- Statements from President Obama and Hu These are the statements made by both presidents this morning, their first official public statements. They met for a private dinner last night, although tonight brings a State Dinner.
- Live Stream of visit This page brings (when an event is happening) live video of the event. You can also watch archives of the events after they have occurred.
- Washington Post China State Visit This site provides links to all the breaking news coverage from the Washington Post on the visit.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
President Hu of China visits US
There are often visits from representatives to the US and representatives from the US visit countries all over the world. For example, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has visited 79 countries, traveling 450,137 miles (Travels with the Secretary). This week brings a state visit from President Hu of China to the United States. Interested in learning more? Check out these pages:
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
GAO Reports and Releases
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) which is often called the investigative arm of Congress. This set of publications from GAO investigates the military, education, data collection, and many other issues. If you would like to know more about GAO, check out the library's guide.Reports
- Defense Acquisitions: Opportunities Exist to Improve DOD's Oversight of Power Source Investments. GAO-11-113, December 30.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-113
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11113high.pdf - K-12 Education: Many Challenges Arise in Educating Students Who Change Schools Frequently. GAO-11-40, November 18.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-40
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1140high.pdf - Telecommunications: FCC's Performance Management Weaknesses Could Jeopardize Proposed Reforms of the Rural Health Care Program. GAO-11-27, November 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-27
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1127high.pdf - Public Health Information Technology: Additional Strategic Planning Needed to Guide HHS's Efforts to Establish Electronic Situational Awareness Capabilities. GAO-11-99, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-99
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1199high.pdf - Neighborhood Stabilization Program: HUD and Grantees Are Taking Actions to Ensure Program Compliance but Data on Program Outputs Could Be Improved. GAO-11-48, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-48
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1148high.pdf - Federal Lands: Adopting a Formal, Risk-Based Approach Could Help Land Management Agencies Better Manage Their Law Enforcement Resources. GAO-11-144, December 17.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-144
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11144high.pdf - K-12 Education: Selected Cases of Public and Private Schools That Hired or Retained Individuals with Histories of Sexual Misconduct. GAO-11-200, December 8.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-200
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11200high.pdf - Federal Work/Life Programs: Agencies Generally Satisfied with OPM Assistance, but More Tracking and Information Sharing Needed. GAO-11-137, December 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-137
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11137high.pdf - Information Sharing: DHS Could Better Define How It Plans to Meet Its State and Local Mission and Improve Performance Accountability. GAO-11-223, December 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-223
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11223high.pdf - Recovery Act: Head Start Grantees Expand Services, but More Consistent Communication Could Improve Accountability and Decisions about Spending. GAO-11-166, December 15.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-166
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11166high.pdf
Podcast available - http://www.gao.gov/podcast/watchdog_episode_42.html - Statewide Transportation Planning: Opportunities Exist to Transition to Performance-Based Planning and Federal Oversight. GAO-11-77, December 15.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-77
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1177high.pdf - Nuclear Nonproliferation: Comprehensive U.S. Planning and Better Foreign Cooperation Needed to Secure Vulnerable Nuclear Materials Worldwide. GAO-11-227, December 15.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-227
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11227high.pdf - National Security: An Overview of Professional Development Activities Intended to Improve Interagency Collaboration. GAO-11-108, November 15.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-108
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11108high.pdf - 2010 Census: Data Collection Operations Were Generally Completed as Planned, but Long-standing Challenges Suggest Need for Fundamental Reforms. GAO-11-193, December 14.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-193
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11193high.pdf
podcast - http://www.gao.gov/podcast/watchdog_episode_41.html - 2010 Census: Key Efforts to Include Hard-to-Count Populations Went Generally as Planned; Improvements Could Make the Efforts More Effective for Next Census. GAO-11-45, December 14.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-45
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1145high.pdf - 2010 Census: Follow-up Should Reduce Coverage Errors, but Effects on Demographic Groups Need to Be Determined. GAO-11-154, December 14.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-154
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11154high.pdf - Information Security: National Nuclear Security Administration Needs to Improve Contingency Planning for Its Classified Supercomputing Operations. GAO-11-67, December 9.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-67
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1167high.pdf - Border Security: Additional Actions Needed to Better Ensure a Coordinated Federal Response to Illegal Activity on Federal Lands. GAO-11-177, November 18.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-177
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11177high.pdf - Defense Management: DOD Has a Rigorous Process to Select Corrosion Prevention Projects, but Would Benefit from Clearer Guidance and Validation of Returns on Investment. GAO-11-84, December 8.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-84
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1184high.pdf - Charter Schools: Education Could Do More to Assist Charter Schools with Applying for Discretionary Grants. GAO-11-89, December 7.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-89
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1189high.pdf - Agricultural Chemicals: USDA Could Enhance Pesticide and Fertilizer Usage Data, Improve Outreach, and Better Leverage Resources. GAO-11-37, November 4.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-37
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1137high.pdf - Military and Veterans Disability System: Pilot Has Achieved Some Goals, but Further Planning and Monitoring Needed. GAO-11-69, December 6.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-69
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d1169high.pdf - Maritime Security: Ferry Security Measures Have Been Implemented, but Evaluating Existing Studies Could Further Enhance Security. GAO-11-207, December 3.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-207
Highlights - http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11207high.pdf
- Defense Acquisitions: Realizing Savings under Different Littoral Combat Ship Acquisition Strategies Depends on Successful Management of Risks, by Paul Francis, managing director, acquisition and sourcing management, before the Senate Committee on Armed Services. GAO-11-277T, December 14.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-277T
- DOD's 2010 Comprehensive Inventory Management Improvement Plan Addressed Statutory Requirements, But Faces Implementation Challenges. GAO-11-240R, January 7.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-240R - Long-Term Care Hospitals: Differences in Their Oversight Compared to Other Types of Hospitals and Nursing Homes. GAO-11-130R, November 30.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-130R - Medicare: CMS Needs to Collect Consistent Information from Quality Improvement Organizations to Strengthen Its Establishment of Budgets for Quality of Care Reviews. GAO-11-116R, December 6.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-116R - Missile Defense: European Phased Adaptive Approach Acquisitions Face Synchronization, Transparency, and Accountability Challenges. GAO-11-179R, December 21.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-179R - Medicaid Outpatient Prescription Drugs: Estimated Changes to Federal Upper Limits Using the Formula under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. GAO-11-141R, December 15.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-141R - Defense Management: DOD Needs to Monitor and Assess Corrective Actions Resulting from Its Corrosion Study of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. GAO-11-171R, December 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-171R - B-2 Bomber: Review of the Air Force's Decision to Change Extremely High Frequency Satellite Communications Antennas. GAO-11-180R, December 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-180R - Export Controls: Agency Actions and Proposed Reform Initiatives May Address Previously Identified Weaknesses, but Challenges Remain. GAO-11-135R, November 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-135R - Quadrennial Homeland Security Review: 2010 Reports Addressed Many Required Elements, but Budget Planning Not Yet Completed. GAO-11-153R, December 16.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-153R - U.S. Department of Justice Declinations of Indian Country Criminal Matters. GAO-11-167R, December 13.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-167R - Navy's Proposed Dual Award Acquisition Strategy for the Littoral Combat Ship Program. GAO-11-249R, December 8.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-249R - Defense Transportation: Additional Information Is Needed for DOD's Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study 2016 to Fully Address All of Its Study Objectives. GAO-11-82R, December 8.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-82R - The Housing Assistance Council's Use of Appropriated Funds. GAO-11-189R, December 6.
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-189R
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a research agency of Congress and writes reports at Congress' request. These short reports (usually 10-40 pages long) cover recent topics of concern. This week brings us reports on the military, environment, energy, and much more. Although these reports are in the public domain, there is no central database available to the public. To get a copy of a CRS report, you can request it from your senator or representative. These reports were discovered by Open CRS and Secrecy News:
Not on campus but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.
- Accountable Care Organizations and the Medicare Shared Savings Program
- Criminal Prohibitions on the Publication of Classified Defense Information
- The Independent Payment Advisory Board
- Changes in Airport Passenger Screening Technologies and Procedures: Frequently Asked Questions
- North Korea’s 2009 Nuclear Test: Containment, Monitoring, Implications
- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: Background and Current Developments
- North Korea: U.S. Relations, Nuclear Diplomacy, and Internal Situation
- Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI)
- Securing America’s Borders: The Role of the Intelligence Community
- Hamas: Background and Issues for Congress
- U.S.-Australia Civilian Nuclear Cooperation: Issues for Congress
- Intelligence Estimates: How Useful to Congress?
- Classified Information Policy and Executive Order 13526
- Screening and Securing Air Cargo: Background and Issues for Congress
- Chemical Facility Security: Reauthorization, Policy Issues, and Options for Congress
- Reorganization of the Minerals Management Service in the Aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
- The EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement and Its Implications for the United States
- Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: The Fate of the Oil
- Keeping America’s Pipelines Safe and Secure: Key Issues for Congress
- American Jihadist Terrorism: Combating a Complex Threat
Not on campus but still want access to additional reports? The library has a guide linking to various additional sources of CRS reports.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
GPO Announces Google Partnership to Sell You Items It Provides Elsewhere For Free
The Government Printing Office announced on December 14 of this year a new partnership it has entered into with Google Books to sell -- "for the first time" -- "e-book format" versions of some of its more popular titles. According to the Press Release, the titles will appear in the Google ebookstore, "which can be searched, purchased and read on any connected device with a capable browser."
Remembering the Space Age ($7.99)
Borden's Dream: The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC ($7.99)
And this is the strange part: If you clicked on the links for these titles above you will quickly realise that there are freely and legally accessible electronic copies of these materials already available -- all of which are also able to be "read on any connected device with a capable browser." Which means that the GPO partnership with Google sells information that can be found freely online from GPO and other government sources, and in nearly identical formats.
The Google ebookstore does not specify the file formats offered for these for-sale books, though the Press Release's qualifier implies strongly that these are PDF files locked into the Google ebookstore interface, or as Google likes to call it, "the digital cloud." Which means that if you download the freely available copies of these publications, you will actually have greater options for access (i.e., offline access, unattached to any specific account, and infinitely transferable) than you will if you purchase them. In other words, this partnership makes no sense at all.
Of course, fans of the Federal Depository Library Program (in which CU Boulder is one of more than 1,000 participants) will already know that the government has a proud (and legally mandated) history of disseminating government information freely to the general public. The FDLP is one of the reasons why this blog exists. So it is a mystery as to why the GPO would actively undermine the FDLP, and seemingly prey upon any general lack of awareness, with no disclaimer provided, that these materials being sold are also very easily found for free in the same or an exceptionally similar digital format.
In short, the partnership between GPO and Google is puzzling to understand from any number of sides. But at least it came in time for Christmas.
Keeping America Informed. O RLY?
Publications mentioned specifically in the Press Release include the following, with their current price at the Google ebookstore noted and linked in parenthesis:
The Budget of the United States, Fiscal Year 2011 ($9.99)Remembering the Space Age ($7.99)
Borden's Dream: The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC ($7.99)
And this is the strange part: If you clicked on the links for these titles above you will quickly realise that there are freely and legally accessible electronic copies of these materials already available -- all of which are also able to be "read on any connected device with a capable browser." Which means that the GPO partnership with Google sells information that can be found freely online from GPO and other government sources, and in nearly identical formats.
The Google ebookstore does not specify the file formats offered for these for-sale books, though the Press Release's qualifier implies strongly that these are PDF files locked into the Google ebookstore interface, or as Google likes to call it, "the digital cloud." Which means that if you download the freely available copies of these publications, you will actually have greater options for access (i.e., offline access, unattached to any specific account, and infinitely transferable) than you will if you purchase them. In other words, this partnership makes no sense at all.
Of course, fans of the Federal Depository Library Program (in which CU Boulder is one of more than 1,000 participants) will already know that the government has a proud (and legally mandated) history of disseminating government information freely to the general public. The FDLP is one of the reasons why this blog exists. So it is a mystery as to why the GPO would actively undermine the FDLP, and seemingly prey upon any general lack of awareness, with no disclaimer provided, that these materials being sold are also very easily found for free in the same or an exceptionally similar digital format.
In short, the partnership between GPO and Google is puzzling to understand from any number of sides. But at least it came in time for Christmas.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Color Photographs of America, 1939-1943
In July of this year, The Denver Post's "Plog" photo blog presented a set of images from a remarkable 2006 exhibit from The Library of Congress: Bound for Glory: America in Color.
The set as a whole comes from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection whose photography project, spanning 1935-1944, was initially designed to monitor cash loans to farmers, and the construction of suburban communities. A second stage, according to the Library of Congress, "focused on the lives of sharecroppers in the South and of migratory agricultural workers in the midwestern and western states. As the scope of the project expanded, the photographers turned to recording rural and urban conditions throughout the United States and mobilization efforts for World War II."
Publications from and about the Farm Security Administration are available from the Government Information Library in Norlin Library.
The photos are notable for many reasons. Foremost, of course, they offer the opportunity to see the WWII-era States in color, which brings to a modern audience a sense of vibrancy and immediacy about the lives of Americans during the Second World War. In the selection highlighted by the Denver Post, there seems to be another conversation presented about the visibly segregated lives of Anglo and African Americans. Taken as a whole, the set is a valuable look into lives and habits from the country's not-too-distant past.
Some readers may find these pictures reminiscent of another set of color photographs from the early 20th Century, also presented by the LOC: The Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection was placed online by the Library of Congress in the early 2000's and features rare color imagery of the Russian Empire between 1905 and 1915.
The Denver Post's PLOG has previously featured other photographs culled from the National Archives and Library of Congress, including a set on American cities before 1950, and Ansel Adams's infamous photographs of the Japanese Internment Camps located in California during World War II. It's an excellent site to bookmark for future visits.
A woman and child near Natchitoches, LA, 1940
The set as a whole comes from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection whose photography project, spanning 1935-1944, was initially designed to monitor cash loans to farmers, and the construction of suburban communities. A second stage, according to the Library of Congress, "focused on the lives of sharecroppers in the South and of migratory agricultural workers in the midwestern and western states. As the scope of the project expanded, the photographers turned to recording rural and urban conditions throughout the United States and mobilization efforts for World War II."
Publications from and about the Farm Security Administration are available from the Government Information Library in Norlin Library.
The Whinery family in Pie Town, NM, 1940
The photos are notable for many reasons. Foremost, of course, they offer the opportunity to see the WWII-era States in color, which brings to a modern audience a sense of vibrancy and immediacy about the lives of Americans during the Second World War. In the selection highlighted by the Denver Post, there seems to be another conversation presented about the visibly segregated lives of Anglo and African Americans. Taken as a whole, the set is a valuable look into lives and habits from the country's not-too-distant past.
A city for any era: Chicago in 1943
Some readers may find these pictures reminiscent of another set of color photographs from the early 20th Century, also presented by the LOC: The Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Collection was placed online by the Library of Congress in the early 2000's and features rare color imagery of the Russian Empire between 1905 and 1915.
The Denver Post's PLOG has previously featured other photographs culled from the National Archives and Library of Congress, including a set on American cities before 1950, and Ansel Adams's infamous photographs of the Japanese Internment Camps located in California during World War II. It's an excellent site to bookmark for future visits.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)