San Francisco Earthquake Anniversary Today is the anniversary of the Great San Francisco earthquake and resulting fire. Learn what happened with archival photos, movies and eyewitness stories aggregated in this web site. http://www.awesomestories.com/disasters/san_francisco/san_francisco_ch1.htm Examine the U.S. Geological Survey maps of the quake itself - the shaking was recorded halfway around the world at the Gottingen observatory in Germany - plus USGS maps of current California and Nevada quakes, updated hourly. Group access to the site is free for all schools, libraries and educators. Obtain group access with this form. It is also free for library patrons, individual students, their parents and members of the general public. Select an individual password with this form. The site's privacy policy is strictly enforced.

Environmental Impact Statements Environmental Impact Statements can be found full-text on the EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP) Go to their advanced search and type "final environmental impact statement"--be sure to select exact phrase and uncheck hardcopy publications. You might need to check additional dates as well.

Armed Forces Medical Library Closing ? A letter from Patrick R. Walz Hello! I am a Tech Info Specialist at the Army Surgeon General's Armed Forces Medical Library. We are currently in a battle to save our Library which has been an esteemed part of the US Military Medical Corps since 1836. We perform research for the Surgeons General of all the Military Branches, as well as soldiers overseas in Germany, Great Britain, Iraq and Afghanistan. Recently, the Military has been forced to make some budget cuts, and as is usually the case, the "easy target" library has come under the microscope. We were suddenly and inexplicably placed under a highly aggressive "work-group" comprised of Lean Six-Sigma-ready business ninjas. They want to close/move/consolidate or minimize our already scant resources. As is always the case, our customers know the value of the Library. We've already received official letters, memos, testimonials etc... from a wide-range of military historians, commanders, executive officers and researchers, but it seems to be not enough. FY 06 marked the closings of nation-wide EPA Libraries and the Air Force has decided to close all of its Medical Libraries. We're getting a little freaked out. We must prove to the current bureaucracy that after 171 years, we are still an asset to the organization. We have a plan of attack, we're wearing out a copy of MAKING THE CASE FOR YOUR LIBRARY. What we lack is information. That's all this workgroup wants. Graphs, charts, spreadsheets and death by PowerPoint. If we could argue the entire case using ones and zeros we'd be in good shape. We are hoping that you may have researched, or know someone who has researched the impact of closing a library. We'd like to know the cost differences between reciprocal document delivery and independent research contractors. Physical Librarian vs.. 100% automated databases. The bosses are looking for short-term cost avoidance, and if they can save FY07 funds by canning the Library they won't hesitate. We wouldn't ask you for this if we had time to compile the data, but we don't have time. They want everything immediately. It's like an information ambush: defend your library with some annual usage stats that mean nothing to the workgroup and a wet noodle. Good luck! If you have any research or know anyone that's recently fought the good fight, the help would be greatly appreciated. I was the Director of Medical Library in Germany prior to my coming here. I lost that fight and the library there is no more. Many thanks! Patrick R. Walz Technical Information Specialist Armed Forces Medical Library 5109 Leesburg Pike, Room 670 Falls Church, VA 22041 E-mail: Patrick.Walz@tma.osd.mil Phone: 703-681-8028; FAX: 703-681-8034 Armed Forces Medical Library

New GAO Report on FOIA The GAO released a report today on FOIA entitled "Processing Trends Show Importance of Improvement Plans." [PDF] From the "Highlights" page: The improvement plans submitted by the 25 agencies mostly included goals and timetables addressing the four areas of improvement emphasized by the Executive Order: eliminating or reducing any backlog of FOIA requests; increasing reliance on dissemination of records that can be made available to the public without the need for a FOIA request, such as through posting on Web sites; improving communications with requesters about the status of their requests; and increasing public awareness of FOIA processing. Most of the plans (20 of 25) provided goals and timetables in all four areas; some agencies omitted goals in areas where they considered they were already strong. Although details of a few plans could be improved, all the plans focus on making measurable improvements and form a reasonable basis for carrying out the goals of the Executive Order.