The CIA now has its own bloggers
The CIA now has its own bloggers
"FBIS is now The Open Source Center"I've been doing a little investigating and hope that FGI's loyal readers can perhaps fill in some questions that I have. I first ran into the "Open Source Center" in November of 2005 when the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) announced on November 8, 2005 the creation of the DNI Open Source Center (OSC) under the directorship of Douglas J. Naquin, a senior CIA manager. At first glance, I thought it was some sort of new federal initiative at supporting open source software (or as some say, "Free/Libre/Open-Source Software" or FLOSS). My excitement soon came back to earth as I learned that "open source" in this context actually refers to an intelligence-gathering discipline "based on analyzing information collected from open sources, i.e. information available to the general public." (quoted from Wikipedia). There was a small flurry of news items at that time (citations below), but since then there's been very little mentioned about OSC. Those news stories (some of which were reprints of the Nov 25, 2005 Washington Post article or quotes from the Nov 8 press release) hinted that much of the work of the OSC was "posted on an unclassified, government-wide Web site." The WaPo article also quoted Naquin as saying that the OSC would be repositioned to expand on the translation work of the old Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS). He said, "Our definition of open source is anything that can be legally obtained" to which Glasser added the aside, "whether how-to-build-a-bomb manuals or inflammatory T-shirts." In other words, FBIS + mining the Web = Open Source Center. I have not been able to find the "unclassified govt-wide Web site." The Open Source Center's Web site is password protected and only US, state and local Govt employees, their contractors, BBC monitoring employee (UK's counterpart to FBIS) or foreign liaisons to the US govt can obtain a password. An email to the OSC confirmed this to be true although the Customer Center responder stated that "a good bit, not all, of our information" was available via World News Connection (to which many academic libraries subscribe). She also said, "What is left out is the FOUO (for official use only) material." In tracking down the Open Source Center, I've been left with more questions than answers. I'd especially like to know:
--From the FBIS.gov Website before it automatically forwards to opensource.gov
- Do depositories get access to OSC materials? Could a depository librarian be considered a "govt contractor"?
- Our library gets World News Connection but I wonder what is left out? What are there differences between WNC and OSC? What kind of information is included in FOUO material?
- Are we paying for access to govinfo? Is this like CRS reports?
- Open Source Center
- Intelligence Center Is Created for Unclassified Information. By Scott Shane. New York Times, November 9, 2005. (Subscription may be required)
- A T-Shirt-and-Dagger Operation. By Scott Shane. New York Times, November 13, 2005. (Subscription may be required)
- Intelligence-gathering moves out into open. By Scott Shane. New York Times, Sunday, November 13, 2005 (reprinted and freely accessible from International Herald Tribune)
- Probing Galaxies of Data for Nuggets. FBIS Is Overhauled and Rolled Out to Mine the Web's Open-Source Information Lode. By Susan B. Glasser. Washington Post, Friday, November 25, 2005; A35.
- Sell Knight Ridder to the CIA. Or, how spooks are like (and unlike) reporters. By Jack Shafer. Slate.com, posted Friday, Dec. 9, 2005.
- Open-source intel takes on new importance. By Alice Lipowicz, Government Computer News April 20, 2006
- In Support of FBIS. June, 2000. FAS Project on Government Secrecy.
- December 8, 2005 post from Secrecy News entitled, OPEN SOURCE INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR NAMED
- Open source intelligence (wikipedia)
- Foreign Broadcast Information Service (wikipedia)
iPRES 2006 October 8-10, 2006 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
I'm sure many of you have seen this on one list or another, but I just caught the announcement for the International Conference on the Preservation of Digital Objects (iPRES 2006) and thought that FGI readers would find this conference extremely interesting. The deadline for early registration is September 1, 2006.
iPRES will be held October 8-10, 2006 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY U.S.A. The theme of this year's iPRES is Words to Deeds: Collaboration in the Realm of Digital Preservation. Following on the successful iPRES 2005 held September 14-16 in Goettingen, Germany, iPRES 2006 will kickoff with a keynote presentation by Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. Plenary Sessions will explore topics in Preserving Multimedia Objects, E-Journal Preservation, Certification, and National Efforts in Digital Preservation. Concurrent sessions on Tools of the Trade, eScience, Repositories, and New Initiatives will also be held. Featured speakers for iPRES 2006 include:Continue reading
- Svein Arne Brygfjeld, National Library of Norway
- Robin Dale, Program Officer, RLG
- Marc Dantzker, Curator, Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Susanne Dobratz, Head of University Library, Humboldt-University Berlin
- Eileen Fenton, Executive Director, Portico
- Carl Fleishhauer, Project Coordinator, Office of Strategic Initiatives, Library of Congress
- Andrew McHugh, Advisory Services Manager, Digital Curation Centre
- Erik Oltmans, Head e-Depot, National Library of the Netherlands
- Vicky Reich, Director of LOCKSS Program, Stanford University Libraries and Academic Resources
- Seamus Ross, Director HATII University of Glasgow and Associate Director Digital Curation Centre (UK)
- Barbara Signori, Swiss National Library
- Ken Thibodeau, Head of the Electronic Records Division, US National Archives and Records Administration
- David Thomas, Director of Government and Technology, The National Archives, UK
- Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada
- Zhang Xiaolin, Director, Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences (LCAS)
No tolls on the ‘net: more on net neutrality
Lawrence Lessig and Robert W. McChesney recently wrote an article in the Washington Post, June 8th 2006 addressing issues of network neutrality -- the principle for preserving the free and open Internet (registration may be required. Try BugMeNot to read without registering).
Congress is deciding on the fate of the Internet. The question before it is simple: Should the Internet be handed over to the handful of cable and telephone companies that control online access for 98 percent of the broadband market? Only a Congress besieged by high-priced telecom lobbyists and stuffed with campaign contributions could possibly even consider such an absurd act.And consider it they have as the House rejected Net neutrality rules last thursday in HR5252. The CNet story lists no less than 6 Senate and House bills that include net neutrality in their language. The vote against HR5252 fell along party lines. Related sites: SaveTheInternet Free Press Net Neutrality Continue reading
Pt. 7: Nonlawyer’s journey through Title 44: Free use of Government publications in depositories
This post, all earlier postings in this series, and my "not a lawyer" disclaimer can be found at http://freegovinfo.info/title44 or through our library under Nonlawyer's Journey through Title 44. In my last Title 44 installment, I covered 44 USC 1909. Today I cover 44 USC 1911, Free use of Government publications in depositories. Why not Section 1910? Because 1910 deals with the replacement of depository libraries and so does not seem to be a central part of the Depository Library Program. 44 USC 1911 states:
TITLE 44--PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS CHAPTER 19--DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM Sec. 1911. Free use of Government publications in depositories; disposal of unwanted publications Depository libraries shall make Government publications available for the free use of the general public, and may dispose of them after retention for five years under section 1912 of this title, if the depository library is served by a regional depository library. Depository libraries not served by a regional depository library, or that are regional depository libraries themselves, shall retain Government publications permanently in either printed form or in microfacsimile form, except superseded publications or those issued later in bound form which may be discarded as authorized by the Superintendent of Documents. (Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1286.) Historical and Revision Notes Based on 44 U.S. Code, 1964 ed., Sec. 92 (part) (Jan. 12, 1895, ch. 23, Sec. 74, 28 Stat. 620; June 20, 1936, ch. 630, title VII, Sec. 11, 49 Stat. 1552; Aug. 9, 1962, Pub. L. 87-579, Sec. 8, 76 Stat. 355).The first sentence of section 92, is classified to section 1119; the remainder comprises this section of the revision. Section Referred to in Other Sections This section is referred to in section 1915 of this title.Section 1911 is another section that places responsibilities on libraries. In this case, libraries are required to allow free use of government publications and to retain all but superseded publications for at least five years. Certain depositories called regionals must keep all but superseded publications permanently. Regional libraries are covered in detail by 44 USC 1912, so I'll save a full discussion of the vital regional libraries until then. Traditionally, "free use" of government publications has meant the free browsing and borrowing of materials held by depository libraries. There is no requirement in either Title 44 or in Depository Library Program regulations for free photocopying. Photocopying follows the general guidelines of whatever a library allows for its general collection. If you can make ten free photocopies of a library book or magazine, then those same guidelines apply for government documents. If you charge $0.50/page for all library materials, then the Government Printing Office has no problem with you charging $0.50/page for photocopies of government documents. I believe that the principle of free use might be endangered in a mostly electronic program because it forces more users into printing pages off the Internet. While they can technically read material from a screen, most people prefer reading more than a page or two from paper. Patrons can be charged the same rate for printing from government documents as they can for other web pages. Additionally, many libraries place limits on Internet time, which is acceptable depository practice. Many libraries offer a 30 minute time limit, which would make it hard to read more than the executive summary of many reports. By contrast, in the tangible world, someone could either borrow the report and read it at their leisure, or at least take as much time as they needed in the depository's reading area. Leaving free use, let us consider the five year disposal period. The feds can require libraries to keep depository materials for five years because the items remain federal property even though the depository library has custody. Over the years, there have been efforts to change this retention period, but since it is written into statute, it has proved difficult to change. With the arrival of a mostly electronic program, disposal of documents may take on new meanings, whether the future is one of linking to federal servers or one of building local digital collections. Anyone want to guess how that might change? Next time we will look at the section of the law that governs Regional Depository Libraries and sing their praises. Continue reading
EPA – can a database replace a library?
After the new budget effectively phased out the EPA's library system and related resources, there is a new website, the National Environmental Publications Information System. Introduced with words like "exciting" and "terrific" the online database includes such features as highlighted search terms and proximity operators. A quick set of usability notes, using a search for the word "frogs":
- once you get a list of results clicking on the document title does nothing, you have to click on the little eye picture in order to see the document displayed
- Tooltips? None. Clicking on the capital T which I am used to meaning "text" takes me to a zoomed in tiff file of the document I selected. Downloading the text from the documents is possible, just somewhat hidden and won't work if you have pop-ups disabled.
- No controlled vocabulary, or if there is any, it's hidden from a casual user. The only searchable fields are publication number, title and number of pages.
- Despite the fact that these PDF and TIFF documents are searchable at a keyword level [see attached file], there is no obvious way to get just the text from a PDF document
- Fuzziness, is controllable at a 0-5 level. When fuzziness is at its highest level, searches for "frogs" returns words like "rods" and "free." This may be by design, but the help file is mum on the ubsject stating only "If you want to activate fuzzy searching, you can specify the degree of fuzzy in the listbox Fuzzy."
- Typos. I know it's petty but the word useful has one L.