CRS on Cloture and Filibusters
Cloture Attempts on Nominations: Data and Historical Development, by Richard S. Beth, Congressional Research Service, RL32878 (June 26, 2013). [Copy provided by the Federation of American Scientists.]
In recent years it has become increasingly common for Senators to seek cloture in order to limit chamber consideration of presidential nominations to positions in the executive and judicial branches of government. Cloture, which requires a super-majority vote, places time limits on consideration of a matter, and so may be employed as a means of overcoming filibusters. This report presents data on all nominations on which cloture motions have been offered... Continue reading
State Agency Databases Activity Report July 21, 2013
It's been a slightly active two weeks at the State Agency Databases Project at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases. For the full list of things that happened in the last 14 days, visit http://tinyurl.com/statedbs14d. Here are some highlights: DATABASES ADDED MONTANA (Susanne Caro) Unclaimed Property at Montana Department of Revenue] - Search for Unclaimed Cash. Search by personal name or business. WASHINGTON (Marilyn Von Seggern) Project Search - Search for RCO projects (1964-present) from 5 organizations such as the Recreation and Conservation Funding Board and the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. Search criteria are name of organization, project type, status, number, or name, and keyword. Results include project details and description, worksites, milestones, and report attachments. WYOMING (Karen Kitchens) Continue reading
NARA search changes
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will be permanently retiring its Archival Research Catalog (ARC) on August 15th. NARA's other search engine, the Online Public Access search, contains all of the descriptions and digitized content that was in ARC. The Online Public Access search also searches the NARA web site, Archives.gov, and the web sites of the Presidential Libraries.
- Archival Research Catalog is Retiring on August 15th, by Rebecca, NARAtions (July 15, 2013).
Report of the Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation
From Unredacted: The Historical Advisory Committee to the Department of State (HAC) released a report assessing both improvements in publishing the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS) series by the Office of the Historian (HO), and the pitfalls of NARA's declassification process. The report concludes with mixed results, noting that while it will remain difficult, if not impossible, for the HO to publish its FRUS series documenting events within 30-years of their occurrence as mandated by law, HO has made robust and encouraging progress and the office continues to increase the number of publications it releases. Continue reading
Science360: Breaking Science News That Shapes Your World
The National Science Foundation (NSF) website news.science360.gov gathers news "from wherever science is happening." This includes government sources that you might expect (National Science Foundation science and engineering centers, government agencies that fund scientific research) but also includes non-government sources such as individual scientists, college and university press offices, popular and peer-reviewed journals, dozens of not-for-profit organizations and private industry.