Archive for the ‘Government Documents and Political Information’ Category
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
From the Site:
A few words about our new site: We still have our trusty blog, our main mode of communicating with the public, where you will find frequent updates on OSTP and related activities (it’s like an OSTP diary). We also still have our Pressroom, where we will keep you more formally apprised of news, and dedicated pages focused on the Nation’s R&D Budgets as well as the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the National Science and Technology Council. But we have a few new items as well, including a front-page center column that will focus on various topics of interest—such as NASA’s new plan for exploration and the recently released FY2011 R&D Budget, currently featured—to be updated periodically.
With regard to the blog, many of you know that we have long used a WordPress-based public comment function to get input from you on a range of issues, most recently via our Public Access Policy Forum. That comment functionality is just now being built into the Drupal platform upon which our new blog is built. Please stay tuned for that function’s relaunch. In the meantime, you can reach us via the Contact Us page.
Finally, we have moved our Tweetoid of the Day (#TOTD on Twitter) to the front of our main site; it’s not just on our blog anymore. Please continue to send us ideas for our TOTD via Twitter—anything science-y and tech-y including staggering statistics, interesting news items, or fun facts.
Access OSTP Web Site or http://ostp.gov.
Source: White House OSTP
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, Science, Technology and Internet | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Most days of the week on our DocuTicker site, Shirl Kennedy posts links to research reports (new and updated) from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) (and many other organizations).
Here are a few CRS reports that have been updated in the past few days. This is just a small sample of what CRS produces. Reports are written on thousands of topics but not every report is made available (in one form or another) to the public.
+ Membership of the 111th Congress: A Profile
+ Women in the United States Congress: 1917-2009
+ U.S. Periods of War
Source: CRS (via DocuTicker.com)
DocuTicker, ResourceShelf’s sister site is updated daily with new full text reports from governments, think tanks, ngo’s, academia, and other organizations. It’s a free resource.
Posted in Best of DocuTicker, Government Documents and Political Information, History, Resources | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
NSF Launches Open Government Web Page
On Saturday, Feb. 6, the National Science Foundation launched a new interactive Web page designed to encourage participation and collaboration between the agency and the citizens it serves. Additional information about this activity, as well as a link to the OpenNSF dialogue, is accessible at www.nsf.gov/open. The dialogue page is open for ideas and comments from Feb. 6-March 19.
In working to achieve the transparency, public participation and collaboration outlined by the Obama Administration’s Open Government Directive, agencies across the government have established Open Government Web pages to collect ideas and suggestions from the public.
NSF’s Open Government Web page will allow members of the public to submit ideas, comment on and vote for ideas proposed, and flag posts that are off-topic. In addition to welcoming general ideas and comments, NSF specifically seeks input regarding access to large data sets and collaborations that aim to facilitate transformative research. The agency will incorporate submitted ideas and suggestions into an official Open Government Plan, to be published on April 7, 2010. This plan will serve as the “road map” for our efforts to improve transparency, better integrate public participation and collaboration into our core mission, and become more innovative and efficient.
Source: National Science Foundation
Posted in Access to Information, Government Documents and Political Information, Science, Search News, Source File, Technology and Internet | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco Unveil Landmark Climate.Gov Portal to Climate Information
In a press conference earlier today, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco unveiled a new Web site that will serve as a single point-of-entry for NOAA’s climate information, data, products and services. This climate portal will provide information about the impacts of climate on nearly every aspect of our lives from agriculture and energy to transportation.
…
Known as the NOAA Climate Service Portal, the site is designed to address the needs of five broadly-defined user groups: decision makers and policy leaders, scientists and applications-oriented data users, educators, business users, and the public.
Highlights of the site include:
- An interactive “climate dashboard” that lets users see a range of constantly updating climate datasets (e.g., temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, and sea level) over adjustable time scales;
- A new Web-based climate science magazine called ClimateWatch, featuring videos and articles of scientists discussing their recent climate research and topics that cannot be relayed in charts and graphs;
- Explanations and exploration of data products available from NOAA and partner agencies, with direct links to the sources of the comprehensive datasets;
- Educational resources for students and teachers, including lesson plans for the classroom and laboratory, educational games and interactive media; and
- Easy-to-understand fact sheets and presentations for professionals and the public about climate science, research and climate impacts.
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Posted in Access to Information, Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Portals, Reference Tools, Resources for Educators, Science, Search News, Source File, Technology and Internet | No Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
From the Announcement:
With the release of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 budget plan this week, the Foundation launched a budget tracker, http://www.kff.org/globalhealth/8045.cfm, to provide current information on the status of U.S. funding for key global health programs throughout the Congressional budget and appropriations process.
The tracker includes a detailed breakdown of each major account as presented in the President’s budget request and will be updated as needed as the appropriations bills proceed through Congress. The budget tracker is an element of the Foundation’s broader interactive U.S. global health policy tracker located online at: http://globalhealth.kff.org/Policy-Tracker.aspx.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation
See Also: The Kaiser Family Foundation is Now Tweeting. You Can Follow Their Feed at: http://twitter.com/KaiserFamFound. Kaiser also has a news feed at: http://twitter.com/KHNews
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, New Websites and Resources, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Resource of the week: Guardian (UK) — Gateway to Government Data Around the World
We actually posted about this resource from The Guardian last month, but we figured it was worth highlighting here because it’s a work in progress that is bound to grow more and more useful over time.
From The Guardian:
Data, data, data. There’s loads of it out there and more coming your way as governments open their statistics vaults around the world.
First the US with data.gov, then Australia and New Zealand followed suit. Now it’s the UK’s turn with data.gov.uk.
And that’s in addition to the cities and US states that have made government data available too: London launched very recently – you can get the full set of links for government data sites around the world here.
Ever since the government appointed Sir Tim Berners-Lee as its open data Czar (working with Prof Nigel Shadbolt from Southampton University) it was obvious the issue was going to be big for the government, but what does it mean for you?
You now have tens of sites around the world providing you access, but how do you find them?
Well, this is now the place. To coincide with the launch of data.gov.uk, we have created the ultimate gateway to world government data.
At World Government Data you can:
- Search government data sites from the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and London (this comes under United Kingdom, if you want to browse) in one place and download the data (more sites to come)
- Help us find the best dataset by ranking them
- Collect similar datasets together from around the world
- Browse all datasets by each country
+ Direct to world government data
Source: guardian.co.uk
Hat tip: J. T. Johnson, Institute for Analytic Journalism
And here’s a related resource you might find useful, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web. Includes links to both U.S. and international statistics agencies and offices.
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, Reference Tools, Search Tools, Source File, Statistics | No Comments »
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
From the Article:‘
Probably the single most successful cultural project in the last five years in Ireland has been the project by the National Archives to digitise and make available online the 1911 census. It began in 2007, when the Dublin records went online. Antrim, Kerry and Down followed in 2008 and all the other counties became available last August. The public response has been phenomenal. Up to last January, there had been 165 million hits on the site, with 5.5 million users logged on. About 60 per cent are from the Republic, 30 per cent from the UK (including, of course, Northern Ireland which is covered in the census) and the rest from North America and continental Europe. It is hard to think of any cultural project by a public institution that has had such an impact in such a short time.
[Snip]
This year, the annual release to the public of Government records under the 30-year rule had to be severely curtailed because there was simply no room for much of the new material. Some had to be retained by the Government departments in question and some was put into storage. More than 100,000 documents are now kept in a warehouse at the back of the cramped archives building in Bishop Street, Dublin. The warehouse has no proper environmental controls and the material is piled on wooden pallets, making it very difficult to access. [our emphasis].
[Snip]
As well as these immediate problems, there are major long-term issues that need to be addressed. What is Government policy on the digitisation of archival records? More urgently, what is the effect of the move, in public institutions, away from paper-based records and towards e-mail? What is being done to preserve the electronic record? In the Seanad recently, Feargal Quinn stated that “the registries, which used to organise centrally the files of each department, have collapsed in Belfast as well as Dublin. It appears that over the last decade and a half, the old central registry system has broken down in the various departments.” This contention seemed to be supported by Mansergh (who, as a trained historian, actually understands this issue). He noted that “the nature of documents produced by Government are such that we are betwixt and between paper and digital information. There is a considerable unease, given that we are in the digital age, that even more records will go missing than was the case in the paper age.”
Source: Irish Times
Posted in Archives and Special Collections, Government Documents and Political Information | No Comments »
Friday, February 5th, 2010
Ebay Fraudster Sentenced
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida
Jeffrey H. Sloman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Henry Gutierrez, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, Miami Division, announced the sentencing of defendant Nilton Rossoni, 50, formerly of Sunny Isles, FL, in connection with his role in a massive eBay fraud. Rossoni previously was indicted and convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1349. Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley sentenced Rossoni to 68 months in federal prison.
According to the charges, filed court documents, and statements made in open court, between October 2003 and June 2008, Rossoni executed a scheme to unlawfully enrich himself by listing and selling thousands of items on eBay, but not actually shipping or delivering these items after having received payment from the winning bidders. To effectuate his scheme, Rossoni used false or fictitious names and addresses, or the real names and addresses of unsuspecting individuals whose identities had been stolen, to create multiple e-mail accounts with America Online, Yahoo, and other internet e-mail service providers who did not verify registration information.
Thereafter, defendant Rossoni registered and established hundreds of eBay accounts and used various names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and mailing addresses on those accounts to post items for auction. Rossoni would then purchase approximately 15 to 20 inexpensive items on eBay from himself and post positive “feedback” on the transaction. This feedback about the purported seller would become available for review by potential customers, who would be encouraged to conduct business as a result of the positive remarks about this seller.
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, Information Literacy, Legal, Privacy, Search News, Technology and Internet | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
NRC Launches User-Friendly Web Tool for Searching Agency Documents
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has added a search interface to its online Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) to improve the public’s ability to find and obtain NRC documents.
“This is another example of the efforts the agency has underway to be as open and transparent as possible,” said NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko.
The Web-based “ADAMS PUBLIC” interface replaces access to the Publicly Available Records System (PARS) that required downloading additional software. The original Web-based PARS interface introduced in 2003 remains available.
ADAMS PUBLIC runs as an application in a user’s browser, using multiple search fields to identify and retrieve relevant information. The new interface also provides access to the Public Legacy Library, which holds 2 million bibliographic citations to microfiched documents dating from the late 1940s to 1999. The new interface includes a “user-friendly” search screen and content search capability for more exact searches, and it can generate reports from search results. The ADAMS PUBLIC Web page (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/adams-public.html) provides easily understandable instructions for searching, viewing and downloading documents.
Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Posted in Access to Information, Government Documents and Political Information, Search Tools, Source File | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
The fascinating world of forgotten information
There’s a fascinating world of all but hidden information out there waiting to be tapped. A growing number of news organizations are beginning to mine and manipulate that information, which in many instances rests in government records files that while public are, for practical purposes, obscure. The conversion by government units to electronic record keeping has not, in many instances, made it easier for the average reporter, let alone the average citizen, to get access to that information. And even when agencies post records online, the data is frequently difficult to find.
Media Web sites that have found ways to cull or link to this data are helping regular readers get information they want and need, and bringing new readers to their Web sites It’s a fresh way to deliver “news” that holds enormous potential to increase site visits and time spent, and to build a new allegiance as a source of essential information about neighborhood and community.
Some months ago, ASNE’s Freedom of Information Committee began a survey of newspaper Web sites, exploring their use of public records data. The initial goal was to establish a baseline of available records and make that report available so news organizations could use the information to push for greater online transparency in their communities and states.
…
The survey found enormous variations among media Web sites. On some sites, we were unable to locate a single database feature utilizing a public record or any other database presence. But many are doing highly innovative and exciting work, putting up database pages that offer scores of information searches that could be enormously helpful, intellectually satisfying, and sometimes just plain fun.
The databases permit both critical and trivial pursuit of information, and a lot of simply useful searching in between.
+ Full Report (PDF; 6.6 MB)
Source: American Society of Newspaper Editors
Posted in Access to Information, Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, Media, Reference Tools, Source File | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Inaccurate age and sex data in the Census PUMS files: Evidence and Implications (PDF; 209 KB)
We discover and document errors in public use microdata samples (”PUMS files”) of the 2000 Census, the 2003-2006 American Community Survey, and the 2004-2009 Current Population Survey. For women and men ages 65 and older, age- and sex-specific population estimates generated from the PUMS files differ by as much as 15% from counts in published data tables. Moreover, an analysis of labor force participation and marriage rates suggests the PUMS samples are not representative of the population at individual ages for those ages 65 and over. PUMS files substantially underestimate labor force participation of those near retirement ages and overestimate labor force participation rates of those at older ages. These problems were an unintentional by-product of the misapplication of a newer generation of disclosure avoidance procedures carried out on the data. The resulting errors in the public use data could significantly impact studies of people ages 65 and older, particularly analyses of variables that are expected to change by age.
Source: J. Trent Alexander, Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota; Michael Davern, NORC at the University of Chicago; Betsey Stevenson, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, CESifo, and NBER
Hat tip: Freakonomics blog
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, Information Literacy, Papers, Presentations, Reports, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Facts for Features: Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV will be played Feb. 7 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., a Miami suburb. To commemorate this occasion, the Census Bureau has compiled a collection of facts examining the demographics of the host city, as well as the cities represented by the contenders, in this year’s edition of our nation’s most celebrated sporting event.
With the mail-out of 2010 Census questionnaires slightly more than a month away, the Census Bureau will run three ads promoting census awareness during the Super Bowl telecast — two during the pregame show and one during the third quarter.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Posted in 2010 Census, Fast Facts, Reference Tools, Source File | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
From the Blog Post:
Please welcome the U.S. National Archives to The Commons, the world’s public photography archives on Flickr to which you can contribute information and knowledge.
With over 3,000 images in 49 sets uploaded already, perusing these important archival images should keep you entertained for a long time. Their four collections encompass important Americana, ranging from the famous Mathew Brady Civil War images to historical and iconic images of American history.
Step back to the 1860s to see Civil War battle scenes in the Mathew Brady Civil War Photography collection. Visit the DOCUMERICA Project by the Environmental Protection Agency collection, which documents everyday life in the 1970s. The Development and Public Works collection contains images of the Flatriver irrigation project in Montana. Their Historical Photographs and Documents collection contains milestones in U.S. history, including the Declaration of Independence, the Earth as seen from space, and just a series of favorites, including Ansel Adams.
Source: Flickr
Posted in Archives and Special Collections, Government Documents and Political Information, Social Media | No Comments »
Monday, February 1st, 2010
Budget of the U.S. Government – Fiscal Year 2011
ssued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President’s budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other budget items, such as related publications and supporting materials, are included, which may vary from year to year.
GPO has signed and certified the PDF files to assure users that the online documents are official and authentic. The digitally signed PDF files should be viewed using Adobe Acrobat or Reader version 7.0 or higher.
Source: GPO
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, Reference Tools, Source File | No Comments »
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
From an Article:
The FDA has launched a new,searchable database that includes 971 recalls since January 1, 2006. (The database only goes back four years. If you have pet food from before then, I urge you to throw it away now for reasons completely unrelated to recalls!)
The number 971 sounds quite scary indeed. If you’re thinking of circumventing this problem by making your pet’s food, remember that recalls of human food are stunningly common as well…
Access the New Pet Food Recall Database
Access the Human Food Recall Database
Source: Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM (Dogster/Catster)
Other Human Food Recalls Can be Found Here
Also, More RecallsHere No Food But Many Other Products, Some Data Back to 1973.
Posted in Consumer Issues, Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, Reference Tools, Resources | No Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
From an Article by Aliya Sternstein:
The Obama administration has declined to post, and in some cases has removed, several sets of downloadable statistics that agencies submitted last week for publication online, due to privacy and other concerns.
Agencies sent the Office of Management and Budget almost 300 data sets to post on Jan. 22, in an effort to comply with a December open government directive that required they file at least three new listings in a public statistics clearinghouse called Data.gov within 60 days.
But researchers at the transparency group Openthegovernment.org noticed on Monday that some of the data sets were no longer available, according to a table on Data.gov showing the number of contributions per agency.
Access the Complete Article
Source: Nextgov.com
Hat Tip: FGI
Posted in Access to Information, Data.gov, Government Documents and Political Information, Privacy | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
From the Announcement:
Every year since 1996 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has collected work-related injury and illness data from more than 80,000 employers. For the first time, the Agency has made the data from 1996 to 2007 available in a searchable online database, allowing the public to look at establishment or industry-specific injury and illness data. The workplace injury and illness data is available at http://www.osha.gov/pls/odi/establishment_search.html as well as Data.gov.
[Snip]
Information available at the Data.gov and www.osha.gov Websites includes an establishment’s name, address, industry, associated Total Case Rate (TCR), Days Away, Restricted, Transfer (DART) case rate, and the Days Away From Work (DAFWII) case rate. The data is specific to the establishments that provided OSHA with valid data through the 2008 data collection (collection of CY 2007 data). This database does not contain rates calculated by OSHA for establishments that submitted suspect or unreliable data.
Source: Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Posted in Government Documents and Political Information, Statistics | No Comments »
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
From the Announcement:
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero announced this week that the National Archives and Records Administration has added three new high-value datasets to the Data.gov web site and invites public comment on developing an Open Government Plan, focusing on transparency, participation, and collaboration improvements.
[Snip]
The first milestone of the Open Government Directive was met on January 22 with the release of new datasets on Data.gov. Each major government agency has uploaded at least three datasets in this initial action. The National Archives released the 2007–2009 Code of Federal Regulations and two datasets from its Archival Research Catalog. This is the first time this material is available as raw data in XML format.
The three Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) datasets consist of the 2007, 2008, and 2009 editions. The CFR contains all of the general and permanent regulations of the U.S. Government, which affect nearly every aspect of life in the United States. The datasets are divided into 50 titles that represent broad areas subject to Federal regulation.
Archival Descriptions from the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) provide descriptions of the permanent holdings of the Federal government in the custody of the National Archives, including information on traditional paper holdings, electronic records, and artifacts.
Organization Descriptions from the Archival Research Catalog (ARC) provide a highly detailed presentation of the evolution of names and administrative histories of Federal and non-federal organizations. It is used by the National Archives to track the organization that created records, and as a source of access points for indexing archival descriptions and/or other authority records with consistent headings.
Much more in the announcement including broad recommendations on how to conduct its work more openly, recommendations on how to improve public participation in and feedback on the National Archives core mission activities, broad recommendations on how to improve collaboration.
You’ll also learn where to submit your comments. The deadline by March 19, 2010.
Source: NARA
Posted in Archives and Special Collections, Data.gov, Government Documents and Political Information | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
From the Announcement:
TOXMAP now includes the 2008 Toxics Release Inventory data (TRI)
Other TOXMAP Updates Include:
* The ability to view search results in Google Maps and Google Earth (TRI and Superfund Maps) ;and a new look for the TOXMAP FAQ.
Note: To access the data on a Google Map using Google Earth (It should hope automatically if its loaded on your computer).
1) Run a TRI or Superfund Search (top of page)
2) Enter the Data, you can use as little as a Zip Code or use a pre-defined region (left side of page)
3) When your results are returned you should spot Google Maps and Google Earth logos, click and the Google Map should open.
TOXMAP maps the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) chemicals reported to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).
A complete list of TRI chemicals required to be reported to the EPA can be found at http://www.epa.gov/tri/trichemicals/index.htm.
Source: National Library of Medicine
Posted in Access to Information, Databases, Directories, and Guides, Government Documents and Political Information, Science | No Comments »
