Review of FirstGov’s new search engine & limits of search
Today I noticed that Search Engine Watch has posted a well written review of the new FirstGov search engine. For those of you not familar with it, FirstGov was established during the Clinton Administration and has this current vision:
FirstGov.gov, the official U.S. gateway to all government information, is the catalyst for a growing electronic government. Our work transcends the traditional boundaries of government and our vision is global–connecting the world to all U.S. government information and servicesIf you interact with government at all, this is a site worth visit for its well organized lists of resources grouped by user (citizen, business, other gov't) and by subject. The creators of FirstGov realized everyone isn't on the web yet, so they also provide 800 numbers for agency helplines. I've never thought that much of their search engine because it never distinguished between federal and state resources very well. Despite the great improvements outlined in the Search Engine Watch article above, this failing remains. Continue reading
Vinton Cerf on Google, Government Information, Metadata, and more
The search continues, By Brad Grimes, Government Computer News (01/23/06) Vol. 25 No. 2.
This is an interview with Vinton Cerf, sometimes referred to as "the Father of the Internet" and who is now "Chief Internet Evangelist" for Google. In it, he says that Google has a "modest operation in the D.C. area" and that Google believes that a number of Google "enterprise program" services will be of interest to various government branches. He also says that Google is working with the Library of Congress to make portions of its holdings accessible and more easily searchable and that "it is possible that Google can assist in making more information accessible through cooperative programs with the [government]." With regard to recent discussion of "search" being able to replace metadata, he says:
Search has the remarkable property that it makes otherwise unstructured information discoverable. The addition of metadata can increase our ability to identify the most relevant information, relative to a given query and query context, so Google users will ultimately benefit from the availability of metadata. [Search and metadata] are not in conflict with each other.Continue reading
(GA) Statistical data on teachers pay and class room size
I received a telephone call from a professor at Morehouse College who wanted statistical data on teachers pay and class room sizes. I referred him (the Morehouse professor) to the Digest of Education Statistics in print. I also walked the professor through steps over the phone on how to obtain the online version of Digest of Education Statistics. He indicated to me that I had helped him out a lot and he was very pleased with the way I'd assisted him. Chad Nathaniel Robert Woodruff Library, Atlanta University Center, GA Coordinator, Government Publications Department Continue reading
(NY) WWI Army recipes
A researcher came to our Reference Desk to find recipes used to feed the Army troops during World War I. I felt that we must have them, since we are an older collection. Lo, and behold! We had not only the recipes from World War I, but also for later wartime troops, and the Reserves. We also had a nineteenth century manual that advised how to use "canned goods," since they were probably "new" at the time. It was interesting to see that the author was the "subsistence" unit of the Army. Linda Braun Senior Librarian, Reference--Public Services New York State Library Continue reading
(LA) Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Preparedness Study
The Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, located here in Sims Library, was contacted by a lady from the Congressional Research Service who was looking for a copy of a report to fill a rush request from a member of Congress. The report she needed was "Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Preparedness Study" published in 1994. The folks in the Center referred the question to me. I did a Google search for the title and found it in the "Region Wide Data" section of New Orleans Hurricane Protection Projects Data. Sometimes it does pay to think like a freshman. Lori Smith Government Documents Department Head Southeastern Louisiana Univ., Sims Library Continue reading