Day archives: January 7th, 2019

National parks report on climate change finally released, uncensored

Reveal – Elizabeth Shogren: “Backing away from attempts at censorship, the National Park Service today released a report charting the risks to national parks from sea level rise and storms. Drafts of the report obtained earlier this year by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting showed park service officials had deleted every mention of …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, Environmental Law, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

What the President Could Do If He Declares a State of Emergency

The Atlantic – From seizing control of the internet to declaring martial law, President Trump may legally do all kinds of extraordinary things: “…It would be nice to think that America is protected from the worst excesses of Trump’s impulses by its democratic laws and institutions. After all, Trump can do only so much without …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Economy, Financial System, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research

“Choice” Magazine Names “Digital National Security Archive” an Outstanding Academic Title for 2018

“Washington, D.C., January 7, 2019 – Choice Magazine, the publishing arm of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL), has named the Digital National Security Archive an “Outstanding Academic Title” for 2018.  The annual award goes to publications deemed especially worthy of attention from academic librarians seeking to build research collections. The Digital National Security Archive …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

A new tool can help us determine which conspiracy theories are false and which might be true

London School of Economics US Centre’s daily blog on American Politics and Policy – “Many or even most conspiracy theories are demonstrably false. But some, like Watergate, are true. How can we determine which are which? Drawing on his own experiences with conspiracy theorists, Stephan Lewandowsky writes that conspiratorial thinking is not necessarily truth-seeking behavior, but can …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Financial Technology: Agencies Should Provide Clarification on Lenders’ Use of Alternative Data

Financial Technology: Agencies Should Provide Clarification on Lenders’ Use of Alternative Data, GAO-19-111: Published: Dec 19, 2018. Publicly Released: Dec 19, 2018. “Financial technology—or “fintech”—can help connect lenders and borrowers online. Some fintech lenders told us that they use alternative data to help determine borrowers’ creditworthiness. For example, lenders may supplement traditional data (such as …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress

EveryCRSReport.com – Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress, December 13, 2018: “The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region’s future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests …

Subjects: Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research

The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction

EveryCRSReport.com – The Legislative Process on the House Floor: An Introduction, December 13, 2018. “The daily order of business on the floor of the House of Representatives is governed by standing rules that make certain matters and actions privileged for consideration. On a day-to-day basis, however, the House usually decides to grant individual bills privileged …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legislation

DataCite’s New Search

DataCiteBlog: “Today we are announcing our first new functionality of 2019, a much improved search for DataCite DOIs and metadata. While the DataCite Search user interface has not changed, changes under the hood bring many important improvements and are our biggest changes to search since 2012. Faster Indexing – Newly registered (and tagged findable) DOIs …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Libraries

Introducing Individual Account Subscription Tiers for Perma

Harvard University’s Perma.cc Blog Post: “For the last year or so, we’ve been working to understand the potential for Perma to help individuals and institutions outside the academic community combat link rot. Two things have become clear through our work. First, link rot is a problem for lots of people, not just scholars. Indeed, link …

Subjects: Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Libraries

Before the Electric Car Takes Over, Someone Needs to Reinvent the Battery

Bloomberg: “Solid-state technology promises to be cheaper and charge faster than anything on the road today. But no one is close to figuring it out. To deliver an electric vehicle that’s cheaper, safer and capable of traveling 500 miles on a single charge, the auto industry needs a breakthrough in battery technology. Easier said than done. Scientists …

Subjects: Economy, Energy, Transportation