“To Form a More Perfect Union…” (Constitution Day)
In my department, we're preparing for Constitution Day on Wednesday--printing stickers and buttons, boxing up pocket Constitutions, creating activity booklets, updating our website. Last year, we handed out hundreds of pocket Constitutions in a matter of hours at the Political Science department, and this year we've already begun receiving requests for them. This year, we're also participating in a community event at the local Barnes and Noble, which is designed to draw grade-school kids and their parents. We’ve even got a giant replica print of the Constitution (with extra blank but “antique-looking” pages) for the kids to sign. Here are some of the many resources available online:
- Search for great resources from the Constitution Center!
- Peggy Garvin recently posted a great summary of the purpose and origin of Constitution Day on LLRX.com.
- If you're looking for last-minute display ideas, here's a great webpage at the Minnesota State University of Mankato (recommended to me by Shari Laster, Gov Docs librarian at the University of Akron—thanks, Shari!).
- Also, here are some sources for pocket constitutions and related government publications (great giveaways!).
- And we printed our replica based on the gorgeous images on NARA’s Charters of Freedom website.
- See more primary resources at the Library of Congress website.
- The Constitution Day website also has trivia and great resources for making activity booklets, etc.
Lunchtime Listen: Government Data and The Invisible Hand
In this interview, Jon Udell talks with Director and Associate Director of the Center for Information Technology Policy about the future of government information distribution and the paper Government Data and the Invisible Hand (Robinson, David, Harlan Yu, William P. Zeller, and Edward W. Felten. SSRN, May 28, 2008). The paper proposes that the government should reduce its role in presenting important government information to citizens and should provide reusable data, rather than providing websites, as the core of its online publishing responsibility.
- Ed Felten & David Robinson of the Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University, Jon Udell's Interviews with Innovators, 46 minutes, 21.1mb, recorded 2008-09-02
Guide of the Week: Gerontology (Aging)
According to the Census Bureau, by 2030 one in five Americans, including me, will be 65 or older. It's never too early to prepare for old age, it seems like a good time to highlight this guide linked from the ALA GODORT Handout Exchange: Selected Bibliography of Gerontology Resources in the Social Work Library, with Selected Web Resources (Sally Haines Lawler, University of Michigan, 2003) Last updated 9/26/2006 The scope note (introduction) to the guide emphasizes that this list is not comprehensive and that people should contact library staff for additional resources. While not comprehensive, the guide is pretty extensive with lists of books, journals, databases, web sites and more. A too brief sample of what's available includes:
- Andersson, L. (Ed.). (2002). Cultural gerontology. Westport, Conn.: Auburn House. HQ 1061 .C7931 2002
- Birren, J.E. (2001). Telling the stories of life through guided autobiography groups. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. RC 953.8 .R43 B5751 2001
- American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. Albany, NY: American Orthopsychiatric Association * Full text available only to U-M students; available on campus at Social Work Library (1988-present), Shapiro Undergraduate Library (1980-present) * Indexed in: AGELINE, Psychological Abstracts, Social Sciences Citation Index, Social Work Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts
- AGELINE Conduct a subject search for gerontology. Also try subject searches for social gerontology, geropsychology, psychological aging, biological aging, successful aging, older adults, old old, and young old. Try to be as specific as possible in this database, as it covers aging and older adults, in particular the social, psychological, economic, policy and health care aspects. For additional information, see the Social Work Library's guide "How to Search CSA Illumina."
- http://www.americangeriatrices.org/ American Geriatrics Society.
Plan B for NIH Open Access
Stevan Harnad has proposed a Plan B for NIH Public Access Mandate: A Deposit Mandate, American Scientist Open Access Forum, Sat, 13 Sep 2008. See also: Hearing on bill that would block NIH Public Access policy. Continue reading
NYT: Federal Files Blip Into Oblivion
This is a pretty good popular-press overview of the problems of digital preservation of government information and some of the steps being taken to address the problems.
- In Digital Age, Federal Files Blip Into Oblivion, By Robert Pear, New York Times, September 13, 2008.
The Achilles' heel of record-keeping is people. In an effort to save money, federal agencies are publishing fewer reports on paper and posting more on the Web. The Web site of the Environmental Protection Agency lists more than 50 "broken links" that once connected readers to documents on depletion of the ozone layer of the atmosphere. At least 20 documents have been removed from the Web site of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. They include a draft report highly critical of the civil rights policies of the Bush administration. 93 percent of [top officials surveyed at NASA] were violating federal requirements for preserving e-mail correspondence. "Most Web records do not warrant permanent retention," because they do not have "long-term historical value," the [National] Archives said. Alarmed at the possible loss of White House e-mail messages, the House passed a bill in July that would require agencies to preserve more electronic records. ... Republican opponents said the requirements would be onerous and costly. Mr. Bush has threatened to veto the bill, saying it could "interfere with a president's ability to carry out his or her constitutional and statutory responsibilities."See also: Citizens in the Dark? Government Information in the Digital Age. Continue reading