Hours before Government Information Liberation
This part of our journey is almost over. The images and words streaming in around the country as our national attention sharpens in anticipation of tomorrow's event. The way people are talking -- it feels like a national holiday of sorts. I will address these issues over the next few months -- continue the theme with a post liberation theme. Here are the points I will be considering There are four ways we can do this, and I will discuss each (with a specific suggestion or two of how to approach the problem) over the next ten days. 1. How do we work within our professional associations. and with other advocacy groups, on how to better understand and collaborate with the public/non-governmental institutions responsible for creating and the several layers of civic information content and infrastructure? 2. How do we establish some kind of clear understanding of what our institutional role should be/might be in the preservation of the vast number of digital and tangible formats now used by these public institutions? 3. Can we agree on clear guidelines and expectations of what it means to effectively (and actively) promote the access and use of civic information within our communities? 4. In terms of education and professional knowledge -- what are the essential skills, outlook, tools necessary to support a librarian who specializes in government information services? See you on the Liberation Day. And after. Continue reading
1 Day to Government Information Liberation
Almost there -- fewer than 48 hours until liberation. As champions of a sustainable (and open) system of government information there is still much to do. If we are to take advantage of the good will and optimism unleashed three months ago, then we must choose wisely in what we advocate and collaborate. I will be more specific tomorrow and Tuesday -- but here are the main points. First, figure out how to bulid on Obama's community organizer roots. I think the era of great society federal programs will not return any time soon. As pointed out in so many of the blogs here on FGI, much of digital social and political tools bend toward citizen-level involvement. Second, that is not to say that government does not have strong to play in the distribution and preservation of government information. It does. The best thing that can happen in the next four years is to undo the great damage done over the past 40 years by the mindless rhetoric that brands any government activity as a problem, not a solution. Third, through our practice, professional education, and service in our local institutions, we have to liberate government information service from the tyranny of formats. Our various associations and groups have got to come to terms with how and why libraries will serve the public interest in a robust digital environment. It is no longer a zero-sum game -- paper at the price of other formats; centralized organizations vs. decentralized structures. Our arguments and solutions need to be more nuanced and flexible. See you on the last day. Continue reading
Pew Research Center on Obama and Bush
As I was compiling a list of reports from the Pew Research Center for an undergraduate class, I came across two that I would like to share with you. The first one, America's Pre-Inauguration Mood: Strong Confidence in Obama, shows that Americans have great confidence in Obama’s capacity to deal with the economy, Iraq, and terrorism issues. They also believe that Democrats and Republicans will work together to resolve the country’s problems. According to the Pew Survey Report, 70% of those who were surveyed think that Obama has clearly explained his policies and plans for the future, and 66% endorse his choices for his cabinet. While Obama’s ratings have gone up, Bush’s have gone down. The Pew Research Center article reveals that 24% of Americans approve his performance as he exits the national stage. Only 11% think that history will look at Bush positively. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index sunk to 38% in 2008 from 128.6% in 2000. The article claimed that it is the “lowest level since the index was first tabulated in 1967.” Continue reading
Obama’s Inauguration Via Web 2.0
For detailed information on the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, take a look at this website. An Inaugural Events Calendar is also available. You can track the inauguration ceremony using Twitter and Facebook or watch the Inauguration's Channel on YouTube. The Presidential Inaugural Committee even has photostream for the event on Flickr. Continue reading
2 Days to Government Information Liberation
There's President-elect Obama and Vice-President Elect Joe Biden riding that crown jewel of 19th-century technology, the railroad. The two are riding into a city that was laid out by a French man with dreams of a urban an landscape that would match the 18th century democratic ideals of a new country. When Biden and Obama stand on the western portico of the nation's capitol -- watched by millions strung along the broad vistas of the national mall, as weill as through the hundreds of digital and analog media channels -- and they look west to the Washington Monument, their vista will be one largely framed by another Chicagoan over a hundred years ago -- Daniel H. Burnham, who also designed the Union Station where the train arrived on Saturday. Mr. Burnham's plans for Washington, D.C. were considered by many to be the first 20th century examples of how expertise and technology could make vast urban areas more livable and productive. A promise he ultimately capped with his heralded 1909 Plan of Chicago. All of this is simply a lyrical way to show hw the moment of Obama's official assumption of duties occurs in a rich, and deeply interconnected, context of history, present and future. It is a condition librarians can understand and appreciate -- considering we are learning to live with the transformation of our 19th century collection/ideals or paper and print and trying to imagine how they will work in a new century dominated by digital demands of e-government and the private world wide web. As we discuss, plan, scheme, argue, advocate, debate, insist, and talk (and talk) about the future plans of civic information mechanisms, let us keep constantly in mind that as much as the digital wonders change how we do things -- the substance of what we do as civic librarians does not change – ensuring the sustainability and openness of the civic conversation between the governed and their governors. I hope Obama's speech on Tuesday captures some of this essential truth. See you on Day 2. Continue reading