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From a DOL News Release:

Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced an innovative partnership that leverages the combined audience and expertise of officials from the U.S. Department of Labor, Facebook, the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, DirectEmployers Association and the National Association of Colleges and Employers to provide crucial employment resources to job seekers through the use of social networks.

In the coming months, public and private-sector partners who have committed to helping Americans find jobs through resources and technology will be added.

Watch Today's Announcement

Read the Complete Announcement

Summary profiles for geographic areas have been updated with the most recent information from frequently requested statistics from various Census Bureau programs including the 2010 Census, 2010 American Community Survey and 2007 Survey of Business Owners. These easy to access and easy to use tables are now available for the nation, state and counties and have expanded from places with populations of 25,000 or more to places with 5,000 or more. Tables also provide links to more detailed data sets.

Direct to U.S. Census QuickFacts

and

U.S. Census Bureau Releases 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year PUMS

We are pleased to announce the release of the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) files. PUMS files from the ACS show the full range of population and housing unit responses collected on individual ACS questionnaires. These files enable users to design tabulations that aggregate responses differently than the published data products.

The PUMS files contain records for a subsample of ACS housing units and group quarters persons. As required by federal law, the confidentiality of ACS respondents is protected through a variety of steps to disguise or suppress original data while making sure the results are still useful. In addition to modifying the individual records, respondents' confidentiality is protected because only large geographic areas are identified in the PUMS. To read more about how the PUMS files are created, browse code lists, and look-up subjects in the PUMS, please visit the PUMS Documentation Page.

The PUMS data is accessible now via the FTP site. Links can be found on our PUMS Data Page.

On October 27, 2011 the data will also be accessible via American FactFinder.

See Also: Poverty: 2009 and 2010
Also new from the U.S. Census.

The letter, made available by ARL, is dated October 19, 2011 and begins:

We write as coordinators of regional depository libraries to express our deep concern over GPO's recent responses to two initiatives within the FDLP system. Given these responses, and the rejection of the 2011 Ithaka S+R report (Modeling a Sustainable Future of the Federal Depository Library Program in the 21st Century), we do not believe that GPO recognizes the gravity of the current situation in many regional federal depository libraries, and does not appear to be making efforts to understand this situation or to creatively partner with regional libraries or groups of depository libraries to help ameliorate the situation.

Read the Complete Letter (4 pages; PDF)

Here are two more letters re: FDLP made available by ARL today.

1. Greater Western Library Alliance Strongly Supports ARL’s Position On Recent USGPO Decisions

2. Association of Southeastern Research Libraries Strongly Supports ARL’s Position on Recent GPO Decisions
1 page; PDF.

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First, Science.gov Mobile is now available at m.science.gov as a web app. No download required.

Second, Science.gov added three new databases today that are available when searching either at Science.gov or m.Science.gov.

The new databases:

• Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) (EPA) under Environment and Environmental Quality

• DOE Data Explorer under Math, Physics, Chemistry (a product of Science Accelerator)

• Energy Science and Technology Software Center (ESTSC) DOE (a product of Science Accelerator)

Science.gov now provides access to more than 45 databases that can be searched one at a time or simultaneously and can also be a very useful discovery tool to learn about U.S. government science databases accessible to the general public.

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From the U.S. Census:

We are pleased to announce the release of an updated Beta version of DataFerrett, which includes several new features designed to improve access to the 2005-2009 5-year ACS Summary File in DataFerrett.

DataFerrett is a unique data analysis and extraction tool-with recoding capabilities-to customize federal, state, and local data to suit your requirements. (FERRETT stands for Federated Electronic Research, Review, Extraction, and Tabulation Tool.) Using DataFerrett, you can develop an unlimited array of customized spreadsheets that are as versatile and complex as your usage demands.

• Detailed information About the Updated Release

The Census Bureau would greatly appreciate any feedback from the public regarding these new features.

Please email your comments no later than October 21, 2011 to: dsd.ferrett@census.gov.

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From a New OMB Watch Article:

In recent years, government has increasingly embraced the proactive disclosure of information and created online tools to increase transparency. But how do Americans discover that information? Who helps them learn how to use complex government databases and tools? The answer may be a surprisingly familiar one: libraries.

Libraries have traditionally played a leading role in helping the public discover and use government information. However, the rapid expansion of e-government creates new opportunities and challenges for empowering the public with such information. The Government Printing Office (GPO) is now considering a proposal that could help libraries around the country to modernize and expand their government information services, supporting equitable public access to information and amplifying the impact of open government initiatives.

The article goes on to discuss government information in libraries and the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) focusing on the rejected Ithaka S+R report.

Finally, OMB Watch shares several key priorities for the FDLP which were included in comments about the Ithaka report that OMB Watch sent to the GPO on September 16, 2011 (3 pages; PDF)

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From an ARL Announcement:

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) released a statement calling upon the US Government Printing Office (GPO) to reverse its recent, troubling decisions concerning the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). ARL asked that GPO approve the University of Minnesota Libraries as the regional for the State of Michigan once it is designated by the relevant Senators, as well as approve and support the ASERL “Guidelines for Managing FDLP Collections in the Southeast Region.” Such actions are consistent with GPO past precedent and, importantly, comply with provisions in Title 44. These types of collaborations and cooperative efforts are essential to the success of the FDLP both now and in the future.

ARL and its members have long-standing participation in and support for the FDLP, a partnership between the Federal Government and libraries throughout the United States that ensures the public has no-fee access to US government information. ARL members invest significant staff, financial resources, and space allocations to the Program with the belief that equitable access to information about our Government and its programs is central to our democracy. Recently, changes in policy and practice by GPO and its failure to embrace needed changes to the Program present serious challenges to the Program’s sustainability and viability. These changes will seriously impact the ability of the public to effectively access government information both now and in the future.

Decisions by the leadership of GPO over the last nine months call for costly changes in practice by federal depository libraries that are not supported by provisions in Title 44, the governing statute of the Program. In addition, GPO leadership has reinterpreted provisions in Title 44 and dismissed long-standing precedent concerning the designation of regional federal depository libraries to the Program. Finally, GPO has not acknowledged current library practice across all types of libraries and has not positioned the Program and its resources to reflect how users engage in digital discovery and access to information.

Read the Complete Statement (2 pages; PDF)

See Also: Background and Primary Documents:
Recent Developments on FDLP as of August 2011 (via ARL)

From the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime:

UNODC has developed a human trafficking case law database to provide immediate, public access to officially documented instances of this crime. The database contains details on victims' and perpetrators' nationalities, trafficking routes, verdicts and other information related to prosecuted cases from across the world. In doing so, it provides not only mere statistics on numbers of prosecutions and convictions, but also the real-life stories of trafficked persons as documented by the courts. The database aims to assist judges, prosecutors, policy-makers, media researchers and other interested parties by making available details of real cases with examples of how the respective national laws in place can be used to prosecute human trafficking. At its launch, more than 150 selected cases from over 30 countries and two regional courts have been uploaded, with an additional 100 cases from over a dozen states to be added in the coming months.

By creating the database, UNODC is working to increase the visibility of successful prosecutions and at the same time promote awareness of the realities of this devastating crime. Such a database of human trafficking cases enables users to take experiences and court decisions from other countries into account when dealing with human trafficking issues, consult on practices in different jurisdictions and broaden their knowledge of human trafficking crimes.

Direct to Human Trafficking Case Law Database

Much More in the Complete UNODC Announcement

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Note: At the present time the app listed below is only available for iOS devices. However, a web version of the resource is also available.

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From the iTunes App Store:

The AIRNow iPhone application will provide an increasingly mobile public with real-time air quality information that people can use to protect their health when planning their daily activities

The app will allow users to get location-specific reports on current air quality and air quality forecasts for both ozone and fine particle pollution (PM2.5). Air quality maps from the AIRNow website provide visual depictions of current and forecast air quality nationwide, and a page on air quality-related health effects explains what actions people can take to protect their health at different AQI levels, such as “code orange.”

The AIRNow app is free.

Direct to App Store

See Also: AIRNow is Also Available on the Web

See Also: U.S. Air Quality Summary (text)

See Also: EnviroFlash (Air Quality Alerts)

Air quality affects how you live and breathe. Like the weather, it can change from day to day, or even hour to hour. Up-to-date information allows you to make decisions based on air quality forecasts. EnviroFlash comes to you through a partnership between the US EPA and your state or local air quality agency - notifying you about air quality so you don't have to go searching for it!

From the FDLP Connection Article:

With an interest in increasing public access to court opinions, the Judicial Conference approved a recommendation of its Court Administration and Case Management Committee for a pilot project to make lower Federal court opinions available through FDsys. The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has been working closely with the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AOUSC) to make this a reality.

The United States Courts Opinions collection in FDsys contains opinions from the Federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts. The pilot recently moved from the development phase to the test phase. Initial testing is with three courts: the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, United States District Court District of Rhode Island, and United States Bankruptcy Court Southern District of Florida. The number of courts participating in the pilot will rapidly expand to twelve and, after testing, to more than thirty. The content of this collection dates back to April 2004, though searchable electronic holdings for some courts may be incomplete for this earlier time period.

Other Feature Articles FDLP Connection (October 2011, Vol. 1. No. 3) Include:

A Cause for Celebration: Towson University Joins the FDLP

FDsys Training: Educating the Public on the Next Generation of Government Information Online

Making the Agency Connection: LSCM Working with Agencies to Benefit the FDLP

"Public Documents Our Specialty" – GPO's Public Documents Library 1895–1971, Part 2: Changing Times

GPO Welcomes a New Librarian to its Staff

It’s That Time Again: The 2011 Biennial Survey of Depository Libraries

Direct to Complete Table of Contents

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