Congress has information, needs more knowledge
New America Foundation's Open Technology Institute (OTI) has released a new report that The U.S. Congress lacks "shared expert knowledge capacity" and that has "created a critical weakness in our democratic process." The report says that Congress depends on outdated and in some cases antiquated systems of information referral, sorting, communicating, and convening."
- Congress' Wicked Problem [announcement and summary]. This paper does not put forward a simple recipe to fix these ailments, but argues that the absence of basic knowledge management in our legislature is a critical weakness. Congress struggles to make policy on complex issues while it equally lacks the wherewithal to effectively compete on substance in today’s 24 hour news cycle. This paper points out that Congress is not so much venal and corrupt as it is incapacitated and obsolete. And, in its present state, it cannot serve the needs of American democracy in the 21st Century.
- Congress' Wicked Problem, Seeking Knowledge Inside the Information Tsunami, By Lorelei Kelly, New America Foundation, (December 2012). [PDF, 6 pages] This paper distinguishes between information and knowledge: Members of Congress and their staff do not lack access to information. Yet information backed by financial interests and high-decibel advocacy is disproportionately represented. Most importantly, they lack the institutional wisdom that can be built via a deliberate system that feeds broadly inclusive information through defined processes of review, context, comparison and evaluation of the implications for the nation as a whole. Concurrently, Congress also needs more expert judgment available to it during the policymaking process, which, for the purposes of this paper, means a focus on development of knowledge.
Most agencies have not updated their FOIA regulations to new standards
A government-wide Freedom of Information Act audit by the National Security Archive has found that sixty-two out of ninety-nine government agencies have not updated their FOIA regulations since US Attorney General Eric Holder issued his March 19, 2009 FOIA memorandum.
- Outdated Agency Regs Undermine Freedom of Information, National Security Archive (December 4, 2012) Majority of Agencies Have Not Updated FOIA Rules to Meet Either Obama's 2009 Order or Congress's 2007 Law. Second Term Obama Opportunity to Direct Agencies to Adopt Regulations for Open Government. New National Security Archive Audit Covers 99 Federal Agencies, Previous Knight Open Government Surveys Showed Mixed Results
State Agency Databases Activity Report 12/2/2012
With our upcoming quarterly link check in mid-December, we're having increased activity at the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States Project at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases. This month is special. Our volunteer guide states that our document specialist volunteers agree to check their links four times a year. Some of us are more active than that, but most of us check links at least quarterly. Unfortunately a few folks haven't had time in 2012 to update their pages at all. So, the weekend of January 5/6 2013, Daniel Cornwall will be reviewing the "history tab" under each page. Any page (hopefully few in number) that has not been updated by its volunteer will be put out for adoption. So, if you've wanted to become part of our project, look at the activity and statistic reports we'll be issuing in January. Now, for the activity. As always, you can view a blow-by-blow list of changes for the past two weeks by visiting http://tinyurl.com/statedbs14d. Here are the highlights: DATABASES ADDED MICHIGAN (Michael McDonnell) The Michigan Registered Casino Interest Searchable Database - This database allows you to search for registrants required by law to file a registration under the Casino Registration Act. Only the Greektown, MGM Grand Detroit and Motor City casinos are included in this database. TEXAS (Ann Ellis) Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Central Registry Query - The Central Registry provides for searches regarding basic information on facilities, organizations and people that are regulated by the Agency. Types of searches include customer, regulated entities, program IDs, and documents. UTAH (Susanne Caro) Businesses Registered in Utah - Includes Business Name & Address, Registered Officers, Principals, Partners, Registered Agents, and Addresses. DATABASES REMOVED CALIFORNIA (Joel Rane) Special Education at Certified Nonpublic, Nonsectarian Schools and Agencies formerly at http://www3.scoe.net/npsa/index/index.cfm. Searchable database for special education services provided by nonpublic, nonsectarian schools and agencies that have been certified by CDE. NEW MOBILE APPS MICHIGAN Michigan Campaign Finance Search - The Michigan CFS (Campaign Finance Search) for the Apple is provided by the Office of the Michigan Secretary of State to deliver mobile, real-time access to the latest Michigan state campaign finance information, viewed as aggregated totals. The application provides mobile access to electronically filed campaign finance information for all state offices, state political committees and quick access to direct cash contributor information, on the go. It allows you to enter name-based exact or close match searches that provide a listing of candidates and/or committees that meet the search criteria. The App is available at the iTunes App Store. An android version of this app is available at the [https://play.google.com/store/devices?hl=en Google Play Store] HOW VOLATILE CAN A PAGE BE? While our project is not currently keeping statistics on how often database URLs change, I'm sometimes surprised by the amount of change between page updates. A case in point is California, maintained by Joel Rane. Between August 16th and November 21st, five database URLs changed. In addition another database was dropped by its agency and descriptions or supplementary information for five databases changed as well. If you are interested in researching the volatility of state agency databases, our state history pages may be helpful to you. Contact Daniel Cornwall for more details. Continue reading
Litwin on librarians and search engines
Rory Litwin has a nice comment today over at Library Juice. He says he hates the slogan "Librarian: The Original Search Engine" because it confuses what librarians do with what search engines do. He suggests a better analogy would be: "Librarians are to search engines as astronomers are to telescopes."
People who don't know much about astronomy can get some use from a telescope, but we understand that with an astronomer's knowledge it can become much more powerful as a tool for discovery. We would not say, "Astronomers: The original telescope," and we wouldn't think for a second that that a slogan like that would be flattering to astronomers or supportive of the astronomy profession.But he goes further. Read the whole (short) post:
- You would not say, "Astronomers: The Original Telescope", by Rory Litwin, Library Juice, (November 30, 2012). ...a good slogan for the library profession should also encompass the other roles that librarians play in their institutions, as selectors, organizers, and preservers of information resources who have their communities in mind, and as the creators and maintainers of the systems and intellectual infrastructures that facilitate the connections between them.
E-books and Privacy: EFF Report
Does your Kindle track what books you search for? Does your Nook monitor what you're reading after you purchase an e-book? The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been digging into the license agreements and technical capabilities of e-book readers to find the answers to these and similar questions since 2009. Their newest report is now available:
- Who's Tracking Your Reading Habits? An E-Book Buyer's Guide to Privacy, 2012 Edition As we've done since 2009, again we've taken some of the most popular e-book platforms and combed through their privacy policies for answers to common privacy questions that users deserve to know. In many cases, these answers were frustratingly vague and long-winded. In nearly all cases, reading e-books means giving up more privacy than browsing through a physical bookstore or library, or reading a paper book in your own home. Here, we've examined the policies of Google Books, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Kobo, Sony, Overdrive, Indiebound, Internet Archive, and Adobe Content Server