Home » post » State Agency Databases Activity Report 1/6/2013

Our mission

Free Government Information (FGI) is a place for initiating dialogue and building consensus among the various players (libraries, government agencies, non-profit organizations, researchers, journalists, etc.) who have a stake in the preservation of and perpetual free access to government information. FGI promotes free government information through collaboration, education, advocacy and research.

State Agency Databases Activity Report 1/6/2013

There was a flurry of end of year activity at the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States project (http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases) over the last few weeks, including our annual compilation of usage statistics. We also had the sad duty of returning 11 pages to orphan status as they were not updated in 2012.

But first, the good news! All together, state project pages were visited 201,084 times in 2012. This is nearly triple the number of visits in 2011. Our subject pages also got about three times more visits in 2012, logging 28,131 visits.

The most popular state page was Alaska, followed closely by Missouri. The Prisoner Locater page continued in its number one spot among subject pages, but Lynn McClelland’s Healthcare Practitioner pages were a close second.

The full statistics worksheet listing individual stats for all states and subject pages is linked from our main project page under 2012 Usage Stats.

DATABASE ACTIVITY

For a full listing of all changes to project pages during the last two weeks, visit http://tinyurl.com/statedbs14d. Below are some highlights of activity.

DATABASES ADDED

MICHIGAN (Michael McDonnell)

Michigan Healthcare Help – This site provides information on where to find free or inexpensive health related services. Included are links to free clinics, mental health services, dental care, prescription drug programs, family planning, and cancer screening and treatment services. You can also find assistance with Medicaid enrollment here.

MISSOURI (Annie Moots)

Field Guide – What plant or animal is that? – Search the database of plants, animals and mushrooms found in Missouri.

OHIO (Audrey Hall)

Interest Calculator – Select tax type, amount due, and payment date to calculate interest.

WASHINGTON (Marilyn Von Seggern)

Children’s Safe Products Act Reports Database – Beginning in August 2012, manufacturers of children’s products must report to Dept. of Ecology if their products contain toxic chemicals such as lead, cadmium and phthalates. The Reporting List of Chemicals of High Concern to Children can be searched by chemical, company, or product.

NEW ORPHANS FOR 2013

Some bad news for the project, but potentially good news for you. Since 2011, our project guidelines state that we will terminate volunteers who have not documented link checks or updated their pages in the past calendar year. State pages meeting that condition are put out for adoption the following January. So here is our new orphan list for 2013:

  • Arkansas
  • District of Columbia
  • Florida
  • Hawaii
  • Indiana
  • Kansas
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • Oklahoma
  • South Carolina

If you are interested in taking on one of these pages, first read our volunteer guide and make sure that you are willing and able to meet the requirements of a project volunteer. Then contact Daniel Cornwall, the project coordinator using the contact link on our main page. After you are given the page and a wiki account (if needed), you will have two weeks to change the page to reflect your ownership.

We would love to have you join our group of 40 odd document enthusiasts and specialists. Just make sure you can fit quarterly link checks and database finding into your schedule.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Archives