How Much is Your Congressman Worth?

Today the Sunlight Foundation launched Fortune535 -  a way to track the net worth of your Members of Congress (as taken from their financial disclosure statements).  As the site says, “So take what follows with a boulder-sized grain of salt: It’s all based on information from the seriously flawed disclosure system used by members of Congress.”

However, it’s still fun to play with - the Alabama lawmakers are listed in order of their 2006 net worth (from highest, Sen. Richard Shelby, to lowest, Rep. Artur Davis.)  Their 2006 net worth is compared with their 1995 net worth (if available) - and if their first disclosure form was filed before 1995 and after 1978, that information is available as a PDF. (Note: they weren’t required to type the forms, so some of the handwriting can take a bit of time to interpret!)

Goat Management Field Day - Saturday

Tomorrow the Tuscaloosa County Extension Office will be conducting a goat management field day from 10-3, at Abby Farms.  According to a Tuscaloosa News article on the topic, more people in West Alabama are raising goats, leading to an increase in calls to the Office, so they decided to host a workshop.  The day’s activities will include “presentations and demonstrations to address healthcare and nutrition, management and marketing, hoof trimming and basic care for meat goats.”  The event is open to the public, and free.

Each county in the state has an extension office.  The Tuscaloosa County Office’s annual report is available on their web site - it’s pretty interesting all of the activities that the Extension Office does!  In fact, the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service web site contains a great deal of information on agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture, and even the Master Gardeners program!

Happy Earth Day!

April 22nd is Earth Day in the U.S. In order to educate folks as to what they can do to ‘protect our planet’ the U.S. Government has set up an Earth Day portal.  The site includes information for students and teachers, volunteer opportunities, and information on what the Bush Administration is doing to further the goals of Earth Day.

Governor Riley has also proclaimed April 22, 2008 to be Earth Day in the state of Alabama.  While I can’t find much about it on state agency web sites, I did come across the publication “Celebrate Earth Day with ADEM - Today and Everyday!“

For more on the history of Earth Day, visit the EPA’s site.

Food Inspection site

Last week, in cooperation with county health departments, the Alabama Department of Public Health launched a new web site on food establishment scores.  The site allows you to search for restaurants or other food establishments and retrieve their latest inspection score, as well as a map to the establishment.
The site also educates consumers on how to interpret the inspection reports - including a guide to report scores.

DLC: GI21, 4/2 a.m.

Debra S. Van Tassel (DVT), Jennie Gerke (JG), Kirsten Clark (KC) [slides]

DVT:
For basic info, see brochure, webjunction site

Goals:
Develop a group of gov’t info pros who are available to train
- expand the base of library pros who have knowledge of and experience using e-gov resources
- increase level of satisfaction w/e-gov resources in mtg the info needs of their customers
- develop a new model for support and training of participants of the fdlp that can be adopted nationally

21 subject modules on webjunction

tried to customize training as much as possible for participants in session

training will continue through sept 2008

have trained 310 non-depository librarians/staff so far

some training at state/regional conferences, school district sessions, individual libraries and districts

Wyoming is developing webinars for their rural participants

Goal of 500 trained people by the end of the grant (September 200

JG: Preliminary data evaluation:

To evaluate training, do a pre- and post- test

‘how comfortable are you? How much do you think you know?

Comfort and knowledge levels don’t go up a ton, but there is interest in return sessions, more handouts, hands-on, etc. much happier with sessions in computer labs [being able to do, as opposed to being lectured to]

KC: next steps:

- Finish training sessions
- Final evaluation of data
- Grant funding ends sept 2008
- Final report to imls

How can we spread this out across the country?

How will an additional grant add something new?

Collaboration between the fdlp libraries and regional networks

Ideas:
Developing implementation models based on different needs of regional networks
- way to incorporate into regional networks, some of whom need to make a profit?
- Creating new module content by providing region-specific training guides
- example, based on different population demographics

develop a 2nd training level for the current grant’s region

developing an evaluation program that measures gov’t info knowledge growth and behavioral change on a national level

testing the ability to coordinate a national program

working with gpo, state professional associations, other national and local groups

DVT:
Why isn’t UColorado taking this forward?
- new people, priorities shifting.

Kirsten is taking this forward at Minnesota, leading the discussion
- strong relationship with regional network (minitex); is also a regional fdl

How can we take this forward?

Small group discussion; not sure if notes will be made available online.

DLC: GPO responses to Council Recs, 4/2 a.m.

[fall recs and gpo responses] [got here late, so missed fdsys discussion]

web harvesting:

need to update t44 to reflect changing nature of information

learn from state activities

what’s the deal with the lockss project? still have partners with caches.

ted priebe:

lockss content is on permanent archive; need to reach out to partners in terms of their role.

sandee mc: but is gpo still interested in multiple site preservation for digital materials, even if it’s not lockss?

ric davis: yes, gpo is still interested. lockss may still be the solution.

PAA:

council commends gpo’s activities. are there other concerns from the community that council needs to take into account?

kathy hale: like the idea of gpo developing a checklist as to what elements will be assessed.

michele mck: needs to be a way to ask what ppl want to do/are planning to do, not just what we’ve always been doing. in academic community, the term assessment has a different connotation. assessment shouldn’t just be the letter of the law.

arlene weible: agree with michele. concerns about info received re: process. assumption that you’re a good depository if you have info on your web site about the depository. just as good if all of your items cataloged, vs. having a logo on the web site. we have a lot of creative ways to provide access to this, and it’s not about putting — behind the logo. urge council to — develop criteria, it’s not something that’s hard and fast, but a dialogue. [not everyone has free reign on web site.]

kathy brazee: we do look at the whole picture. biennial survey questions 28a,b,c - we asked dep coords to fill in up to 5 entries re: public services and activites that you do. we’re interested in what you do. easy to look at web pages, but we’re looking at all of your activities and services. assessments are individual, and are based on legal and program requirements.

the more specific requirements we have, the less flexibility there is in the program.

checklist for assessment, but self-study will also be updated, with more info about activities, etc.

sandee mc: need some statements about regional services, and talk to selectives about what their expectations are

kathy brazee: would encourage the regionals to take a look at the focus — access and services paper; is specific info for regionals as well as selectives

outcomes-based program, so looking at feedback about each individual library.

barbie selby: agree re: plans and future things. when i talk to my selectives, i want to know what their expectations are of me. helps to have something to aspire to, so idea of checklist and suggestions are helpful.

kirsten clark: re: user comment form: - what do we want to get out of that? specific to the depository library? way to gpo to have public comment on the program itself?

kathy brazee: newer emblems being sent out, there’s a 1-800 # that goes to gpo help center. idea is to show partnership between fdls and gpo; ability to send comments, complaints, compliments, etc. will be testing on a voluntary basis at first.

partnerships, future fdlp:

doesn’t make sense to discuss this when the next session is following this one.

john shuler: any reaction from regionals re: discussion of last night?

cindy etkin: discussion at regionals mtg revolved around letter from jcp. letter specifically requested information on conditions [organizational, financial, technological] and meeting was focused on brainstorming in these areas.

shuler: might want to draw on data from pew [public libraries - aka uiuc study]

denise davis: offered more current library data

kathy hale: regionals were tasked to go back to our admins and provide additional data - how this will affect the public access to gov’t info if regionals aren’t allowed flexibility. letter will go out to all directors, cc’ing dep coordinators

DLC: ILS and FDLD update, 4/1 a.m.

Linda Resler, GPO [slides]

march 9, 2008 cgp turned 2

most common searches: hazardous waste, federal register, cfr, code of federal regulations, grants

have implemented a citrix solution for more secure(?) staff side of aleph

have been working on workflow for brief bib records for a while. currently staff are creating brief bibs for special projects such as epa harvest

implemented initiatives:

new fdld: locate in a library, admin module, public view

public view released last month. replaces printed directory and pdf file that’s been updated. will also replace fbb files. public has fewer options than depository coordinators [admin module]

[fdld handout]

access to cgp via z39.50

- were asked to add item number as bib-1 search attribute. this has been done.

- additional search hints available (esp. for SuDocs) on fdlp.gov

lots of good info - setup, faq, in the proceedings of the 2008 conference.

CGP via Z39.50 configuration handout

Z39.50 FAQ Handout

initiatives for fy08:

- reelase of public interface for fdld

- enabling z39.50 access to cgp

- desktop access for staff

- upgrade of aleph software

- implementation of acquisitions, phase 1: monographic materials workflow changes/brief records

- authority control statement of work: trying to clean up authorities in order to enable cross-references

- cgp web interface enhancements: thinking about putting item number in brief record display and in new electronic titles

going forward:

- configuration of resources and page design for federated searching (metalib)

- configuration of circ module and set-up of fdls as patrons

- page design and implementation of a login page to give depositories access to authenticated services (such as saving records to e-shelf; save to pc)

- database maintenance and cleanup (requires change in mindset - used to working in oclc)

- serials mgmt with goal of checking in all active serial titles (roughly 5000) in multiple formats

- acquisitions, phase 2: moves off of legacy acquisitions mainframe

- cataloging of pre-1976 publications in aleph

Q&A:

tim Byrne: interesting most common searches. how successful are people with these? tried these searches to see what results were and was very disappointed. are you looking at how the catalog can be changed to improve the results? (ie, cfr does not retrieve code of federal regulations)

LR: haven’t really focused on this in the past; now that we have moved to v. 18 of aleph, and are working on database maintenance, is something that we’ll have to look at. are also thinking about adding nav bar at the top of the basic search box (??)

Chris Greer: with fdsys system, you’ve focused on off-the-shelf applications. functionalities in here seem similar to google earth, microsoft virtual earth approach. are you looking into these capabilities in place of custom design?

LR: my unit’s focus is on the bibliographic data and not … going forward we may be looking at this.
[note: am really tired of hearing about google]

JS: can you try and add cgp search to usa.gov?

Mary henney - u ark monticello:  z39.50 - my understanding is that a library would have access by downloading a client and take records out of cgp, then upload to library catalog. is that correct?

LR: yep. will probably take involvement from IT folks

Mike - U of Idaho: will this be compliant with endnote?

LR: you can; we’ve tested endnote, but you can configure all clients that have z39.50 capability (refworks, endnote, marcedit)

David Cismowski, CA state Library (DC):  print version is no longer being issued. are there plans to capture the information in the fdld? (historical research on names of depository coordinators, congressional districts, etc.)

LR: decision was made not to print. haven’t made plans for capturing that data. can export directory info from public view and from admin module - gpo sets the fields that can be exported (director’s name isn’t included, depository coordinator’s name, contact info isn’t either)

LH: statuses in directory - inactive, active, pending. that information is accessible, but status is changed.

DC: confused about performing maintenance directly in cgp as opposed to oclc. please explain how that’s going to work.

LR: catalogers now have to remember that they have their own db. will still be working in oclc, but aleph as well. one issue is brief records - how those will be uploaded to oclc, etc.

Cliff - OK dept of libs: when z39.50 access will be available for non-depository libraries?

LR: not sure, since we’ve only just released it to fdls. still have to work through some issues with that.

Kathy Hale: as a regional, it would be helpful to release the capability for us to do exports of our selectives into an excel spreadsheet (in fdld). (real-time, up-to-date list)

LR: can already export to excel, but allowing to select fields might take a bit more work.

Sandee Mc: is it possible to release the name of the regionals in the public view? depository coordinator names do not appear.

LR: depository libs have ability to view names, etc., in admin module. is restricted in public view.

Laurie Hall: Update of activities:

webtech notes: have 3-phased approach of converting that back to db. 1st phase is done, converting data to sql. looking for contractor to build db and admin module. will be integrated with desktop and have same look and feel as fdld.

pre-1976 shelflist: final stages of solicitation. can’t share too much, but should find out more in a week or so. project team at gpo is already put together - suzanne ebanues is project coordinator.

2 cataloging changes: both announced on fdlp-l

2 class change procedures - both announced on fdlp-l

supervisory content acquisitions librarian - looking for one. job posting is on gpo site (was posted on monday)

dtic/odu project: not much to announce. progress being made. defining templates and rules. spending a lot of time with internal workflows. still getting used to ILS, figuring out modules, functionality, etc.

looking to update cataloging guidelines before the end of this fiscal year.

rhm and lh are working on a digitization project - 200 docs from a california bureau of reclamation office. 70’s and 80’s - maps, contractor reports, etc. good small project to validate workflow for future digitization efforts.

LR: catalogers have been asking us about the enabling of 245 subfield h general ? (format). it’s now set to display - apparently makes it easier to determine what the title is. also, item status has been changed (distributed, not distributed, official use only) to make more sense for the gpo system.

Katrina: could you tell us more about federated search? what else is being searched?

LR: we’ll be setting other libraries up as targets. ~35 resources, still trying to define what we’ll be doing.

LH: possibly things such as info bridge, eric, other agency databases, etc.

Michele McKnelly: when those resources are configured, are you going to add to metalib knowledge base so that other libraries can activate them in their federated search? that would be very useful.

LH: yes.

question re: ask fdlp, for cataloging record: can the answer be highlighted rather than having to sift through everything in the message?

LH: is function of the software we’re using - will have to look into this. an upcoming change to ask gpo will be happening soon (might be some changes to public view)

Ted Priebe: we’ll look into that. one thing that should be happening is that you get the track of the message, but final answer should be at the top.

DLC: web 2.0 for gov’t agencies, 4/1 a.m.

Cindy Etkin, GPO [slides]

web 2.0: user rules

web 1.0: static

web 2.0: collaboration, remixing, user-generated data
federal agency issues: authenticity, security, control of info on external sites

how do you bring agency policies and procedures into this environment?

[technical difficulties, woo]

Brand Niemann (BN), Senior Enterprise Architect, EPA

[slides: part 1, part 2, part 3]

semanticommunity.net- wikis that epa uses

was embargoed prior to presentation - [why?] niemann retains author rights - guests have read-only access. [he took schedule & wiki-fied, as an example.]

wow. i really don’t need a demo of a wiki…this is getting painful.

this guy says ‘dialoguing’ way way too much

federal cio’s had web 2.0 conference last year.

why isn’t he showing how they’re using these tools, instead of demos of the tools? that’d be way more helpful…

who is the audience for the epa web 2.0 wiki? have to log in to read draft web 2.0 paper.

wonder who he thinks his audience is - who doesn’t know that metadata is data about data? hmm. really really really likes wikis.

nasa, jet propulsion lab - speaker name??

very excited - talking about 2nd life and how nasa is using it.

Alabama VA National Cemetery

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has chosen a name for the national cemetery to be built in Alabama - the Alabama VA National Cemetery.  Documents related to the new cemetery are available from the VA web site. A fact sheet on the ‘National Cemetery in the Birmingham Area‘ is included.

A listing of all VA National Cemeteries is also available. This Alabama VA National Cemetery will be the state’s third - behind the Fort Mitchell and Mobile National Cemeteries. (At first, I thought that this would be the only one in the state - that’s what the name implies.  But I was, of course, wrong.)

The addition of a national cemetery in Alabama is a result of the Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefits Act of 1999 (Public Law 106-117), which “required VA to establish six additional national cemeteries in areas of the United States in which the need for burial space is greatest.”

DLC: Public Access Assessments, 4/1 p.m.

Kathy Brazee (KB) [slides] [handout]

Public Access Assessments program focuses on public access requirements and is outcomes-based.

- includes focus on access, collections, and service

- can request a PAA - form under outreach & education on fdlp.gov

have hired a 2nd paa librarian at gpo

coming soon:

- paa chapter in fdlp handbook

- checklist corresponding to focus on access, collections, services

- will be used to review depositories; form will be available as part of paa documentation [does this mean that we'll get a chance to see it too?]

- there will be an online public feedback form. [for the general public - link from your web site. library use will be voluntary (at first?)]

- an update of the self-study [won't be required; will be a self-assessment resource]

test of paa processes in summer

scheduled assessments in winter 2009

- will be looking at ‘troubling’ responses from biennial survey, some libraries have volunteered

initial review process:

- review of biennial survey submission and web site

results:

report of satisfactory review provided to library; follow-up is needed; library requests onsite public access assessment

follow-up review:

- dep coordinator will be called;

- developing a checklist for regional librarians to take when visiting a library

possible results:

- review is satisfactory and report provided to library

follow-up is needed and library requested to take action and report back within a specific time frame

- follow -up is needed and onside paa is scheduled

- library requests paa

final review: onsite visit:

- satisfactory; report provided

[see slide]

paa scenarios: public access best practices

question #1: for each scenario, how would you address these situations to deliver free public access?

q #2: what are some barriers to implementation and how would you overcome these to provide for or enhance free public access?

scenario 1:

fdl has highly visible ‘real estate’ for dep. public svcs w/in the bldg and on the web site

a #2: barriers: library/docs person does not control what goes on web sites [steph braunstein]

michele mck: we’re moving away from web pages and towards federated searching; using info in particular subject categories, not necessarily gov’t info

arlene weible: potential barriers to a scenario like michele is the extent to which academic libraries put their information behind passwords/firewalls.

scenario 2: [see slide]

barriers: ensuring that all employees know what access policies are. ppl referring gov’t docs users specifically to docs folks [when they're not there all of the time]

overcome: make sure that policies are current and on web site/publicly available. better training re: depository issues. depository people needs to flatten out issues where possible.

paa is not an assessment of the depository coordinator, it’s an assessment of the library