Lunchtime listen: age of the informavore
The Edge Foundation promotes "inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society." Here's a video of Frank Schirrmacher, German journalist, essayist and author and co-publisher of the national German newspaper [w:Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung] (FAZ). In the video below, Schirrmacher riffs on the notion of the "informavore," an organism that devours information like food. After posting Schirrmacher's thoughts, Brockman invited other bright folks to respond, including George Dyson, Steven Pinker, John Perry Barlow, Doug Rushkoff, and Nick Bilton. Enjoy! THE AGE OF THE INFORMAVORE: A Talk With Frank Schirrmacher
The good and the bad of PDFs
Following up on Can Proprietary Formats make Government More Open? : Josh Tauberer of govtrack.us, points us to The good and the bad of PDFs (OpenGovData.org wiki) in which Kevin Lyons, who works for the Nebraska legislature, wrote up some guidelines for PDF in government. Lyons reminds us that not all PDF files are equal and he enumerates some of the advantages and disadvantages of encapsulating government information in PDFs.
Given how popular the PDF standard itself is, it shouldn't be a surprise that the term PDF actually covers a wide variety of different types of files. While all PDF files fit the PDF standard, there are several different subtypes of PDF that are helpful in the government world.Continue reading
Plain Language
PlainLanguage.gov. World Usability Day. Thanks and a tip of the hat to Promoting Plain Language, By Melanie Bender (11/03/09). Continue reading
Then and Now: Economic Information from the Government
As Jim mentioned, GPO has posted presentation materials from the recently concluded Depository Library Conference. One of the files worthy of your attention is the presentation slides from: A Tale of Two Economies: Government Information from the New Deal and Now by Marianne Ryan, Associate University Librarian for Public Services, Northwestern University Library and Catherine Jervey, Director, Market Planning Legislative and Historical Services, LexisNexis Academic and Library Solutions The slides give a govdocs powered, side by side comparison of the reactions of FDR and President Obama to their respective economic crises. It makes for interesting reading and puts today's economic troubles in perspective. It's not touched on in the presentation slides, but I'm interested in a big difference between the 1930s and today. For the most part, regular people didn't have access to the New Deal legislation before it was passed. Today, whether or not it's taken advantage of, people around the country have access to proposed legislation in their own homes. Would the wide-ranging legislation of the New Deal have been passed if there had been wide public access to the proposed legislation? It's an interesting "What If" scenario. Continue reading
Digital City Governments
Each year the Center for Digital Government takes a survey of U.S. cities to evaluate how municipalities are integrating information technology into operations to better serve their citizens.
- Digital Cities Survey.
- Top Digital Cities Announced for 2009, By Casey Mayville, Digital Communities (Nov 3, 2009).