(August 22) FYI: Blake, our fine host at lishost, is working on upgrading the drupal software for the FGI site, but our theme was breaking the upgrade. So just to let everyone know, FGI will be getting a facelift in the coming few days. If anyone's interested, you can see drupal's themes and leave a comment if any of them particularly jazz you. I would be very interested to know what our users think the site should look like, what colors/fonts/layouts are preferred? I won't necessarily choose a theme based on comments, but here's your chance to let us know how you'd like the FGI site to look and feel. Comment away!! Continue reading →

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We have weird ads on the DC Metro subway system. They advertise things like fighter jets, the Coast Guard Integrated Deepwater System, or some sort of "government solution." These are not goods the typical consumer can buy. Often I can’t tell what it is they are selling, I only know the target customer is someone who influences federal agency procurement, not me. Convera has been advertising its new government search engine on the subway since sometime in July. That is how I heard about it. For once, something I could relate to! The search engine, called GovMine, was launched on August 14. Convera is looking to sell its solution to federal agencies, but we the people get some immediate benefit with another free .gov/.mil search engine. GovMine follows quickly on the heels of Google U.S. Government Search, which followed (kind of) on the heels of the new FirstGov search engine, which used solutions from Microsoft and Vivisimo. I have not had time to take GovMine through its paces, but I can tell you that it seems to bring to the surface some relevant pages that Google and FirstGov do not. That’s the beauty of this competition for federal eyeballs. Another site to try, another possible route to the answer. Take a look at GovMine. Try a simple search and explore the options that pop up with the results screen. I have written in the past about Google’s product and FirstGov Search for LLRX.com. A new player entered the arena after Google and before Convera: search guru Tara Calishain at ResearchBuzz is offering a tool built on Google Government Search that narrows results by state. Continue reading →

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Paul Schaffer asked if we would post this comment by him to the list.

I hope FDLP has pondered the staffing implications of FDsys accomplishing its stated aims. If the FDSYS intake arrangements are effective, the number of digital documents crossing GPO's radar screen will have to be at least double what GPO was dealing with in the heyday of tangible publications. A decision will be needed, on each one, as to whether it is "within the scope of GPO's Federal Depository Library Program." Eventually some alogrithm will keep track of FDLP's thumbs-up and thumbs-down decisions, to spare human staffers from sifting through the obviously-yes and obviously-no digital documents logged by FDsys. But for two or three years, a huge number of eligibility decisions will have to be made by human staffers or contractors. If that phase of the effort is fumbled, the value of all that nifty software will be seriously compromised. The potential downsides are huge gaps in what gets catalogued, or letting the GPO Catalog become a random sample of what's in FDsys. Paul Schaffer pschaffr@rcn.com 646 274 6246

Thanks Paul! Coincidentally, I got a message from the head of a social science library recently and she made this comment about the recent announcment: GPO Takes Major Step Toward Creating Digital Information Management System: "who is paying for all this now and in the future???" - jim Continue reading →

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How Many and Where Were the Nukes? (18 Aug 2006) "What the U.S. Government No Longer Wants You to Know about Nuclear Weapons During the Cold War." National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 197 Edited by William Burr. The National Security Archive says:

The Pentagon and the Energy Department have now stamped as national security secrets the long-public numbers of U.S. nuclear missiles during the Cold War, including data from the public reports of the Secretaries of Defense in 1967 and 1971, according to government documents posted today on the Web by the National Security Archive .

Among the documents censored: U.S. Department of Defense, Annual Report for Fiscal Year 1964 (Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1966). Continue reading →

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