ALA GODORT Wants YOU to help build 50-State Database Registry
Submitted by dcornwall on Sat, 2007-06-30 08:30.
As part of their activities in the last ALA annual meeting, the GODORT State and Local Documents Task Force (SLDTF) approved the creation of a fifty-state registry of state government produced databases on the new GODORT wiki. SLDTF believes that there will be great value to librarians and end users alike in having the "invisible web" of state produced databases together in one place.
You can find the home page for this project at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases. Right now, only Alaska has a developed page which you can find at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/Alaska as an example for what SLDTF hopes the other state pages will look like.
Once this registry is complete, it will have a number of uses, not the least of which will be showing that documents librarians are tech savvy people who know where the information is buried even when Google can't find it.
BUT, they need your help to make this happen. There are four ways you can help with this project:
1) Go to the wiki and start adding any databases you are familar with. Just click on the "edit" tab. Registering with the GODORT wiki is recommended but not required.
2) Agree to be a "documents specialist" for a particular state and post your contact information so people who are not comfortable with editing wikis can e-mail updates to you.
3) Recruit state agency department webmasters, other state employees or other subject specialists to contribute to the database listing.
4) As you become aware of a new state (or local) government database, e-mail Daniel Cornwall, project coordinator (dan DOT cornwall AT Alaska DOT gov) or the documents specialist for that state if you are not comfortable with editing a wiki.
To me, this seems like a perfect collaboration project for the documents community. You WILL benefit from learning where your state's databases are and posting them to this annotated registry. The rest of us will benefit from having similar databases available from the fifty states and learning about your state's unique content.
So, help ALA GODORT and yourselves by contributing to this project!
If you adopt a state's page, would you leave a comment here so people can see how the registry is coming along?
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Florida and Missouri join Alaska!
Thanks to librarians in Missouri and Florida, these states now have entries in the 50-State state agency databases wiki started by the State and Local Documents Task Force of ALA GODORT.
Florida
http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/Florida
Missouri
http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/Missouri
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"And besides all that, what we need is a decentralized, distributed system of depositing electronic files to local libraries willing to host them." -- Daniel Cornwall, tipping his hat to Cato the Elder for the original quote.
Welcome Nevada and North Carolina
Nevada and North Carolina are the latest states to have database content on ALA GODORT's 50-State Database Registry.
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"And besides all that, what we need is a decentralized, distributed system of depositing electronic files to local libraries willing to host them." -- Daniel Cornwall, tipping his hat to Cato the Elder for the original quote.
Welcome Wyoming!
With databases like the Wyoming Authors Wiki and Wyoming Inventors Database, Wyoming is the latest state to have content in the 50-state database registry created by ALA GODORT's State and Local Documents Task Force.
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"And besides all that, what we need is a decentralized, distributed system of depositing electronic files to local libraries willing to host them." -- Daniel Cornwall, tipping his hat to Cato the Elder for the original quote.
Welcome Montana!
Montana is the latest state with an annotated database listing on ALA GODORT SLDTF's 50-State registry of State agency databases.
My favorite database listed on that page is:
Fishing Opportunities - Search for good fishing spots in Montana by city vicinity, FWP region, mountain range, or specific body of water.
What hidden treasures are produced by government agencies in your state? Adopt a page and tell us!
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"And besides all that, what we need is a decentralized, distributed system of depositing electronic files to local libraries willing to host them." -- Daniel Cornwall, tipping his hat to Cato the Elder for the original quote.
Welcome Colorado!
Colorado is the latest state to have an annotated list of databases in the ALA GODORT SLDTF's 50-State agency database registry.
Thanks Colorado!
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"And besides all that, what we need is a decentralized, distributed system of depositing electronic files to local libraries willing to host them." -- Daniel Cornwall, tipping his hat to Cato the Elder for the original quote.
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