“Matrix” producer buys Venice, CA post office #savethepostoffice
According to the LA Times, Matrix producer Joel Silver has just purchased the WPA-era post office building in Venice, CA. The Venice PO is one of over 800 post office buildings on the National Register. I'm quite verklempt about what's happening to the USPS. Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution, known as the Postal Clause or the Postal Power, empowers Congress "To establish Post Offices and post Roads." As Congressman Dennis Kucinich said in the first DemocracyNow segment below, "Universality is the bedrock of a democracy." For more information and to find out how you can help save the US Postal Service, go to SaveThePostOffice.com. As U.S. Postal Service Faces Default, Critics See Manufactured Crisis to Speed Up Privatization
Florida Health Facility Locator Phone Apps
There hasn't been a State Agency Databases activity report since 8/19/2012 because summer activity has been minimal. Expect project activity to pick up in the next few weeks as we do our quarterly link check and update of state pages. There was one change to the wiki this week I wanted to highlight here. It involves the production of mobile apps tied to a state agency's database. Florida has a healthcare facility database. Here's it's description from our Florida project page:
Facility Locator - "To locate a facility, begin by choosing a facility type using the drop down menu. Next enter a facility name, a city, zip code, and/or county, or choose a field office." Also searchable by proximity to a specific street address. Facility types include: Abortion Clinic, Adult Day Care Center, Adult Family Care Home, Ambulatory Surgical Center, Assisted Living Facility, Birth Center, Cardiac Catheterization, Clinical Laboratory, Community Mental Health-Partial Hospitalization Program, Comprehensive Outpatient Rehabilitation Facility, Crisis Stabilization Unit, End-Stage Renal Disease, Forensic Toxicology Laboratory, Health Care Clinic Exemptions, Health Care Clinics, Health Care Services Pool, Health Maintenance Organization, Homes for Special Services, Home Health Agency, Home Medical Equipment, Homemaker & Companion Services, Hospice, Hospital, Intermediate Care Facility, Lithotripsy, Multiphasic Health Test Center, Nurse Registry, Organ & Tissue Procurement, Portable X-Ray, Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care, Rehabilitation Agencies, Residential Treatment Center, Residential Treatment Facility, Rural Health Clinics, Skilled Nursing Facility, Skilled Nursing Unit, Transitional Living Facility, Utilization Review.When I visited the facility locator page, I found both an iphone and an Android phone app. Both apps appear to let you map facilities and get driving directions, if desired. Given the situations where one might be looking for a medical facility, mobile apps appear to make sense. If you're aware of other state agency databases that have been "app-ified", would you live a comment here? Thanks! Continue reading
Comparing LIS and Thomas
The Congressional Research Service has published an update to its handy guide for finding current legislation and regulations:
- Researching Current Federal Legislation and Regulations: A Guide to Resources for Congressional Staff. by Jerry W. Mansfield, Congressional Research Service, RL33895 (August 31, 2012). Available from Federation of American Scientists.
| LIS | THOMAS |
| Best used for Finding the most complete legislative information | Best used for Working with constituents |
| Links from Bill Summary & Status display to CRS reports | No CRS reports |
| Links to Capitol Hill and selected outside sources of floor and committee schedule information. | Minimal links |
| Special advanced search capabilities | Advanced search capabilities only in Bill Summary & Status database |
OMB issues Managing Government Records Directive
M-12-18, Managing Government Records Directive (August 24, 2012) (7 pages, 2.62 mb). MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES Office of Management and Budget From Jeffrey D. Zients, Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget, and David S.Ferriero, Archivist of the United States SUBJECT: Managing Government Records Directive.
This Directive creates a robust records management framework that complies with statutes and regulations to achieve the benefits outlined in the Presidential Memorandum. This Directive was informed by agency reports submitted pursuant to Sec. 2 (b) of the Presidential Memorandum and feedback from consultations with agencies, interagency groups, and public stakeholders. This Directive requires that to the fullest extent possible, agencies eliminate paper and use electronic recordkeeping. It is applicable to all executive agencies and to all records, without regard to security classification or any other restriction. This Directive also identifies specific actions that will be taken by NARA, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to support agency records management programs. In addition, NARA will undertake a review to update relevant portions of the Code of Federal Regulations to take into account the provisions of this Directive.Continue reading
Check out Sunlight’s new training site
A friend just alerted me to the existence of the Sunlight Academy, "a collection of interactive tutorials for journalists, activists, researchers and students to learn about tools by the Sunlight Foundation and others to unlock government data." They've got training modules for tracking govt, unlocking data, lobbying, data analysis, and research tools. Very nicely done! I wish there was a site training.fdlp.gov for the Federal Depository Library Program ;-)
Whether you are an investigative journalist trying to get insight on a complex data set, an activist uncovering the hidden influence behind your issue, or a congressional staffer in need of mastering legislative data, Sunlight Academy guides you through how to make our tools work for you. Let’s get started!HT to my friend Sue Lyons for alerting me to the Sunlight site and suggesting it as a model for the FDLP to follow! Continue reading