New eNewsletter: FDLP Connection (Vol 1. No. 1) Now Available
A very brief note to let you know that the first issue of FDLP Connection is now available on FDLP.gov Vol. 1 No. 1 contains three columns, three feature articles, and much more. The Raymond H. Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono is the Library Spotlight of the Month. Mansfield Library at the University of Montana is featured as the partnership showcase. Congrats to all involved on the launch of FDLP Connection (Hat Tip: INFOdocket.com) Continue reading
July 2011 Lost Docs Report and Appeal
REPORT In July 2011, we received and posted 16 reports to GPO from librarians reporting documents that had seemingly fallen through the cracks of the cataloging process. The reports were originally sent to GPO between May and July 2011. This month of the 16 reported documents posted by us, 3 (18%) have been cataloged and are in the Catalog of Government Publications (CGP) as of this writing. See these records for yourself by visiting lostdocs.freegovinfo.info/category/found/ and looking at the postings with July 2011 dates. We are appreciative of these new records. From July, 13 items remain listed as "fugitive documents." No documents reported to GPO appeared to already have public CGP records. So there were no "false positives" for the month. Two of the 3 cataloged documents had not been assigned a PURL. So these were classed "found" but with "preservation needed." Please remember that our listing of "fugitive documents" reports is only as complete as you make it, since GPO does not yet publish any statistics we're aware of on fugitive documents/document discovery. APPEAL If you like the concept of a public listing of fugitive documents reported to GPO, there are a number of easy ways to help us:
- If you report a fugitive document to GPO, send your e-mailed receipt to lostdocs@freegovinfo.info. We welcome any item reported to GPO in the past month. It is best if you can send us the receipt the same day you get it from GPO. Some e-mail programs will support auto-forwarding. If so, please consider autoforwarding items where the subject contains "lostdocs submission."
- Visit the blog at lostdocs.freegovinfo.info and comment on the listed items. Comments can include -- Did your library receive the item? Did you find it in the CGP? Do you think the item is out of scope for the CGP? Did you report the item as well and so on.
- Post the blog link to your website or share it on Facebook, Twitter, or other social media.
- Subscribe to the blog feed at lostdocs.freegovinfo.info/feed/ or better yet incorporate the feed into your website or blog.
State Agency Databases Activity Report July 31, 2011
VOLUNTEER AND ORPHAN NEWS This week the State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States project at http://wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/State_Agency_Databases welcomed FIVE new volunteers who have publicly claimed their pages and are already hard at work: Joel Rane - California Janice Wilson - Connecticut Blaine Redemer - Illinois Adrienne Walker - New Mexico Barbara Bren - Wisconsin Vermont is in the process of being adopted, leaving the following orphan pages waiting for a volunteer government documents specialist: District of Columbia Indiana Mississippi New Jersey Texas West Virginia If you're interested in one of the above states, 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 one of the above states. If you adopt a state, 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 California (Joel Rane) Watershed Groups in California - This database, created by the University of California, Davis Information Center for the Environment, covers over 500 watershed groups in Davis. Keyword search can be performed for group name, county, or mission (e.g., "to protect and restore wild trout and steelhead"). Entries may include details such as membership information, data collection (and availability of data) by the group, contact information, and projects in which the group is involved. Idaho (Beth Downing) Idaho Outfitter Guide - Find a guide for your next outdoor adventure. Search for a specific guide by name or for any guide in the state by type of activity, hunting, fishing, boating, recreation, winter or all guided activities. Each separate form allows for more specific searching and allows limits to particular areas of the state. Michigan (Michael McDonnell) Michigan Summer Food Finder - The Department of Education's Summer Food Service Program web site allows users to find locations where school age children can obtain nutritious meals during school vacations when National School Lunch or School Breakfast Programs are not available. New Mexico (Adrienne Walker) Contracts - Searchable database for contracts in excess of $20,000 entered with the State of New Mexico. Wisconsin (Barbara Bren) Locate in Wisconsin - provided by the Wisconsin Economic Development Association and the State of Wisconsin Department of Commerce to facilitate searching for sites and buildings information for businesses seeking to relocate or expand in Wisconsin. Click on the search type, then on "Refine your search." (alternate site from Forward Wisconsin, powered by the LocationOne® Information System (LOIS)) DATABASES REMOVED New Mexico eIdea - provides access to Air Quality, Ground Water Quality, Solid Waste, Petroleum Storage Tank, Food Safety Program and Hazardous Waste information for individual facilities throughout the state. Continue reading
Senate Progress on Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports
Bill Mandates Publishing Agency Reports to Congress, By Joseph Marks, NextGov TechInsider (07/27/11). "The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday introduced companion legislation to the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act. The measure would require the Government Printing Office to publish agency reports to Congress online within 30 days of their submission." See also: Congressionally Mandated Reports Act (ACMRA) Heads to House Floor Continue reading
House Bill Questions Future of GPO
House Questions Future of Government Printing Office, OMB Watch (July 27, 2011)
The House Legislative Branch appropriations bill for FY 2012, H.R. 2551, passed on July 22. The bill cuts $27.3 million from the FY 2011 funding level for the agency -- a 20.2 percent annual decrease, $40.4 million less than the agency's request. These cuts, which are considerably deeper than other legislative branch agencies face, would constrain GPO's ability to publish, digitize, and disseminate important public records. For example, GPO requested $5 million specifically to continue the development of FDsys, but the entire line item was cut from the bill. ...Certain provisions of H.R. 2551 suggest that some members of Congress seriously question whether GPO is needed at all.Continue reading