ORPHAN NEWS
We had another relatively quiet at the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States project.
The list of orphan states in need of adoption is unchanged from last week:
Mississippi
Rhode Island
Texas
If you’re a librarian in one of the above states, I’d really appreciate it if you would forward this message to appropriate listservs in your state. As I mentioned last week, the entry of Gov Ricky Perry into the Presidential race could make the Texas page a hot property if someone volunteered to update it. Just think of how Texas’ perfomance in the last decade could be documented if there was a one stop place of all of its various databases.
If you’re interested in one of the above states, check out our volunteer guide at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/SADATFS_Volunteer_Guide and then send me an e-mail if you’d like to adopt one of the above states. If you adopt a state, be prepared to put your name and contact information on the main project page AND your state page within two weeks of receiving your wiki login. See the Volunteer guide for more details.
WIKI ACTIVITY
See our last seven days of activity at http://tinyurl.com/statedbs for a blow by
blow description of changes to the page. Here are a few highlights:
DATABASES ADDED
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Shirl Kennedy)
Answers, Please! (Social Services Database) – “Answers, Please! Online offers the public direct access to a network of government and community social service providers via the Internet. By incorporating the latest web technology and the
District’s mapping system, users may locate programs alphabetically or by program name, topic, keyword, and proximity to an address.”
NEW MEXICO (Adrienne Walker)
EGIS Mapper The EGIS Mapper Application allows users to find and display key features of the data map such as drinking water sources and hazardous waste facilities. The navigation menu to the left covers key topics and functional tools of the map. Click on the Help Using this Tool link located in the upper
right corner of the application for explanations and instructions regarding navigation, layers and controls in the creation of your query.
In addition to the databases added to project pages, Shirl Kennedy added some resources to our “Not Databases” page at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/Not_Databases, including:
Office of Tax and Revenue: Delinquent Taxpayers List “Publication of the delinquent taxpayers’ lists below is part of an overall program to encourage voluntary compliance with the District’s tax laws.” (PDF)
Office of the Chief Financial Officer: DC Tobacco Directory “Use the following links to view the Tobacco Directory and any changes to it that may be
currently pending. The Tobacco Directory is listed by Manufacturer and is in PDF format. To search by brand family instead of manufacturer, select the search option on the toolbar at the top of the document and type in the exact brand family name. Be sure to include the correct spelling and punctuation to ensure a correct brand search.”
Office of the Chief Technology Officer: All Online Maps “The District of Columbia offers several online mapping applications highlighting data and information from various fields of interest such as crime statistics, public school profiles, detailed property information and more. The online mapping sites below, listed in alphabetic order, present data coming from agencies across the District government.
Click each online map to read a brief introduction and to access the site.” More than 30 are currently available.
Why does our project have a “not databases” page? Since the project got underway in June 2007, a number of people have submitted resources, that while useful, fell outside the scope of this project. Either they weren’t really databases or they were not published by a governmental entity belonging to a given state. But they are useful and so we’re loath to just throw them away.
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