A First Look at FDSys
The Government Printing Office released two videos demonstrating the "Proof of Concept" release of the Federal Digital System (FDSys):
Search - 3:22
Submission - 9:21
The videos require Windows Media Player to view and one of our volunteers was unable to view the videos using his Mac version of WMV. But I did get a look.
Everything below is subject to GPO's own caveat that this "proof of concept" version will change a lot between now and the first public release in late 2008.
I was impressed with the search functionality. The search box is simple with few options, but navigation boxes on the right hand side of the screen allow one to quickly zero in on likely documents. Search results may also be sorted by title, relevance, type of resource and date issued. Individual records have links to the content, preservation metadata and more.
The only problem I had with the search was the fact the search defaults to "OR". GPO itself now understands that is a problem based on beta user input and the video narrator promised this would be fixed in the public release. I have to admit that I don't understand how anyone in the age of Google would have made a default "OR" to begin with. But what's important is that the problem is being fixed.
The Submission section of FDSys will not be available to the public, but is interesting to watch the demo to see what is involved with document creation. Currently the ability to add metadata does not include keywords, which is something I hope will be included in the official release. Given GPO's move towards brief records under some circumstances, it would be very helpful to have agency generated keywords in FDSys.
There is some information in the agency submission side of FDSys that I hope carries over to either the public side or at least for FDLP librarians. FDSys requires an agency contact for every document. It would be helpful to librarians to a contact for documents in case something goes out of print or if a user had in-depth questions about the content of a given document.
Overall, this looks like a promising start. No mention of the alert features and push delivery slated for future releases, but hopefully those will be demoed soon.
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Google on Open Document Formats
"A document standards decision may not matter to you today, but as someone who relies on constant access to editable documents, spreadsheets and presentations, it may matter immensely in the near future."
So says a post this week on the Official Google blog.
- A renewed wish for open document standards, by Zaheda Bhorat, Google Open Source Programs Manager, Official Google Blog, Feb 25, 2008.
There is a battle going on over open document formats that can affect the long term accessibility of government information. The battle is being waged by Microsoft, which wants its OOXML format to be adopted as an international standard instead of the truly open ODF format.
This week Google weighed in on the issue and summed up the complex issues quite succinctly, noting that:
Google believes OOXML would be an insufficient and unnecessary standard, designed purely around the needs of Microsoft Office.
...We join the ODF Alliance and many other experts in our belief that OOXML doesn't meet the criteria required for a globally-accepted standard.
Why? because OOXML attempts to make the functionality of Microsoft Office into the "standard." That would be bad because it elevates the importance of the software over the importance of the document. Of course, the question about whether or not the government should release information in the form of "editable documents" at all is another question, but since it does, the issue of open formats for editiable documents is an important one for government information.
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Index to C-Span videorecordings
C-SPAN has recently released a great new online resource with lots of potential: the C-SPAN Congressional Chronicle (currently in beta) is an index to the C-SPAN video recordings of the House and Senate floor proceedings. According to C-SPAN the video recordings are matched with the text of the Congressional Record as soon as it is available. Each appearance has a video link where users can watch and listen to the actual remarks. C-SPAN hopes that this site will provide a useful tool for viewers and followers of Congress to research, watch, and review the actions of the Congress. They welcome bloggers and websites to create links to various videorecordings and also welcome comments and suggestions for improving the service.
Continue readingSlate on Wikipedia and Digg
Slate has an interesting article titled "Digg, Wikipedia and the Myth of Web 2.0 Democracy" in which the author, Chris Wilson, talks about how a few people are responsible for most of the entries in Digg and Wikipedia and various permutations of having an open-access site. He makes that point that "Despite the fairy tales about the participatory culture of Web 2.0, direct democracy isn't feasible at the scale on which these sites operate. Still, it's curious to note that these sites seem to have the hierarchical structure of the old-guard institutions they've sought to supplant."
Continue readingCall for Submissions: Information and Communications Technology Law
This notice is being posted on behalf of Debbie L Rabina of the Pratt Institute. Questions about the item below should go to her:
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Journal of Information and Communications Technology Law
Submissions for a Special Issue: Government-held Information, Privacy and Civic Access
Governments are most frequently the largest collectors of data
within their jurisdictions, and often that data collection and storage
is financially supported with public taxes. How governments manage and make available that information when requests are made by non-government parties varies in each country. As the data-sharing world finds new and multi-platform ways to network, the variations of legal access to government-held information create both opportunities and difficulties. This special issue will collect the state of access to government-held information with special attention to concerns for civilian privacy and civic activists’ oversight of government operations. Submissions should conform to normal journal specifications noted http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/cictauth.asp
Please send submission no later than August 1, 2008
Prof. D.L. Rabina Pratt Institute School of Information & Library Science, 144 West 14th Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10011-7301 or by email drabina@pratt.edu
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Hopefully some FGI reader out there will come up with a good article as a result of this opportunity.
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