The Government Printing Office in a press release today announced a success story in the use of the Application Programming Interface (API) for Federal Register. It is certainly interesting and illustrative of how an API can be used to deliver information to a particular community of interest, but I think you may also find it unexpectedly unusual. A researcher used the FR API to create a tracking system for polar bear protection documents.

GPO AND OFR SHOWCASE OPEN GOVERNMENT SUCCESS STORY

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives' Office of the Federal Register (OFR) report a success story from the Application Programming Interface (API) for FederalRegister.gov. GPO and OFR introduced the API in August 2011, enabling information technology developers to create new applications for regulatory information published in the Federal Register. A researcher utilized the API to create a tracking system for polar bear protection documents. The API tool automatically grabs Federal Register items that mention polar bears from 1994 to present, displays the items in a formatted list with browsing capabilities, and links back to the full text on FederalRegister.gov.

Link to Polar Bear Feed: http://polarbearfeed.etiennebenson.com/

"This is another example of how GPO and OFR continue to find ways in achieving the goal of making Government information more transparent and giving users the ability to adapt Federal Register data to their own needs," said Public Printer Bill Boarman.

"We are thrilled to see the use of the API source material to develop a live feed on the subject of polar bears. This is precisely how we hoped this information would be used when we made it available to the public. We couldn't be more gratified," said Director of the Federal Register Ray Mosley.

The print and online versions of the Federal Register are the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other Presidential documents.

The State Department has an RSS (ATOM) feed that lists new releases of the important series Foreign Relations of the United States: history.state.gov/open/frus-latest.xml.

The Office of the Historian is responsible, under law, for the preparation and publication of the official historical documentary record of U.S. foreign policy in the Foreign Relations of the United States series. This dataset is a feed for the latest ten volumes in the Foreign Relations of the United States series. Each record in the dataset contains a volume's title, year of publication, summary, and link to the online volumes. The feed will be updated when current volumes are edited or new volumes are published.
http://history.state.gov/open/frus-latest

I had never noticed that statement (above) that current volumes might be edited after release. Does that mean that material might be deleted or changed? Or does "editing" only mean adding new content?

Libraries, Journalism, and Publishing share some common issues and face many common challenges in the digital age. It seems particularly appropriate that, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) holds a workshop on the future of journalism, it is using digital tools to reach more people.

The FTC will hold workshops in Washington, DC on December 1 and 2, 2009, to explore how the Internet has affected journalism. The event is free and open to the public. The workshop will assemble representatives from print, online, broadcast and cable news organizations, academics, consumer advocates, bloggers, and other new media representatives.

• How Will Journalism Survive the Internet Age?

You can submit questions using the Twitter tag #ftcnews.

Comments can be filed online at https://public.commentworks.com/ftc/newsmediaworkshop. See submitted comments here.

A live webcast will be available on the day of the event. Bookmark this page and come back on December 1st and 2nd to link to the webcast.

Updates regarding workshops, including an agenda and panelists will be posted on this webpage, or can be accessed via RSS Feed.

The Washington Post has an RSS feed called, The POTUS Tracker. It lists events location and events for the President of the United States.

There is also a more traditional Calendar view of the President's activities and you can view events by issue, type, and attendees.

The Law Library of Congress's Global Legal Monitor has added more than 300 topic and jurisdictional RSS feeds.

Topics include the Census, Freedom of Information, Government Publications, Intellectual Property, Libraries, and Secrecy!

There is also an RSS for all articles in the Global Legal Monitor too.

Tip o' the hate to Resource Shelf.

RSS & Email, Law Library of Congress

The Law Library of Congress now offers an RSS feed for THOMAS: Daily Digest: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/rss/dd.xml .

It's pretty bare bones. Just a link to full text, but it is a start!

Hat tip to John Wonderlich!

The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) now has its on blog, "a place where you can learn about and have real input into the policymaking process as it relates to science and technology."

OSTP Blog

And, yes, there is an RSS/ATOM feed!
http://blog.ostp.gov/feed/
http://blog.ostp.gov/feed/atom/

OMB Watch "exists to increase government transparency and accountability; to ensure sound, equitable regulatory and budgetary processes and policies; and to protect and promote active citizen participation in our democracy." They have been around form more than 25 years and are an excellent source for information about government openness and transparency and information policy. Their redesigned web site has a page listing their RSS feeds including one on Government Openness.

They also have a blog, The Fine Print.

"The General Services Administration announced that it has delivered on a promise to use Web 2.0 technology to give citizens electronic access to government information. The USA.gov Web site now is offering a governmentwide news feed service and a gallery of gadget applications....

"Additions to the USA.gov Web site include the Government News Aggregator, which is designed to use RSS feeds to deliver news and information from across the federal government."
    -- Feds' Web site gets Web 2.0 makeover, By Sharon Gaudin, Computer World, January 27, 2009.

• Breaking Government News, USA.gov. "Breaking news from the U.S. government."
• Government Gadget Gallery. USA.gov. "You can embed these gadgets in personalized home pages, blogs, and other sites."

Josh Tauberer at GovTrack.us, our hero and a prince, has created an easy way to follow new videos posted at Congress's YouTube sites. (See Congress on YouTube).

• Tracking YouTube Videos which aggregates all videos posted by Members to YouTube. The RSS is here.
• Pages for Members at GovTrack.us now highlight their latest YouTube video at the top of the page.
• Feeds/Trackers at GovTrack.us for Members (which you can subscribe to directly, include with your other trackers, or get email updates for) now include their latest video postings.

Read more: Track your representative’s YouTube videos, Josh Tauberer, Jan. 13, 2009.