Author: Yvonne Chan

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Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC)

Well it turns out that we have a national cryptologic agency and it has quite an interesting website.

First, what does the agency do? CSEC  provides “the Government of Canada with two key services: foreign signals intelligence in support of defence and foreign policy,  and the protection of electronic information and communication.”

Website Features: provides links to the full text of various related acts & policies including the Anti-Terrorism Act, the National Security Policy and the Privacy Act.  Provides extensive background information on Canada’s policies on national and governmental security as well as national privacy policy.   Also provides access to Government of Canada IT Security Publications: alerts, bulletins, directives, guidance, threat assessments and reports.

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Online Resource (Free)

Search the US Federal Register

“The Federal Register is the official journal of the federal government of the United States. In it, you’ll find any kind of proposal, notification, or solicitation for data that a federal agency puts out.”  It includes Presidential documents – including Executive Orders; current and proposed Rules & Regulations; and Notices.

The Register is currently available online, through GPO Access, but that site does not allow you to search all available content at the same time – the current year is available in a separate database.  A group of software developers has put up an alternate website that allows you to search or browse the Register from 1994 onwards in a single (much more attractive) interface.   You can browse by date, topic, agency or location.

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Research Database on the US Voting System

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an international non-profit organization with a special focus on “science, engineering and innovation.”  It also publishes the journal Science.  AAAS has just launched a new database which has the lofty goal of providing fundamental information about “the accuracy, reliability and security of voting technologies, election administration” and more.

The database, formally known as the Research Database on the US Voting System and Voting Technology, “provides access to empirical and analytical research about voting and elections to inform evidence-based reforms.  The database includes bibliographic information, abstracts and links to research covering a broad set of issues such as accessibility, ballot design, public confidence, voter demographics, voting technology, and voter registration.”

At present the database has approximately 500 entries – mostly published after 2000 –  but is anticipated to swell greatly over time.

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Online Resource (Free)

IMF Financial Soundness Indicators

The International Monetary Fund recently launched a database of “financial sector soundness” indicators, or FSIs, for member countries who choose to participate. The aim is to provide users with a means of judging the soundness of financial institutions as well as national economies.

The IMF’s list of core FSIs focuses on areas such as debt – both household and national; liquidity of assets; loans; assets; equity and real estate prices.

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Data.gov

Here’s another one-stop statistics search tool – this time from the Executive Branch of the US Federal Government.  “…Data.gov increases the ability of the public to easily find, download, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government. Data.gov provides descriptions of the Federal datasets (metadata), information about how to access the datasets, and tools that leverage government datasets. The data catalogs will continue to grow as datasets are added…”  Visitors to the site are encouraged to forward suggestions for future content.

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Online Resource (Free)

Social Science Data Search at Berkeley

The Doe & Moffitt Libraries at the University of California, Berkeley have recently launched a Google Custom Search engine on site that “targets 800+ academic, government agency, non-profit, and other web sites that provide high quality, downloadable statistical information and data sets. Emphasis is on data pertaining to the social sciences, health, developing countries, energy, natural resources, and the environment.”

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New look for U Michigan’s Document Center

The venerable University of Michigan Document Center website has just been relaunched with  an attractive redesign.   You can now search as well as browse topics and results lists feature a very helpful “filter by subtopic” feature.   All urls and rss feed addresses have been changed so you’ll want to update those if you link to/rely on them.

Speaking of the rss feed: a recent post features the excellent website maintained by FRASER – the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

  • “Provides monetary and banking statistics, 1896-1970, and can be used in conjunction with FRED to provide economic time series for the 20th Century
  • Web site also provides digitized version of early 20th Century Commerce Department documents, including Business Statistics, Survey of Current Business, Economic Indicators, and Economic Reports of the President.”
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Online Resource (Free)

OECD Statistical Narratives

The OECD has just launched a new page that it is calling “Statistical Narratives.” The aim of this page is to feature select statistical tables – usually from a topical subject – and present them with a brief explanatory article.  The result?  A sort of news feature mashed up with supporting data.  The articles are readable and go a long way to providing context for the statistics.  OECD hopes that the page will “build knowledge from statistics, as well as give users a sense of what statistics are available from the OECD.”

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Online Resource (Free)

US Presidential Documents

Back in January 2009, the weekly compilation of US Presidential Documents morphed into a daily compilation.  It’s available from GPO access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/index.html.  The current database includes all materials from the weekly compilation dating back to 1993.

“It includes such material as:

  • Proclamations
  • Executive orders
  • Speeches
  • Press conferences
  • Communications to Congress and Federal agencies
  • Statements regarding bill signings and vetoes
  • Appointments, nominations
  • Reorganization plans
  • Resignations
  • Retirements
  • Acts approved by the President
  • Nominations submitted to the Senate
  • White House announcements
  • Press releases”
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Online Resource (Free)

G8 Summit Resource

Well, this find seemed topical.  There is a G8 research group at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto.  The group maintains a very useful website: http://www.g8.utoronto.ca/ which provides access to a large chunk of the group’s analysis and reports.  Monographs published by commercial publishers are not available online.

The site also links to available “Delegations; declaration and communiqués; other official releases; documents released by national delegations at summits; available transcripts of summit news conferences” for G8 & G7 summits dating back to the 1975 Summit in Rambouillet.

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