Continuing with our special “Guide of the Week” series relating to Presidential Transition issues:
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently identified protecting the homeland as one of 13 urgent issues facing the next President and Congress. Today on Guide of the Week, we’ll talk about some librarian produced guides from the ALA GODORT Exchange Wiki that can help inform citizens, Congress and President-Elect Obama on this issue.
“Protecting the homeland” is a broader topic than it sounds. GAO itself broke down “protecting the homeland” into five subtopics – Prevention, Preparedness and Response; Critical Infrastructure Protection; Nuclear, Biological, Chemical and Radiological Threats, Homeland Security Acquisitions and Information Sharing. With these subtopics in mind, here are some guides that might better inform you on most of these issues:
- Depository Library Web Sites on Terrorism and Homeland Security (Karen Hogenboom, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 2004) (GODORT Education Clearinghouse)
- Homeland Security (University of Colorado Boulder Government Publications Library 2008)
- National Security Policy (Bert Chapman, Purdue University, 2001) Last updated 3/10/2008
- Climate and Weather (University of Colorado at Boulder Government Publications Library, 2008)
- Intelligence (Bert Chapman, Purdue University, 2001) Last updated 3/10/2008
I think three of the guide titles are fairly self explanatory as why I’ve included them. I included Climate and Weather from UCB because it links to a number of resources to major weather disasters and how to prepare for them. Statistically speaking, very few people will be object of a terrorist attack, but 90% of the country will be affected by natural disasters, including hurricanes and the like. Bert Chapman’s guide on Intelligence contains links to resources that specifically address information sharing between agencies and with Congress and the public.
Since I’m not covering each guide listed here in my usual “Guide of the Week” depth, you know that there is lots more in each of the guides. So go check them out. If you find them helpful, send the guide links to your Senators and Representatives. It’s their transition too! And if you’re a docs librarian with a guide to some of the urgent issues listed above, then please QUICKLY post your guide to the Handout Exchange.
In addition to the government resources covered in this entry, I’d strongly recommend the book The edge of disaster : rebuilding a resilient nation by Stephen Flynn. It’s a book that contains policy solutions in addition to diagnosing problems with how we handle both natural and manmade disasters. For specific information on nuclear and radiological threats, the book Physics for Future Presidents by Dr. Richard Muller would be helpful. Or you could just watch his lecture on Nukes:
Next week I’ll be dealing with librarian produced guides relating to “undisciplined defense spending.” So if you have any guides relating to that topic, please try and post them to the Handout Exchange this week.
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