
Education–United States
Source: ACT
Recently Released, Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work
From the press release: “Even with a diploma in hand, many high school graduates do not have all of the skills to succeed in college-level coursework or workforce training. This is the conclusion of a new report from ACT, titled Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work. Among the findings, only 22 percent of the 1.2 million high school graduates who took the ACT Assessment in 2004 achieved scores that would deem them ready for college in all three basic academic areas–English, math, and science.”
+ Read the report [PDF]
–
Europe–Politics–Bibliography
Source: Air University Library
Politics in Central Europe Since 1945
New bibliography includes Internet resources, CDROMs, books, periodicals.

Search Briefs (via the SEW Blog)
+ New Version of Copernic Desktop Search Available
+ A Groxis Update

It’s International School Library Day 2004!!!
A ResoureShelf tip o’ the cap on this special day.

Professional Reading Shelf
Librarians
Source: The Virtual Chase
Book Review: The Librarian
Oh no, here we go again. Thanks to Genie for letting us know about a NYT book review that has some (and incorrect) things to say about libraries and librarians. We’re trying to stay calm after reading this, but it’s tough.
–
Digital Archives
Source: National Lbrary of Australia
The PANDORA Digital Archiving System (PANDAS)
A paper by Paul Koerbin, Supervisor, Digital Archiving Section, National Library of Australia presented at the 4th International Web Archiving Workshop on 16 September 2004 in Bath UK.
–
Translation
Source: NSF
DG Research Team Is Developing a Digital Interpreter
“QUALEG is a classic example of the challenges Europe faces as it creates a multi-national federated system. The countries directly involved are Poland, France and Germany. That means integrating documents written in at least three languages, most likely four, since many European documents also have English versions. It means combining different legacy software as well. It is a where-do-you-start nightmare, as tricky as trying to re-fold a map in a convertible on the Autobahn. One of the first steps in the process is the creation of an ontology, a cross-lingual thesaurus that provides a thematic structure for all the terms one is likely to encounter. Ontologies need to be semantically sensitive: ‘bank’ near ‘river’ means something quite different from ‘bank’ near ‘teller’.”
–
Digital Libraries
The October, 2004 Issue of Digital Libraries Magazine is Now Online
Articles include:
+ E-Books: Challenges and Opportunities
+ Visualizing Bibliographic Metadata – A Virtual (Book) Spine Viewer
+ An Orderly Retreat from the Big Deal: Is It Possible for Consortia?
–
Cataloging–Bibliography
Source: IFLA
Updated, FRBR Bibliography
37 pages; PDF.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Legal Industry–United States
Source: Corporate Counsel
Just Released, Who Represents America’s Biggest Companies, 2004
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Intelligence–United States
Source: National Intelligence Council
New, Tracking The Dragon: Selected National Intelligence EstimatesOn China, 1948-1976
“This collection of declassified National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) is the first such release of analytical products exclusively on China. The inspiration for this undertaking came from National Intelligence Council (NIC) Chairman Ambassador Robert Hutchings and Herb Briick of CIA’s Information Management Services (IMS). Upon reviewing outstanding requests for NIC documents received through Freedom of Information and Executive Order channels, both noted a critical mass of requests on China.”
–
Employment–United States Government
Source: Occupational Outlook Quarterly–Summer 2004 Issue
New Full Text article, How to get a job in the Federal Government
Abstract ||| Full Text
–
California
Source: California Digital Library
The Online Archive of California
“The OAC brings together historical materials from a variety of California institutions, including museums, historical societies, and archives. Over 120,000 images; 50,000 pages of documents, letters, and oral histories; and 8,000 guides to collections are available.”
–
Population–United States–Maps
Source: U.S. Census
Just Released, 2003 State and County Estimates Maps
“Graphical maps and tables based on the 2003 State and County Estimates.”

Search Briefs (via the SEW Blog)
+ New “Answer Engine” Coming: Stochasto

Professional Reading Shelf
National Libraries–Europe–Map Theft
Source: The Times (London, UK)
Library wants map thief brought to book
“A former landscape gardener who is to be sentenced next month for stealing more than 50 rare maps from the National Library of Wales is suspected of plundering hundreds more maps from public collections across Britain and Europe, many of which have yet to be reported missing.”
–
Libraries–Research–African Americans
Source: Miami Herald
African-American Research Library: Vision fulfilled
“The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, 2650 Sistrunk Blvd. near Fort Lauderdale, one of three such establishments in the United States providing access to black literature and culture, is fulfilling its mission on its second anniversary, according to founder Samuel Morrison, former director of the Broward County Library System.”
–
Vatican Library–RFID
Source: CNN.com
High-tech security for ancient books
“It is home to 1.6 million books, centuries-old manuscripts and the oldest known complete Bible. Now, librarians at the Vatican Library are using cutting-edge technology to keep track of the priceless ancient collection. About 30,000 books have been tagged with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips since implementation of the technology began last year. Two million of the 40-million piece collection will be tagged in the near future, allowing staff to complete the library’s annual inventory in less than a day, something that previously forced it to close for a whole month.”

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
Marine Protected Areas–United States
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA and the U.S. Department of the Interior
Marine Managed Area Programs and Systems in States, Commonwealths, and Territories
“States use a wide variety of site designation authorities to protect and manage natural and cultural coastal and marine resources. Nationwide, there are more than 100 state, territorial, and commonwealth agencies with area-based management authority. Every state and territory has different bureaus, departments, and divisions that regulate the environment, manage lands, and regulate commerce. These pages contain information on each coastal and marine state, commonwealth, or territory’s marine managed area programs, agencies, and legislation.”
See Also: MPA Virtual Library
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Shipwrecks–Bibiliography
Source: NOAA Central Library
List of publications on shipwrecks and shipwreck related topics located in NOAALINC (PDF; 276 KB)
“This bibliography has been prepared on the occasion of the Brown Bag Seminar AThe Wreck of the Henrietta Marie@ presented by Michael Cottman of the Washington Post in the NOAA Central Library on July 31, 2003. The bibliography contains printed publications and online Internet resources on shipwrecks. The entries are arranged alphabetically by title.” Revised August 2004. NOAALINC is the NOAA Library and Information Network Catalog.
–
Palliative Care Education
Source: Medical College of Wisconsin
End of Life/Palliative Education Resource Center
“This site is intended to support individuals involved in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of End-of-Life/Palliative education for physicians, nurses and other health care professionals. More specifically, the site has been designed for use by medical school course/clerkship directors, residency and continuing education program directors, medical faculty, community preceptors, or other professionals who are (or will be) involved in providing EOL instruction to health care professionals in training. Major content areas in EOL/Palliative education include: pain, non-pain symptoms, communications skills, ethics, terminal care, and clinical interventions used near the end-of-life.”
See also: EOL/Palliative Care Educational Resources (American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine)

Professional Reading Shelf
Libraries–United States
Source: NCLIS
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Names Dr. Trudi Bellardo Hahn Interim Executive Director
“The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) today announced that Dr. Trudi Bellardo Hahn has been hired to be the Interim Executive Director for the Commission. Dr. Hahn, formerly Manager of Library User Education Services and Adjunct Professor at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, has held prior positions as training specialist with the Maryland State Department of Education, Director of Professional Development for the Special Libraries Association, Associate Professor at Catholic University, and Assistant Professor and Data Services Librarian at the University of Kentucky. Dr Hahn was also the President of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) in 2003. She is the co-author of A History of Online Information Services, 1963-1976.
–
Museums–United Kingdom
Source: Museums, Libraries and Archives Council
Visitors to Museums and Galleries 2004
From the press release: “The most comprehensive survey in five years of museum satisfaction rates and visitor numbers, published today by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), shows that more people visit museums each year than go to live sports events, theme parks or the theatre. Over a third (37%) of adults in Britain visited a museum and/or gallery in the past year. Almost everyone who did so said that they would go to the same venue again in future (92%), and eight out of ten people feel it is important that their local city or town has its own museum or art gallery.”
+ Read the study [doc]
–
The British Library–Archives
Source: The Times
British library starts email archive
From the article: “The British Library is creating an archive to store the emails of the nation’s top authors and scientists, as the written word is replaced by electronic messages. Emails from literary figures such as Ted Hughes, the late English Poet Laureate, will form a new digital archive alongside the library’s collection of paper correspondence, which includes love letters written by Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas. Curators have become concerned that conventional letters are becoming increasingly rare as writers and scientists abandon paper for more perishable email.”
–
Public Libraries–Consumer Health Information
Source: ALA
10 library systems selected for “Be Well Informed @ your library�”
“Ten library systems have been selected to host a seminar series on consumer health education as part of the ‘Be Well Informed @ your library�’ program. Sponsored by ALA and Walgreens, the program will provide grants of $25,000 to these library systems to conduct the seminars between November 2004 and November 2005.” Systems chosen are: Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, Boston Public Library, Chicago Public Library, Cleveland Public Library, County of Los Angeles Public Library, Detroit Public Library, Enoch Pratt Free Library (Baltimore), Houston Public Library, Orange County (FL) Library System, San Diego Public Library.

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
United States Postmasters
Source: United States Postal Service
Postmaster Finder
“Get information about postmasters and post offices quickly and easily. Choose from the categories below. What you will find: Most postmasters appointed after 1986 and some postmasters appointed before 1986. What you will not find: All past postmasters and post offices. Presently, we offer complete information on about 12,000 post offices, and the number increases weekly. We regret that we can’t respond to requests.”
- Postmasters by City
- Postmasters and Where They Served
- Post Offices by County
- Post Offices by State
- Post Offices by Established Date
- Post Offices by Discontinued Date
- Post Offices by ZIP Code
- FAQs about Postmaster Finder
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Military and Political Leaders–Bibliographies
Source: Air University Library
Great Warrior Leaders/Thinkers
“Click on a name to view a bibliography of Air University Library resources, compiled by the library’s Bibliography Branch. Some bibliographies contain links to full-text material.” Books, journals, Internet resources. List includes generals and political figures from Hannibal to General Norman Schwarzkopf.

Professional Reading Shelf
British Library–Archives
Source: The Times
British library starts email archive
From the article: “The British Library is creating an archive to store the emails of the nation’s top authors and scientists, as the written word is replaced by electronic messages. Emails from literary figures such as Ted Hughes, the late English Poet Laureate, will form a new digital archive alongside the library’s collection of paper correspondence, which includes love letters written by Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas. Curators have become concerned that conventional letters are becoming increasingly rare as writers and scientists abandon paper for more perishable email.”
–
Project Muse
Duke U. Press Director Addresses Librarians on MUSE Withdrawal
“In a detailed “open letter” to librarians, posted on Yale University’s Liblicense-L electronic discussion list, Duke University Press director Steve Cohn explained the press’s recent decision to remove 18 of its journals from Project MUSE, the popular e-journal publisher run in collaboration by the libraries and press at Johns Hopkins University.”
–
Open Access–Bibliography
Citation Impact
Source: The Open Citation Project
Updated, The effect of open access and downloads (’hits’) on citation impact: a bibliography of studies
–
Weblogs
Source: Sifry.com
State of the Blogosphere, October 2004
This is a “web version” of a recent presentation by David Sifry, CEO of weblog search tool Technorati.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Resources, Reports, Tools, Lists, and Full Text Documents
U.S. Department of Defense–Acquisitions
Source: U.S. Department of Defense
Just Released: Defense Acquisitions Guidebook
From press release: “The guidebook is an interactive, Web-based capability designed to provide the acquisition workforce and their industry partners with an on-line instant reference to best business practice as well as supporting policy, statute, and lessons learned. While the policy documents released last year explain what acquisition managers are required to do, the just released guidebook complements those documents by proposing how.”
–
Petroleum–Facts and Statistics
Source: American Petroleum Institute
Petroleum Facts at a Glance (PDF; 81 KB)
“U.S. petroleum imports including crude oil and refined products in September were 12,454 barrels per day. Total imports in September as a percentage of total domestic petroleum deliveries (a key measure of demand) was 60.7 percent. The Average price for a barrel of OPEC crude oil was $41.19 as of October 1. U.S. Crude oil production in September was 4,853,000 barrels per day, of which 680,000 was Alaskan.”
–
Birds–United States
Source: USGS: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Bird Checklists of the United States
“For years, people and groups have developed listings or checklists of birds that occur in a particular region. Information on the distribution or seasonal occurrence of birds in an area, however, can change over time. Bird checklists often are outdated in only a few years after printing, but budget and time constraints prohibit regular updates. The Internet provides new opportunities for the compilation and dissemination of current information on bird distribution. Here we offer bird checklists developed by others that indicate the seasonal occurrence of birds in state, federal, and private management areas, nature preserves, and other areas of special interest in the United States.”
–
Amphibians–Database
Source: World Conservation Union, Conservation International, and NatureServe
Global Amphibian Assessment
“The Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA) is the first-ever comprehensive assessment of the conservation status of the world’s 5,743 known species of frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians. This website presents results of the assessments, including IUCN Red List threat category, range map, ecology information, and other data for every amphibian species. Search the GAA database for species by name, taxonomy, country, region, habitat type, threat type, or IUCN Red List status.”
Read the assessment report, via our sister site, DocuTicker.

Briefly
+ Long-term accessibility of Oxford Journals’ archive is assured
+ Backstage Library Works Acquires the MARS Authority Control Service from OCLC

Breaking News!
Desktop Search
Google Launches a Desktop Search Application
About thirty minutes ago, Google launched a desktop search application. I’ve been using Google Desktop Search for the past 48hrs and I’m VERY impressed. Danny Sullivan has just posted (I contributed to the story) a review on Search Engine Watch. Random comments about GDS:
+ I love the fact that every web page viewed in your browser is automatically cached on your computer and immediately made full text searchable. Seruku, a product I wrote about in June, offers a similar type of service for a fee. Additionally, every time you make a change to a Word document or other local file a new cached copy is made. Now, you can easily review revisions to your work by taking a look at the various cached copies of the material.
+ One negative is that it DOESN’t index the full text of pdf files. Google says it’s coming soon.
+ The Copernic Desktop Search tool remains a very useful product and offers several features not found with the GDS.
+ Privacy issues? Of course. Understand what you’re making searchable and how easy it could be for someone to quickly search and find something on your computer. Be careful!
+ Most of my other comments have are merged into Danny’s review.

Resources of the Week
Another two for you to explore.
1) International Business–Online Courses
Source: Michigan State University Center for International Business and Education and Research (MSU-CIBER)
globalEDGE Online Course Modules
Michigan State’s globalEDGE site is a well-known, content-rich portal for international business studies. Included here:
- Global Resources – more than 2,000 online resources
- Country Insights – a wealth of information on all countries
- Community – an interactive forum for business professionals
- Knowledge Room – latest issues in international business
- Academy – extensive research and teaching resources
- Diagnostic Tools – decision-support tools for managers

The resource we’re discussing here this week is a series of online course modules recently added to the Academy section of the website. Developed by MSU-CIBER through a U.S. Department of Education grant, these courses are organized into eight areas:
- Doing Business In (Africa, Brazil, China, Japan, Latin America, Southeast Asia, the European Union, the Middle East)
- Culture (Culture, Ethics, International Negotiations, World Religions)
- Exporting (e.g., budgeting, costing, financing, pricing, etc.)
- Market Research & Entry (e.g, assessment, modes of entry, sources of data, etc.)
- Functions (e.g., logistics, marketing, sourcing, etc.)
- Legal Aspects (e.g., world legal systems, tariffs, etc.)
- Agricultural Business (e.g., subsidies, market access, WTO Agreement on Agriculture, etc.)
- Other (Formulation of the European Union, International Monetary Systems, Regionalization and Trading Blocs)

A detailed description is provided for each course module. Most modules contain “cases or anecdotes, a glossary of terms, quiz questions, and a list of references where applicable.” No special software is required to access this material; the courses work with Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, Netscape 7.1, Mozilla 1.6 or higher, Firefox 0.8 or higher.
–
–
2) Election Laws–United States
Source: National Association of Secretaries of State
State Election Laws & Administration Issues
Remember Florida’s “hanging chads” during the election of 2000? How about the “vote early and often” policy of certain Chicago politicians in the early part of the 20th century? Where do you go for concise information on election laws and regulations enacted to deal with these and other infamous events? The answer is the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Their site contains tables with summaries of each U.S. state’s rules and regulations (plus citations to statutes or regulations whenever available) on:

+ Absentee Ballot Deadlines
+ Absentee Voting (included the list of 29 excuses allowed)
+ Automatic Recounts
+ Central Statewide Voter Registration Systems
+ Counting Absentee Ballots
+ Definition of a Valid Vote on Optical Scan Systems
+ Definition of a Valid Vote on Punch Card Systems
+ Early Voting
+ Polling Place Accessibility and Voter Assistance
+ Post Election Recount/Contest Timetable
+ Post Election Certification Timetable
+ Provisional Ballots
+ Provisions re: Election Day Workers
+ Recount Provisions (two tables’ worth of info)
+ States with Same-Day Voter Registration
+ Student Election Day Workers
+ Voter Registration Deadlines

The site also lets you use a pull-down list to go directly to a particular state’s Department of State web site. (Alas, some of the links are broken and you may have to prowl a bit to find what you want.)

Resources of the Week
Another two for you to explore.
1) International Business–Online Courses
Source: Michigan State University Center for International Business and Education and Research (MSU-CIBER)
globalEDGE Online Course Modules
Michigan State’s globalEDGE site is a well-known, content-rich portal for international business studies. Included here:
- Global Resources – more than 2,000 online resources
- Country Insights – a wealth of information on all countries
- Community – an interactive forum for business professionals
- Knowledge Room – latest issues in international business
- Academy – extensive research and teaching resources
- Diagnostic Tools – decision-support tools for managers

The resource we’re discussing here this week is a series of online course modules recently added to the Academy section of the website. Developed by MSU-CIBER through a U.S. Department of Education grant, these courses are organized into eight areas:
- Doing Business In (Africa, Brazil, China, Japan, Latin America, Southeast Asia, the European Union, the Middle East)
- Culture (Culture, Ethics, International Negotiations, World Religions)
- Exporting (e.g., budgeting, costing, financing, pricing, etc.)
- Market Research & Entry (e.g, assessment, modes of entry, sources of data, etc.)
- Functions (e.g., logistics, marketing, sourcing, etc.)
- Legal Aspects (e.g., world legal systems, tariffs, etc.)
- Agricultural Business (e.g., subsidies, market access, WTO Agreement on Agriculture, etc.)
- Other (Formulation of the European Union, International Monetary Systems, Regionalization and Trading Blocs)

A detailed description is provided for each course module. Most modules contain “cases or anecdotes, a glossary of terms, quiz questions, and a list of references where applicable.” No special software is required to access this material; the courses work with Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher, Netscape 7.1, Mozilla 1.6 or higher, Firefox 0.8 or higher.
–
–
2) Election Laws–United States
Source: National Association of Secretaries of State
State Election Laws & Administration Issues
Remember Florida’s “hanging chads” during the election of 2000? How about the “vote early and often” policy of certain Chicago politicians in the early part of the 20th century? Where do you go for concise information on election laws and regulations enacted to deal with these and other infamous events? The answer is the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Their site contains tables with summaries of each U.S. state’s rules and regulations (plus citations to statutes or regulations whenever available) on:

+ Absentee Ballot Deadlines
+ Absentee Voting (included the list of 29 excuses allowed)
+ Automatic Recounts
+ Central Statewide Voter Registration Systems
+ Counting Absentee Ballots
+ Definition of a Valid Vote on Optical Scan Systems
+ Definition of a Valid Vote on Punch Card Systems
+ Early Voting
+ Polling Place Accessibility and Voter Assistance
+ Post Election Recount/Contest Timetable
+ Post Election Certification Timetable
+ Provisional Ballots
+ Provisions re: Election Day Workers
+ Recount Provisions (two tables’ worth of info)
+ States with Same-Day Voter Registration
+ Student Election Day Workers
+ Voter Registration Deadlines

The site also lets you use a pull-down list to go directly to a particular state’s Department of State web site. (Alas, some of the links are broken and you may have to prowl a bit to find what you want.)

Professional Reading Shelf
Intranets
Source: Line56.com
Intranet Trends to Watch For
“The trends identified below based on experiences with several large organizations will give you a hint of what’s coming and how to prepare for the next wave in your intranet’s evolution. Be careful, some of these trends may already be moving across your organization. Make sure that you’re ready for them.”
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Data-Mining
Unstructured Information
Source: GCN
Attensity finds scattered data
“A company partly funded by the CIA has introduced a new version of an application suite aimed at extracting useful information from unstructured data, a rich source of information that’s so far been left mostly untouched by data-mining tools.”
See Also: Learn More Via the Attensity Web Site
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Public Libraries–Children’s Services
Source: North Suburban Library System
Know Kidding
“Thanks to an LSTA grant, NSLS and a team of 40 youth services librarians created a handbook for staff in public libraries.”
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Books–United States–Awards
Source: National Book Foundation
National Book Awards
The judges have announced the finalists for the National Book Awards. A pdf version of the list is available.