Didn't get your Census form?


Beginning April 12, 2010, you should call the Telephone Questionnaire
Assistance center at one of the numbers listed below to obtain a
questionnaire. The phone lines will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (your
local time) seven days a week through July 30, 2010.

* English 1-866-872-6868
* Spanish 1-866-928-2010
* Chinese 1-866-935-2010
* Korean 1-866-955-2010
* Vietnamese 1-866-945-2010
* Russian 1-866-965-2010

For the hearing-impaired, dial TDD 1-866-783-2010 (during the times
noted above.)

Have questions about the new health care legislation?

Click here for the text of the legislation as well as discussion of it in the Congressional Record. See a break-down of votes here too.

C-Span archives available online

Check out the New York Times article about C-Span's archives here.

Check out the archives here.

A new, easier way to search the Federal Register.

Check out govpulse.us. It's "a fast, easy-to-use, open-source interface to the Federal Register. In addition to the features provided by Regulations.gov, GovPulse.us provides a variety of visualizations by topic and agency. Further, GovPulse.us is location-aware, making it possible to easily find articles that mention areas that interest you. Citations in the full text are analyzed and hyperlinked, so for any given topic or agency
you can see the most cited articles, or for any article see at a glance everything that cites it. Powerful search functionality allows you to drill down to what you're interested in--and then subscribe to the
results via RSS."

Nevada Legislature Special Session

Here's the link for bill tracking though the legislature's special session.

Government applications for your iPhone

This website suggests some government apps for your iPhone if you've got one!

Check it out!

The Economic Report of the President, 2010 is now available from the U.S. Government Printing Office. It is issued by the Executive Office of the President and the Council of Economic Advisers and transmitted to Congress no later than ten days after the submission of the Budget of the United States Government.

The Economic Report of the President includes:

1. Current and foreseeable trends and annual numerical goals concerning topics such as employment, production, real income, and Federal budget outlays;

2. Employment objectives for significant groups of the labor force;

3. Annual numeric goals;

4. And a program for carrying out program objectives.

Also included is the Annual Report of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Each year, the Council of Economic Advisers submits this report on its activities during the previous calendar year in accordance with the requirements of Congress as set forth in section 10(d) of the Employment Act of 1946 as amended by the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978.

The Economic Report of the President is available from GPO's Federal Digital System at: http://fdsys.gpo.gov. Documents are available in ASCII text and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF).

Obama issues order on document classification.

"...the new Order adopts a number of additional changes in standards, procedures, and deadlines designed to promote greater openness and transparency in the Federal Government’s classification and declassification programs. "

Space Nutrition: a government document for kids

Check out this fun and extensive government document put out by NASA that teaches elementary school children all about space, astronauts, and the effects of going into space on the body. It's complete with word games and fun facts!

Check out all the newsletter here!

New U.S. Government Manual available online.

"As the official handbook of the Federal Government, the United States Government Manual provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. It also includes information on quasi-official agencies, international organizations in which the United States participates, and boards, commissions, and committees. The Manual begins with reprints of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The new edition of the Manual is available annually in late summer."

Check it out here.

A government document for kids....

Government documents are created for all kinds of users. Here, check out an example of an informative set of pages about water put together by the U.S. Geological Survey; it covers the basics of water use, questions about the water cycle, diagrams, a glossary, and lots of links. Check it out here!

U.S. Department of Education publication

Interested in finding out more about available education programs?

"The guide contains a succint profile of more than 225 programs, with information on funding amount and number of grant awards available, a program description, types of projects and more.

"Information on appropriations and awards for programs that receive funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is included as well. Among programs profiled are those intended for pre-K through adult education levels, including elementary and secondary, postsecondary, career and technical, as well as programs with an emphasis on federal student aid, international education, safe and drug-free schools, school improvement, and special education and rehabilitation."

Check out the PDF version of this new document here.

Notable Government Documents in Library Journal

"Each year the Notable Documents Panel of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) selects about 40 titles issued by intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and governments at all levels (foreign national, and U.S. federal, state, and local). Works in all formats are fair game, as are items published for IGOs and governments by private publishers. What’s the point of all this? To raise the profile of government information."

Take a look at a discussion of some of last year's notable documents here.

The bipartisan Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism has released a new report. The report "The Clock is Ticking: A Progress Report on America's Preparedness to Prevent Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism" looks at the US government's attempts to address threats and their assessment is that the US is failing to address its most urgent threat - bioterrorism.

The report can be found directly at http://www.preventwmd.gov/static/docs/report/WMDRpt10-20Final.pdf or from the Commission's website -- http://www.preventwmd.gov/

Their earlier report "World at Risk" can be found at http://www.preventwmd.gov/report/

WASHOE COUNTY WINS national DIGITAL GOVERNMENT AWARD

Washoe County has been recognized as a winner for its use of technology in the national Center for Digital Government’s 2009 Digital Counties Survey in the 250,000 to 499,000 population category.

The 2009 Digital Counties Survey is an annual study by the Center and the National Association of Counties (NACo), which identifies best practices and recognizes those counties with exemplary digital service to their citizens by embracing new technologies to involve citizens, moving toward transparent government and increasing green and sustainable measures, while continuing to improve online services.

“Our County Commission and employees recognize the power of technology in meeting the public service needs of our community,” Washoe County Manager Katy Simon observed. “Citizens expect their local governments to provide services 24/7 through the use of technology, and this national award recognizes Washoe County’s progress toward meeting those expectations.”

Please visit www.washoecounty.us to learn more about Washoe County services. For more information about the Digital Counties Survey, please visit: www.centerdigitalgov.com/

The October 2009 issue of the NTIS Technical Reports Newsletter is now available from http://www.ntis.gov/pdf/ntrnews2-4.pdf.

In this issue we feature the NTIS subject categories Problem Solving Information for State & Local Governments (43), Communication (45), Computers, Control & Information Theory (62), and Administration & Management (70).

Previous issues of the Newsletter are available from http://www.ntis.gov/rss/NTRnews.aspx.

Keep up with the newest information available from NTIS on a daily basis by following us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ntisinfo.

The 2nd annual LSCM Year in Review has been released and addresses topics including digitization, strategic planning, the ILS, authentication, automated metadata extraction, marketing, the FDLP Desktop, the Federal Depository Library Handbook, and more.

The 2009 LSCM Year in Review is available electronically on the FDLP Desktop at <http://www.fdlp.gov/component/docman/doc_download/1067-lscm-fy2009-year-in-review>

House takes step toward opening the CRS

From ALA.

Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) recently introduced a bill, H.R. 3762, into the House of Representatives to make published Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports available to the public via the Internet.

More than $100 million tax dollars are spent each year to fund CRS, which generates detailed reports for Congressional lawmakers and their staff. This bipartisan legislation, introduced with fellow freshman Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ), would make published CRS reports available to the public in an effort to increase transparency and help citizens become more informed and engaged advocates.

This recent House activity complements Senate Resolution 118, introduced by Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) in April 2009.

Government websites receives recognition from RUSA.

A few government websites were highlighted in RUSA's Best Reference Web Sites of 2009.

RUSA says of the EPA site, "Well organized, very interactive, and full of information for all, the EPA site offers news, local information, teacher resources, multimedia (videos, photos, audios), resources, and even a trivia quiz, all accessible from the homepage. The “For Youth” section includes tabs for elementary, middle, and high school students while “Work with Us” offers career, grant, and contract information. The site shows lots of depth, too, with navigation tabs for “Learn the Issues”, “Science & Technology”, “Laws & Regulations”, “Newsroom”, and “About EPA”; each is a treasure trove of information in itself, adding to the usefulness and comprehensiveness of the site. "

Check out the page here.

RUSA says of the White House site: "With prominent links to the President’s Weekly Address, the National Budget, and the economic recovery plan, the searchable site also provides links for both current news (“The Briefing Room”), the administration’s “Agenda” (nicely narrowed by topic), and ways to learn about “Our Government”, especially the Executive Branch. “The Administration” lists the President, First Lady, Cabinet members, White House Staff and even the Vice-President and his wife; “About the White House” tours the building itself and its former residents, Air Force One, and Camp David. "

Check out the page here.

RUSA says of the World Health Organization site: "The web site of the World Health Organization (WHO) tracks current international health emergencies and disease outbreaks, and offers extensive information on diseases and health issues affecting the global population. Visitors to the site will find an interactive Global Health Atlas with mapping interface, statistical databases covering the health status of each WHO member country, and full-text access to WHO’s publications, including journals, reports, and bulletins. The web site’s Fact Sheets provide excellent overviews of various international health topics and are an ideal resource for high-school and college students beginning their research. "

Check out the page here.

Check out RUSA's other Best Reference Sites here.

The White House, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives' Office of the Federal Register (OFR) achieved a breakthrough in making Government information available and usable by the public. GPO converted the text of the Federal Register (2000-2009) into XML (extensible markup language) and placed it online in numerous Federal Government portals, which include: GPO's Federal Digital System <www.fdsys.gov>, The Federal Register Web site <www.federalregister.gov> and the Government's new portal for Government data <www.data.gov>. This project began when President Barack Obama challenged Federal agencies to create a more open and transparent Government. GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys), a world-class information management system for Federal publications, is instrumental in enabling this enhanced capability for the Federal Register.

"The transformation, undertaken by the Government Printing Office and the National Archives and Records Administration, vastly increases the Federal Register's usefulness to the American public and further opens the curtains on the inner workings of Government, a major goal of the Obama Administration," said Beth Noveck, Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government.

The change supplements the official publishing formats with XML, a form of text that can be manipulated in virtually limitless ways with digital applications. For example, people who want to know about the workings of the Executive branch of the Federal Government no longer need to sift through the Federal Register in its traditional Department-by-Department and Agency-by-Agency format. This new format will allow applications to be developed that will support user needs and can rearrange the Federal Register's contents in personalized ways to match their particular interests. It will be possible, for example, to download the Federal Register and easily see what proposed actions might affect one's community or region, or what actions might have an impact on one's profession or business interests.

"Providing ten years of Federal Register data in a format that is easy to manipulate is an exciting and ground-breaking development," said Ray Mosley, Director of the Federal Register. "This paves the way for consumers, rather than Government officials to be in charge of deciding how to access critical information. The Government Printing Office and the Office of the Federal Register accomplished a minor miracle in warp-speed time."

"I want to congratulate GPO employees who worked with The White House and the Office of Federal Register in providing the American people the tools to provide openness and transparency to the documents of our democracy," said Public Printer Bob Tapella. "GPO's Federal Digital System not only provides transparency to our Government, but provides Americans a permanent repository of authentic Federal Government information."
We look forward to seeing all of the new digital applications created by resourceful citizens using the XML files. You can access the Federal Register Bulk Data Repository at <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/bulkdata/FR>. Let us know about any new applications you discover using the XML files and what you think about this initiative by posting your comments on the blog.