Federal websites may go dark if shutdown occurs
Declan McCullagh at CNET reports that many federal Web sites will likely go offline if the government shuts down Friday night. "A 16-page memo (PDF) to federal agencies says their Web sites may stay online only in a small number of situations, including tax collection and handling 'exempted' activities such as payments and other functions that are paid for by previous annual budgets." So how will permanent public access be maintained in the event of a shutdown? Will the standard notice include information on how to find your local federal depository library? The public won't even be able to find a list of depository libraries on the FDLP desktop (fdlp.gov) but will have to go to Documents Data Miner hosted by the library at Wichita State University. The Washington Post has a list of govt agency shutdown plan details -- including GPO -- but only states, "If the government were to shut down, a [GPO] skeleton staff is expected to stay on to print copies of the Congressional Record and other White House documents." It's unclear whether or not fdlp.gov, fdsys.gov or other GPO sites will remain online in the event of a shutdown.
"The mere benefit of continued access by the public to information about the agency's activities would not warrant the retention of personnel or the obligation of funds to maintain, or update, the agency's Web site" during a shutdown, says the memo, prepared by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. It adds: "If an agency's Web site is shut down, users should be directed to a standard notice that the Web site is unavailable during the period of government shutdown." The IRS's Web site would likely stay online, the memo says, because tax collection is an exempted activity, "but the entire Treasury Department Web site would not."Continue reading
Copyrighted “Presidents” freely available on Web — and inaccurate
Here is an interesting case study on the confusing nature of government information in the digital age. The publication, The Presidents of the United States of America has been published in eighteen editions from 1964 through 2009 by the White House Historical Association "with the cooperation of the National Geographic Society." First question: Is this a government publication? At least one edition (the 8th, 1981) was "distributed" by GPO (Item No. 1089. SuDocs No. Y 3.H 62/4:2 P 92). (My old copy of "Andriot" shows the White House Historical Association [1961- ] under Y3.H62/4.) The White House web site has pages from the current publication online, but quick searches of CGP and the GPO bookstore do not show it as currently available in print as a depository item or for sale or distribution by GPO. The White House Historical Association has its own website and has the paperback current (18th, 2009) edition for sale. The title page of the sample pdf of this edition says:
Copyright © 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2006, 2009 by the White House Historical Association. All Rights Reserved All presidential portraits contained in this book belong to the White House collection. Requests for reprint permissions should be addressed to Rights and Reproductions Manager, White House Historical Association, 740 Jackson Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006.This raises more questions. Is the book really copyrighted? Is the website? (The White House copyright notice says "Pursuant to federal law, government-produced materials appearing on this site are not copyright protected. The United States Government may receive and hold copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise.") What happens if someone harvests this website? (Is harvested material subject to a takedown notice?) But wait! There's more! All of this was prompted by an article about how the books is bad history.
- Historians question White House presidential bios, By HILLEL ITALIE, AP (Apr 5, 2011). "...the White House biographies offer an unusual history lesson. Some are examples of blatant boosterism and outdated scholarship. Others are oddly selective or politically incorrect."
Librarian of Congress Gets CRS Wrong, But In A Good Way
Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington said, "The public has unfettered access to the full inventory of CRS Reports for the Congress at no cost through the office of any Member or committee.” As Steven Aftergood points out, "that assertion is quite wrong.... There is not even a public index of CRS reports that would enable people to request specific reports by title." And yet, Aftergood continues, the Librarian's statement "tends to confirm that providing such access to non-confidential CRS Reports is a sensible and achievable goal. Indeed, otherwise well-informed people like the Librarian of Congress assume that it must already be true."
- In Search of "Unfettered Access" to CRS Reports, by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News (April 7th, 2011).
Government Secrecy: Essential or Opportunistic or Both?
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, notes in this L.A. Times Op-Ed that, "Routinely, officials insist to courts that the nation's security will be compromised if certain facts are revealed but then supply those same facts to trusted reporters. Sometimes the motivation for the disclosure is political and sometimes it's personal, but in either case disclosure has little to do with the public's need (or right) to know and everything to do with the official's need to tell."
- National security: When secrecy is a weapon, By Jameel Jaffer, Los Angeles Times, (April 6, 2011).
What is a Library anyway?
Barbara Fister is one of my personal must-read favorite thinkers-about-libraries. Her new article in LJ cuts to the point:
- What Is a Library? An Attempt at Common Sense, by Barbara Fister, Library Journal, (Mar 31, 2011).
But that name, it means something-doesn't it? When you get right down to it, what is a library? Is it a room with a fireplace? Study tables? A collection of books? A service that provides people with the information they want? There are warehouses full of books. Some of them belong to Ingram and Amazon. Those are not libraries. There are lots of rooms with fireplaces and study tables. You often find them at hotels. You'll also find people there whose job is to provide information, but you don't call concierges librarians. There is something beyond books, buildings, and people that defines what a library is, whether it's a small public library, a research institution's multi-branch system, or a digital library for distance learners. I think it comes down to something so common we forget how important it is. A library is a social institution that establishes a common space (physical or virtual, but usually both) for the use of commonly-held knowledge resources. Such institutions require three things: a community, people hired to help the community share knowledge, and commonly-owned information resources.See also: FDLP: Services and Collections. Continue reading