SLA Government Information Division

Canadian Government Tries Open Data

Following other national and local governments around the globe, Canada has launched a portal for open government data--although some researchers question just how "open" the data is. The Canadian government project is called the Open Data Pilot, and the site is referred to by its web address, data.gc.ca.

As explained on the website: "The goal of the GC Open Data Portal is to create socio-economic opportunities and promote informed participation by the public by expanding access to federal government data." The Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, launched the website with a speech on 17 March 2011. The pilot project is to last 12 months, and the government is soliciting feedback.

Open data in the pilot phase comes from ten participating agencies: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; Citizenship and Immigration Canada; Environment Canada; Department of Finance Canada; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Library and Archives Canada; Natural Resources Canada; Statistics Canada; Transport Canada and the Treasury Board Secretariat.

David Eaves, a prominent proponent of open government data who was present at the launch ceremony, offers his critique of the site in his blog post Canada launches data.gc.ca - what works and what is broken. He concludes that what is broken is the restrictive license for using the data, and he has effected some changes in the license language to date.

We can add that what is working is an RSS feed for notices of data sets added to the site, a feature that would be most welcome if added to the U.S. Data.gov site.

Proposed Census Cuts include Statistical Abstract

The U.S. Census Bureau's congressional budget submission for FY2012 includes several program terminations--cancellation of the Statistical Abstract of the United States for example--not welcomed by librarians and other researchers.

On the SLA Public Policy Connections blog, SLA executive Doug Newcomb writes: "Especially after supporting a campaign as part of Sunshine Week 2011 - "The Road Forward to Open Government" - it came as a disappointment to many members of the SLA community that these cuts would move us away from an accessible government." (full post here)

The reaction from a few other blogs:

Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1878-2012?, Dispatched from the Stacks, National Geographic Society Library

Statistical Threats, Online Insider

Update on Statistical Abstract and The Demise of the Statistical Abstract, Free Government Information

The Government Printing Office blogged about Stat Abs less that a month ago in its GPO Book Talk post Perusing the 2011 Statistical Abstract, letting you know that "you can lose yourself in its pages here, get a personal copy here, or peruse it in a library." For now.

 

Sunshine Week: New Websites, Resources, News

The U.S. national Sunshine Week ends today, and what a week it has been. Here are but a few of the new government websites, newspaper and non-profit events, and other things that just happened to occur at about the same time:

The American Society of Newspaper Editors, which leads the Sunshine Week effort, describes it as "a national initiative to promote a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information." Newspapers around the country discuss stories that would not have come to light were it not for open government policies or Freedom of Information laws. Look below the fold on the Sunshine Week homepage for a roundup of the week's FOI news.

SLA joined OpenTheGovernment.org and other organizations in convening today's event, The Road Forward on Open Government. The site will carry the archived webcast of the program.

The Justice Department launched a free-standing site called FOIA.gov with FOIA data and educational information. You can use the Report section to generate statistical reports for specific agencies. Justice's Office of Information Policy pages still carry FOIA information as well.

The White House website added the section WhiteHouse.gov/GoodGovernment, designed to be "your central portal to tools and data that connect citizens to their government and improve their everyday lives, as well as Presidential Actions that promote open, transparent and accountable government." It includes relevant presidential documents, data such as White House salaries and visitor lists, and links to sites like Data.gov and and PaymentAccuracy.gov.

The National Archives Public Interest Declassification Board launched their blog, Transforming Classification.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on "The Freedom of Information Act: Ensuring Transparency and Accountability in the Digital Age." You can watch the archived webcast.

The Los Angeles Times invited readers to contribute copies of public records they have obtained. In turn, the LA Times will add them to a central California public records page, along with records their reporters have dug up.

The South by Southwest Interactive presentation-fest put the spotlight on approaches to opening government and enhancing citizen participation. SXSWi Accelerator finalists, a prestigious position to be in, included such public records and good government sites as DocumentCloud.org, ParticipatoryPolitics.org, PopVox.com, and Votizen.com. Congrats to PopVox.com, a site that works to improve constituent-to-Congress communications. PopVox was the winner in the Social Media category.  (Related: See the Atlantic's article, SXSWi: Year of the Librarian.)

Librarians Report from Japan

The International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), of which SLA is a member, has posted a news page on Resources from the library community affected by the March 11th Earthquake in Japan. The page includes messages from the National Diet Library and the Tokyo Gakugei University Library. It also features updated search results about the status of Japanese libraries. (Most of these results are in Japanese only.)

Our thoughts are with our colleagues in Japan as we follow the news.

[to be rescheduled] Workshop: Purchasing Accessible Electronic and Information Technology

UPDATE: As announced 3-24-1011, this workshop has been canceled and will be rescheduled. See Cendi.gov for further updates.

Workshop 7 in a Digitization Workshop Series sponsored by U.S. federal government information managers is "Purchasing Section 508 Accessible Products & Services," to be held in Washington, DC on 29 March 2011. (The workshop will also be webcast; limited space, registration required.)

Please see the announcement for details:

Issues and Answers in Digitization

A Joint CENDI/FLICC/FADGI/NSF Workshop Series
Workshop 7 – Purchasing Section 508 Accessible Products & Services
presented by Helen Chamberlain
Program Director/Center for IT Accommodation
General Services Administration
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 1:30-3:30PM EDT
Library of Congress, Mumford Room
There is no fee, but registration is required.
Space is limited.
Webcast via Elluminate is available first come, first served.

Empower yourself to make informed, legal decisions in your purchasing of Electronic and Information Technology (EIT). This session is a must for all personnel who purchase EIT products and services to include Federal/Military managers, supervisors, requiring officials, purchase card holders, and contracting officials. Learn how Section 508 impacts the procurement process with regard to market research and requirements for EIT products and services as well as the legal responsibilities to comply with the law.  This session will provide an overview of how to develop compliant requirements for procurements, providing tools such as the Buy Accessible Wizard, and techniques and resources for conducting market research.  Section 508 requires that all EIT “procured, maintained, used, or developed” by the Federal Government is accessible for people with disabilities.  This affects everything from websites on your internet as well at your intranet, to video and multimedia products, software applications and operating systems, telecommunications, kiosks, hardware, desktop and portable computers and copiers and fax machines.   

For Additional Information and to Register:
http://www.cendi.gov/activities/03_29_2011_Sec_508.html 

 

Call for Submissions: Best Practices in Government Libraries

Marie Kaddell of LexisNexis (and SLA/DGI) invites you to be one of the authors for her publication, the 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries.  

From Marie:

The annual collaborative document, Best Practices for Government Libraries, showcases government librarians who are innovating and creating success in the workplace and beyond. The 2010 Best Practices for Government Libraries [PDF] includes 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 60 contributors from libraries in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis consultants, and more. Some of the authors have had their articles re-published in other journals and newsletters as well. Articles from Best Practices are posted on the Government Info Pro blog.

This year, the topic for the document is E-Initiatives and E-Efforts: Expanding Our Horizons. We seek examples of your efforts to create, provide, and showcase whatever e-efforts you have been working on: e-libraries, e-collections, e-services, e-pubs, e-programs, e-gov, e-everything. Your submission could be electronic or hard copy, cutting-edge or time-tested but with a new twist, in place or conceptual, in the workplace or in the community.

The scope of submissions is only limited by your imagination. In past years, we have received: program descriptions and promotional materials, planning documents, websites and blog entries, video, displays, original articles, tips and techniques, testimonials, awards, and personal observations on the topic.

I particularly want to encourage you to consider the submission of a short, original article on the topic of E-Initiatives and E-Efforts from any angle: library, organization, profession, or personal. 

For the 2011 edition of Best Practices, please submit your electronic documents to marie.kaddell@lexisnexis.com or mail hard copy contributions to Marie Kaddell, LexisNexis, Suite 600, 1150 Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. Best Practices will be published this spring. The deadline for submission is April 29, 2011. If you have any questions about the 2011 Best Practices collaborative document, please do not hesitate to contact me.

This is your opportunity to step into the spotlight! Take advantage of it and share your successes, your ideas, and your wisdom. I am looking forward to seeing a broad spectrum of content again this year and I hope you will make it a point to participate.

 

Tech Corner from Indiana DotGov: URL Shorteners & More

While searching for information to supplement an earlier post on U.S. government URL shorteners, I discovered the Tourism Tech Corner, a helpful blog from Indiana's Office of Tourism Development. On the About page, the office explains:

Our hope is that the Tourism Tech Corner will shine a light on social media, technology and web marketing and how they affect the world of tourism. Our primary objective is to show how using social media can help your website become more service-oriented and more valuable to your customers.

The blog posts are of practical use to any organization trying to learn and keep up-to-date with the how-to's of social media. The post that caught my eye was What You Need to Know About URL Shorteners, 14 December 2010. Other recent posts:

• New Facebook Features (March '11), 8 March 2011
• How To: Track All Your Traffic From Twitter, 10 January 2011
• Explaining QR Codes, 16 December 2011

It's a low-volume blog, but each post is timely and well-written.

SaferProducts.gov: Consumer Complaints Go Public

Today, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched SaferProducts.gov, a website required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), Public Law 110-314 [PDF].

SaferProducts.gov is intended to overcome the information delay inherent in the existing complaint process, in which consumer complaints filed with the CPSC are not made public during the time the CPSC investigates the complaint and negotiates with the manufacturer about a possible recall. The safety problem (or potential safety problem) is only publicized once a recall or other measure is announced. In the meantime, some injuries could occur while consumers are unaware that safety incidents have been reported to the CPSC.

Under the new process, posted public complaints will serve as more timely, but not immediate, notice: the CPSC will first review the complaints and then pass them on to the manufacturer, which has 10 days to respond to the complaint. The CPSC estimates that the process will take 15 days, so you will not see consumer complaints and business responses in the database for about two weeks after launch.

The CPSC has set up a Business Portal for manufacturers to register to fully and securely take part in the communications process. The site also has an FAQ for business. The database has been a controversial topic because of business concerns that unsubstantiated consumer complaints will unfairly harm their reputation. The About section of the site includes information on CPSC meetings with manufacturers, a copy of the final rule (75 Fed. Reg. 76832) issued on 9 December 2010, and other documents.

In the launch press release, CPSC Chairment Inez Tenenbaum states, "We will continue to accept written, phone and fax [consumer complaint] Reports, as we have for decades. What is new and significant today is that we are launching an up-to-date system for letting consumers review safety reports alongside manufacturer comments about those Reports."

 

USA.gov's New URL Shortener for Everyone

One of the most popular URL shorteners around is called bit.ly; another is ow.ly. Google.com has its own URL shortener called goo.gl. These are all short, cute, and memorable names that rely on a country's Internet Top Level Domain code - such as .ly for Libya and .gl for Greenland - to make them short, cute, and memorable. Using a country code that may not be your country's code is a fairly common practice. But when it comes to shortening the URLs for official U.S. government websites, the General Services Administration (GSA) thought we could do better and make the source more recognizable.

Government staff in the U.S. have been able to use the Go.USA.gov shortener for some time now. But Go.USA.gov has only been available to those coming from a .gov or .mil domain who register with GSA for access.

Today, GSA announced a public URL shortener, 1.USA.gov, that is designed to work with bit.ly. Check it out: Go to bit.ly; paste a .gov or .mil URL in the box (try http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/21287 if you're at a loss for gov URLs); and click 'Shorten' to get a 1.USA.gov shortened URL.

To learn more, see:

Inside the Shortening of the United States of America, techPresident, 7 March 2011

Why 1.USA.gov and not 1.Gov, JedSundwall.com, 6 March 2011

USA.gov adds 1.USA.gov URL shortener for civilian use, gov20.govfresh, 4 March 2011

 

Future Relevant: Gov Info Programs @ SLA2011

The preliminary program for the 2011 SLA Annual Conference (Philadelphia, 12-15 June 2011) is now online. Government Information Division (DGI) programs are listed on our website, along with sponsor information and sponsorship opportunities. Thanks, sponsors!

For 2011, DGI takes the lead on two Spotlight Sessions, "Getting Out in Front of the Curve" with Stephen Abram and "Creating Groupies: Info-Pro Guerrilla Marketing" with Mary Ellen Bates.

DGI members: When planning your strategic conference networking and party time, be sure to save a time slot for the joint reception for DGI, Solos, and Petroleum & Energy Resources Division on Tuesday, 14 June, at 7:00-10:00 PM. It's serendipitous. Location to be announced in the final program.

DGI is also leading programs on:

• Need to Know: Using Social Media in the Workplace
• ROI and Beyond
• Mining Public Records

And you'll see old friends and meet new ones at the Government Information Division Annual Business Meeting & Presentation on Tuesday at 2:00-3:30 PM. We're excited to have as speaker Blane Dessy, current Executive Director of FLICC/FEDLINK and former director of the U.S. Justice Department library staff. He'll distill decades of wisdom and undoubtedly have valuable insights for you, whether you work for a government agency or not.

We're partnering with the Military Librarians Division for a joint unconference* on whatever topics interest us, and for a session on "Establishing a Digital Consortium". (*This article says, "Until you have attended one, it’s difficult to appreciate the improvised nature of the event." True. So go to one on friendly SLA turf and you'll be more comfortable the first time your office sends you to one.)

DGI is also partnering with other divisions for programs on: data visualization, ontologies and the semantic web, and "Breathing Life into Your Newsletter and Online Presence".

Finally, our annual board meeting will take place on Sunday, 21 June, 1:00-3:00 PM. Government Information Division members and SLA colleagues are welcome to attend. It's a great way to see your division at work and to share your own insights.

As usual, consult the final program for room information.

For those who tweet, the SLA Annual Conference Twitter handle is @SLA2011 and the hashtag is #sla2011. The hashtag for DGI is #sladgi. See you there!