SLA Government Information Division

World Bank Launches e-Atlas of Global Development

The World Bank has published its World Bank Atlas since 1966. For 2011, they have launched the World Bank e-Atlas of Global Development, "developed in collaboration with" HarperCollins. The World Bank and HarperCollins co-published the current print equivalent, Atlas of Global Development: A Visual Guide to the World's Greatest Challenge, 3rd ed. HarperCollins also hosts the online e-Atlas version.

From the press release:

“The launch of the e-Atlas is an important contribution to the World Bank’s Open Data Initiative”, said Shaida Badiee, Director of the World Bank’s Data Group. “Not only are we making our data available for free and without restriction, but we are creating an innovative way for people to instantly see changes in the world over time.”

Both atlases [book and e-Atlas] draw on a global database compiled from the work of the World Bank, other international agencies, and national statistical offices of World Bank member countries.

According to the announcement:

The e-Atlas lets you map more than 175 indicators for up to 200 countries over time including creating two maps to compare progress. Other features include scalable maps, timeline graphing, ranking tables, and import and export functions. Critical issues such as poverty, food production, population growth, climate change, international trade, and foreign direct investment are covered.

Terms of use for the e-Atlas are listed under the Help menu. An excerpt (please read Terms in full):

Licenses and Copyright
You are encouraged to use the eAtlas to benefit yourself and others in creative ways. You may bookmark and export the information contained in the eAtlas, and you may share that information with third parties. The Statistical Mapping Module and Software is proprietary, copyright Collins Bartholomew Ltd, all rights reserved.

Attribution
By using the eAtlas, you agree to provide attribution to The World Bank and Collins Bartholomew Ltd in the following format: The World Bank eAtlas of Global Development (Statistical Mapping Module copyright Collins Bartholomew Ltd; text and data copyright The World Bank Group).

 

Executive Branch to Use Federal Register Online Only

Today the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) asked all federal executive branch agencies to stop receiving the Federal Register in print format. OMB Memorandum M-11-18, Implementation of the SAVE Award in the President's FY 2012 Budget (April 25, 2011) [PDF] states:

The Federal Register is the daily publication of the Government that the public and Federal employees can easily access on-line via the Internet. However, by the end of Fiscal Year 20 I 0 Government offices still held over 4,700 subscriptions for print versions of the Federal Register, resulting in unnecessary printing and postage costs. The proposed Government-wide cancellation of these subscriptions in the SAVE Award recommendation is expected to save taxpayers $4 million or more annually.

The new policy is the result of a federal employee suggestion submitted for the SAVE awards, which the OMB memorandum describes as "an Administration initiative that asks Federal employees to submit cost-cutting recommendations that will make government more effective and efficient while ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely."

The Federal Register will still be available in print format as well as online. The memorandum affects only executive branch offices.

The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe reports on the change in his Federal Eye blog post Federal government no longer subscribing to its own journal. (The words "in print" should be appended to that headline, IMHO. Feds have been using, and will continue to use, the online version.--PG) The Washington Post reported the winning SAVE idea back in March, in the article Saving the government a million here, a million there and more.

More from the White House blog: President Obama Meets the SAVE Award Winner, 21 March 2011.

Federal Contracting Database Gets a Rough Start

On 15 April 2011, the General Services Administration released the long-awaited (if you're a researcher) or long-dreaded (if you're a contractor) public view of the FAPIIS (Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System) database. The early reviews are in from open government groups and, unfortunately, they are not pretty:

• FAPIIS May be the Worst Government Website We've Ever Seen, from the Sunlight Foundation
• FAPIIS First Impressions (two thumbs down), from POGO.org

FAPIIS is intended to bring information about federal government contractors' performance together in one place so that all agencies have access to the same data. It mandates the collection of new information as well. Public Law 110-417 required the development of the database for use by government contracting officers; later, Public Law 111-212 mandated that most of the data in FAPIIS be made available online for the public as well. The public version is required to exclude past contractor performance reports made before April 15, meaning that database is thin on content now but will grow.

IMLS.gov: Stats on State Library Funding

The Institute of Library and Museum Services (IMLS.gov) issued a report today on budget and resource trends for U.S. State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs). What is an SLAA? The IMLS report defines them as "official agencies charged by state law with the extension and development of library services." The structure and services of SLAAs varies from state to state.

The report, Majority of States Report Decline in Support for Library Services [PDF], includes statistics for revenue received, staffing levels, and service levels. Among the findings, on page 4:

Overall, the 51 state library agencies collected $34 million less in state revenue in FY2009 than they did in FY2008, a one-year decrease of 3.3 percent. While this overall loss seems relatively modest, the aggregate revenue figure obscures significant changes at the state level (Figure 2). Six states reported one-year losses in state revenue of greater than 15 percent; New Mexico’s state revenues declined by 44.9 percent, Alabama’s by 32.8 percent, Florida’s by 30.7 percent, South Carolina’s by 23.5 percent, Kentucky’s by 16.9 percent, and Arizona’s by 16.9 percent. Florida reported the biggest loss in absolute state revenue; its state revenues declined by just over $14 million from FY2008 to FY2009.

The report also describes what measures states have taken to manage the loss in revenue, such as cutting funding for state grant programs, reorganizing, reducing staffing, and partnering with other institutions.

Press release: State Support for Library Services Declining, 18 April 2011 (IMLS makes the survey data and documentation available online; see the press release for details.)

 

YouTube Copyright School?

YouTube's Broadcasting Ourselves blog announced a few changes in their 14 April 2011 post, YouTube Copyright Education (remixed). They have a new copyright tutorial and help center. And, if YouTube receives a copyright notification for one of your videos, you will have to attend YouTube Copyright School if you want to be able to upload anything to YouTube again.

SLA HQ's Doug Newcomb explains the change and the objections to it in his Public Policy Connections blog post YouTube Sends Users To Copyright School: Should Content Owners Have to Go, Too?, 15 April 2011. PCMagazine.com also has a brief article on the announcement itself, YouTube Copyright School Now in Session, 14 April 2011.

Call for Contributions: 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries

SLA DGI Member Marie Kaddell is seeking articles for the 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries collection. The theme is E-Initiatives and E-Efforts: Expanding Our Horizon. If you have an article that you think would be of interest to the government librarian community (federal, state, local, courts, or military libraries) or would be pertinent to those interested in government information, please contact Marie at 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 for Government Libraries is an annual collaborative document that showcases government librarians who are innovating and creating success in the workplace and beyond. Articles from Best Practices also are posted on the Government Info Pro blog at http://www.governmentinfopro.com.
 
Your submission for the 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries can relate to e-libraries, e-collections, e-services, e-pubs, e-programs, e-gov, or e-anything else that you think would be pertinent. For examples of previous submissions, see the PDF version of the 2010 Best Practices for Government Libraries: The New Face of Value at http://www.lexisnexis.com/tsg/gov/Best_Practices_2010.pdf.

Best Practices will be published later this spring. The deadline for submission is May 13, 2011. If you have any questions about the 2011 Best Practices collaborative document, please do not hesitate to contact Marie.

Another Agency Crowdsources Image Identification

The U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) wants you to help identify some of the more mysterious measuring devices in its artifact collection. The agency has launched a new website, NIST Digital Archives, featuring images of standards instruments from the collections of the "real" NIST Museum. A browse option lets you sift through pictures of old refractometers, gyroscopes, calorimeters, galvanometers, and objects only described as "metal instrument in wooden case" or "square wood-framed instrument with two dials." Those mystery images are listed as a subset (only 18 so far). Each image record has a link for emailing comments at the bottom of the record's page.

The Library of Congress, through its Prints & Photographs Division, was one of the first agencies to test the crowdsourcing waters. Selected historic photographs are posted at Flickr.com, allowing the public to comment on them and perhaps correct the LoC's description or provide a description where there was none. The Flickr pilot project is assessed in the LoC report For the Common Good: The Library of Congress Flickr Pilot Project [PDF].

The crowdsourcing is just one aspect of the new NIST Digital Archives, of course. In addition to the growing collection of images, the site has archived agency publications, including:

• Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, currently back to 1981 and will grow
• NBS/NIST Histories, a collection of histories of NIST and it predecessor, the National Bureau of Standards (NBS)
• A Century of Excellence, selected publications of the NBS and NIST from 1901 to 2000

For more information about the NIST Digital Archives site, see Crowdsourcing Science History: NIST Digital Archives Seeks Help in Identifying Mystery Artifacts from NIST Tech Beat, 12 April 2011.

SLA Extends Early Bird Conference Deadline for US Government Employees

Recognizing that budget delays have affected federal government agency operations, SLA has decided to extend the early bird discount to May 2nd for U.S. federal government employees. Full details are available in the SLA Blog post: SLA 2011 Annual Conference Discount Extended for U.S. Government Employees, 13 April 2011.

For details on Government Information Division programming, check our earlier post: Future Relevant: Gov Info Programs @ SLA2011.

Careers in Federal Libraries: Free Webinar

The Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) has announced a new working group to foster the professional development of new U.S. federal librarians. According to the April press release, the New Librarians Working Group (NewFeds) "will support the development and advancement of early career professionals with less than five years of federal service."

NewFeds is also concerned with promoting careers in federal libraries. To that end, the group is hosting a free webinar called Careers in Federal Libraries: Meet Some NewFeds that is open to all. The webinar will be held on Thursday, 12 May 2011, from noon to 2:00pm EDT. If you would like to attend the webinar, you must register at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MS2LW2K.

NIH Disaster Information Outreach Symposium: Video Available Now

The National Library of Medicine held a symposium on health information needs in a disaster on 29-30 March 2011. Missed it? A video of the program is now online at http://videocast.nih.gov/launch.asp?16561.

From the program description, the symposium covered:

• Assessing and meeting the information needs of disaster managers and responders
• Communications, social media and disasters
• Using library facilities to support disaster needs during response and recovery
• Workforce development for those interested in disaster information
• Disaster resources for librarians – building a community of practice
• Medical Library Association's new disaster information specialization
• Tools for providing disaster health information

The recording is broken into two videos for Day 1 and Day 2.

(Thanks to NF at GPO for the info!)