Home » Articles posted by James A Jacobs (Page 267)
Author Archives: James A Jacobs
More Lame Ducks: shortened reviews for regulations
OMB Watch is reporting on the Bush Administration Pushing Last-Minute Rollbacks (08/19/2008). "The Bush administration is trying to finalize several new rules, covering a range of policy issues, before a new administration takes over and despite its own policy directive." The article reports that one proposed change in regulations missed the administration's own deadline for new rules by two and a half months. It also says that the The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), the White House office in charge of approving, changing, or rejecting new administration policy, spent only three days reviewing one proposed rule when the average time as been 71 days. Government information specialists should be aware of this since the public comment period for some changes in rules has been reduced from the standard 60 days to 30 days. Proposals included changes to Endangered Species Act; changes to how estimates for on-the-job risks are calculated; and changes that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans. A leaked draft rule that could reduce women's access to birth control by classifying oral contraception as a form of abortion has not been submitted to OIRA yet. Continue reading
Discovering the Library With Google Earth
Discovering the Library With Google Earth, by Michaela Brenner and Peter Klein, Information Technology & Libraries, Volume 27, Number 2 June 2008 (re-posted at redOrbit).
Libraries need to provide attractive and exciting discovery tools to draw patrons to the valuable resources in their catalogs. The authors conducted a pilot project to explore the free version of Google Earth as such a discover tool for Portland State Library's digital collection of urban planning documents. They created eye- catching placemarks with links to parts of this collection, as well as to other pertinent materials like books, images, and historical background information. The detailed how-to-do part of this article is preceded by a discussion about discovery of library materials and followed by possible applications of this Google Earth project. In Calhoun's report to the Library of Congress, it becomes clear that staff time and resources will need to move from cataloging traditional formats, like books, to cataloging unique primary sources, and then providing access to these sources from many different angles. "Organize, digitize, expose unique special collections" (Calhoun 2006).Continue reading
Lame Duck Reorganization Cutting Green Jobs to Promote Outsourcing
Reclamation Jettisoning Environmental Functions, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), August 18, 2008.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is rapidly downsizing its environmental capabilities by forcing scores of Denver-based specialists to go into retirement under threat of layoff, according to documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). This massive lame duck restructuring will force the next administration to contract for the eliminated functions.Among the services being cut are "The Center’s world renowned library." There are links at the PEER site above to more details. Thanks and a tip of the FGI hat to Bernadine Abbott Hoduski! Continue reading
Multimedia at EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency has consolidated its Web 2.0 multimedia (video, photos, audio, podcasts) at Multimedia Center, US EPA. The current featured video is an interview with with US EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock, discussing the Greenversations blog. It is worth watching (only about 5 minutes) as an enthusiastic view of the possibilities of better citizen communications with government. Unfortunately, the EPA, as far as I can tell, has not provided a way to bookmark videos or download them for preservation and has settled on the "standard" of Flash video, rather than open source video formats. (See Feds set sights on small screen, By Wade-Hahn Chan, FCW, August 11, 2008). Continue reading
FGI at SAA
I just got back from another fun-packed week of teaching the data services workshop at ICPSR, and next week I will be speaking briefly at the Annual Meeting of the Society of American Archivists on "The challenges for preservation of government information in the digital age" (Appraisals/Appraisers Section Meeting) on Friday. Stop by and say hello! Continue reading
Latest Comments