Mash*Up

I am a huge fan of Google Maps Mash-ups, so you know how happy I had to be when I was led to (thanks Regina!) the Google Maps Elections '08 Map Gallery. Maps are as simple as state-by-state primary results and as plugged in as Twitter. You can even embed one of 'em into your own blog, like this:

We'll miss you, Tim Russert

As avid readers of GovDocs@Gelman know, I like to point out the moments when government information takes on a different form than the publications that come out of the GPO. And every Sunday at 11:30, Tim Russert delivered government information to us in a way that everyone can understand. He was the cross-examiner of the country, questioning politicians and officials and getting down to what really mattered: the truth. He'll be remembered by many this weekend, but see for yourself-- Meet The Press transcripts are available in Lexis/Nexis Academic. Limit your search by the program starting with 1991 (you can do this in the Power Search-- just look for "Meet the Press") and you'll get the transcript for each program.

Thanks TR... November 4th just isn't gonna be the same without you.

get your navy bean soup while it lasts

A story in today's Post says that the famed Senate dining room is about to go private contract. While the House's in-house eateries have been contracted out since the 80s, the Senate's facilities have remained within the confines of the government, but are pretty much in the red. What does it mean for the most pampered politicians in all the land, their staffers and interns? It basically means more J Street and less tradition. It also means a decrease in wages for all food service employees who will serve you your overpriced jumbo slices and salad by the pound. My recommendation: who cares-- Firehook is right there!

our thoughts are with you, Senator Kennedy!

As everyone has probably heard, the senior Senator from Massachusetts has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. Our thoughts here in govdocs land go out to the Kennedys. Elected in 1962, the younger brother of JFK and RFK cast his 15,000th vote. Here's an expert of Senator Kennedy's speech from the Congressional Record (153 Cong Rec S 110388-- find it in Lexis/Nexis Congressional!) commemorating that occasion:

...I could not take this moment without thinking back about, personally, the service in this Chamber. When I first arrived in this Chamber, I was fortunate to have two brothers, one a President and another an Attorney General. I had the opportunity to work with them on those responsibilities in that regard. Then, to have a brother who served in the Senate was a golden time for me during that period of time.

I have been enormously proud of the work my nephew, Congressman Kennedy, serving in the House of Representatives, and now Patrick, my son, who serves in the House of Representatives and is a leading voice in terms of the mental health issues for our country-I am so proud of all his good work.

We grew up in a family that believed in public service, that elective office can make a difference but also understood that other people make extraordinary differences in advancing the cause of fairness and decency in the Nation. I think of the work of my sisters in that undertaking, all of whom have been involved-whether Special Olympics or Very Special Arts or other programs in which they have all been involved.

We still believe in the importance of public service and the honor, the high honor that one has in elective office. There are many of those who dismiss that concept as an old-fashioned viewpoint, but I think any of us who have read the history of this Nation and who understood its history know there is no higher personal honor than to have that opportunity.

More fun with the Congressional Record

Yes, gentle readers, it's been quite some time since an update. But don't think I've been hardly workin'! There's been govdocs galore around these parts, and now I'd like to share.

Say you want to look up something in the Congressional Record. Say it's a remark a Senator or Congressperson made. Say it took place in the 1940s, a period of time for which the CR does not exist electronically. What would you do?

If you answered: ask my friendly government information reference librarian, you'd be on your way! But let's say your friendly government information reference librarian was trapped under a pile of Current Industrial Reports, then what would you do?

Well, I'll tell you.

First, it will help to know that Gelman has the CR upstairs on the third floor, in microfilm. This will require you to do your research old school style, but most of you are wearing your vintage Air Jordans and dressing like Molly Ringwald from Pretty in Pink anyway, so you should be down with that. You would probably want to start with the index for that year, so you could find the exact issue and pages of the CR you need.

Next, you would load the reel of film onto the microfilm reader (those machines that look like they might be a computer but don't seem to have a keyboard that are right in the front of the third floor... by the red help me phone). Locate the pages you need and the corresponding reel of film, and load that onto the machine (wait! take off the other real first!). Find your pages, and print 'em off!

Sounds like a piece of cake, right? Right!

Of course, if the CR you need is from 1985 and beyond, you can always check out the Lexis Nexis Congressional database in the ALADIN Research Portal. But then, you wouldn't be able to brag that you did your research totally 80s style.

it has begun!

The season is finally here! As of yesterday, the theater that is the American Presidential Election has raised it's curtain. After Iowa, it's New Hampshire and South Carolina... but then what? When is my primary? Well, look up your state on this list from the Federal Elections Commission to find out.

Now, you just need to register to vote. Perhaps you already are, thanks to the National Voter Registration Act (a.k.a. "Motor Voter"), but remember students: unless you change your residency to the District of Columbia, you gotta do it by absentee ballot. Check for your state on this list here to make sure you are on the rolls for your primary and the general election in November!

Happy voting, people... if you don't do it, you can't complain!

Iran's nuclear capabilities

As you may have read in today's Post, Iran's halted nuclear program is causing concern. Here is the 9-page, unclassified report--Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities, as compiled by the US Office of National Intelligence.

elections!

Even though we're already sick of hearing about what we'll be doing on 11/4/2008, Grace York, University of Michigan's Government Documents Librarian and her trusty staff have compiled this Elections 2008 guide-- everything you ever wanted to know about running for higher office!

love in the time of terrorism

Hot out of the FBI and Justice Department's hands is the latest reportage of terrorism activities in the US: Terrorism 2002-2005. It's been published since the mid-1980s, which is quite useful if you'd like to see how America has approached this issue before and after 9/11. Very useful information, particularly pertaining to how these two agencies define terrorism.

wash your hands!!

This morning's news roundup included a little tidbit about how staph infections are now the new superbug. Being that I hate being a slave to my hand sanitizer, I decided to see what information might be available from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, nothing on their home page seems to address this topic, or at least obviously, as I was hoping they might do (considering this bug kills more people a year than AIDS, at least, according to the Today Show). And I was also a bit disappointed that the Post's own links to the CDC from this article didn't even include this particular government entity, at all. What gives? I'm afraid that the time it takes me to find this overview of resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, it might be too late.

alms for the Census

We're fast approaching a year ending in a zero, which means: it's Decennial Census time! And, according to the New York Times, the most well-known and mandatory survey in the land is already underfunded: "Whether by intention or neglect, the Bush administration omitted the census from a list of several activities that needed to be exempted from that limit."

Way back when he was running for president the first time, Bush the second let it be known that he probably wouldn't fill out the long form, either, but hopefully somebody reminded him that it's actually illegal to neglect to do so.

homeland security strategy, 2007 version

The White House's latest Homeland Security Strategy is out and it's here. Anybody up for annotating the differences between this one and the last one?

govgab

USA.gov, America's Home Page, has introduced Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog. It's a new feature written by what seems to be five different people (a new blogger for each day of the work week). Entries seem to be mildly entertaining (check out what Nancy has to say about copyright-free images), to somewhat useful (Marybeth provides good-to-know info about international travel), to unfortunately boring (Monday blogger Jake opens with: "I look forward to writing, but I didn’t really know what to do my first blog about..." um, get to the point, Jake). Not sure what the point of it all is. I mean, who wants to read a blog about government information. Oh, wait...

Law Library of Congress

In celebration of Constitution Day yesterday, the Library of Congress relaunched it's Law Library of Congress website. This portal for the place (it's up on the Hill, folks, so don't hesitate to make a visit if it's research of the legal kind you're up to) is a plethora of all sorts of national and international legal information. Links to useful documents are provided, such as the U.S. Code, and some selected hearings... an interesting way to track our nationa's legal progress.

government information in the news

This week's news has been dominated by the National Intelligence Estimate on the Status on the Stability of Iraq. A regular report issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, it caused quite a stir this week-- Senator John Warner (R-Va) recommended a pull out of troops, and even the president realized the correlation between Iraq and Vietnam.

Government Documents In Crisis

Our hearts in DC goes out to the folks in Minneapolis, particularly our librarian colleagues at University of Minnesota (the law school's location is right near the 35W bridge collapse). Amy West, the Data Services Librarian at U of M has posted this list of government reports continually referred to by the news media.

cybercensus?

Senator Tom Coburn has voiced his opinion that the 2010 Census should be conducted on-line. According to an article on FCW.com, the Senator from Oklahoma is appauled at the Census Bureau's lack of vision when it comes to being able to utilize the internet for the country's largest (and required!) survey. Perhaps he didn't realize that the head of the bureau is uncomfortable with the security of the format (Title 13, anybody?). Or, maybe he and Ted Stevens of Alaska got to talking in the cafeteria one day.

govdocs lite

Not all government publications are serious. While Congress and the Supreme Court are getting down to the end of their sessions, let's take a gander at Senate Document 109-19: A Botanic Garden for the Nation, the United States Botanic Garden. Like most on-line docs, the PDFs can get out of hand, but at least they're nice to look at.

The US Botanic Garden sits in the shadow of the Capitol, 100 Maryland Avenue, SW, and check 'em out on line at www.usbg.gov. Take your next house/dorm guest!

blogit

A new site from the GSA (the Government Services Administration (i.e. that building down the street from Thurston) compiles government agency blogs that are actually... interesting!! While the list is paltry (at best), the ten blogs listed cover current events from the Peace Corps, the Smithsonian, and even the flu panedemic.

Virginia Tech Presidential Report

Long time no update! There's been some summer colds and some vacation here in Gelman Govdocs land, but we'll make up for that in the next few weeks, with with lots of Govdocs frenzy before sessions are out for summer.

Today's post brings you a newly published tome on what happened in Blacksburg this past spring: Report to the President on Issues Raised by the Virginia Tech Tragedy. Published by the Department for Health and Human Services, the report is a joint effort from DHHS, the Department of Education, and the Justice Department. The report does not investigate the incident, but merely serves as recommendations on how to avoid such a devastating tragedy in the future.