Government Info Pro

Fourth of July 2009

USA.gov provides a bounty of tips and resources for the July 4th holiday from government sites.

Their Fourth of July Page covers everything from holiday recipes to travel safety.

Here's just a few of the categories they cover:

• Declaration of Independence – View the original at the National Archives
• Independence Day Celebrations in the National Parks
• Barbecue Safety – from the Agriculture Department
• Recipes from and for Americans
• National Mall Celebration
• State Fireworks Control Laws – What's permitted and prohibited
• Summer Health Tips – from the Federal Citizen Information Center
• Travel Safely

Have a fun and safe holiday!

Learning on Twitter

Twitter as a real time education tool? That's one of the reasons that I use it. In fact, Twitter is where I came across this article on Mashable highlighting the value of Twitter as a tool for keeping yourself educated: Twitter Professors: 18 People to Follow for a Real Time Education by Lon S. Cohen.

Twitter is one of the tools that I use to keep informed, to share, to keep in tune with what friends and colleagues are thinking, doing, and learning. I also use it to follow a wide spectrum of associations, businesses, government agencies, publications, non-profits, and individuals who have something to say that I believe will be of interest to me. You can also be entertained or be entertaining on Twitter. Occasionally, a tweet just provides that moment of levity that is so important in life. For instance, upon making an impulsive purchase earlier this year, I figured a little lighthearted tweet was in order. I summed up the impact of my purchase in this tweet:

Me to husband: Good News-you don't have to buy me chocolate for Valentine's Day. Bad News- there's a 5 ft tall etagere in the car. 2:29 PM Feb 8th from web

Aside from being a source for occasional amusement, Twitter gives you the opportunity to expand your network and your channels of learning by following a total customized list of individuals and entities that make sense to you. You can make it all personal and just follow friends if you prefer. Or, you can keep it all business and follow an amalgam of professional community leaders, publications, and organizations that are talking about matters important to you from a career perspective.

I prefer a mix of both. I think it keeps things more lively and makes it easier to draw across the different areas of life that interest you (personal, professional, the greater world, or your dearest avocations) and be informed about them all in one fell swoop.

Are you thinking about starting on Twitter but just don’t know where to start? Well, it’s very easy to set up a Twitter account and it’s free.

Need some ground rules? Check out The Twitter Guidebook over on Mashable.

And here's my Twitter pet peeve: no image or bio provided on your profile. If people are going to follow you, it only makes sense that they will want to know a little about you. Take a few minutes to add these two things to your profile right from the start.

Trying to figure out who to follow? One easy way to start is to follow a few people you know and take a look at who they follow. You can follow me on Twitter at: libraryfocus.

One big difference between a social media site like Facebook or LinkedIn, and Twitter is that you don't have to feel like you have as much of a personal or professional connection to follow someone. In fact, you don't have to have any connection at all, just an interest in what they have to say.  And because they are saying it in 140 characters or less, it's easier to absorb it all without suffering from information overload (or at least you'll be dealing with a more manageable amount of information overload).

And what should you say? Well, think 140 characters (that's not so hard) and look at it as a way to share some of the interesting things you learn every day as an information professional and an individual with your own interests and special areas of knowledge. You do have something to say.

For those of you already on Twitter: Who do you like to follow?

Legal News Daily Podcast

Podcasts are an easy way to keep current and gain new knowledge. Because they are portable and you can listen to them whenever it suits you, you can fit them into your schedule just as you chose—a real plus for busy professionals. One of their greatest values is that they can focus on a very specific area of interest such as government librarianship, for instance. As the producer and host of the Government Info Pro Podcast, I get to talk to you via the podcast on topics of interest to government information professionals. You can listen to the most current Government Info Pro Podcast from the right sidebar of the Government Info Pro Blog or you can subscribe via iTunes. You may already know about the Government Info Pro Podcast but do you know about the Lexis Legal News Daily Podcast? Here’s a really efficient way to keep up-to-date on the latest legal issues.

Here’s a little bit about the Lexis Legal News Daily Podcast:

This podcast is recorded daily by former radio news anchors, producers and legal news reporters. Our podcasts let you listen to regular briefings on the latest developments in your area of law, exclusive news from our bank of journalists, and interviews with industry experts, commentary authors and leading practitioners. [Lexis Legal News Daily Podcast]

Click here to listen.

Here’s a little bit about the Steve Berstler, producer and host of the LexisNexis Legal Podcasts:

We know him as Steve Berstler, the voice of the LexisNexis Legal Podcasts. Thousands of Philadelphians “wake up with Steve.” They know him as Steve Michaels, the Saturday morning DJ on 93.7 WSTW.

Steve has been working in radio since he was 14, after which he began writing as the editor of LexisNexis Mealey’s™ Insurance Report. “I always dreamt of somehow putting the two together,” Berstler said.

Which Steve now does, daily, as he records the legal news on the LexisNexis Legal Podcasts. Over 7,000 of his podcasts are downloaded every week from the LexisNexis Law Centers and iTunes where they have hit the popular music site’s coveted Top Ten list. [Meet Steve Berstler]

LexisNexis Legal Podcasts cover a wide range of topics including intellectual property, toxic torts, insurance law and emerging issues, as well as interviews with attorneys, business professionals and government officials.

The GSA Terms of Service Agreements

Thanks to Chris Zammarelli, Chair, Government Information Division, Special Libraries Association, for sharing information about social media providers and the government in this article.

http://www.lexisnexis.com/tsg/gov/Best_Practices_2009.pdf">2009 Best Practices for Government Librarians: Change: Managing It, Surviving It, Thriving on It. The 2009 edition includes 60 articles and other submissions provided by more than 50 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.

Read on...

If you work at a federal library with a collection of archived media, such as photographs or videos, it recently became a bit easier* to use social media providers to create a digital repository for these items.

The General Services Administration reached agreements in March with YouTube, Vimeo, blip.tv, and Flickr that provide agencies with terms of service that are in line with federal law.

In an article for Nextgov, Jill R. Aitoro gave an example of the roadblocks that had prevented federal agencies from making use of social media websites:

... most terms of service agreements contain indemnification clauses that require a party to agree to be financially responsible for specified damages, claims or losses. Under the Antideficiency Act, the government cannot make payments or commit to payments at some future time for goods or services if not appropriated by law, and that includes possible payments for damages or claims.

Aitoro's article also pointed out that social media providers held registered users to state laws, but federal agencies are held to federal laws.

In the press release announcing the terms of service agreement, the GSA said it had been negotiating for six months with the aforementioned websites. YouTube, Vimeo, blip.tv, and Flickr were the first sites the GSA negotiated with because, according to Doug Beizer in Federal Computer Week, "those providers are innovative and have large audiences." Sheila Campbell wrote in the Web Content Managers Forum that the GSA is also negotiating with Facebook, MySpace, Blist, iTunes, and Yahoo Video, among other websites.

Beizer wrote that Twitter was already an acceptable social media provider for federal agency use because its terms of service were in line with federal law.

Now, about that asterisk in the first paragraph, the one next to the word "easier." While federal agencies now no longer need to negotiate terms of service with social media content providers, this doesn't mean that a federal library can just sign up for Flickr and post all the photographs it has in its archive. Campbell notes, "If you're at a federal agency, you need to work with your agency attorneys and any other key stakeholders to be sure your agency can agree to the legal provisions of each agreement."

For more information, please read the following:

"Landmark agreements clear path for government new media," General Services Administration press release: March 25, 2009.

"Instructions for signing terms of service agreements with social media providers" by Sheila Campbell in Web Content Managers Forum: March 19, 2009.

"GSA signs agreements with Web 2.0 providers" by Doug Beizer in Federal Computer Week: March 25, 2009.

"GSA signs deals for agencies to use social networking sites" by Jill R. Aitoro in Nextgov: March 25, 2009.

Finding Public Acts with LexisNexis

This tip from the Monthly Tips from LexisNexis Customer Support on the LexisNexis Info Pro site provides tips on finding public acts on LexisNexis.

Here's an excerpt:

Many public acts passed by Congress are known by their popular names. Two examples are the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“1934 Act”) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). In turn, a section of an act may be referred to by where it is codified in the United States Code or by the section number in the original act. Knowing how to determine the public law number of an act, where the act is codified in the United States Code or where a particular section of the act is codified is a tremendous benefit to researchers and practitioners.

These two sources help you perform separate functions, but their benefit is greatest when used together.

Federal Legal - U.S. > Find Statutes, Regulations, Administrative Materials & Court Rules > United States Code Service (USCS) Materials

These two sources help you perform separate functions, but their benefit is greatest when used together...

Click here to read full tip.

SLA 2009: Competitive Intelligence and Government

Roberta Shaffer, Executive Director, FLICC/FEDLINK was the speaker for the program: Competitive Intelligence and the Government Librarian,  put together by the Competitive Intelligence Division and Military Libraries Division.

One of the things that Roberta talked about that I found particularly interesting was her list of the seven emerging nations for leadership. They were:

• Finland for its educational innovation. With no major or discipline required, students study something based on problem solving rather than disciplinary segmentation.
• Philippines for its workforce's work ethic. It has the most productive workforce of any country in the world.
• Korea for its manufacturing efficiencies. Vertical not horizontal - own whole process.
• Nigeria because it is a portal between Africa where there are raw materials and first world countries that use them through manufacturing and consumption.
• Netherlands for their open society. She observes that the more open a society, the more attracted business is to that entity.
• Norway for its flexible and citizen empowered government. Government uses Web and Web 2.0 to communicate with citizens. It wants to know what citizens are thinking. More and more participation. However, very homogeneous society. Not highly diverse.
• Brazil is her favorite country to watch. Brazil is part of BRICK countries. It has an alternative currency to the dollar, top ten largest oil reserves, deep water petroleum exploration. and biological diversity.

SLA 2009: Closing Reception

The closing reception was a great networking experience and an opportunity to catch up with all those people you never ran into during such a busy conference. It was also a time to say goodbye to far flung friends for awhile.

Next year, in New Orleans!

SLA 2009: Unconference on Managing Change

Karen Huffman, National Geographic Society, and I co-facilitated an unconference on change during SLA: Change ~ Managing it, Surviving it, Thriving on it. Have you ever attended an unconference? It's really a refreshing change of pace from the traditional conference construct and it was exciting to see a series of them embedded in the SLA 2009 conference. The thing that I enjoy about it most is how the participants all add something interesting to the mix.

The theme is based on this year's 2009 Best Practice perspective entitled "Change: Managing It, Surviving It, and Thriving on It."

Here's a few of my takeaways from this unconference:

• Change can impact you differently depending on your attitude
• There's a difference between change that you initiate and change that is thrust upon you
• Don't be afraid to tell your organizational leaders what you want
• Sometimes supervisors think that what you do well is what you like
• Make it a point to be knowledgeable in areas that appeal to you so you can see opportunities when they arise
• Are you a neophile?
  
• Change can be a cudgel
  
• Trust is a big thing
  
• Social media sites can help people build relationships, increase trust, and share knowledge - don't dismiss them
  
• Recognize your perceptions and reframe when necessary
  
• Give yourself permission to briefly freak out over a difficult change

SLA 2009: The DC SLA Shirt

George can't stop wearing his DC SLA shirt.

SLA 2009: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

It's nice to get good stuff at conferences. I got a fantastic light-up pen this year at SLA that made me feel dizzy when I tried to write information on a business card with it. Still, it was good fun. I particularly love this handy bag being given away at the LexisNexis booth. I've already tested it out and it hold a nice amount of groceries and makes me feel virtuous while shopping.

SLA 2009: View from the Convention Center

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC provided a beautiful city view.

 

SLA 2009: PTDLP at SLA

Right next to the DTIC booth, was the very busy Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program booth. There was a lot of excitement to be seen at the government booths and the PTDLP booth drew a good crowd.

Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program Booth, SLA 2009, Washington, DC

Interested in hearing more about PTDLP? In August of 2007, Chris Black, Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program Librarian, joined Marie Kaddell, LexisNexis Information Professional Consultant, in a discussion about the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program. In this interview, Chris shares information about the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program, how the PTDLP uses exhibit space at professional conferences to reach out to librarians, special products and services that they offer, how the PTDLP leverages technology to enhance their training programs, exhibit experience take-aways and more.

Listen from the player, download from the mp3 link and listen at your convenience, or grab it right off iTunes.

MP3 File