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Library Journal’s Notable Government Documents for 2009

Library Journal has published their annual selection on the most pertinent government documents of the past year.

Important issues included:

Digitization – “Google launched a collaborative project to scan every U.S. government document held by the libraries of the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago. At the project’s end, the full text of an estimated one million to 1.5 million U.S. government publications will be available through Google Book Search and the HathiTrust Digital Library“- Library Journal

Hathi Trust Digital Library is  a digital repository for the nation’s great research libraries, bringing together the diverse collections of partner institutions. It was conceived as a collaboration of the thirteen universities of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the University of California system to establish a repository for these universities to archive and share their digitized collections.” – Hathitrust website.

Open government – The Obama administration created an Open Government Directive – “requiring executive agencies to make their activities transparent, to enhance the public’s role in policy making, and to collaborate more extensively with one another, with state and local governments, and with private institutions”

Some of the highlighted documents include:

Investigation of Failure of the SEC To Uncover Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme. public version. by H. David Kotz. U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.

Restorative Commons: Creating Health and Well-Being Through Urban Landscapes. ed. by Lindsay Campbell & Anne Wiesen. U.S. Forest Svc., Publications Distribution.

Climate in Peril: A Popular Guide to the Latest IPCC Reports. by Alex Kirby. UN Environment Programme.

Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict. UN Human Rights Council

You can view the complete list here.

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News

BC Government keeps funding for shelters

The BC Liberal Government has agreed to keep the funding for  3 of Vancouver’s emergency shelters:

  • New Fountain Shelter (51B Cordova St.) – 28 beds, Portland Hotel Society
  • Central Shelter (240 Northern St.) – 100 beds, Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre
  • First United Church (320 Hastings St.) – 200 spaces, First United Church of Canada.

Read the story from the Globe and Mail here

Read the BC News Release here

The City of Vancouver just finished it’s Homelessness Count last month. Figures have been released;  however,  the full report hasn’t been released yet on the City of Vancouver site but archived years are available.

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Uncategorized

Provinces not unanimous about H1N1 – BC H1N1 website.

Read the story from the Globe and Mail. On Sept. 29, 2009,  the BC Government issued an Information Bulletin on the H1N1 virus and the BC Ministry of Health also has a H1N1 website.

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Online Resource (Free)

US Govt Accountability Office (GAO)

Thanks to our fellow govpubs  bloggers at the University of Colorado, I’ve discovered a great website for anyone looking into current events south of the border.  The GAO “is known as ‘the investigative arm of Congress’ and ‘the congressional watchdog.’  GAO supports the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and helps improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people.”

  • The site provides links to full-text versions of various relevant government manuals, such as the auditing standards, internal controls standards and Federal appropriations law manuals.
  • Also has a vast array of GAO reports and testimonies on topics such as Federal bankruptcy judges, influenza pandemic, veterans affairs, taxation, public housing, telecommunications, health care, climate change and terrorism.
  • Only the most recent reports are available through the “reports & testimonies” page.
  • Use the “topics collections” tab to browse older reports by subject.  Site also provides GAO legal decisions and testimonies from its Comptroller General.

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