Update on EPA libraries
The Special Libraries Association Government Information Division has an article on EPA Libraries Budget Info on its blog.
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New Podcast Directory Entry: Smithsonian Institution
A reader recently left a comment on our Government Podcasts Directory informing us about the Spotlight on Science podcast from the Smithsonian Institution. This led us to the Smithsonian Institute podcast portal at http://www.si.edu/podcasts/. According to the 2007-2008 US Government Manual, the Smithsonian Institution is a quasi-official agency of the US Government and so fits our critera of a federal agency.
The podcast portal page has a wide variety of podcasted programs, including:
- The Folkways Collection
- Freer and Sackler Galleries Curatorial Conversations
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Podcasts
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries Podcast
- National Museum of the American Indian Podcasts
- African Art Museum Podcasts
Interestingly, the Spotlight on Science that we were originally pointed to isn't listed on the portal page. That may be because its last podcast appears to have been from April 2007.
If you know of a federal, state or local government podcast that isn't listed in our directory at http://freegovinfo.info/node/174, please leave a comment on the directory page, or here, or send an e-mail to admin AT freegovinfo.info.
Continue readingImproving Declassification
The Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB), an advisory committee established by Congress to "promote the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant U.S. national security decisions and activities" has released a report with recommendations on improving declassification.
- Improving Declassification, A Report To The President From The Public Interest Declassification Board December 2007.
What can be put off is put off; what can go to the end of the queue goes to the end of the queue....
What appears to be missing is a common understanding of the public interest and a common approach to effectuating it....
The tasks ahead remain daunting, and the resources needed to meet existing deadlines and workloads will never be sufficient and are under constant threat of reduction.
News story:
- Panel Urges More Openness, Less Secrecy, by Pete Yost, Associated Press, Jan 9, 2008.
Scientists fear committee’s dissolution will result in lost data
Scientists oppose move to restrict satellite data, by Les Blumenthal, McClatchy Newspapers, The Tacoma, WA News Tribune, January 13, 2008
There is a little-noticed but influential government committee known as the Civil Applications Committee, which, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Geological Survey, reviews civilian requests for classified reconnaissance information that can be useful to scientists studying volcanoes, forest fires, earthquakes and landslides, climate change, hurricanes, flooding and pollution. Now the Bush administration plans to abolish the committee and create an office within the Department of Homeland Security to review such requests.
Rep. Norm Dicks, chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee with control over the Geological Survey and is the senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in a letter to administration officials:
"We believe the elimination of the civilian orientation of the Civil Applications Committee represents explicit harm in the near term to USGS and other civilian federal agencies, and it represents a potentially serious harm over the longer term to the constitutional protections U.S. citizens expect and deserve."Continue reading
Call for responses re NY State official document standard
A friend just alerted me to this call for responses regarding New York State's official document standard for all state agencies. The more well-written responses that advocate for genuine open standards/formats the better. The State just extended the deadline to Jan 18th.
The main issue here is that Microsoft is attempting to have their fraud "OOXML" declared an Official New York State Standard for all state government documents stored on computers. OOXML is not a standard format. Indeed today, no software writes OOXML, and no software reads OOXML. OOXML has no published documentation, despite Microsoft's claims. But even if, one day, some Microsoft software writes and reads files claimed to be in OOXML format, New York State should not accept any format controlled by a private interest. New York State should not force any format which, in practice, can only be manipulated by source secret software, on any resident. The call for comments, which is a long two part document, gives evidence that Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart will take seriously careful clear comments. I ask defeatists on our side to consider that Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart refers to Groklaw in the Call for Comments.Continue reading