“When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has shared data, including Personally Identifiable Information, taxpayer information, and other sensitive data, with external entities, it has not always adequately protected the data through secure file transfer technology, according to an audit report that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released today. The IRS shares data… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: November 2016
Internet Archive requests donations for a backup to be housed in Canada
This posting today by the Internet Archive’s Brewster Kahle – Help Us Keep the Archive Free, Accessible, and Private, is significant for all of us who use this resource, be it as as educators, librarians, attorneys, advocates for civil liberties, students, or as citizens or residents of the United States. Brewster states: “We are building… Continue Reading
Paper – The broad footprint of climate change from genes to biomes to people
The broad footprint of climate change from genes to biomes to people – Science 11 Nov 2016: Vol. 354, Issue 6313,DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf7671 “…The many observed impacts of climate change at different levels of biological organization point toward an increasingly unpredictable future for humans. Reduced genetic diversity in crops, inconsistent crop yields, decreased productivity in fisheries… Continue Reading
GPO releases digital version of bound Congressional Record 1981-1990
“The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) partners with the Library of Congress (LC) to release the digital version of the bound Congressional Record from 1981-1990 on GPO’s govinfo. This release covers debates and proceedings of the 98th thru the 101st Congresses. This era of Congress covers historical topics such as: Ronald Reagan’s Presidency and the… Continue Reading
Library of Congress, Digital Public Library of America To Form New Collaboration
“The Library of Congress today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Digital Public Library of America to become a “content hub partner” and will ultimately share a significant portion of its rich digital resources with DPLA’s database of digital content records. The first batch of records will include 5,000 items from three major… Continue Reading
Senate Sends Legislation Protecting Consumer Reviews to President
News release: “The U.S. Senate [November 28, 2016], by unanimous consent, sent bicameral legislation to the White House for the President’s signature that will outlaw the use of “gag clauses” in non-negotiable form contracts. Some businesses have attracted national scrutiny for using gag clauses to punish or silence honest criticism of products and services. The… Continue Reading
AALL Digital White Paper – Defining ROI: Law Library Best Practices
“On November 2, 2016 The American Association of Law Libraries released a digital white paper titled Defining ROI: Law Library Best Practices. Building on AALL’s 2015 The Economic Value of Law Libraries report, the white paper provides proven strategies and solutions for demonstrating value and return on investment (ROI) for libraries. The legal market demands… Continue Reading
Sunlight Foundation tracking Trump conflicts of interest
“Sunlight and the public are still waiting for answers on what open government will look like in the White House of President-Elect Donald J. Trump. What we do know is that the president-elect has not only failed to set up a true blind trust for his assets, but in the weeks since Election Day has… Continue Reading
Factors Affecting Revenue Estimates of Tax Compliance Proposals
Janet Holtzblatt (CBO) and Jamie McGuire (JCT) “This paper examines various factors that affect estimates made by the Congressional Budget Office and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation of the budgetary savings from tax compliance proposals. Affecting the current law baseline, against which proposed changes are measured, are the size of the tax gap… Continue Reading
Charities Aid Foundation World Giving Index 2016
“The CAF World Giving Index is a leading study on global generosity. Now in its seventh year, it provides a picture of charitable behaviour around the world. The CAF World Giving Index measures the average percentage of people in each country who donate money, volunteer or help a stranger. This year, 140 countries were surveyed, representing around 96% of the world’s… Continue Reading
Wiley Becomes First Major Publisher to Require ORCID IDs for Submitting Authors
News release: “Hoboken, NJ– November 28, 2016—John Wiley & Sons Inc. announced today plans to require ORCID iDs as part of the manuscript submission process for a large number of journals. Beginning in winter 2016, more than 500 Wiley journals using ScholarOne Manuscripts will require the submitting author (only) to provide an ORCID identifier (iD)… Continue Reading
Poynter – Facebook at critical intersection of public and fake news
Alexios Mantzarlis- Poynter Fact Checking: “Facebook is an important source of traffic for virtually all news outlets in the United States. New data, however, indicates that the social network is a far more important channel for some of the largest hyperpartisan and fake news sites in the country. Analytics company Jumpshot tracked Facebook referrals to… Continue Reading
