OpenHouse Project Op-Ed on Preservation
The latest in a series of op-eds in The Hill addresses digital preservation:
- Preserving information, by James A. Jacobs, The Hill, June 05, 2007
I wrote this piece with the help of my FGI colleagues and we based it on the preservation chapter of the Open House Project Report on which we collaborated.
The measures outlined briefly in this op-ed are compatible with projects already in existence at the Library of Congress, the Government Printing Office, university libraries, and libraries using LOCKSS software. These steps will also make digital preservation more affordable and effective for more memory institutions.
This is one of a series of Op-Eds written by contributors to the OpenHouse Project's recent report on congressional information. The complete report is available as a pdf document: Congressional Information & the Internet (The OpenHouse Project, May 8, 2007). The earlier Op-Eds are:
- Give bloggers Capitol access, by Robert B. Bluey, April 30, 2007.
- No light in basement, [campaign finance documents] by Tim La Pira, May 08, 2007.
- Inexplicable anomaly [CRS Reports], by Leslie Harris and Matt Stoller, May 15, 2007.
- More access to committees, by John Wonderlich, The Hill, May 22, 2007.
Univ. of Pittsburgh to Digitize EU Delegation Collection
The following message was sent to the EURODOC listserv by Phil Wilkin, Social Sciences Bibliographer and Editor of the Archive of European Integration at the University of Pittsburgh. Very good news!
The Delegation of the European Commission to the US, Washington, DC, recently decided to divulge itself of its entire depository collection and award it to 1 of the existing depository libraries in North America. The Delegation awarded this collection to the University Library System, University of Pittsburgh, currently the home of the Archive of European Integration (AEI). This depository collection begins in the early 1950s and is easily the largest EU collection in the Western Hemisphere. Over the next several years, the AEI will digitize many documents from this collection and upload them.Continue reading
Recommend Changes to THOMAS
Let Rob know what changes you would like in THOMAS, today!
What changes would you like to be seen in the next version of Thomas (the publicly available website of federal legislation)? LIS (Legislative Information System, which is a more powerful version only available for hill staffers) is in the process of adding several new features, including RSS feeds, an XML database for all bills, and they plan on developing web services (an API, from what I understand). Thomas has a nice looking site, but they have lagged behind LIS for several years. I am meeting with the folks in charge of Thomas tomorrow afternoon [June 4] to urge the implementation of changes below.Read Rob's suggestions and comments from OpenHouseProject members :
- Thomas Feature Requests? by Rob Pierson, OpenHouseProject group, Jun 3, 2007.
Secret Senate Block of Senate Transparency Bill
The Senate Campaign Disparity Act (S. 223), which would require senators to file their campaign finance reports electronically, has been blocked twice by an anonymous Republican senator. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is hiding the identity of that senator.
The Sunlight Foundation has launched a campaign to reveal which senator is blocking passage of the bill. See:
- What’s McConnell Hiding? by Paul Blumenthal, Sunlight Foundation, June 1, 2007.
The website for the campaign is: What’s McConnell Hiding?
The irony in this situation is that there is a secret objection to legislation that would generate more transparency for senators. Now is your chance to put the pressure on to move the transparency bill forward.Continue reading
OpenHouse Project Op-Ed on House Committee information
John Wonderlich, the program director for the Sunlight Foundation, has written an Op-Ed in The Hill about making House committee information more available:
- More access to committees, by John Wonderlich, The Hill, May 22, 2007.
Wonderlich highlights reforms that the House can take including: requiring committees to post transcripts of their open meetings online within 14 days, requiring committees to post substantially verbatim transcripts of their proceedings online, making use of RSS feeds to provide updates on committee events, publishing documents in XML, and suggesting that committees stream and archive video content.
This is one of a series of Op-Eds written by contributors to the OpenHouse Project's recent report on congressional information. The complete report is available as a pdf document: Congressional Information & the Internet (The OpenHouse Project, May 8, 2007). The earlier Op-Eds are:
- Give bloggers Capitol access, by Robert B. Bluey, April 30, 2007.
- No light in basement, [campaign finance documents] by Tim La Pira, May 08, 2007.
- Inexplicable anomaly [CRS Reports], by Leslie Harris and Matt Stoller, May 15, 2007.