State Agency Databases Activity Report 9/30/2012
The past two weeks have seen significant activity at the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States project at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases, mostly as a result of our quarterly link check and search for new databases. For a full list of changes for the past two weeks, please visit http://tinyurl.com/statedbs14d. Here are some highlights: APP VERSIONS OF STATE DATABASES We've started to notice mobile apps being connected to databases produced by state agencies. We will be posting these to our project pages as we discover them. We're not looking to create a directory of ALL state mobile apps, just the ones that are connected to state databases. For now, most of the apps we've found were discovered by Susanne Caro and live on the Utah project page. Here are the ones she's found so far: ANDROID UDOT Traffic App -"The UDOT Traffic app provides commuters and travelers with mobile access to information for Utah roadways from the Utah Department of Transportation's Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)..." iOS Salt Lake County Map Book - "The Salt Lake County Map Book App was created as a GIS/Mapping tool to help emergency responders navigate the County. The Map Book breaks down the county into a grid of 287 maps design at a scale of 1:10,000, with every street name and corresponding coordinate labeled. We have also identified fire stations, schools, fire hydrants" Utah County Maps - "Utah Co Maps enables users to search property records by address or by panning and zooming around a topographic map of Utah County. Once a parcel is selected, users can access detailed property information including ownership history, property values, improvement information, and more." Utah Professional License Lookup - Utah Professional License Lookup app for the iPhone for checking on the professional license status of professionals offering services that require state licensure. DATABASES ADDED HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS (Lynn McClelland) Idaho Board of Nursing Primary Source Verification - Search for nurses by license type, license number, and/ or name. Users can filter on this page for disciplinary actions. NEW HAMPSHIRE (Linda Johnson) Banking Enforcement Orders - Searchable site for Enforcement Orders from 2006-. Can search by docket number or party name as well as browse alphabetically by entity name. NORTH CAROLINA (Jennifer Davison) North Carolina Board of Physical Therapy Examiners -Search for licensed physical therapists. TEXAS (Ann Ellis) Foreign Companies with Operations in Texas - This database provides a representative sample of significant non-U.S. companies doing business in Texas. It is updated by Business Research staff, and allows searches by city, country, industry, and keyword. UTAH (Susanne Caro) InciWed-Utah (Fire) Incidents - Hosted by InciWeb an inter-agency management system), this site has a searchable database of current fires including prescribed burns. Search includes age, type and status limiters. Continue reading
Florida Health Facility Locator Phone Apps
There hasn't been a State Agency Databases activity report since 8/19/2012 because summer activity has been minimal. Expect project activity to pick up in the next few weeks as we do our quarterly link check and update of state pages. There was one change to the wiki this week I wanted to highlight here. It involves the production of mobile apps tied to a state agency's database. Florida has a healthcare facility database. Here's it's description from our Florida project page:
Facility Locator - "To locate a facility, begin by choosing a facility type using the drop down menu. Next enter a facility name, a city, zip code, and/or county, or choose a field office." Also searchable by proximity to a specific street address. Facility types include: Abortion Clinic, Adult Day Care Center, Adult Family Care Home, Ambulatory Surgical Center, Assisted Living Facility, Birth Center, Cardiac Catheterization, Clinical Laboratory, Community Mental Health-Partial Hospitalization Program, Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facility, Crisis Stabilization Unit, End-Stage Renal Disease, Forensic Toxicology Laboratory, Health Care Clinic Exemptions, Health Care Clinics, Health Care Services Pool, Health Maintenance Organization, Homes for Special Services, Home Health Agency, Home Medical Equipment, Homemaker & Companion Services, Hospice, Hospital, Intermediate Care Facility, Lithotripsy, Multiphasic Health Test Center, Nurse Registry, Organ & Tissue Procurement, Portable X-Ray, Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care, Rehabilitation Agencies, Residential Treatment Center, Residential Treatment Facility, Rural Health Clinics, Skilled Nursing Facility, Skilled Nursing Unit, Transitional Living Facility, Utilization Review.When I visited the facility locator page, I found both an iphone and an Android phone app. Both apps appear to let you map facilities and get driving directions, if desired. Given the situations where one might be looking for a medical facility, mobile apps appear to make sense. If you're aware of other state agency databases that have been "app-ified", would you live a comment here? Thanks! Continue reading
State Agency Databases Activity Report 8/19/2012
Last week saw several new databases added to the pages of the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States Project at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases. For a full list of changes in the last week, see http://tinyurl.com/statedbs. Here are some highlights: CALIFORNIA (Joel Rane) Charity Research Tool - A searchable database of the information returns that charities file annually with the IRS (Forms 990, 990-PF, and 990-EZ). The database allows donors to research a charity before making a decision to give. Searchable by name, location, the activity and type of the charity, the EIN (Employer Identification Number) or the NTEE (National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities) code. The returns available in this database are those filed with the IRS directly, not with the Registry of Charitable Trusts. OHIO (Audrey Hall) Check your voter registration - Update your Ohio voting address online. A convenient way for voters to meet their primary responsibility to be registered at their current address 30 days before an election. Every Ohioan who is old enough to vote will be able to take advantage of this new system. UTAH (Susanne Caro) Utah State History Online Photos - This database of 65,000 images includes KUED Topaz Residents (WWII Japanese interment), Juanita Brooks Photograph Collection, Taylor Woolley Photograph Collection (architecture), Larson Studio Negative Collection, Commercial Photograph Collection, Clifford Bray Photograph Collection and more. Keyword searchable with an advanced search option. Collections can be browsed. Continue reading
State Agency Databases Activity Report 7/27/2012
Looks like our last activity report for the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States project was 7/1/2012. What's happened since then? Well, our project was named one of the Best Free Reference Web Sites 2012 by ALA's Reference and User Services Association's Emerging Technologies in Reference Section (MARS). Our group of four dozen volunteers is honored to mentioned on the same page as the FBI Vault, Google's Art Project and the Encyclopedia of Life. While honors were being handed out, our volunteer documents specialists kept busy. Many URLs were fixed and a number of databases, particularly for California were added. Here is a sample of what was added in the last month: CALIFORNIA (Joel Rane) Online Archive of American Folk Medicine - A searchable database of over a million folk remedies, collected from individuals and books since the 1940s. The remedies are searchable by condition, belief, method of treatment, gender, age and ethnicity of the informant, place, date and region collected, place or region of origin, and the citation name. OHIO (Audrey Hall) Ohio Judicial Conference Directory - Directory with information for all Ohio judges. Find contact information for judges by name, county and court. WISCONSIN (Barbara Bren) Credential Search Menu - allows consumers to search for individuals and businesses that are credentialed. You can search by name, credential type, credential id or by zip code. These lists certify who has been granted a permit from the state. They may or may not signify a particular level of training or success in passing an examination. Continue reading
Kudos for GPO: Video streaming from Interagency Depository Seminar
The Interagency Depository Seminar is a week long event regarded by most of the librarians we know as one of the best events a government information specialist can attend. As the name implies, instructors from other agencies come and provide in-depth training and insight into the information products from their agencies. Traditionally this has been an in-person event. For the first time this year, GPO will be webcasting parts of the event, according to this e-mail sent to the FDLP-L list:
From: Announcements from the Federal Depository Library Program [mailto:GPO-FDLP-L@LISTSERV.ACCESS.GPO.GOV] On Behalf Of FDLP Listserv Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2012 11:23 AM To: GPO-FDLP-L@LISTSERV.ACCESS.GPO.GOV Subject: Join the Interagency Depository Seminar from Afar! Next week for the first time, the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) will provide remote access to portions of the Interagency Depository Seminar. The virtual sessions are free, but registration is required. Register now and join us live for four segments of the Seminar: 07/30/2012 -- Monday morning: 8:30 AM - Noon (Eastern Time) * Welcome & Introductions * History of GPO * LTIS Update * Education & Outreach Register: http://login.icohere.com/registration/register.cfm?reg=270&evt=IADS-Monday-AM 07/30/2012 -- Monday afternoon: 1:30 PM - 4:00 PM (Eastern Time) * Federal Reserve Bank's FRASER, FRED, and ALFRED * DSIMS: Depository Selection Information Management System Register: http://login.icohere.com/registration/register.cfm?reg=271&evt=IADS-Monday-PM 08/02/2012 -- Thursday afternoon: 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM (Eastern Time) * U.S. Geological Survey * U.S. Department of State * National Agricultural Library * National Library of Medicine Register: http://login.icohere.com/registration/register.cfm?reg=272&evt=IADS-Thurs-PM 08/03/2012 -- Friday morning: 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM (Eastern Time) * Introduction to GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) * Advanced Navigation in GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) * Closing Remarks and Adjourn Register: http://login.icohere.com/registration/register.cfm?reg=273&evt=IADS-Friday-AM Once your registration is completed, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for logging into the virtual Interagency Depository Seminar sessions. Virtual attendees will receive certificates of participation. Contact Cindy Etkin (cetkin@gpo.gov) if you have questions.We at FGI have long advocated for more distance training opportunities for government documents librarians and other government information stakeholders. We haven't been alone. And for the past few years, the Government Printing Office has been listening. This latest advance comes on the heels of a number of online classes for FDSys and other Federal resources. Thanks GPO for continuing to expand opportunities for librarians and other staff not available to travel. We especially appreciate you webcasting from your signature training event! Continue reading
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