SLA Government Information Division

The Economic Picture, State by State

A new report from the congressional Joint Economic Committee provides an assessment of the economic climate in each of the 50 U.S. states. Understanding the Economy: State-by-State Snapshots [PDF] includes indicators such as  private sector job creation or job loss since the start of recession and condition of the housing sector. The profiles also show how a state compares to other states and to the nation as a whole.

[hat tip to bespacific.com]

CERN Library Catalog Goes Open Access

The catalog records of the library at CERN,the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland, are now under a Public Domain Data License and available for free download. Details from the CERN Library January 2010 press release:

The data of CERN Library will be used by the Open Library Project to provide a webpage for every book and allow users to add content like table of contents, classifications and summaries.

For massive reuse of data, the data will be provided soon by an open Z39.50, SRU and OAI interface via biblios.net, a repository of open bibliographic data.

The whole dataset can be downloaded from http://cern.ch/bookdata

Jens Vigen, Head of the CERN Library, is quoted in the press release: "Books should only be catalogued once. Currently the public purse pays for having the same book catalogued over and over again. Librarians should act as they preach: data sets created through public funding should be made freely available to anyone interested."

Science in the News Added to Science.gov

The federal government website Science.gov now features continually updated news from federal scientific agencies. Science in the News appears near the top of the Science.gov home page. Click the 'More Science News' link to see items beyond the four most current.

NOAA and Google Partner to Improve Access to NOAA Data

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, with Google Inc. NOAA's 25 January press release describes the six areas in which NOAA and Google may cooperate:

• Engaging the public in ongoing and historic scientific expeditions including those of the NOAA ship Okeanos Explorer;
• Compiling and improving bathymetric datasets to display in Google Earth and make available for downloading;
• Expanding NOAA efforts to publish oceanographic data, especially data from the NOAA-led Integrated Ocean Observing System;
• Expanding NOAA efforts to publish climate data, especially data from the greenhouse gas monitoring system;
• Increasing the amount of data available for NOAA’s Science on a Sphere, an educational Earth science display system, [http://sos.noaa.gov/] by adapting it to display files in the Keyhole Markup Language, the file format Google Earth and Google Maps use for geographic data; and
• Providing interactive access to marine zoning and regulatory information concerning regions such as continental shelf boundaries and marine protected areas.

Government Computer News covers this story in their article Google to bring NOAA data to new heights.

FDLP on Boing Boing

Rarin' Librarian Jessamyn West is guest blogging at the mega-popular website Boing Boing this week. Her post yesterday put the spotlight on government information and the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program. From her post, The longest running open source project: U.S. Federal Depository Libraries:

While the concept of a distributed system can be applied perfectly to the digital world (think napster for govt information!), the FDLP network is being threatened by the very idea that the FDLP is a print concept only. With digital deposit, harvesting, bulk data, open standards etc, we can continue the FDLP to assure the distribution, access to and long-term preservation of government information.

Go Jessamyn!

Changes in the Online Legal Research Arena

Both the ABA Journal and the New York Times have recently published articles about changes predicted in the market for online legal research.

Exclusive: Inside the New Westlaw, Lexis & Bloomberg Platforms, by Jill Schachner Chanen. ABA Journal, 24 January 2009.

Legal Sites Plan Overhauls as Rivals Compete on Price, by Ashlee Vance. New York Times, 24 January 2009.

[hat tip to Law Librarian Blog]

Federal Jobs Website News

USAJOBS.gov unveiled a new look and new features yesterday. The site's new home page has one search box, like Google. Improvements in search include the ability to filter search results by numerous criteria and to change those filters without having to re-do the search. When displayed, a job posting can be shared via Facebook, LikedIn, Twitter, and other social networking sites. The bottom of the home page features links to information for specific audiences: senior executives, students, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.

The 'veterans' link on USAJOBS leads to a new site launched by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on January 21st called Feds Hires Vets. From the press release:

This website will help ensure Veterans, transitioning military service members, their families, HR professionals, and hiring managers receive accurate and consistent information regarding Veterans employment in the Executive Branch.

The Labor Department's Veterans Employment and Training Service website has information and resources for veterans seeking employment outside of the government. Labor also manages a site for employers called HireVetsFirst.

OPM's main site has a Job Seekers page with information for all potential employees and employees looking for other jobs in the federal sector.

6th Annual State of the Net Conference 2010 - Tomorrow

I don't know much about it, but it sounds interesting!  It's brought to us by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC), and happening on Wednesday the 27th (with some pre-conference activity today).  Learn more at: http://www.netcaucus.org/conference/2010/agenda.shtml

Wednesday sessions include:

8:00 am Welcome

 

8:45 am Keynote Address

 

10:00 am    Copyright Strikes: When Has a Pirate Graduated to Internet Exile?

 

11:15 am    Coffee Break

 

11:30 am    Breakout Sessions

* Antitrust in the Internet Era

* Cyberwar: Is Congress Preparing for the Common Defense?

* Clouding Internet Policy

 

12:30 pm    Networking Lunch

 

1:30 pm Keynote Address

 

2:00 pm Breakout Sessions

* Global Free Expression: Will the Internet Reign or Get Reined In?

* Transforming Government Through Technology: The Real, The Possible, The Surprising

* Debating the Framework for Online Privacy

 

3:15 pm Coffee Break

 

3:30 pm Breakout Sessions

* Can the Internet Save the Planet with Smart Grid Energy?

* Social Media in Tech Policy: Meet the new influencers and become one, too

 

4:30 pm Closing Reception, Regency Foyer

 

Contact: Cat Matsuda at cmatsuda@netcaucus.org or 202-638-4370 for more information.

 

Census 2010 Count Begins Today

The U.S. Census Bureau kicks off the 2010 count today with an event in the Alaskan village of Noorvik. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves writes about it on the Director's Blog, and the Associated Press covers it in today's story You're number 1: Alaska village up first in Census. The census traditionally begins in an Alaskan village because, as the Census Bureau notes in their Media Advisory, "census takers must get a head start in Noorvik and other villages in remote Alaska before residents leave for hunting and fishing grounds and while the ground is frozen, which allows access to the region by bush plane, dogsled and snowmobile."

In addition to the Census 2010 home page, news and resources are available on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube; links are on the What You Can Do page.

Government Data Catalogs Around the World

The U.S. has Data.gov; Australia has data.australia.gov.au; and last week the U.K. launched data.gov.uk. More nations and local governments either have a government data catalog online or are in the process of building one. Antti Poikola, a Finnish tech consultant, has posted a list of these catalogs in his blog entry Open government data catalogs, 23 January 2010. He hopes to keep the list updated on diigo under Public Sector Data Catalogues.

Keep in mind that these catalogs generally list data that is available for free bulk download. For aggregated statistics from national governments, see the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics list of Statistics Sites on the World Wide Web.