Supreme Court Week on C-SPAN
C-SPAN is offering a week of special programming about the Supreme Court October 4-11, each night at 9pm (EST).
This Sunday night, Supreme Court Week kicks off on C-SPAN with the premiere of our new feature-length documentary The Supreme Court: Home to America's Highest Court. Hear directly from all 11 current and retired Supreme Court Justices about the role of the Court, its traditions, and history. Tour the building and see the grand public spaces of this historic building, including the Great Hall and Supreme Court Chamber, and spaces only accessible to the Justices and their staff, such as the Robing Room and the John Marshall Dining Room. The rest of the week features more original Supreme Court programs, including interviews with the sitting and retired Justices, Supreme Court staff, historians, and journalists at 9 pm ET, Oct. 5 - 11. For video clips, a trailer, bonus material about the Supreme Court, and series information, visit www.c-span.org/supremecourt.Some highlights: Friday, Oct. 9 9 - 11:30 pm Interviews with Justices Kennedy (9 pm), Ginsburg (9:40 pm), Scalia (10:20 pm), and O'Connor (10:55 pm) Saturday, Oct. 10 9 pm - midnight Interviews with Justices Sotomayor (9 pm), Thomas (9:40 pm), Breyer (10:30 pm), and Alito (11:25 pm) Sunday, Oct. 11 9 - 10:40 pm Interviews with Justices Roberts (9 pm) and Stevens (10 pm) See the complete schedule for the week here: http://supremecourt.c-span.org/TVPrograms.aspx . Continue reading
Commenting and sharing on legislative documents
Tim O'Reilly (O'Reilly & Associates) recently observed that Representative Jim Culberson (R-Texas) saw a demonstration of a product called SharedBook at the Gov 2.0 Summit and decided to use it to collect feedback from his constituents on the healthcare bill. SharedBook is a publishing and annotation program advertised for a variety of purposes, including creation of dynamic documents:
Policy makers, nonprofits, educators, and special-interest communities can use SharedBook's platform to allow their members or constituents to engage in an online dialogue on bills, rules, research and other important documents. Starting with highlighted excerpts from the original content, a series of comments and replies can be posted and shared with any and all interested users to facilitate a pointed and detailed discussion. The source document is locked down and the community discussion is stored and presented back as footnotes at a granular level.My first reaction to this was that opencongress.org already provides an excellent interface for viewing and commenting on bills before Congress, including the House's health care bill, why go to the trouble of setting it up for this one bill? The answer is that Mr. Culberson is using SharedBook because he wanted comments only from his own constituents. Here's the press release. Continue reading
Authoritative Resources on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
This new CRS report has lots of links to state and federal websites:
- Authoritative Resources on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). by Kim Walker Klarman and Julie Jennings, Congressional Research Service, R40244 (September 10, 2009) [11 pages. PDF].
The following list of authoritative resources is designed to assist in responding to a broad range of constituent questions and concerns about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), P.L. 111-5. Links to the full text of the act, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, White House fact sheets, and federal, state, and municipal government websites are included, along with other useful information. This list reflects information that is currently available on the Internet. It will be updated regularly as other relevant material becomes available.Here's a thought for CRS reports like this one that are largely lists of links that CRS intends to update regularly: Why not put this online and make it (and all the updates) available for everyone? Is there any reasonable reason not to do so? Continue reading
Thanks for all the docs
Thanks for having me as FGI September Blogger of the Month! I am signing off now and returning to my regular gig at the SLA Govt Info Blog but will remain a faithful reader. I will also keep spreading the news about the great work that FDLP librarians do. A fine example just came up on GOVDOC-L: the newly updated Federal Websites for Tribal Libraries and Tribal College Libraries, created by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Wonderful! Happy October, Peggy Continue reading
Recovery.gov 2.0
The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board released an upgraded version of the Recovery.gov website on Monday, September 28. Recovery.gov is, per the website, "the U.S. government’s official website providing easy access to data related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse." The site now has a zip code search for finding local Recovery Act awards, a Data Download section, and a new home page layout with more information upfront. The reviews of the recent upgrade are out and can be summed up as "meh." The conclusion from interested bloggers seems to be that while a few improvements have been made around the edges, there is little new to shout about. Observers are waiting for the real show, the scheduled October 15 release of the first recipient contract data and October 30 release of the first recipient grant and loan data. From the blogs: Meet the New Recovery.gov, "(mostly) the same as the old Recovery.gov", from OMB Watch Blog, September 28. New Recovery.gov Goes Live, Key Data to be Released Later, from WSJ.com Washington Wire, September 28. Grading the New Recovery.gov, a substantial review from Sunlight Labs, September 29. Meanwhile, CRS librarians have updated their compilation of links to Recovery-related information on the web in this report available from OpenCRS.com: Authoritative Resources on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), updated September 10. Continue reading