Author archives

US. Dept. of Education Launches Best Practices Clearinghouse to Highlight Innovative Practices for Reopening Schools and Campuses

“[On April 30, 2021], the U.S. Department of Education (ED) launched the Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse), a website that highlights the innovative work underway nationwide in continuing to reopen K-12 schools, early childhood centers and postsecondary institutions. Through the Clearinghouse, the Department is providing examples of how schools and other educational …

Subjects: Education, Government Documents, Health Care

These are the signs that your router is no longer fit for duty

Consumer Reports – “Before COVID-19 forced many of us to work and learn remotely, the difference between a so-so router and a great one wasn’t that important. As long as Netflix worked in the living room and the kids could play games online with their friends, why bother thinking about it? But now that wireless …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet

Five things you need to know about pronouns

OUP Blog – “What is there to know about pronouns? Something about its and it’s and something else about between you and me. There is plenty more, it turns out. First off, there are more pronouns than you might think. Personal pronouns get most of the attention nowadays, especially the widely accepted singular they and …

Subjects: Education

Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy: In Brief

CRS – Afghanistan: Background and U.S. Policy:In Brief Updated March 25, 2021: “Afghanistan emerged as a significant U.S. foreign policy concern in 2001, when the United States, in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, led a military campaign against Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban government that harbored and supported it. In …

Subjects: Congress, Defense, Government Documents

U.S. Case Law Research

Library of Congress video with transcript: “This webinar provides an overview of U.S. case law research, including information about the U.S. federal court system, the publication of court opinions, methods for researching case law, and information about locating records and briefs.”

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research

Library supply catalog from 1899

BoingBoing: “The Smithsonian Libraries’ Trade Literature Collection includes catalogs, sales brochures, and other materials “that were once part of the merchandising of business.” What a fascinating source of design, technology, and marketing history! At the Smithsonian magazine blog, library technician Alexia MacClain goes meta in a post about one curious item in the Trade Literature …

Subjects: Libraries

Two Memos With Enormous Constitutional Consequences

The Atlantic – “What’s astonishing is that presidential criminal immunity has no grounding in actual law. It’s not in the Constitution or any federal statute, regulation, or judicial decision. It is not law at all.” “One conclusion is apparent following Donald Trump’s four years in office: A sitting president is perhaps the only American who …

Subjects: Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research

Flu Has Disappeared Worldwide during the COVID Pandemic

Scientific American – “The public health measures that slow the spread of the novel coronavirus work really well on influenza..”

Subjects: Health Care

How we fought Search spam on Google in 2020

Google Search Central: “…Hacked spam was still rampant in 2020 as the number of vulnerable web sites remained quite large, although we have improved our detection capability by more than 50% and removed most of the hacked spam from search results….Before we deliver a set of search results on Google, there’s a lot that happens …

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Internet, Privacy, Search Engines

How Long Can We Live?

The New York Times – New research is intensifying the debate — with profound implications for the future of the planet. “…Humans have never belonged to the select society of the everlasting. We most likely inherited fairly long life spans from our last common ancestor with chimpanzees, which may have been a large, intelligent, social …

Subjects: Health Care, Knowledge Management

Bird POTY 2021 Finalists Snapshot

“Over 22,000 images were entered into Bird Photographer of the Year 2021. Competing for the £5,000 cash prize and prestigious title, photographers from 73 different countries submitted images this year. The winners of BPOTY 2021 will be announced on 1st September 2021, with the 2022 competition opening later that month. “With images coming in from …

Subjects: Environmental Law

Thank you!