Guide of the Week: Surface Transportation
Note: In three days, President Elect Obama will officially become our 44th President. On John Shuler's calendar, it will be day zero for government information liberation. While I'll drink a toast that day as soon as I'm off duty, the "Transition edition" of Guide of the Week will continue until we finish off GAO's 13 critical issues on February 7, 2009. The Government Accountability Office recently identified surface transportation as one of 13 urgent issues facing the next President and Congress. Today on Guide of the Week, we'll talk about some librarian produced guides from the ALA GODORT Exchange Wiki that can help inform citizens, Congress and President-Elect Obama on this issue. There are three librarian produced guides on the Handout Exchange which look useful:
- Government Documents on Railroads (Bert Chapman, Purdue University, 2002) CC Last updated 3/10/2008
- Government Documents on Transportation (Bert Chapman, Purdue University, 1999)Last updated 3/10/2008
- Transportation as a Civil Rights Issue (Sally Lawler, University of Michigan, 2004) Last updated 7/5/2007
Can you take a bus to Detroit Metro Airport? to downtown Detroit? Can you commute to work on Amtrak? Get around the city and suburbs on a mass transit system? In contrast, think about the number of highways in and around Detroit and the amount of time news channels spend on traffic reports.While not part of the Handout Exchange Wiki, people interested in surface transportation issues should also check out state transportation department databases linked from another ALA GODORT project, State Agency Databases Across the Fifty States. Some of the available databases include:
- California - Caltrans Cost Data - This database contains cost data at the bid item level for contracts from 1993 to the present, and is updated approximately every other week. From 2002 to present, the data includes bid data from non-awarded bidders as well. Search is by item code/description, bidder, district/county, year, price and quantity.
- Colorado - Transportation Statistics and Data - "Information is provided on current and projected traffic volumes, state highway attributes, summary roadway statistics, demographics and geographic data. Listings, calculators, GIS shape files, maps and database files are provided to access data that are used and maintained by CDOT."
- Iowa - Bridges in Iowa - Requires Google Earth. From the website, "To provide increased access to bridge information, the Iowa DOT has developed a Web program that allows Iowans to pinpoint a state highway bridge in their area using Google Earth software and Iowa DOT data. Information available online now includes the year a bridge was originally constructed and reconstructed, if it has undergone major work, the average daily traffic count, the highway it carries and feature crossed, and its national bridge sufficiency rating."
- Ohio - Bridge Photos - Access photos of Ohio bridges by county.
Newly Declassified Documents on the Iranian Nuclear Program, 1974-1978
The National Security Archive has released a new set of declassified documents that focus on the Iranian Nuclear Program from 1974-1978. These documents show that during the 1970s the Shah of Iran claimed that his country had a right to pursue nuclear technology and that both the Ford and Carter administrations were concerned that it might lead to the production of nuclear weapons. Continue reading
Lunchtime Listen: Greg Elin on One Click Disclosure
Here is a short, informative interview from NPR. You can listen online or download. It is only about 6 minutes long -- more of a coffee-break listen! One Click Disclosure, On the Media, (January 16, 2009). "Government spending data has long been publicly available but it's never been easier to find and interpret. That's thanks to USAspending.gov, a site created by the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 which was sponsored by Tom Coburn and Barack Obama. The Sunlight Foundation's Greg Elin explains what makes the site so revolutionary. " Continue reading
4 to 3 Days to Government Information Liberation
I underestimated the groundswell of inauguration theater as the day of liberation dawns. I know serious policy decisions need to be made about the future of information policy -- and after nearly 15 years of inaction, misdirection, and simple inertia, to be so to the possibility of change almost hurts in its anticipation. But it is tough to run against the strong current of "history" in the making as Tuesday approaches. If some predictions hold true, it means well over a million people will crowd Washington, D.C.'s streets, parks, alleyways, the Mall, and corners just to catch a glimpse of some of the action or just to be able to say they were there. President Bush delivered his last formal public words yesterday -- not surprisingly -- making the claim he did all right with the problems he had to deal with it. In the meantime, insiders report that Obama is working hard on his first official words hoping to draw inspiration (and associations) from the speeches of Lincoln. As government information librarians we should step back for a few days and enjoy this moment of democratic theater. As I consider which policy points to make or programs to support to assure the free and permanent access to government information -- I had to stop for a moment when I saw the faces of some school children here in Chicago who got the unexpected opportunity to go to the big show on Tuesday. This was something special to them, something that gave flesh and joy to all of our dry reports and meetings. This was the spark of civic possibilites that much of our library advocacy only describes in a second or third hand. So, for these next few days let's just go with the moment. Something transformational happened nearly 70 days ago, and as we approach Tuesday, its full import and possibilities press on our sensibilities again. If you are working over the course of the next three days, I recommend this -- take a moment to talk to a patron and ask if they will be watching the inaugaration, and share some of the civic information possibilities this event might mean. Talk to them as if the government might still matter in their lives, that its thousands of of commissions, agencies, bureaus, committees, etc. are really trying to do something about all the problems and challenges we share. I do not mean to go all partisan or advocate political positions. I mean simply try to capture in brief human exchange the excitement and wonder this peaceful transfer of power implies. Wednesday will come soon enough and our obligations towards fulfilling this democratic promise can begin again. See you on day 3. Continue reading
Government Twitter Directory
There is a directory of government agencies using Twitter: GovTwit and you can, of course, follow GovTwit on Twitter: twitter.com/GovTwit. Mission:
"Looking for government agencies using Twitter or other social media? We want the GovTwit directory to include all facets of government on Twitter: state and local, federal, contractors, reporters, academics and more. The list will be a living list, and we hope to keep it updated via our own research, as well as your submissions...."Continue reading