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Free Government Information (FGI) is a place for initiating dialogue and building consensus 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. FGI promotes free government information through collaboration, education, advocacy and research.

State Agency Databases Project now on GODORT LibGuides

On behalf of the 40 volunteers who made it possible, I (Daniel) am pleased to announce that all content with working links from the State Agency Databases Project has been moved from the GODORT Wiki to GODORT LibGuides. See http://godort.libguides.com/statedatabases for lists of agency produced databases from the 50 states and  the District of Columbia. Questions about a particular page should be directed to the documents specialist in charge of that page. Use the “e-mail me” link on the page to contact them.

One of the benefits of moving to LibGuides is the capability to create self-updating subject guides – that is, whenever a volunteer updates a link on their state guide, the link in the subject guide changes automatically.

The following 50-State (Plus DC) subject guides are now fully functional:

 

Broad Subject Guides

Single Subject Guides

If a particular state does not appear on a subject guide, it means that no state agency produced databases from that state and in that subject are known to us.
ALL content on our project guides is free to be reused and remixed. Attribution is appreciated, permission is not required. We look forward to seeing these state government databases in guides and web pages wherever they are found to be useful.

Best State and Local Government Websites for 2014

Each year, Government Technology magazine and e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government sponsor the creation of a list of the best state and local government websites. This year a panel of last year’s winners, former government officials, and executives from the Center for Digital Government selected websites that tried new things, while remaining functional. They examine 300 government websites and judged them on their innovative qualities, usefulness, and efficiency and economy.

The winners include the State of Hawaii, The District of Columbia, and Oakland County, Michigan.

See the article and the complete list at the link above.

Review of states’ election websites

Being Online Is Still Not Enough, Pew Center on the States.

Reviews and Recommendations for State Election Websites 2010

Millions are turning to official state election websites to find the information they need to cast a ballot.

Being Online Is Still Not Enough provides state-by-state reviews and analysis based on detailed criteria of election websites for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It also includes recommendations for improving each site to better inform voters, and provides a list of best practices adopted by many states to maximize their election office’s online presence. This report follows Pew’s initial 2008 study, Being Online Is Not Enough.

Assessments were based on three categories: content, lookup tools, and usability. Roll your cursor over the map below to see each state’s overall score, and scores broken down by category.

State Agency Databases Activity Report: 9/25/2011

This has been an exciting week at the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States project at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases.

On Wednesday, Daniel Cornwall gave a talk as part of the North Carolina Library Association Government Documents section’s Accidental Government Information Librarian series. You can find the recording to his presenation at http://www.nclaonline.org/government-resources/grs-past-events along with other webinars that the NCLA’s Lynda Kellam has coordinated.

One of the attendees was Lynn McClelland, who has created our first subject-based list of databases since 2008. Her page on healthcare practioner databases can be found at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/Healthcare_practitioners_databases. It currently features a number of resources from three states and will be under heavy construction for the next month or so.

ORPHAN NEWS

Another attendee of the NCLA webinar is considering adopting Texas. While we let them ponder that choice, our last official orphan is Rhode Island.

If you’re interested in adopting Rhode Island, check out our volunteer guide at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/SADATFS_Volunteer_Guide and then send me an e-mail if you’d like to adopt it. If you adopt Rhode Island, be prepared to put your name and contact information on the main project page AND your state page within two weeks of receiving your wiki login. See the Volunteer guide for more details.

WIKI ACTIVITY

See our last seven days of activity at http://tinyurl.com/statedbs for a blow by blow description of changes to the page. Here are a few highlights:

DATABASES ADDED

ALASKA (Daniel Cornwall)

Tobacco Endorsements – Search for licenses to sell tobacco by business license number, business name, street name or number or city.

DELAWARE (John Stevenson)

Vanity Plate Search and Reservation This Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles site helps one visualize and reserve vanity plates.

MICHIGAN (Michael McDonnell)

Bureaus of Health Professions and Health Systems license verification

Database Tracks States’ Health Reform Legislation

Federal Health Reform: State Legislative Tracking Database, National Conference of State Legislatures.

Health Reform – 2011 State Legislative Tracking Database Overview.

Search 2011 legislation by state, topic, keyword, status, and/or primary sponsor. Database updates occur every other Tuesday, this also includes status updates. The database includes 2011 legislation, including pending, failed and enacted bills and resolutions. The database is intended to capture state actions related to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care Education and Reconciliation Act, together referred to as the Affordable Care Act or federal health reform.

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