May Day, BOTM and maps oh my!
Happy May Day aka International Workers' Day! Let's welcome Angie Cope to the "podium" as our May Blogger-of-the-month (bio)!! Angie's a maps librarian so I hope we'll see lot's of information about USGS, GIS, etc. And thanks too to our April BOTM, Newkirk Barnes. Just when I thought that Gary Price was our most prolific BOTM, along comes Newkirk. In case you missed anything, here's a wrapup of Newkirk's posts:
- FEMA struggles to upgrade information technology
- Google and state government information
- 2010 Census field data collection
- Homeland Security Report Card
- Report from President's Identity Theft Task Force
- Library of Congress newspaper project
- Money management
- Data breach at USDA
- American Presidency Project
- Electronic voting machines
- Social Security checks with wrong amounts
- Oral Histories from U.S. Veterans
- Electronic health information
- 2006 Federal Information Security Management Act reports
- White House e-mails
- NARA films from Google
- Better collaboration among intelligence agencies?
- Lack of collaboration among DHS watch centers
- 100 Milestone Documents
- Your tax dollars at work, literally
Angie Cope, BOTM for May, 2007
From Angie:
I am a Senior Academic Librarian at the American Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. My duties include collection development, cataloging maps, atlases and digital data and assisting with reference and outreach. I have been at my current map library for almost six years and worked at a map and government depository library for 3 years as an undergrad student. I have a Geography B.S. and a Resource Planning M.S. from Southwest Missouri State University and an M.L.I.S. from UW-Milwaukee.Continue reading
International Polar Year March 2007-March 2009
Thanks to advances in global telecommunications technologies, people worldwide have a rare opportunity to follow, and sometimes even participate in, Arctic and Antarctic research and exploration as part of the International Polar Year (IPY), a global scientific campaign which began in March 2007. IPY promises to advance our understanding of how the Earth's remote polar regions affect global climate systems, to bring about fundamental advances in many areas of science, and to fire the enthusiasm of young men and women for careers in science and engineering. The Polar Year actually will extend from March 1, 2007, until March 1, 2009, to allow researchers to conduct two annual observing cycles in each region, particularly in isolated areas that are prohibitively cold and dark for roughly six months of the year. International Polar Year Continue reading
Angie Cope, Senior Academic Librarian
My name is Angie Cope and I am a Senior Academic Librarian at the American Geographical Society Library at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Libraries. I am principally a catalog librarian - cataloging maps, atlases, globes and geospatial data. My secondary responsibilities include collection development, reference and web page maintenance. It's becoming ever more challenging keeping track of free government information as we move from a print society to digital. From a high of over 2,000 items in 2001 to only 833 in 2005, my library alone, has experienced an extreme reduction in the amount of paper maps being delivered by the U.S. Government. I'm concerned that the USGS is moving to all digital with a print on demand option but not all our patrons will know how to find information or what to do with digital information when they find it. The NationalMap.gov is a nice site allowing for an interactive experience. Continue reading
National Atlas of the United States and the U.S. National Map
The United States government, led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), has initiated a project to cooperatively develop, market, and distribute The National Atlas of the United States of America. The participation of many agencies of the federal government has been crucial to the successful development of the National Atlas. Congress recognized that no single government agency could deliver an atlas that is truly national in scope and breadth when it assigned the USGS to direct the project. That's why so many Federal producers of reliable and authoritative geographic information have joined in developing National Atlas products. More information can be found here: NationalAtlas.gov The National Map is an online, interactive national map with contributors from around the country. Check it out: NationalMap.gov. Continue reading