Global Legal Information Catalog
Gary points to this incredible new resource:
Don't miss the RSS feeds from the GLIC! Continue readingAmerican Association of School Librarians honors NEH education site
EDSITEment honored by the American Association of School Librarians as "best of the best" website for teaching and learning, National Endowment for the Humanities (June 28, 2010).
EDSITEment, the National Endowment for the Humanities’ (NEH) online repository of humanities-related teaching resources for K-12 classrooms, has been named by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) among the top twenty-five “Best Websites for Teaching and Learning.”Continue reading
Cumulative Index to Journal of Defense Research, 1969-1978
Steven Aftergood obtained this 27 page document through FOIA.
- The document: Cumulative Index to Journal of Defense Research, 1969-1978
- About the document: Journal of Defense Research, 1969-1978, by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News (July 6th, 2010) The Journal of Defense Research (JDR) was a classified publication sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to encourage dissemination of classified research on topics of military or national security interest. It began publication in 1969, replacing the former Journal of Missile Defense Research.
Official vs. Unofficial Government Information: DoD version
Steven Aftergood reports on a new Defense Dept policy designed to regulate Pentagon interactions with the news media.
- SecDef Defends New Policy on Limiting Media Access, by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News, (July 9th, 2010) ...[I]t seems practically certain that the new guidance will significantly impede the flow of information to the press and will complicate the already difficult task of probing beneath the official surface of events. The Gates memorandum seems to reflect a view of the press as a conduit for "official government positions" that are "authorized" and placed "in proper context." But everyone knows that the most interesting and important news stories often begin with unofficial and unauthorized statements that are lacking in context and may even be inaccurate. It is the reporter’s job to validate them, assess their significance, place them in context and communicate them, and if the results appear "before I or the White House know anything about them," so much the better.
A quick look at the bigger picture
For those of us who spend our lunchtimes wandering around the internet, TED Talks are an excellent and often-inspiring diversion. In a February 2010 talk, David Cameron discussed the relationship between politics and behavioral economics, arguing that the technology-driven empowerment of citizens ultimately increases their well-being. Whether or not you agree with Cameron's political perspective, and whether or not you agree with his assessment of human nature, his description of the relationship between "people power," and transparency, choice, and accountability is an interesting one. He points to the Missouri Accountability Portal as an excellent example of public access to technology resulting in public empowerment. Incidentally, Cameron promised a site that would track all government spending over £25,000, and all government contracts. Public spending data is now available in the Combined Online Information System (COINS) database. The UK government portal, direct.gov.uk, links to some guidance on using COINS, which indicates that the pledge about publicizing spending should be fulfilled by November 2010. It also indicates that user-friendly access options for some data subsets will be in place by August 2010. You can watch the video here, or view the video with subtitles and an interactive transcript on the TED Talks site.
- David Cameron: The next age of government. Filmed February 2010.