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
Senator questions progress on federal spending Web site
Senator questions progress on federal spending Web site, By Gautham Nagesh, NextGov, 09/11/08. Law requires the Office of Management and Budget to maintain a site (USAspending.gov) listing organizations that receive more than $25,000 in federal funds.
The law requires agencies to submit every 30 days a report listing the groups issued grants and the amount of the grant. USASpending.gov's data quality page shows, however, that some agencies, including the Homeland Security, Labor, Transportation and Veterans Affairs departments have not updated grant information since last year.Continue reading
Hearing on bill that would block NIH Public Access policy
The Bill: Fair Copyright in Research Works Act (HR 6845)
The Hearings: Hearing on: H.R. 6845, the "Fair Copyright in Research Works Act" Thursday 09/11/2008 - 1:00 PM House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. [streaming RealPlayer video]
News Reports:- New Bill Would Forbid Copyright Transfer as a Condition for Federal Funding Library Journal Academic Newswire, September 11, 2008. "If passed, measures like the recently enacted NIH public access policy, which requires investigators who accept taxpayer funds to deposit their final papers in the PubMed Central repository and give the agency a non-exclusive right to offer free access within a year, would be prohibited."
- At Hearing, Witness Says NIH Policy Will “Destroy” Commercial Scientific Publishing Library Journal Academic Newswire, September 11, 2008. "Not only was the legislation motivating the hearing barely discussed, the testimony and the questions asked by committee members looked far more to the economic future of science publishing than to public access to taxpayer funded research." Former Register of Copyrights Ralph Oman bluntly told lawmakers that in his opinion, the NIH mandate would “destroy the market” for commercial scientific journals, and cause a “dilution” of copyright.
- Congressional Hearing Over Public Access Filled With High Drama By Jennifer Howard , The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 12, 2008 [subscription required, but freely available here for a short time.] A life-and-death battle is going on over public access to federally financed research—life for taxpayers and many scientists, and death for publishers. Or so each side claims. That battle, whose outcome will affect many university researchers, kicked into high gear on Capitol Hill yesterday, as the combatants debated the merits of a bill that would curtail the National Institutes of Health's public-access policy.