A New CU Boulder Libraries News Blog

The University Libraries at CU Boulder are very pleased to announce the launch of a brand new, libraries-wide weblog that provides all-in-one access to news about events, collections, workshops, and services from all parts of the CU system.

The CU Libraries blog is available at http://libpress.colorado.edu.

Visit the new CU Libraries News blog

The blog for the Government Information Library at CU Boulder has been a great success, but we are equally excited to share the same kinds of posts we've written in the past --whether highlighting how government information informs or is produced by current events, or exploring interested sources from within our collections -- within this new blog to bring these highlights to an entirely new audience.

To subscribe to the new blog, visit http://libpress.colorado.edu.

If you'd like to follow only news at the Libraries blog from Government Information, then you'll want to bookmark this link:  http://libpress.colorado.edu/?cat=5

We will continue to update this blog for the next few weeks, and it's archive will remain available here.  When the GIL bloggers have moved over to the new platform fully, another announcement will appear on this site.

Thanks for following us along on a new adventure in blogging!

We're Not the Only Ones Worried About the Census

Census Project presents the viewpoints about the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS) from various stakeholders.  A diverse group of stakeholders are involved including academic associations, public policy interest groups, retail and business organizations, and organizations representing ethnic and minority groups.

Recently the House voted not to fund the American Community Survey for 2013.  The Census Project  notes, "Currently, because of economic, fiscal and political challenges, the ongoing budgets to adequately fund planning for Census 2020 and the ACS’ ongoing work will be under a microscope in Congress."

The site includes fact sheets, issue briefs, letters, and other information.  A recent report, Eliminating America's Playbook, is a compilation of "scores of case studies and comments on why the ACS is one of the most useful tools the nation has to measure how its communities are doing each year."

Check it out!

El Nino--Keep Your Fingers Crossed

Last night for the first time in months we had a nice amount of rain in Boulder.  According to the Boulder Daily Camera, "Experts say Colorado's weather is likely to shift to a much wetter El Niño pattern this year, which could mean good news for firefighters, farmers and those just sick of hot, dry weather."  The experts are at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) facility in Boulder.  Understanding and predicting El Niño is so important to predicting the weather and climate that the phenomenon has its own website:  http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/.  Weather and climate have profound and sometimes surprising effects.  The latest research suggests a link between El Niño and the global flu pandemic of 1918/19 which killed over 50 million individuals worldwide.

According to the site "El Niño is characterized by unusually warm temperatures and La Niña by unusually cool temperatures in the equatorial Pacific." The site features a link to a YouTube video explaining how NOAA collects data on ocean temperatures using sea buoys.

Collecting Data from An Ocean Buoy

In addition to information that is too technical for most people to understand, the site features educational materials about El Niño and the related La Niña phenomenon.  Check it out. 

 

Oops--Not a good day for CNN and Fox

Gary He Photoshopped a photo of Truman triumphantly displaying the newspaper which errorneously reported on his loss.  This time it's President Obama with an iPad.

CNN and Fox, in a rush to announce the results of the Supreme Court decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, announced on live television that the mandate for individual health insurance was unconstitutional.  Both got it wrong.   Corrections and amusement followed quickly on the heels of this major gaffe.   On the Daily Show, Jon Stewart observed that you need to read beyond the first page.   The complete opinion is available at the Supreme Court website.  All 905 pages of the act are available at FDsys--GPO's Federal Digital System.  Happy reading. 

Your House is Worth Less and So (Probably) are You

If you didn't know already, the Federal Reserve has confirmed that your net worth declined between 2007 and 2010.   Net worth is defined at the total value of assets such as homes, bank deposits and stocks, minus debts such as mortgages and credit cards. The biggest factor in the decline was the drop in home values.  Adjusted for inflation, family net worth is the same as it was in 1992.  Achy Breaky Heart or Remember the Time anyone?  The complete report is online at http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/bulletin/2012/pdf/scf12.pdf.