SAMHSA Launches New Homelessness Resource Center Web Site

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has launched a new Homelessness Resource Center Web site. The Web site is designed to support individuals working to improve the lives of people affected by homelessness who have mental health conditions, substance use disorders, and histories of trauma.

“The new Homelessness Resource Center Web site provides a platform for creating an interactive community of providers, consumers, policymakers, researchers, and public agencies at federal, state, and local levels working to prevent and end homelessness,” said Terry Cline, Ph.D., SAMHSA administrator.

This social networking site is designed to help users network with other providers of homelessness services, such as by sharing knowledge and experiences. Other features include accessing resources from the library, downloading resources and practical tools, rating and commenting on content, posting helpful information, and learning about upcoming events.

Topics, such as how to reach out to the homeless, the transition from homelessness, health care, self care, and housing, are included to promote recovery-oriented and consumer-centered homeless services.

+ Homelessness Resource Center

Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (HHS)

The National Library of Medicine Specialized Information Services Division has released an Enviro-Health Links page on Disaster Recovery and Environmental Health:
(http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/disasterrecovery.html).

This web page provides information about recovering from natural and man-made disasters. It includes guides for state and local officials, links to state emergency management offices, information for emergency responders, guidelines for workers involved in environmental cleanup, and handling hazardous chemicals.

Source: NLM

CBP Develops New Online Trade Violation Reporting System

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of International Trade has developed a new online trade violation reporting system called eAllegations to provide concerned members of the public a means to confidentially report suspected trade violations to CBP.

Beginning June 17, members of the public may report information regarding suspected violations via a new online form on the CBP Website. Please refer to the eAllegations link on the Trade page to access this form.

CBP has established this reporting system to make it easier for the public to notify CBP of possible trade violations. CBP will confidentially research concerns, determine the validity of the allegations and any actions required based on the subsequent review.

To report a possible violation, an individual must submit the following information: the type of trade violation, description of what has occurred, the products or goods involved and the alleged violator’s name and/or company. Other information may be included on a voluntary basis.

eAllegations is not intended for assertions of security issues such as terrorists or weapons of mass destruction. Violations that may be reported online through eAllegations include misclassification of merchandise, country of origin markings, health and safety violations, intellectual property rights violations, textile or other trade violations.

Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

UNESCO Portal on Higher Education Institutions

This portal offers access to on-line information on higher education institutions recognized or otherwise sanctioned by competent authorities in participating countries.

It provides students, employers and other interested parties with access to authoritative and up-to-date information on the status of higher education institutions and quality assurance in these countries.

Currently, information can be accessed on the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Egypt, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States of America. In the next stage of the project, the number of countries covered will be expanded.

Source: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Hat tip: UN Pulse

World Health Statistics 2008

Direct
115 pages; PDF.

World Health Statistics 2008 presents the most recent health statistics for WHO’s 193 Member States. This fourth edition includes 10 highlights in health statistics, as well as an expanded set of over 70 key health indicators. It includes, for the first time, trend data where the statistics are available and of acceptable quality.

Source: World Health Organization (via Basefsky’s IWS Documented News Statistics)

1) New — M. C. Escher: Life and Work

…an online tour of 24 prints by the Dutch artist Maurits C. Escher (1898-1972). In the 1920s-30s, Escher developed “the regular division of the plane” and used the idea of metamorphosis — one shape or object turning into something completely different. He also explored complex architectural mazes and the representation of impossible spaces. (National Gallery of Art)

2) Trails to Utah and the Pacific: Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 (Library of Congress)

…features 49 diaries of pioneers who traveled westward across America to Utah, Montana, and the Pacific between 1847 and the meeting of the rails in 1869. Maps, photos, and published trail guides are included. Essays focus on the California Trail, the Mormon trail experience, trail guides, and maps and their use by overlanders.

Source: FREE, U.S. Department of Education

WaterQualityWatch — Continuous Real-Time Water Quality of Surface Water in the United States
WaterQualityWatch is a new USGS web site that provides access to real time water-quality monitor data collected in surface waters throughout the United States as part of the USGS mission to describe water resources. Measurements include streamflow (through WaterWatch) water temperature, specific conductance, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity. These measurements are available at more than 1,300 sites in streams with watersheds as small as a few square miles to more than 1,000,000 square miles in the Mississippi River as it enters the Gulf of Mexico. Continuous real-time water-quality data are used for decisions regarding drinking water, water treatment, regulatory programs, recreation, and public safety. Additionally, links to other USGS technical resources and how these measurements are used as surrogates to obtain real-time computations or estimates of other water quality constituents are provided.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey

+ YouTomb.mit.edu - Video Takedowns Uncovered

+ Redlasso.com - Find, Clip, and Post News Media Clips

+ Hotwords.com - What is the World Searching for?

+ Watchmojo.com - Live Streaming Video Producer

Source: Killer StartUps

New Report from The Foundation Center: Key Facts on Community Foundations

From the summary:

Estimated giving by the nation’s 717 grantmaking community foundations rose 14 percent in 2007 to a record $4.1 billion, according to Key Facts on Community Foundations, a new report from the Foundation Center. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of the community foundations surveyed expect to increase their giving in 2008.

Other key findings based on final 2006 data include:

* Community foundations accounted for 1 percent of U.S.
grantmaking foundations but were responsible for 9 percent of giving
* Forty-two percent of community foundations reported giving away
more than $1 million
* The Greater Kansas City Community Foundation ranked first among
community foundations by total giving in 2006, awarding more than $172
million
* Education and human services were the top giving priorities of
the larger community foundations included in the Center’s grants sample

Source: The Foundation Center

+ Cumberland library intends to bring in more teens by offering video games (via The Providence Journal)

+ You Can Now Search Techmeme (via SEL)

+ Yahoo Claims Record With Petabyte Database

+ UK: Government database of all UK phone calls & emails: massive archiving issues

A Review of the FBI’s Involvement in and Observations of Detainee Interrogations in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq

438 pages; PDF.

Source: DOJ IG

NASA Science looks at NASA’s past, present, and future missions. It includes interactive tables and searches for earth, heliophysics, planetary, and astrophysics missions; information about dark matter and dark energy, planets around other stars, climate change, Mars, and space weather; science questions for NASA science missions; a “citizen scientist” page of resources to help citizens engage in scientific investigation; and expanded “For Educators” and “For Kids” pages. (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education

The effects of mercury on human health are a common concern. The new NLM Enviro-Health Links page, “Mercury and Human Health ,” includes links to sites about mercury reduction, occupational exposure, compact fluorescent light bulbs, mercury in health care, regulations and state legislation, and preformed TOXLINE and MEDLINE/PubMed searches.

Direct to the site: http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/mercury.html

NLM also offers other Enviro-Health Links on topics such as:

+ Children’s Environmental Health
+ Indoor Air Pollution
+ Keeping the Artist Safe: Hazards of Arts and Crafts Materials
+ Outdoor Air Pollution
+ Lead
+ Arsenic

Source: National Library of Medicine

+++ Direct to Database

+++ From the news release:

Our database covers from 1999 to the present. In that time, more than 450 gifts in all were reported having been received by congressmen and their aides by foreign governments. These gifts include tangible ones, such as a ceremonial sword, or travel, such as a ride in a military helicopter. Only gifts above what the law has determined to be “minimal value” is considered reportable. The Senate defines “minimal value” as $100, while the House and executive branch adjust the value by inflation. In 2008, the value for the House and executive branch was $335.

Source: LegiStorm (via Basefsky’s IWS Documented News Service)

Microsoft’s Answer to Google Sky to Launch At End of May

Microsoft will launch Worldwide Telescope, a tool for exploring images of the night sky, by the end of May, free to anyone who wants to use it, Microsoft’s chairman said Friday.

Worldwide Telescope is software that allows people to gaze at the universe through the data collected by telescopes all around the world — and above it: there’s even data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Source: CIO

UPDATE: Greg Sterling Reports on How the Service is Already Available if the Proper Software is Downloaded.