I’m pleased to present my first VoxPopuLII post on open data for folks who aren’t exactly open data people: librarians like you and I. In a nutshell: there are lots of goals surrounding open government data, and frankly, you’ve got to set your own goals because your needs are unique to you. I’m all in favor of transparency, but I’m willing to say “yay accountability,” while also saying “yay projects that help me support my mission and impress the folks who give me money.” Enjoy!
Information in everything.
Archives for posts with tag: open gov
If you’re watching the @THOMASdotgov Twitter feed, you’ve noticed a serious uptick from 8:30am-3pmish in the last few weeks. THOMAS has started airing live streaming video of House committee hearings, and we (read: I) am updating on what’s starting when throughout the day with #THOMASlive. Here’s what I’ve learned in the first month, over at In Custodia Legis. Enjoy!
I’ve been answering a lot of what-can-THOMAS-do-for-me questions lately. The most interesting composite of questions asks, “how do I track Senate bills that have holds placed on them?”
Because holds are an informal part of the legislative process, THOMAS does not track them… directly. In fact, before S.Res. 28 which brought holds into the public record, we couldn’t track them at all. Now, there are a few ways to go about finding who’s preventing a bill from reaching the Senate floor.
Option 1: Check the Congressional Record for a voice opposition to a bill. Use the iPad app if you’re really feeling fancy. Eventually, any floor opposition will be recorded in the Congressional Calendar. But, the CR has the potential to scoop the calendar.
Option 2: Still with the Congressional Record, look for a notice of intent to object in the extension of remarks, either from the Senator placing the hold, or from the appropriate leader on behalf of the Senator. Again, all of this will eventually be recorded in the calendar, but you may learn something a day or two early by stalking the CR.
Option 3: Stick to the notice of a hold in the Congressional Calendar. THOMAS links out to a variety of calendars, but you’re looking for the goods at GPO FDsys.
There’s still quite a lot of dot connecting that needs to be done, legislative history wise, to understand why a Senator is placing a hold on a bill. But, disclosure is a start. Let the sunshine in, indeed.
Tired of spinning circles around the results of yesterday’s Iowa Caucus? Looking for a break from the state where hogs outnumber people? Ready to resume flying over fly over country? Tough!
The World’s Largest Bull and I are here to remind you about the Guide to Law Online for Iowa.
In case you have some pressing need for Iowa administrative, legislative or judicial materials in the next 3 years and roughly 360 days, check out the Guide–and most importantly, let me know if something is out of sorts so we can fix it.
Was this post a mere vehicle for a picture of the World’s Largest [Anatomically Correct] Bull? Yes.
But seriously folks, the Guide to Law Online covers all 50 states, nearly every jurisdiction of the world, and even international and comparative law. It’s free, it’s easy to use, and it’s always being updated.
It’s been an unusually inspiring day on the lawbrarian interwebz. This afternoon, Robert Richards retweeted an article of Connie Crosby‘s on Slaw that I had missed: “Legal Research Services for the Public: Looking for a Solution.” The premise is simple, but the implications are huge: how exactly do non-lawyers get legal information? There are plenty of obvious restrictions (don’t give legal advice, don’t expose yourself to uninsured risk, cost and availability of resources), but not as many obvious solutions.
As part of my job, I answer Ask A Librarian questions that come in through our online form. Content of these questions ranges from pro se litigants looking for help to legal academics to non-law academics, students, and of course, somewhat off beat but still legally related issues like who said “there’s a sucker born every minute,” and did they say it in a courtroom? I help where I can, and not where I can’t.
Where can’t I? This afternoon’s brief Twitter convo between Connie, Sarah Glassmeyer and myself has certainly made me think twice, ethically, about what’s giving legal advice and what isn’t. But, one solution I suggested was using a government’s own published resources on a specific subject manner to avoid the legal advice conundrum. For example, on more than one occasion I’ve received questions about old people in Florida, for Florida is full of old people. The Florida Dept. of Elder Affairs has a pretty good website, abundant contact info, and hyper localized information that I can direct people to from our form (because they have to fill out their address). Of course, all this comes after I say, “Regrettably, we cannot offer legal advice or solutions to specific legal problems. However, here are a few local resources that I hope will be of use to you…”
I’m going to put it out there that a percentage of folks that come to law libraries for help don’t necessarily need legal assistance as much as governmental guidance. In the U.S. at least, between multiple levels of government with overlapping responsibilities, it’s tough work being the governed. Rah rah federalism, but seriously: when someone is sending in an Ask A Librarian question to my Library of Last Resort about how to take care of their grandmama in Florida, something is amiss.
Connie talked about whether public legal help could become a viable business model with independent researchers. I wonder if it can be a viable business model as a website that helps people navigate the resources that are already present? Could the people running the site then market their services to state and local governments? “Let us index you, let us build you a better product, look at how great everyone will think Florida is.” I’m all for free Law (that’s capital L, serious law), and I think all that stuff needs to be made available–but I also think there are lots of folks who won’t be able to read it or use it once it’s out there. I see this public legal research thing as a combination of proper laws, cases, etc. and administrative websites.
People have web businesses all the time. Not even the craziest idea I’ve had today.
Lots of things in life are hard to start: paper towel rolls, balls of yarn, pull ignition lawn mowers, solo karaoke. Starting a legislative history search can feel that way too. Not to give away the keys to the library temple or anything, but here’s a short guide on how I get started when I can’t get started. I’m using the school lunch program as an example, because it’s important.
- Since the school lunch program still gets talked about, first I’m going to the THOMAS Multi-Congress search. I’m searching “school lunch program” for an exact match.
- Whoa, there are 1994 results. I’m not going to refine, I’m going to scroll through a few to see if anything pops out. Bingo! Option #10 starts, “Whereas breakfast program participants under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966…” Maybe there’s a citation there.
- There was not. But, now I’m going to Google “Child Nutrition Act of 1966″ and see what happens. Hopefully I’ll find an agency website, or a lovely, well-cited Wikipedia article to get me into the U.S. Code.
- Hooray! The first hit was the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Program page on the program, which conveniently cites the Pubic Law numbers, dates and Statutes at Large cites.
What if it hadn’t been that easy in THOMAS? Go directly to Google/Wikipedia. Nothing credible in the wilds of the interwebz? Try a popular name table. Still nothing? Start typing the general language of the act into the full text search at HathiTrust or doing a text search at Internet Archive.
Still nothing? Ask a librarian.
Why did I stop with the Statutes at Large? Wait for the next post…
