SLA Government Information Division

Some State Employees Move to 4-Day Work Week

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has announced a mandatory 4-day work week for most Utah state employees. Government service hours will last 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. State administrative offices will be closed on Fridays. The move was made to save fuel costs for both the government and its commuting employees.

USA Today covers this action and related trends in state, county, and city governments in its story, Most state workers in Utah shifting to 4-day work week (30 June 2008). Stateline.org also has a similar story, State workers: Thank God it's Thursday (30 June 2008).

Keeping a State Library Open

The cover story for the May 2008 SLA Information Outlook magazine is "Keeping a State Library Open," about how the Washington State Library survived a governor's call to close it. Author Duane McCollum recounts how the state library came to be threatened and what leaders did to restore its relevancy. (SLA members should be receiving Information Outlook in their mail soon. The May issue will also be available to members online at the SLA website, under Publications.)

The SLA Government Information Division is pleased to feature the work of the Washington State Library in our annual conference program, "Cutting-Edge E-Preservation—Washington State's Digital Archives," on Tuesday, 17 June 2008, 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Convention Center room 617.
(Thanks to the program sponsor, ProQuest!)

SLA Provides Details on LC European Reading Room Relocation

Through the DGI Listserv, SLA's Chief Policy Officer Doug Newcomb announced the availability of SLA's detailed Q&A about how the relocation of the Library of Congress' European Reading Room will impact its services.  His announcement and the link to the Q& A follows:   

LC European Room to Remain Open, Moves Permanently

Recently, it was rumored the European Reading Room in the Library of Congress (LC), which focuses on information relating to European collections, may be closing. This is not the case, and the LC issued a press release with more details. Questions still remained, so SLA contacted LC staff with questions. Deanna Marcum, Associate Librarian for Library Services, promptly replied. 

Read questions from SLA and answers from Deanna Marcum at:
http://slaconnections.typepad.com/public_policy_blog/

The Economic Cost of War

Kudos to the librarians of the St. Louis Federal Reserve for another great issue of their Liber8 newsletter. Liber8's May 2008 issue [PDF] covers the economic cost to the U.S. of Iraq War expenses. The newsletter compares two widely cited estimates of the cost: one from the Congressional Budget Office and the other from researchers Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes. As usual, the 2-page newsletter links to free online sources of related reports, data, and articles.

What is the truth?

A Sunday Washington Post article asks the question: "For the Google generation, what happens to the concepts of truth and knowledge in a user-generated world of information saturation?"  Check out Truth - Can You Handle It? Better Yet: Do You Know it When You See It? [registration req'd] by Monica Hesse in the 27 April issue of the Post, pages M1, M8. It includes a section on "Librarians for Truth."

On a related note...you are invited to join the Government Information Division and our colleagues in the News Division for the SLA annual conference program, "UnSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation" with Brooks Jackson of FactCheck.org.  The session, one of the 2008 Spotlight Speakers Sessions, will be held on Tuesday, 17 June, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Special thanks to our sponsors, Dow Jones and Thomson Scientific.

MayDay: Disaster Preparedness for Collections

"MayDay" - 1 May 2008 - is a day to take stock of how your collections are protected from potential disasters. The Society of American Archivists (SAA) initiated MayDay in 2006. SAA now partners with Heritage Preservation to promote MayDay. MayDay resources, activity ideas, and news are available from:

• SAA MayDay Home Page
• Heritage Emergency National Task Force (U.S.)
• Collections Council of Australia MayDay Page

Best Practices for Government Librarians

DGI member and LexisNexis Information Professional Consultant Marie Kaddell has issued the 2008 edition of her "Best Practices for Government Libraries" compilation.  Web 2.0 in the Workplace and Beyond [PDF, 5.3 MB, 161 pp.] includes essays, reports, conference coverage, and LexisNexis material. Many DGI members share their writings in the document, including DGI chair Eileen Deegan and chair-elect Chris Zammarelli.

Senate.gov Honors National Library Week

In recognition of 50th annual National Library Week (13-19 April), the front page of the U.S. Senate website features information about Senate Library resources. Looking for your next book to read? Check out the Senate Library's Capitol Hill in Fiction bibliography, featuring works such as Allen Drury's Advise and Consent and the less well-known Senator Solomon Spiffledlink by  Louis Ludlow.

NOAA Librarians in Information Outlook

Four librarians from the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are profiled in the March 2008 issue of the SLA magazine Information Outlook. SLA members can view the full article, Four for the Air and the Sea, once logged on at the SLA website. The interviews with these government librarians--SLA members, all--provide insight into their work at NOAA and the paths their careers have taken.

Marketing, Advocacy Reading List from Federal Librarians

A Marketing and Advocacy Resources Bibliography [PDF] is available online at the website of the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC). The bibliography is divided into sections for resources on:

• Best Practices, Benchmarks, Guidelines, Toolkits, and Performance Measures
• Branding, Market Research, Advocacy, Strategic Planning, Return on Investment
• E-Marketing, Blogging, Podcasting, RSS, Wikis
• SLA Resources (available to SLA members)

The bibliography was compiled by librarians Roger Garren, Sharon Lenius, and Michele Masias.

The mission of FLICC is to "foster excellence in federal library and information services through interagency cooperation and to provide guidance and direction for the Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK)."

Articles by / about Past DGI Officers Usher out '07, Usher in '08

Past DGI Secretary Dav Robertson co-authored the December '07 Information Outlook cover story "Is Evidence-Based Management Right for You?"  Apropos to government work, Robertson and Bill Fisher observe: "...anyone who manages anything in a library setting can and should make use of evidence-based management, especially the aspect of it that says to question the conventional wisdom and to base your decisions on the best available evidence.  This is especially true for those of us in the corporate or government sector where libraries are being downsized and information professionals have to develop new roles for themselves." 

A photo of Past DGI Secretary Sharon Lenius receiving the 2007 SLA Member Achievement Award graced the January 2008 Information Today "NewsMakers" article about SLA's 2008 and 2007 Conferences.  The accompanying text noted that Sharon's love of libraries started in childhood and has continued ever since with her attention to the accomplishments of government and military librarians. 

Debuting in the January 2008 Searcher is DGI Past-Chair Peggy Garvin's new column -- "The Government Online."  Throughout the coming year, Peggy will focus on "the unique world of government information on the Web and how it fits into the larger information universe."  Her premier column surveyed notable U.S. Federal Government Web resources that are engendering an exciting time for professional searchers.               

Next Click U Live! Session

The next Click U Live! Session, "Introduction to Institutional Data Repositories," is coming up on February 20.  The cost is $129 for the live program, which will be presented by Michael Witt of Purdue University.

"This seminar will use institutional repositories as a backdrop for learning and applying basic data curation concepts. Participants will explore a rationale for archiving and sharing data and a role for librarians in collaborating to address the data deluge. We will examine current, general-use data-sharing services such as Swivel and Freebase, as well as a variety of specific disciplinary and institutional data archives and projects. Participants will be able to determine if an institutional data repository is appropriate for their organizations and get tips for starting one."

Super Tuesday Resources

Tuesday, 5 February 2008, is known in the U.S. as Super Tuesday because 24 states and American Samoa will be holding presidential primary elections or caucuses that day. The characteristics of each state's (or territory's) presidential primary or caucus are different. For example, the Super Tuesday primaries in Idaho and New Mexico are Democratic Party caucuses; there is no Republican contest in those states on that day. In some states, the delegates are awarded in proportion to the popular vote; in others, the lead vote-getter is awarded all delegates. Once you start getting into the detail, you'll need a guide.

The National Association of Secretaries of State has a detailed, footnoted table of state presidential primary dates, noting election times, contest types, and method of delegate allocation.

The CQ Politics 2008 Primary Guide has a Super Tuesday page with an interactive map and news. CQ also offers a Primary Guide with broader coverage.

The Online NewsHour Presidential Election Coverage page from PBS provides a primary map, reporters' blog, news, and other features.

The New York Times Election 2008 Guide features a wealth of resources, including a section on Super Tuesday. The Super Tuesday pages link to detailed information about the nature of the primary or caucus in each state.

The Washington Post Campaign 2008 coverage includes a text message alert service; specify the Super Tuesday state(s) of interest, and the service will send you updates.

US 2009 Budget Documents

The President's budget proposal for fiscal year 2009 was released today. Much has been made of the electronic version of the budget because, for the first time, the executive branch did not foot the bill for print distribution of the budget to congress, other government offices, and the media. However, the budget documents (a four-volume set) are still available in print. The printed volumes are being distributed to Federal Depository Libraries and are available for sale from the Government Printing Office (GPO) online bookstore. What is new and different this time is that GPO is employing digital signature technology to certify the official electronic version of the budget (more on authentication from GPO).

For background information on the print vs. electronic budget news, see:
Statement by OMB Director Jim Nussle on E-Budget, 9 January 2008
White House Unveils 'E-Budget' Initiative, AP/GovExec.com, 9 January 2008

The budget documents are available from both the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website and from GPO's GPO Access site.

The OMB budget documents page includes the four basic budget volumes, with each one available for downloading by section or chapter in PDF format. OMB also supplies many  supporting and ancillary  documents, including the  Object Class Analysis [PDF] tables aggregating budget figures by broad topic, such as "travel and transportation of persons" and "research and development contracts."

The GPO Access Budget of the United States page provides a search function for the four basic budget documents.  The site also has a browse function for the four volumes plus the supporting and other documents OMB provides.

Economic Impact of Pandemic Flu

The latest edition of the librarian-edited Liber8 Newsletter covers the predicted economic impact of an influenza pandemic on the United States. The Liber8 Newsletter on the web is  "a selection of useful economic information, articles, data, and websites compiled by the librarians of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Research Library." Read the complete February 2008 issue in PDF at http://liber8.stlouisfed.org/newsletter/2008/200802.pdf .)

The U.S. Government has a portal to information on pandemic flu at PandemicFlu.Gov.

New LLRX Article on Regulations.gov

The latest issue of LLRX has the new Government Domain column, "Regulations.gov 2.0," by DGI Past Chair Peggy Garvin.  She reviews the new features of Regulations.gov, which relaunched in December 2007.

British Library and SLA Leaders in FUMSI

The chief executives of the British Library and SLA are featured in the current issue of the FUMSI online newsletter. The article, Have a Beta-Test in Mind - Just Do It!, reports an interview with British Library Chief Executive Dame Lynne Brindley and SLA Chief Executive Officer Janice Lachance on issues related to collaboration and Web 2.0. The article begins, "What do a publicly funded institution like the British Library and the competitive members of the Special Libraries Association have to offer each other in the web 2.0 era?"

(Of course, some SLA members come from publicly funded institutions! --PG)

 

NIH Revised Public Access Policy

The U.S. National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research has posted a Revised Policy on Enhancing Public Access to Archived Publications Resulting from NIH-Funded Research in compliance with Public Law 110-161 (H.R. 2764). The law mandates that investigators funded by the NIH submit, or have submitted for them, an electronic version of their final, peer-reviewed manuscripts to the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed Central.

More information is available on the NIH Public Access website.

(Hat tip to bespacific.)

LC Final Report on Future of Bibliographic Control

The Library of Congress has issued the final version of On the Record: Report of The Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control  [PDF, 49 pp.], dated 9 January 2008. John Latham, SLA's  Information Center Director, represented SLA on the  working group.

The group's guiding principles were to redefine bibliographic control, redefine the bibliographic universe, and redefine the role of the Library of Congress. From the introduction to the report:

The future of bibliographic control will be collaborative, decentralized, international in scope, and Web-based. Its realization will occur in cooperation with the private sector, and with the active collaboration of library users. Data will be gathered from multiple sources; change will happen quickly; and bibliographic control will be dynamic, not static. The underlying technology that makes this future possible and necessary—the World Wide Web—is now almost two decades old. Libraries must continue the transition to this future without delay in order to retain their significance as information providers.

Pew Survey: Finding Government-Related Information

Information Searches that Solve Problems (42 pp., PDF), released 30 December 2007, reports the results of a U.S. national survey of how people use information sources to help them address common problems that could be related in some way to local-state-federal government agencies and programs. The report was produced by  the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and the Pew Internet & American Life Project. It was funded with a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The authors note that their "research was particularly oriented towards helping librarians and government officials learn how their institutions currently serve [the] 'low internet access' population."

Sample information problems included finding information on how to start a business, helping someone with an immigration issue, solving a problem related to schooling, dealing with a serious illness, getting information about Social Security or military benefits, and researching a legal matter. Participants were asked how they looked for the information, such as by calling a government agency or by using the Internet at home, work, or at a library.

One major finding that is getting a lot of attention: "Young adults in Generation Y (age 18-29) are the heaviest users of libraries when fac[ing] these problems. They are also the most likely library visitors for any purpose" (p. iii). The report also notes, "the profile of library users shows an economically upscale, information hungry clientele who use the library to enhance their already-rich information world" (p. vi).

Other findings:

• The vast majority of Americans want and expect information about government programs to be available on the internet. People have different preferences for dealing with government, depending on the issue they face. They prefer to use the internet for information queries, but they want to use the phone or face-to-face visits to address more personal matters (p. iii) .
• More than half of Americans contacted various branches of government in the past year. The most common method of contact was visiting a government office, followed by phoning a government agency (p. vi).
• For those in the low-access population (the 36% of adults who do not use the internet or only have dial-up connection), the internet is not a factor in their searches and they rely more on television and radio than the high-access group. And they are less successful than those with high-access in getting the material they need (page vii).
• About a fifth of Americans with problems to address said they were concerned about privacy disclosures as they hunted for information. These concerns influenced the method they ultimately chose for gathering information, and they were somewhat more pronounced for the low-access group (viii).

To learn more:

• Pew press release
• Report access page
• Full report
• Questionnaire accompanying report

LC Draft Report Open for Comments

The Library of Congress released the Draft Final Report of the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control on 30 November 2007. The group is accepting comments on the report until 15 December 2007.  Comments can be submitted via the group's website at http://www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/contact/. As noted on the Library of Congress blog, "the webcast of the group’s presentation on Nov. 13 has apparently been one of the most heavily viewed in the entire history of the Library."

SLA was represented on the working group by SLA Information Center Director John Latham.

State Library Agencies: FY2006

State Library Agencies: Fiscal Year 2006 is a new statistical report made available by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The full report is online in PDF format. The survey of state library agencies in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia covers such topics as agency governance, statewide database licensing, revenue and expenditures, and services provided to libraries. For data on services to special libraries, see page 42 of the report.

LC Webcast: Future of Bibliographic Control

As mentioned in a previous post, the Library of Congress held a public session on November 14 to discuss the report pending from the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control. As reported in several library blogs, the live webcast was so popular that the LC servers could not handle the load. Many who tried could not view the entire presentation.

To accommodate all interested parties, LC made an unedited version of the presentation available on the same day as the live webcast. The note on the LC webcast page says "an enhanced version of this webcast, featuring the accompanying slide presentation, will be available shortly."

The report itself is due to be released on November 30.

Must-See Govt Librarian TV

If you manage a valuable print collection, are you ready to respond to a "go virtual" charge from management? NASA Goddard chief librarian Robin Miller Dixon presents an excellent case study of her own library's response to the challenge in this webcast from a WorldCat Collection Analysis User Group meeting. The heart of the presentation is about her use of OCLC Worldcat to document the uniqueness of the NASA Goodard book collection, but she has many other tips and anecdotes of interest. The full URL is:
http://www.oclc.org/info/collectionanalysis/webcast.htm

The webcast is produced well, with Robin's slides appearing in a window to the right as she speaks. For the substantial Q&A session, audience questions are shown in the window to the right. (I wasn't able to run it with Forefox, but it did work with Internet Explorer. Not sure why; your mileage may vary.)

Latest Government Domain Column in LLRX.com

SLA Chair Peggy Garvin's latest Government Domain column, "Journalists and Government Information: SLA-DGI/GODORT Joint Meeting," has been published in LLRX.com.  This is a reprint of the piece she wrote for the DGI website, so if you haven't had a chance to read it yet, now is a good time to do so.

Future of Bibliographic Control

The Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control will present its draft report on 13 November 2007. The group studied "the future of bibliographic description in the 21st century in light of advances in search engine technology, the popularity of the Internet and the influx of electronic information resources."

An October 30th press release from the Library of Congress provides details:

After a year of careful and comprehensive study, the group will present its draft report to Library of Congress managers and staff in the Coolidge Auditorium at 1:30 pm EST on Nov. 13. A live webcast will allow librarians around the country to view the presentation, and a comment period on the draft report will open immediately following the presentation and last until Dec. 15, 2007. ...
...Information on the Working Group and its findings is available at www.loc.gov/bibliographic-future/. The webcast will be available from that address on November 13.

SLA's Information Center Director John Latham represented SLA on the working group.

Garvin article in Nov/Dec Online

Look for DGI Chair Peggy Garvin's article "Checking in on the Tortoise: Developments on the U.S. Federal Web" in the November/December Online journal. Her article highlights interesting developments in selected U.S. federal government Web resources including USA.gov, FederalSpending.gov, and GPO Access, and new Web initiatives at the SEC, FEC, NIH, and other agencies. Peggy writes:

"Though it is probably true that no country's government, including the U.S. government, will ever be as swift of foot as commercial publishers or private entrepreneurs … change is happening with government Web sites. Information professionals should take notice of the tortoise, not just the hare, in their research race."

Thanks to Chair-elect Eileen Deegan for passing this along.

How Do Journalists Use Government Information?

"New York Times reporter Scott Shane and Washington Post research editor Alice Crites educated and entertained the crowd at a joint meeting of the SLA Government Information Division (DGI) and the ALA Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) in Arlington, VA on October 15, 2007.  Scott and Alice discussed how they find and use government information, what their favorite sources are, and which documents even they have trouble tracking down.  Scott told the crowd that librarians probably see many more documents than he does, so please feel free to send any "smoking memos" to shane@nytimes.com.  Alice waited for Scott to leave the room before requesting that hot documents instead be sent to critesa@washpost.com."

Thanks to Peggy Garvin for writing the recap of "How Do Journalists Use Government Information?" for the DGI website.

Congratulations DGI Candidates!

SLA has just announced the results of the 2008 association board elections, and we are proud to claim two of the winners as DGI members. Gloria Zamora is the 2008 President-Elect, and Tom Rink is the 2008 Division Cabinet Chair-Elect. Gloria was one of the first SLA members to join DGI. Tom has been a great adviser and nominations committee member, helping our new division learn the ropes.

Congratulations to all new board members, and thanks to all of the other candidates!

Bob Tapella, New Public Printer

Robert C. (Bob) Tapella has been confirmed as the new Public Printer of the United States, according to an October 10 press release (PDF) from the Government Printing Office (GPO). The Public Printer serves as the head of GPO. Tapella previously served as Chief of Staff at GPO. The GPO website does not yet show Tapella as Printer, but his biography as Chief of Staff is available on the site.

DGI Librarians Tour Germany

Government Info Division members Chris Zammarelli (DGI communications), Eileen Deegan (DGI chair-elect), Donna Scheeder, and others are on a study tour of German government libraries and archives. If you're not with them, the next best thing is reading about it on Chris's blog, Libraryola. You can even see a stunning photo of the tasty hamhock Chris had for dinner one night. On a more serious note, Chris has great posts describing the group's visits to the Stasi Archive, the Federal Foreign Office Archives, and the Parliamentary Library and Archives. The group is still on the road, so look for more posts to come.

(Tip of the hat to Marie Kaddell at Government Info Pro.)

Journalists and Gov Info -October 15

If you're in the DC area, come to Crystal City on October 15th to hear New York Times reporter Scott Shane and Washington Post researcher Alice Crites share their insights on tracking down and using government information.

Date: Monday, October 15
Time: 7:00pm-8:30pm
Place: Crystal City Doubletree Hotel, Washington Ballroom
Nearest Metro: Pentagon City (yellow and blue lines)

This is a joint program of SLA's Government Information Division (DGI) and ALA's Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT). Library and information professionals are welcome. There is no fee and no advance registration is needed.

Our speakers:

Scott Shane, formerly of the Baltimore Sun, covers U.S. intelligence and government secrecy issues for the Times.

Alice Crites is national political researcher at the Post and a Pulitzer Prize-winning librarian. And, this just in...Alice got a  mention in an October 1st Newslink item for her work on the new The Fact Checker feature at the Post.

See you there!

GPO Fall Federal Depository Library Conference

Each year, the U.S. Government Printing Office hosts the Federal Depository Library Conference and Fall Depository Library Council meeting in the Washington, DC, area. This year, the conference will be held on October 15-17 at the Crystal City Doubletree Hotel in Arlington, VA. GPO has just released the detailed agenda for the conference. The agenda and the  conference registration form can be accessed from the main Depository Library Conference web page.

The primary audience for the conference is the federal depository library community, but others involved in working with U.S. government information--and particularly with GPO information products and systems--may be interested in portions of the conference. Registration is free, but you must register in advance.

The Government Information Division will be holding a joint meeting with ALA's Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) on the evening of October 15 to take advantage of having so many people interested in U.S. government info in town at the same time. Please join us! Details on the event will be published on this blog and on the DGI discussion list.  See you there.

Open CRS Bolstered By Lawmaker Contribution

beSpacific's Sabrina Pacifici recently reported that an unnamed member of Congress will be providing a running list of new CRS reports to the Center for Democracy and Technology for its OpenCRS project.  From the press release announcing the contribution:

"Nicknamed 'Congress's brain,' the CRS generates in-depth, non-partisan research on a wide range of issues critical to Americans. But while the taxpayer-funded reports are unclassified, the government has never made them readily available to the public.

...

"By providing a running list of new reports, the lawmaker (who asked to remain unnamed) makes it possible for OpenCRS's network of grassroots volunteers to seek out the reports and upload them to the database. One of the biggest obstacles for OpenCRS has always been that there was no way of knowing exactly what reports had even been published."

For more information about CRS reports, Pacifici included in her post a link to LLRX.com's "Guide to CRS Reports on the Web."

October 15 - Journalists and Government Info

The SLA Government Information Division (DGI) is planning a joint program with ALA’s Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT), to be held in the DC area on Monday, October 15, 2007. Details below:

How Do Journalists Use Government Information?

Ever wonder how journalists find and use government information? On October 15, New York Times reporter Scott Shane and Washington Post research editor Alice Crites will address this question and related issues. Join us for a lively program sponsored jointly by ALA's Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) and SLA's Government Information Division (DGI). SLA and ALA members are welcome. There is no fee, and advance registration is not required.

DATE: Monday, October 15

TIME: 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

PLACE: Crystal City Doubletree Hotel, Arlington, VA  (Room TBA)

This program is being held alongside the annual Federal Depository Library Conference. For more info on the full conference, see the Government Printing Office Federal Depository Library Program events page at: http://tinyurl.com/2cq5er

(If you wish to attend the Federal Depository Library Conference, you *do* need to register for the conference; the GODORT-SLA event is separate.)

Constitution Day Columm In LLRX.com

DGI Chair Peggy Garvin's latest Government Domain column, "Back to School for Constitution Day 2007," is now online at LLRX.com.

Also of note in LLRX.com's August 27 issue is Michael Ravnitzky's article, "FOIA Annual Reports: A Diagnostic Tool for Identifying FOIA Administrative Problems."

IFLA Government Libraries Sessions

If you haven't booked a flight yet, you're probably not going to the IFLA General Conference in Durban, South Africa, 19-23 August 2007. But you can read summaries of the programs planned for IFLA (the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions). Some of the highlights in the government libraries and information sphere are:

• Webarchiving Internationally: Interoperability in the Future [PDF], from the Danish Royal Library.
• The Importance of National Bibliographies in the Digital Age [PDF], from Library and Archives Canada.
• Twice as nice or double trouble? Bilingual working in the Welsh Assembly Government Library and Publications Service [PDF], from the Welsh Assembly Government Library.
• Partnering at the Canadian Library of Parliament [PDF], from the Canadian Library of Parliament.
• Rapid and easy access: finding and getting resources in Australian libraries and cultural institutions [PDF], from National Library of Australia.
• The United States Department of Agriculture and Albert R. Mann Library's Economics, Statistics and Market Information System [PDF], from Cornell University.

In addition, there will be a presentation from SLA's own Janice Lachance, entitled The role of individual involvement in global political advocacy [PDF].

There is much more, of course. If any SLA members are attending IFLA, we welcome conference news and reports! Just join and post to our DGI discussion list (SLA members only).  Thanks!

Careers in US Federal Libraries

A two-part video recording of the ALA preconference "Careers in Federal Libraries" session can be viewed online, courtesy of FLICC/Fedlink. The session features talks from a variety of federal government librarians, including such DGI members as George Franchois (speaker, from Interior), Richard Huffine (speaker, from USGS), and Helen Sherman (moderator, from DTIC). The Washington, DC chapter of SLA joined other organizations in co-sponsoring this event with ALA.

New Head at US GPO

The President plans to nominate Robert C. Tapella to be the new U.S. Public Printer. The news was included in a May 25 White House personnel announcement:

The President intends to nominate Robert Charles Tapella, of Virginia, to be the Public Printer. Mr. Tapella currently serves as Chief of Staff of the United States Government Printing Office. Prior to this, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff at the United States Government Printing Office. Earlier in his career, he ran Kelly Communications. Mr. Tapella received his bachelor's degree from California Polytechnic State University.

GPO issed a press release [PDF], which includes a link to Tapella's biography as written for his previous GPO position, Chief of Staff.

FARA Database Online... Soon

Kevin Bogardus reports in The Hill that the online version of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) database is expected to go online soon:

"The Department of Justice database is an exhaustive list of lobbyists representing foreign governments and politicians. For the online project, over 80,000 documents detailing contracts, meetings with public officials, and public-relations campaigns will be put on the Internet. Previously, that information was available only in Justice’s dusty public reading room at 1400 New York Ave."

Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) expressed concern that the project is behind schedule, but DOJ officials said they want to clear up concerns about privacy before the database goes live.

Thanks to Library Stuff for blogging about this story.

USA.gov Revamps Its Site Layout

USA.gov debuted a new layout this past week.  "A New Look for USA.gov" details all the changes that have been made.  The most important change: "we ... reduced page clutter by having less content on each page and adding more pages."

Thanks to Peggy Garvin for noticing the changes.

Check out the April Info Outlook

The April 2007 issue of the SLA Information Outlook magazine has at least two articles of special interest to government information professionals.

• "Quality Management: An Ongoing Practice in A Portuguese Government Library," pages 13-18, 20-23. The article summarizes quality management concepts and research literature. It discusses the specific case of the information unit for Portugal's Ministry of Education, which "was awarded with the Quality Prize for Public Services, being the first Portuguese library to get such honor in governmental services. Two main reasons were at the top of the jury decision: the high level of satisfaction of users and the high level of satisfaction, motivation, and professional competence of library staff."
• "Growing Businesses in a Colorado Garden," pages 24-28. This SLA member profile features Christine Hamilton-Pennell, economic intelligence specialist for the city of Littleton, CO, near Denver. At the SLA 2007 Conference, Christine will be a speaker for a program that the Government Information Division is presenting with the Business and Finance Division, "Mining Your Own Information Backyard for Economic Growth and Development" (June 5, 2:30-4:00 pm).

The April 2007 issue of Information Outllok is online in full text for SLA members.

DGI-GODORT Program at GPO Spring Meeting

The Government Printing Office Depository Library Council Spring 2007 Meeting will be held April 15-18 in Denver, CO. GPO has posted the conference schedule [PDF]. If you are attending, be sure to check out this evening program:

"Exploring the E in E-Government" with Richard Huffine, SLA Government Information Division (DGI) Past Chair, and Aimee Quinn, ALA Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) Chair. Tuesday, April 17, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm.

Sunshine Week is March 11-17

Sunshine Week (http://www.sunshineweek.org/) is a non-partisan initiative to call local and national attention to the importance of open government and freedom of information. It is sponsored by the American Society of Newspaper Editors with funding from the Knight Foundation.

SLA is cosponsoring a Sunshine Week event, the national webcast "Closed Doors; Open Democracies?" . The organization Openthegovernment.org is coordinating the event, to be held Monday, March 12, from 1:00pm to 2:30pm Eastern Daylight Time. Openthegovernment.org has a directory of sites registered to host the webcast. Others wishing to host it can register with Openthegovernment.org before March 9.

In addition to this webcast, Sunshine Week events are being held all over the country. Check out the event schedule to see if there is program near you.

DGI Discussion List--How To

Want to subscribe, unsubscribe, or post a message to the SLA-DGI discussion list? Check out the new instructions we have posted on our website at:

http://units.sla.org/division/dgi/pages/listserv.html

These instructions are for using the discussion list via email (the old-fashioned way!) rather than through SLA's web interface. Our main discussion list name is SLA-DGI. In the past few weeks, we have had many people mistakenly try to subscribe to SLA-BD-DGI--a closed list just for the board's use--probably because it is listed, alphabetically, before our main list on the web interface.

Please subscribe to SLA-DGI and make use of this forum for communicating with others interested in government information issues, internationally and at all levels of government! We will be making use of the list to spread the word about the SLA annual conference and other DGI activities, so subscribe now!

New Shortcut for DGI Website

Getting to the DGI website just got easier. We now have a shortcut URL:

www.sla.org/dgi

This new address resolves to the original, and still valid, website address:

http://units.sla.org/division/dgi/

Many thanks to SLA HQ for supplying us with the shortcut!

DGI-GODORT Program - Oct 23

What: "Current Issues in Access to Government Information"

When: Monday, October 23rd, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Avenue, NW , Washington , DC -- Room: Columbia B (Nearest Metro Stop: Union Station)

Speakers:
--Dr. Louis Fisher, Constitutional Law Specialist, Library of Congress Law Library
--Dr. Patrice McDermott, Director, OpenTheGovernment.org

The Government Information Division (DGI) of SLA is joining with the Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT) of ALA to sponsor this opportunity to network and learn.  Aimee Quinn, GODORT Chair, and Richard Huffine, DGI Chair, will provide brief introductions to their respective groups.

We are excited to have two distinguished speakers lined up for this timely program. 
--Louis Fisher is an internationally renowned specialist on Congress, the separation of powers, and executive privilege.  His most recent book is In the Name of National Security: Unchecked Presidential Power and the Reynolds Case ( Lawrence , KS : University of Kansas Press , 2006).  He is the author of the classic Constitutional Conflicts between Congress and the President, 4th ed., also from University of Kansas Press , and numerous other books, law review articles, and newspaper and magazine articles.
--Patrice McDermott, the new director of OpenTheGovernment.org, is familiar to many of us as the former government relations specialist for the American Libraries Association (ALA) Washington Office.  Patrice is author of the forthcoming book The State of Public Access to Federal Government Information ( Lanham , MD : Bernan Press).  She has a doctorate in political science and a master of library science degree, as well as many years of experience working on information policy issues in Washington , DC .  Her organization, OpenTheGovernment.org, recently published the frequently-cited report "Secrecy Report Card: 2006."

The program is free of charge and open to the library and information professional community.  You do not need to register.

For more information about the event, contact DGI Chair Richard Huffine, richardhuffine@yahoo.com

Fed Info Pro Blog blogs about DGI

The LexisNexis Federal Info Pro blog has a  new entry  promoting the Government Information Division. Thanks for the publicity go to our new membership chair, Marie Kaddell.

More on Google Government Search

DGI Chair-Elect Peggy Garvin has written an article for LLRX.com on the new Google Government Search.  Garvin, author of "The United States Government Internet Manual" (Bernan Press) and "Real World Research Skills" (TheCapital.Net), delves into the new service and described its strengths, weaknesses, functions and features.  You can read the article at:

http://www.llrx.com/columns/govdomain17.htm

SLA Praises DGI Website

Kudos to the DGI website team of Eileen Deegan, Priscilla Lujan, and Chris Zammarelli!  And thanks to our website sponsor, BNA.

The June 2006 issue of  SLA Connections  has this to say about the DGI website redesign:

We continue our quest this month for cool and new member services in the SLA universe with a look at the Government Information Division’s (DGI) website. This is an excellent re-design that came as a result of a generous grant from the Bureau of National Affairs that allowed DGI to hire an outside designer to redevelop and enhance the Web presence that was already in place.

"The scope of the Government Information Division is to bring together those interested in the value, organization and management of government information sources with those responsible for the provision and improvement of government library services. It is a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on the value and use of government information and government libraries, and our new website reflects that, it works as a home for our members,” said Richard Huffine, DGI chair.

According to Eileen Deegan, co-chair for the DGI communications committee, “the new site works as both a portal for information on membership, division activities, and news as well as a gateway to all the communication and community development tools such as the blogs and discussion lists."

SLA HQ would like to thank DGI for promoting the annual conference on their site.

GO DGI Keep up the great work!

Information Outlook Introduces DGI

Check out "Government Information Division Pros: A Diversity of Roles," a two-part article appearing in SLA's Information Outlook magazine. Part two of the article is in the April 2006 issue, in the SLA News section, on pages 9-10. Part one was in the February issue on pages 6-7. The article introduces DGI to the SLA membership and profiles a representative handful of our many talented members. Tom Rink (Oklahoma Chapter) was profiled in the February issue. This month, the profiled members are Olwyn Crutchley (Australia-New Zealand Chapter), James Staub (Southern Appalachian Chapter), and Bonnie Spiers and Dav Robertson (both of the North Carolina Chapter).

Government Information Professionals to be Profiled in Upcoming Information Outlook Article

DGI Division Chair-Elect Peggy Garvin has written an article that is scheduled for publication in the February 2006 edition of SLA's journal, "Information Outlook." The article profiles five exceptional members of the Government Information Division and explores how they work with government information and how they see the world of government information changing today. Included in the article is DGI member and SLA Presidential candidate, Dav Robertson. Dav, a Federal employee, is profiled alongside DGI members from local, state, federal and provincial librarians from across the globe.

DGI Wins Award at SLA Leadership Summit

The SLA Government Information Division was awarded one free pass to the 2006 Annual Conference for growing an astonishing 28% in the last quarter of CY2005.  The Division added over 50 members and currently boasts over 185 members of the Division.  Hopefully the Division will continue to grow by leaps and bounds as members renew in anticipation of the Annual Conference in June.  We should all encouarge our friends and colleagues to consider their own membership so that we can create a community of professionals committed to expanding access to government information!

The Executive Board of the Division needs to decide how to put the prize to good use and it will hopefull contribute to making the Baltimore meeting a huge success!