Harris Corp Gets FDsys Contract
Harris Corporation of Melbourne, FL has been awarded the contract for GPO's Future Digital System (FDsys). You can read about the award, announced on August 4, in several places: - GPO's FDsys Blog - GPO's Press Release and Fact Sheet [PDF] - Federal Computer Week article - Government Computer News article Continue reading
Lunch with a Lobbyist
Last week I had lunch with a lobbyist. No martinis, just iced tea. (It was 100 degrees outside and I did not want to go up in flames.) I am an independent information professional, and my niche is working to meet the information needs of Washington public policy professionals. If I only talk with other librarians (which I love to do), I have no clue about what is going on with my market. I heartily endorse the FGI mission to “initiate dialogue…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.†Say what you will about lobbyists, they need and use government information. And this lobbyist knows a lot about government information, but not so much about what government documents librarians are up to these days (digitization, electronic preservation, web services, etc.). So much is changing in the government documents/information world that we, librarians, have a hard enough time keeping up with it ourselves. We shouldn’t be surprised when those in other knowledge professions have not kept up with our changes. I have no doubt that many librarians reading FGI are engaged in getting the word out with projects far more ambitious than having lunch with a lobbyist on a hot August day. Any successes or ideas to share? Does anyone speak at conferences outside of the library sphere? Write for, or blog for, or otherwise engage those non-library stakeholders? Continue reading
USDOT and Transpo Libraries – Comments on Strategic Plan
Since James was a day early with his BOTM announcement, I'll be a day early with my first post. It's easy, because I did not write this one. This message is posted on behalf of Jerry Baldwin, a transportation librarian. For further questions, Jerry can be reached at: jerry.baldwin@dot.state.mn.us
Transportation librarians, most of whom are employed in government agencies within the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), state DOTs or transit agencies are seeking support in attempting to develop library services in a field that has long neglected them. Within USDOT, the newly formed Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA, at http://www.rita.dot.gov ) has responsibility for the National Transportation Library (NTL, at http://ntl.bts.gov ). RITA has drafted a Strategic Research, Development and Technology Plan [PDF] and is seeking comments on the plan. I have submitted comments on the draft regarding its failure to address library and information issues. We would appreciate any additional comments, especially from anyone familiar with government library services and networks and their role in research programs. Instructions for submitting comments are in the July 12 Federal Register [71 FR 39394].Note that comments are due by August 9. Continue reading
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