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Big Data, Environmental Data
The Journal Nature has a special issue about "Big Data" with articles by Clifford Lynch, Cory Doctorow, and others. The whole issue is worth reading and is freely available online for a short time.
Coping with floods of data is now one of science's biggest challenges. In this Nature Special, we assess the need to complement smart science with smart searching; look at what the next Google will be; talk to the pioneering biologists who are trying to use wiki-type web pages to manage and interpret data; and recall that the first mass data crunchers were not computers, but the remarkable women of Harvard's Observatory.In the area of government information, David Goldston, the former chief of staff of the House Committee on Science, writes about environmental data.
- Big data: Data wrangling by David Goldston, Nature 455, no. 7209 (September 3, 2008): 15.
The Words They Used
The Words They Used, by MATTHEW ERICSON, New York Times, September 4, 2008. "The words that speakers used at the two political conventions show the themes that the parties have highlighted." This is a bubble graph of number of times words were used per 25,000 words spoken and a list of which speakers used which words. Ericson has done a good job of looking at phrases as well as individual words, of combining similar words and phrases, and of noting phrases that have very little or no use by one or both parties. Another good example of how, when we have access to the "raw data" (as opposed to transaction-based, search-and-retrieve, one-page-at-a-time access), the data can be used, re-used, and analyzed. Continue reading
Two new federal government blogs
Two new blogs appeared on the USA.gov Blogs from the U.S. Government page recently:
- Arctic Chronicles, by Jessica Robertson, Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey. She will be documenting her journey to the Arctic as she accompanies scientists on an expedition to map the seafloor.
- The Energy Savers Blog, which aims to provide "a place for consumers to learn about and discuss energy efficiency and renewable technologies at home, on the road, and in the workplace."
Coverage of Political Conventions
Looking for online coverage of the political conventions? Here is a good roundup of options!
- The Best 2008 Political Convention Coverage Online, by Mark Glaser, MediaShift, PBS, 28 August 2008.
Google and the Search for Federal Government Information
A couple of weeks ago, Bonnie Klein, of the Defense Technical Information Center, submitted a comment here with a link to an article she wrote about the effectiveness of using Google and other commercial search tools to find government information. I recommend it highly:
- Google and the Search for Federal Government Information, by Bonnie Klein, Against The Grain, v.20, no. 2 April 2008.
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