GPO eviscerates FDLP
The Government Printing Office (GPO) has decided to gut the federal depository library program. For 150+ years, the federal government has been legislatively mandated to distribute *at no cost* information produced by the federal government to a distributed system of libraries (called the Federal Depository Library Program or FDLP) so that citizens will have access to that information and therefore be better able to participate in our democratic system. The GPO has been in charge of that distribution system. They have decided that, starting October 1, 2005, they will only distribute the titles on their Essential Titles List. Anything else and libraries will now have to pay. Oh, they're setting up a print on demand (POD) allowance ($500/yr for selective depositories and $1500/yr for regional depositories). However, that will barely make a dent. Take for example UCSD. We're a selective depository, but we receive thousands of titles in paper besides what's on the essential titles list. Continue reading
Chamber of Commerce: Scientific Experts?
OMB Watch - Industry Challenge Prompts Removal of EPA Database
OMB Watch reports that "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has removed one database from its public website and slightly altered another due to a Data Quality Act (DQA) challenge submitted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce." The Chamber claims some of the data are erroneous, inconsistent and contradictory.
The Data Quality Act is less than half a page in a public law of more seven hundred pages (Public Law 106-554 Sec. 515; Statutes at Large volume 114, pages 2763A-153 to 2763A-154, available online as plain text and as pdf). The Act is nominally about requiring the government to set standards for the accuracy of scientific information, but is controversial because it was supported and largely written by industry-backed groups which have are using it to challenge government data. Successful challenges such as this one can result in the data being withdrawn from publication and withdrawn from government web sites.
Continue readingFBI is fighting in court to limit document searches
FBI is fighting in court to limit extensive searches for electronic documents requested under Freedom of Information Act. If FBI wins, "people could have a diminished chance of getting documents from the nation's most famous law enforcement agency, open records experts said." FBI Fights for Limited Document Searches Continue reading
NRC Censors Environmental Impact Statement
NRC Censors Environmental Impact Statement. OMB Watch. 01/24/2005.
OMB Watch reports that "The public will not have access to health and safety data about a proposed uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico, despite a legal requirement that the public have ample access to such information."
Continue readingBLS proposes to stop collecting women worker’s data
Bureau of Labor Statistics proposes to stop collecting employer job counts of female workers because "there is little demand for the figures." Job Gender Surveys May End. Continue reading