Meet Mike - Reference and Instruction Librarian at UB

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For more videos by Langsdale's librarians click here.

Happy Constitution Day!

September 17 is Constitution Day. Find out more about this day and the document it celebrates by taking a look at our Constitution Day Guide: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/howto/ConstitutionDay_guide.htm

If you need help finding information on the Constitution, the Founding Fathers or any other topic, you can always contact the Reference Desk.

New Guide: Federal Stimulus Bill (2009)

On Tuesday, February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This bill appropriates additional federal funds for job creation and preservation, aid for those most affected by the recession, infrastructure projects (transportation, environmental, etc.), and aid to state and local governments to reduce or eliminate service cuts and/or tax increases. This guide provides links to information about the stimulus bill, including ways to track how the money will be spent; you can find the permanent page at: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/howto/FederalStimulus_guide.htm

For help locating resources, please contact Tamara Smith, Government Documents Coordinator, at 410-837-5072 or tsmith@ubalt.edu.

Websites

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (111st Cong., H.R. 1). http://fdsys.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr1ENR/pdf/BILLS-111hr1ENR.pdf
Read the text of the final (enrolled) version of the bill.

A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy10/pdf/fy10-newera.pdf
An overview of the FY 2010 Budget of the U. S. Government due to be released in spring 2009.

Recovery.gov. http://www.recovery.gov
Created by the White House to explain the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and to track stimulus spending.

Stimulus Watch. http://www.stimuluswatch.org
An unaffiliated, volunteer-built site that lists shovel-ready projects in cities nationwide and allows visitors to leave comments or vote on the importance of a project. The site uses data taken from the U.S. Conference of Mayors' MainStreet Economic Recovery Report, and the site's dataset is available as an Excel download.

U.S. Department of the Treasury. FinancialStability.gov. http://www.financialstability.gov/
Still a work-in-progress, this site provides links to information about the stimulus package.

U.S. Department of the Treasury. Internal Revenue Service. IRS Information Related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=204335,00.html
A short article highlighting some of the tax-related provisions that are being implemented.

Find Documents

Catalog USMAI [help]
Books, journals, government documents and other materials in the University System of Maryland, including UB. You may search up to six individual locations or the entire system.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications [help]
Coverage: July 1976 - present. Search more than 500,000 records for electronic and print publications from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government. Includes links to full text where available.

FDSys [help]
Coverage: 1993 – present. Search for federal documents back to the 103rd Congress. Collections include: Federal Register; Congressional Record; Congressional bills, hearings and documents; Public and Private Laws, and the Compilation of Presidential Documents (now updated daily).

Google U.S. Government Search
Search for U.S. federal, state and local government information. Very helpful for locating specific documents.

USA.gov
The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal. Search for a particular document, or browse the topics.

Subject Databases

ABI Inform [on-campus] [help]
Coverage: 1970 - present. Indexes more than 1,300 journals on business, management, with 75% full-tex

BNA [on-campus]
Coverage varies. Variety of titles covering a broad spectrum of practice areas, including intellectual property, environmental law, federal securities, labor and employment, tax, and public contracts. Among the titles are U.S. Law Week, U.S. Patents Quarterly, and the BNA Tax Management Portfolios. Its daily publications, including Daily Tax Report, Daily Labor Report, and Daily Environment Report, are indispensable to the legal professional. NOTE TO OFF-CAMPUS USERS: In order to search for BNA journals in Research Port, you will need the exact title. You can find a complete list of titles at http://law.ubalt.edu/template.cfm?page=474

Business Source Premier [on-campus] [help]
Coverage: Varies - present. Business Source Premier provides full text for nearly 8,350 scholarly business journals and other sources, including full text for more than 1,100 scholarly business publications. Coverage includes virtually all subject areas related to business. This database provides full text (PDF) for more than 350 of the top scholarly journals dating as far back as 1922. Funded by the Maryland Digital Library (MDL). Includes company profiles, many of which contain SWOT analyses.

HEIN ONLINE: [On-campus]
Coverage: varies. A retrospective collection of over 90 law reviews, with over 200,000 articles. Full-text is available, in graphical image format.

Military & Government Collection [on-campus]
Coverage: various dates. Designed to offer current news pertaining to all branches of the military and government, this database offers a thorough collection of periodicals, academic journals, and other content pertinent to the increasing needs of those sites. The Military & Government Collection provides cover-to-cover full text for nearly 350 journals and periodicals and indexing and abstracts for nearly 450 titles.

News/Current Events Databases

Baltimore Sun [on-campus] [help]
Coverage: Sept 16, 1990 - present. Full text of Baltimore Sun.

National Newspapers (NA5) with Washington Post [on-campus]
Coverage: Varies with each title back to 1984. Full text of 5 newspapers:
Baltimore Sun, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition and the Washington Post.

General Databases

Academic Search Premier [on-campus] [help] Coverage: 1990 - present. Provides full-text for over 3,400 scholarly journals covering the social sciences, humanities, education, sciences, and more. Funded by the Maryland Digital Library (MDL).

ArticleFirst [on-campus] [help]
Coverage: 1990 - present. Indexes journals in science, technology, medicine, social science, business, the humanities, and popular culture. Citations only. No abstracts or full-text. Now includes ContentsFirst.

Lexis-Nexis Academic [on-campus] [help]
Coverage: 1970 - present. Features full text of many newspapers and periodicals. Also offers business news, legal materials such as federal & state codes, case law and legal journals.

Masterfile Premier [on-campus] [help]
Coverage: 1990 - present. Indexes more than 3,100 magazines covering general subjects. Includes full-text for over 1,000 journals.

New Gov Docs Titles: April 2008

Here are some of the new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

State of Maryland Documents (shelved in the general collection)

• State of Maryland Children’s Cabinet & Governor’s Office for Children. Maryland’s Results for Child Well-Being. 2007. (Reference HV742. M3M371 2007)

Print/CD/DVD (online version linked when available)

• The Constitution of the United States of America as Amended: Unratified Amendments, Analytical Index. (Y 1.1/7: 110-50)
• Empowering Local Communities: Through Leadership Development and Capacity Building. (HH 14.2:EM 7)
  A report on the universities that received grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of University Partnerships, including the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
• MACV: The Joint Command in the Years of Withdrawal, 1968-1973. (D 114.7/3:J 66)
• Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 2007. (L2.70/4: 51/3)
  Special Issue: Charting the Projections: 2006-16. This issue contains charts that project changes in occupational employment, industry employment, the labor force, and the overall economy.
• The Redesigned Naturalization Test. (HS 8.2: T 28)
  This brochure folds out to a two-sided poster that lists the questions and important terms on the revised test.
• Schneller, Robert John. Anchor of Resolve: A History of U.S. Naval Forces General Command/Fifth Fleet. (D221.2: F62/3)
• Seniors, Protect Yourself Against Investment Fraud: A Guide for Seniors. (SE 1.36:SE 5)
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Programs in Brief, October 2007. (HE20.402: P94/4)
  Gives a one-page brief of all DHHS programs organized by topic (i.e., “matrix area”).

Hearings from the 110^th Congress

• Evolution of an Economic Crisis? The Subprime Lending Disaster and the Threat to the Broader Economy. Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, September 19, 2007. S. Hrg. 110-250. (Y4.EC7: S.Hrg. 110-250)
• Is Market Concentration in the U.S. Petroleum Industry Harming Consumers? Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, May 23, 2007. S. Hrg. 110-202. (Y4.EC7: P44/3)

For a list of new electronic titles available in April, please go the Catalog of Government Publications.

New Gov Docs Titles: March 2008

Here are some of the new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

Print/CD/DVD (online version linked when available)

• Intelligence Community Legal Reference Book, Fall 2007. (PrEx 28.2: L52)
  Collects important legislation and legal guidelines used by the Intelligence Community. From the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
• IRS Tax Products CD & DVD. (T 22.51/4:2007/REV. 2008/FINAL)
  Current and previous year forms and instructions on CD; historical tax forms and instructions in PDF format on DVD. Includes all iterations of forms and instructions (Example: All versions of Form 1040 from 1913 - present, plus the first tax form used in 1864).
  
  All pubs are available in PDF form 1994-present; older ones are not available in PDF format, so they are not included here.
  
  For 2007, multilingual products are included, along with Title 26 (Internal Revenue Code), IRS e-File information, Tax Map, and Tax Topics.
• Occupational Injuries and Illnesses: Counts, Rates, and Characteristics, 2005 (L2.3/11:2005)
  Includes a spiral-bound book and 2 CDs.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009. (GP 3.22/2: 270/2008-2009)
• Our Flag. (Y 1.1/3:109-18)
  This booklet includes a history of the U. S. Flag and rules on how to fly it, as well as a section on state flags and a copy of the Pledge of Allegiance.
• Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2008. (C 3.134:2008)

For a list of new electronic titles available in March, please go the Catalog of Government Publications.

New Gov Docs Titles: February 2008

Here are some of the new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

Print/CD/DVD (online version linked when available)

• Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2009. (Y1.1/7: 110-84/v.1-4)
  Includes the following volumes:
• Volume 1: Budget
• Volume 2: Appendix
• Volume 3: Analytical Perspectives (supplemental materials on enclosed CD-ROM)
• Volume 4: Historical Tables
• Economic Report of the President. (PR43.9: 2008)
• State Magazine, February 2008. (S1.118: 520)

For a list of new electronic titles available in February, please go the Catalog of Government Publications.

New Gov Docs Titles: January 2008

Here are some of the new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

Print/CD/DVD (online version linked when available)

• The 2007 World Factbook. (PREX 3.15:2007)
  The Factbook has been updated since publication; you can find the most current information on the CIA website (permanent link): http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS552
• America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2005. (PR 43.8: C 43/2005)
  Published by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, this annual publication includes population and family characteristics and indicators for economic security, health, education, and behavior & social environment. For the 2007 report and previous years (1998-2006), go to: http://www.childstats.gov/pubs.asp?yr=am2007
• America's Children in Brief: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2006. (PR 43.8: C 43/C 43/2006)
• Civics and Citizenship Toolkit: A Collection of Educational Resources for Immigrants. (HS 8.2:C 49/2/TOOLKIT)
  Contains the following publications:
• Welcome to the United States: A Guide for New Immigrants
• Bienvenidos a los Estados Unidos de América: Guía para inmigrantes nuevos (NOTE: This document is available in other languages at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services website: http://www.uscis.gov/newimmigrants)
• Civics Flash Cards
• Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lessons
• The Citizen's Almanac & Pocket Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States
• Library Services for Immigrants: A Report on Current Practices
• DVD | A Promise of Freedom: An Introduction to U.S. History and Civics for Immigrants
• Flash Presentation on CD-ROM | Becoming a U.S. Citizen: An Overview of the Naturalization Process
• Long Hard Road: NCO Experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq. (D 101.2: AF 3/2)
• Monthly Labor Review, June 2006. (L2.6: 130/6)
  Featured article on Hurricane Katrina and its effects on the New Orleans economy.
• Prologue: Quarterly of the National Archives and Records Administration (2007, Vol 39). (GS 4.23: 39)

For a list of new electronic titles available in January, please go the Catalog of Government Publications.

The Government Has a Blog

Yes, you read that right. The Office of Citizen Services and Communications at the U.S. General Services Administration has created a new blog about government information, with a different blogger for each day of the week (meet them here). They'd really like to hear from you, the public, so check out the blog and leave comments or drop them an e-mail.

Blog Link: Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog

New Gov Docs Titles: September

Here are some of the new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

Print/CD/DVD (online version linked when available)

• The All-Volunteer Military: Issues and Performance. (Y 10.2:M 59/16)
• Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, "The Art and Science of Grant Writing", March 2006. (HH 1.2:C 73/51/2006)
• New Realities: Law Enforcement in the Post-9/11 Era. (J 26.35:L41/CD)
  CD-ROM contains four monographs:
• Assessing and Managing the Terrorism Threat
• Engaging the Private Sector to Promote Homeland Security: Law Enforcement-Private Security Partnerships
• Intelligence-Led Policing: The New Intelligence Architecture
• Mutual Aid: Multijurisdictional Partnerships for Meeting Regional Threats
• Offender Employment Specialist, Building Bridges. (J 1.100:OF 2/DVD/CD)
  From the back cover: "Offender Employment Specialist, Building Bridges is a multi-DVD/CD set that presents an entry-level training program for practitioners who assist offenders in securing and retaining employment. The target audiences for this training include, but are not limited to, those who work in prisons, jails, probation, parole, one-stops, career resource centers, government agencies, and faith-based and community organizations."
  
  The set includes introduction, facilitator training and guide book CDs, plus 5+ hours of video training on three DVDs. From the National Institute of Corrections Video Library.
• Serve, Support, Simplify: Report of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, July 2007. (PR 43.8:W 25/C 18)
• Serve, Support, Simplify: Subcommittee Reports and Survey Findings: Report of the President's Commission on Care for America's Returning Wounded Warriors, July 2007. (PR 43.8:W 25/C 18/REPORTS)
• A Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop DVD, February 2006. (T 22.69:V 81/2006)
  From the IRS.gov description: "A Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop DVD is an innovative DVD designed to help new and existing small business owners understand and meet their federal tax obligations. The workshop provides information and resources in an interactive format. The workshop consists of ten lessons and is subtitled in English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese. The DVD running time is 3 hours and 43 minutes."

For a list of new electronic titles available in September, please go the Catalog of Government Publications.

Langsdale Celebrates Constitution Day

In honor of Constitution Day (Sept. 17), Langsdale Library has created a display on the first floor of the library; we encourage you to stop by and see it before the end of September. As part of the exhibit, the library is giving away FREE pocket-sized copies of the U.S. Constitution (including the amendments). To get your copy, please stop by the Reference Desk on the first floor.

There is also a new Constitution Day Guide: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/howto/ConstitutionDay_guide.htm

For questions about other resources available at Langsdale, please contact the Reference Desk at langref@ubalt.edu or 410-837-4274.

Statements of Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker Available Online

Gen. David H. Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker are testifying about Iraq before a Joint Hearing of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Committee on Armed Services. The text of their statements (plus graphics) is now available online:

• Gen. Petraeus (slides included): http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/pet091007.pdf
• Ambassador Crocker: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/110/cro091007.pdf

For more about the hearings, check out these sites:

• U.S. House of Representatives, House Armed services Committee: http://www.house.gov/hasc/hearing_information.shtml
• U.S. House of Representatives, House Committee on Foreign Affairs: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/testimony.asp?subnav=close
• Status of War in Iraq -- C-SPAN (live feed): http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan3_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3
  

While You Were Gone: New Summer Gov Docs Titles

In case you missed these, here are some of the new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

Print (online version linked when available)

• America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being. (PR 42.8:C 43/C 43/2007)
• Changes in the Economic Resources of Low-Income Households with Children. (Y 10.2:EC 7/19)
• Citing Records in the National Archives of the United States. (AE 1.113:17/2007)
• Comprehensive Revised Report with Addendums on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (Duelfer Report). (PREX 3.2:IR1)
• Congressional Pictorial Directory. (Y 4.P 93/1:1 P/110)
• Elisha Jones House and Shed: Minute Man National Historical Park, Concord, Massachusetts. (I 29.88:J 71)
  Part of the Historic Architecture Program series issued by the National Park Service. Other reports can be found in Langsdale Government Documents.
• Federal Resources on Missing and Exploited Children. (PR 42.8:C 43/R 31/2007)
• The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research. (Y 3.N 21/29:2 H 34)
• Military Service Records at the National Archives. (AE 1.124:109)
• National Compensation Survey: Employee Benefits in Private Industry in the United States, 2005. (L 2.3:2589)
• The National Export Strategy: Annual Report to the United States Congress. (C1.1/6: 2007)
• Research in the Land Entry Files of the General Land Office: Record Group 49. (AE 1.124:114)
  From the introduction: "The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the official repository for records of the U.S. General Land Office, a predecessor of the Bureau of Land Management, that document the transfer of public lands from the United States to private ownership. The case files generated by over 10 million such individual land transactions, known as land entries, and the tract books and various name indexes used to access them are located in the National Archives Building, Washington, DC."
• Source Book of Statistics of Income. Active Corporation Income Tax Returns July 2004-June 2005. (T 22.35/5-2:2004)

For a list of new electronic titles available in June, July and August, please go the Catalog of Government Publications.

New Gov Docs Titles: May

Here are some of the new print titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

• Women in Congress, 1917-2006 (Y 1.1/2:SERIAL 14903)
• Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 3: Environment, Origins and Population (SI 1.20/2:3)
• Public Papers of the Presidents: George W. Bush, 2001-2003(AE 2.114:)
• The Citizen's Almanac: Fundamental Documents, Symbols and Anthems of the United States (HS 8.2:C 49/2007)

For a list of new electronic titles in May, please go the Catalog of Government Publications.

New Gov Docs Titles: March/April

Here are some of the new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

• 2005 White House Conference on Aging, December 11-14, 2005: Report to the President and the Congress: The Booming Dynamics of Aging: From Awareness to Action. (PR 43.2:AG 4)
• Asian Transnational Organized Crime and Its Impact on the United States, January 2007. (J 28.15/2:AS 4 )
• The Budget and Economic Outlook Fiscal Years 2008 to 2017. (Y 10.13:2008-2017)
• Budget Options. (Y 10.2:B 85/3/2007)
• The Economic Report of the President: Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee, Congress of the United States, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second Session, February 16, 2006. (Y 4.EC 7:EC 7/2/2006)
• FDA Consumer, March-April 2007 (Vol. 41, No. 2 - FINAL ISSUE) (HE 20.4010: 41/2)
  Cover story: "How the FDA Works to Keep Produce Safe"
• Federal Records Relating to Civil Rights in the Post-World War II Era. Reference Information Paper 113, 2006. (AE 1.124:113)
  From the preface: "This reference information paper provides descriptions of the records of Federal agencies, commissions, and courts that formulated civil rights guidelines, programs, and judicial decisions." Coverage spans from the Truman administration (1945-52) through the Carter administration (1977-1981).
• Health, United States, 2006. (HE 20.7042/7-2:2006)
• Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared. (Y 1.1/5:109-322)
  Subtitle: Special Report of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs United States Senate Together with Additional Views
• Lessons Learned From 9/11: DNA Identification in Mass Fatality Incidents, September 2006. (J 28.2:D 44/4)
  The report contains the recommendations of the Kinship and Data Analysis Panel (KADAP) on how to incorporate DNA identification into a mass fatality disaster plan. This report is designed to augment the 2005 NIJ Report, Mass Fatality Incidents: A Guide for Human Forensic Identification (J 28.15/2: F 76/2).
• NIJ Report: Digital Evidence in the Courtroom: A Guide for Law Enforcement and Prosecutors. (J 28.15/2:EV 3)
• NIJ Report: Investigations Involving the Internet and Computer Networks.
  (J 28.15/2:IN 8)
• Report on Enforcement of Laws Protecting Religious Freedom: Fiscal Years 2001-2006. (J 1.2:R 27/12)

Tax Forms Available at UB

Tax forms for the 2006 filing year are now available at the following locations:

• Langsdale Library, Second Floor
  Forms available include: 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, Earned Income Tax Credit, Telephone Excise Tax Refund, Maryland Forms & Instructions; reproducible forms will be available at the Reference Desk in a few weeks. For questions about availability, please contact Tamara Smith (tsmith@ubalt.edu; 410-837-5072).
  
• International Services Office, AC 111 (F & J visa holders only)
  Forms available include Forms 8843, 1040NR, 1040 NR-EZ, instruction booklets, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens and U.S. Tax Treaties publications. For questions about availability, please contact Wendy Burgess (wburgess@ubalt.edu; 410-837-4756).

For a complete list of forms available in both locations (and for additional information about the one-time-only Telephone Excise Tax Refund), please see the Tax Forms @ UB page: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/govinfo/taxes2006.htm

For more resources, including where to get filing help, please see our Tax Forms Guide: http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/howto/TaxForms_guide.htm

More New Gov Docs Titles: January

Here are a few more new titles that you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

• Eyewitness to War, Volume I & Volume II. (D 110.2: W 19/v. 1 & v. 2)
  Subtitled: “The U.S. Army in Operation Al Fajr: An Oral History.”
• Learn About the United States: Quick Civics Lessons. (HS 8.2: L47)
  Comes with an audio CD of the lessons, so you can read along.
• Operations and Reconstruction Efforts in Iraq. (Y4. AR 5/2a: 2003-2004/28)
  Transcript of hearings held by the House of Representatives Committee of Armed Services between January and July of 2004.
• Oversight of Gulf Hurricane Recovery: A Semiannual Report to Congress. (PREX 2.36: H 94/2006)
  This report covers the second half of FY06 (April 1 – September 30, 2006).
• Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007. (C 3.134: 2007)
  Find statistical data on all sorts of topics in this annual compilation from the U.S. Census Bureau.
  

New Gov Docs Titles: December/January

Here are some of the new titles you can find in the Langsdale Government Documents Collection:

• Developing a Stigma Reduction Initiative. (HE 20.427: ST 5)
  This resource kit from the Department of Health and Human Services gives tips on planning, marketing, and outreach. The kit includes a CD-ROM with a sample marketing plan, drop-in articles, PSA print ads and TV scripts, and photo/clip art resources.
• The Iraq study group report. (Y3. P31: 2 IR 1/3)
  Official copy of the December 2006 report.
• Lisotkin, David. Best practices for effecting the rehabilitation of affordable housing. (HH 14.2:AF 2/V.1-2)
• Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 2006 (Vol. 50, No. 3) (L2.70/4:50/3)
  Cover story: “Working Abroad: Finding International Internships and Entry-Level Jobs.”
• A performance review of FEMA's disaster management activities in response to Hurricane Katrina. (HS 1.2:K 15)
  A report from the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General. Published in March 2006.
• Recruiting, retention, and future levels of military personnel. (Y 10.2:R 24/6)
  A study by the Congressional Budget Office.
• State and metropolitan area data book: 2006. (C 3.134/5-2: 2006)
• Transformation through partnerships: systems change to end chronic homelessness. (HE 20.427:H 75/PACK)
  Package includes a documentary (DVD) and three pamphlets.

FirstGov.gov is now USA.gov

The public spoke, and the General Services Administration (GSA) listened.

GSA is responsible for operating and maintaining the U.S. government's official web portal, formerly know as FirstGov.gov. This month, the site changed its name to USA.gov, which should be a lot easier for everyone to remember.

Why the change? Here are a few things GSA learned from visitors to the site:

• Last year, more than 600,000 people typed "usa.gov" into their web browser when searching for government information.
• In a 2006 telephone survey, 79 percent of respondents preferred the name USA.gov.
• USA.gov is intuitive—it describes what our site is: the U.S. government online.

For more information about the name change, you can read the announcement and FAQ.

December 7 is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Photo of the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. (Courtesy of the U.S. Navy)




Today marks the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In honor of the occasion, here's a small selection of commemorative Web sites:

• Presidential Proclamation: National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2006
• USS Arizona National Memorial (U. S. Park Service)
  Site includes directions, operating hours, and a list of events. Admission is free.
  
• Naval Historical Center - Pearl Harbor FAQ
  A great one-stop resource for action reports, photographs, oral histories, lesson plans, and links to other Pearl Harbor resources.
  
• Remembering Pearl Harbor (U. S. Department of Defense)
  This commemorative website includes a survivor account, photographs, and links to other Pearl Harbor resources.
  
• After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor (Library of Congress)
  This site is part of the American Memory Project, and comes courtesy of The American Folklife Center. The online exhibit consists of transcripts and audio files (Real Player, MP3 or WAV) of interviews conducted around the country on December 8-10, 1941.
• National Geographic: Remembering Pearl Harbor
  This 2001 exhibit include a multimedia map and timeline of the attack, as well as an archive of survivor's stories.

There are also a number of books and videos about Pearl Harbor available at Langsdale Library; if you need any help locating resources, please contact us.

Iraq Study Group Report Available Online

The Iraq Study Group (ISG), headed by James A. Baker and Lee H. Hamilton, released their report yesterday. Print copies are not yet available through the Federal Depository Library Program, but the U.S. Government Printing Office has created a permanent link to the electronic version: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS76748.

To find out more about the Iraq Study Group, and for the video and transcript of yesterday's press conference with President Bush, you can visit the U.S. Institute of Peace Website: http://www.usip.org/.