Author archives

Ebooks are on the line as Congress considers future of library funding

USA Today – no paywall: “…States’ libraries to lose as much as half their funding – The Institute for Museum and Library Services, a tiny, little known federal agency, provides grants to states, accounting for between 30% and 50% of state library budgets, according to the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies. For decades it …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Economy, Education, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Automated License Plate Readers: Background and Legal Issues

CRS In Focus, IF13068, July 21, 2025. “Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are camera systems that capture the license plate data of vehicles, along with related information. They are generally available in fixed and mobile formats. Fixed ALPR systems are mounted in specific locations, often using existing infrastructure such as light poles, traffic lights, buildings, …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Government Documents, Legal Research, Transportation

ProPublica Updates Supreme Connections Database With Newly Released Financial Disclosures

“We updated our Supreme Connections database with newly released financial disclosures from eight Supreme Court justices on Friday, covering the 2024 calendar year. Supreme Connections is our database that makes it easy for anyone to browse justices’ financial disclosures and to search for connections to people and companies mentioned within them. This update includes disclosures …

Subjects: Courts, E-Records, Financial System, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Fortune Global 500

“The corporations on our annual list of the world’s 500 largest companies combined to generate $41.7 trillion in revenue in 2024, up 1.8% from the previous year. Together, they employ 70.1 million people, and their revenue represents more than one-third of the world’s GDP. The Global 500 earned $2.98 trillion in profit in its second-most-profitable …

Subjects: Economy, Financial System, Legal Research

Snapshot Report: IRS Workforce Reductions as of May 2025

TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL for Tax Administration – Snapshot Report: IRS Workforce Reductions as of May 2025, July 18, 2025. Report Number: 2025-IE-R027. Snapshot Report: IRS Workforce Reductions as of May 2025 – “According to the IRS, 25,386 employees have separated or taken a DRP incentive, while 294 employees have been sent termination notices due to …

Subjects: Congress, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Trump Administration Greenlights Proselytizing in the Federal Workplace

TMP Morning Memo: “Under a memo issued by the Office of Personnel Management yesterday, federal workers are permitted to talk to their co-workers about their religion, including engaging a colleague “in polite discussion of why his faith is correct and why the non-adherent should re-think his religious beliefs.” They are also allowed to engage in …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Documents, Legislation

The Washington Post’s “Fact Checker” leaves newspaper

The Indicator: “On Monday, The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler announced that he had accepted a buyout and would leave the publication on July 31. Kessler has been the main author of The Fact Checker column since 2011 and serves as a member of the advisory board of the International Fact-Checking Network. He wrote that his …

Subjects: Censorship, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

EPA Plans to Revoke Legal Basis for Tackling Climate Change

The New York Times [no paywall]: “Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, said the agency would rescind a 2009 declaration, which concluded that planet-warming greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and underpins the government’s legal authority to combat climate change. Speaking on a conservative podcast called “Ruthless,” Mr. Zeldin said the E.P.A. …

Subjects: Censorship, Climate Change, Economy, Environmental Law, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care, Housing, Legal Research

Biggest Signs That AI Wrote a Paper, According to a Professor

Gizmodo: “Mark Massaro has taught English Composition at Florida Southwestern State College for years, but his job became significantly more difficult in 2023. Not long after AI apps like ChatGPT became freely available, higher education throughout the U.S. was hit with a tsunami of automated cheating. Students have been using AI to write essays—and the …

Subjects: AI, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Search Engines

How AI is impacting 700 professions and might impact yours

Washington Post [no paywall] Companies are rushing to embrace artificial intelligence to cut costs, increase efficiency and better understand this new technology. IBM has replaced a couple hundred human resources workers with AI applications. At Microsoft and Google, AI writes more than one-quarter of the code. Writers can now use AI as their personal assistant …

Subjects: AI, Economy, Education, Financial System, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Microsoft, Search Engines