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Barbara Quint on CRS Reports
Congressional Research Service Documents — Free or Fee? by Barbara Quint. Information Today Newsbreaks, July 11, 2005. An up-to-date report on CRS reports. Quint notes that "the reports—if you can find them—are public domain" but that free internet copies of CRS reports still cannot match the comprehensiveness of some fee-based services. Continue reading
New FirstGov Search Coming…
GCN reports that "The General Services Administration is taking a new approach to pump up FirstGov.gov’s weak search capabilities, and it should be in place by next February." GSA’s FirstGov RFQ shows plan to switch to Web-based searches By Jason Miller, Government Computer News, July 8, 2005. Continue reading
“Non-optimal” digital access
GPO's strategic plan creates a mission of providing "free and ready public access" to electronic documents while distributing electronic documents "on a cost recovery basis." The following article, while addressing issues raised by the Google library project, gives a publisher's view of making content available for free and for sale at the same time. Presses Have Little to Fear From Google By MICHAEL JENSEN. Chronicle of Higher Education Section: The Chronicle Review, July 8, 2005 Volume 51, Issue 44, Page B0 (Subscription Required) Jensen is director of publishing technologies for the National Academies Press (NAP) and director of Web communications for the National Academies. The key points that I believe are relevant to our discussions of the future FDLP, GPO's strategic plan, and the Future Digital System are:
- He notes that "The functional differences in how a book is made available online are profound, with varying levels of ease of reading, copying, repackaging, extracting, storing, and using as an archival copy." Continue reading
Excellent XML! Rhode Island shows how to share government information!
The Secretary of State's office of the state of Rhode Island has set up a service called GovTracker which is the most advanced use of government-to-public technology I've seen. The government group responsible for this says that they have a goal of sharing information with the public:
It is the goal of the RI Data Share Committee to make Rhode Island a national showcase for the utilization of data sharing technologies in government that will offer citizens, businesses and state and local governments a more efficient and cost-effective way to share and exchange information via the InternetThe service provides numerous RSS feeds, including "Recently filed minutes," "upcoming open meetings," "Traffic Conditions - Providence," and so forth. There is a long list of those that are available and, of course, a "Feed of all Providence Feeds"! Continue reading
Government Accuracy in the Internet Age
July 14, 2005 / Leave a comment
Two stories this week bring up questions about accuracy of government web sites. The Los Angeles Times reports that Representative Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) is urging Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to remove the website www.4parents.gov from the Internet, because it has inaccurate data on sex issues.
- Waxman Urges End to 'Misleading' Health Website, By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2005.
BeSpacific reports the links to documents posted on the Minority Office website of the Government Reform Committee. The Minority Office quotes scientific experts who say that 4parents.gov is "seriously flawed and likely to backfire, providing erroneous and incomplete information about sexually transmitted diseases, the effectiveness of contraceptives, and sexual orientation." Continue reading →Continue Reading →