Sci-Hub’s cache of pirated papers is so big, subscription journals are doomed, data analyst suggests: “There is no doubt that Sci-Hub, the infamous—and, according to a U.S. court, illegal—online repository of pirated research papers, is enormously popular. (See Science’s investigation last year of who is downloading papers from Sci-Hub.) But just how enormous is its… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: July 2017
How States Can Save Consumers Money, Energy, Water Waste, and Protect the Environment
States Go First: How States Can Save Consumers Money, Reduce Energy and Water Waste, and Protect the Environment with New Appliance Standards, July 25, 2017, Research Report A1702 Joanna Mauer, Andrew deLaski, and Marianne DiMascio. “National appliance standards cover products ranging from refrigerators to commercial air conditioners to electric motors. Most of today’s national standards… Continue Reading
Ebook – Best Practices for Court Privacy Policy Formulation
“A State Justice Institute supported report, “Best Practices for Court Privacy Policy Formulation” authored by three of our NCSC colleagues, Tom Clarke, Jannet Lewis and Di Graski has just been released. The report begins: “As state and local courts progressively convert their business processes from paper to electronic formats, policies around remote electronic access to… Continue Reading
POGO Unveils Tool to Help Federal Whistleblowers Know Their Rights
“Whistleblowers throughout the federal government face a patchwork of legal protections. It can be difficult to know what the law protects and what it doesn’t. POGO’s new “Know Your Rights: Whistleblower Protections for Federal Sector Employees” tool is a starting point for figuring it out. In anticipation of National Whistleblower Appreciation Day this weekend, POGO… Continue Reading
Field recordings from the Dictionary of American Regional English
University of Wisconsin – Madison Libraries: “From 1965–1970, Fieldworkers for the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) conducted interviews with nearly 3,000 “Informants” in 1,002 communities across America. They visited native residents in all fifty states and D.C., collecting local words, phrases, and pronunciations. In addition to answering more than 1,600 questions from the DARE… Continue Reading
Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act
“The bipartisan Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR) was introduced in the US House of Representatives on July 26, 2017. Co-sponsored by Representatives Kevin Yoder (R-KS-3), Mike Doyle (D-PA-14), and Zoe Lofgren, (D-CA-19), FASTR will accelerate scientific discovery and fuel innovation by making articles reporting on publicly funded scientific research freely accessible… Continue Reading
Federal Documents within the HathiTrust Digital Library, as of July 1, 2017
Searchable U.S. Federal Documents collection – “HathiTrust and Michigan staff have developed a new access point for federal documents within HathiTrust, the U.S. Federal Documents collection. This new collection enables users to search and browse a set limited to only federal documents in HathiTrust. Items included in the collection were identified as federal documents via… Continue Reading
New Database Details Pollutants in Virtually All U.S. Public Water Systems
Environmental Working Group: “Starting today, the vast majority of Americans can learn about every potentially harmful chemical in their drinking water and what scientists say are the safe levels of those contaminants. EWG’s new national Tap Water Database is the most complete source available on the quality of U.S. drinking water, aggregating and analyzing data… Continue Reading
Site offers deeply discounted and free bestselling ebooks
“BookBub is a free service that helps millions of readers discover great deals on acclaimed ebooks while providing publishers and authors with a way to drive sales and find new fans. Members receive a personalized daily email alerting them to the best free and deeply discounted titles matching their interests as selected by our editorial… Continue Reading
Drug Prosecutions Drop To Historic Lows In Last 6 Months
“Despite widespread concern about an epidemic of opioid abuse, and announcements by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others of stepped up efforts by the Trump administration to address it, federal criminal prosecutions for drug offenses have dropped to historic lows. The latest data, current through June 2017, show that fewer drug offenders were federally prosecuted… Continue Reading
Chief FOIA Officers Council Meeting July 27 2017
“OGIS and the Office of Information Policy (OIP) at the Department of Justice are happy to announce that the next meeting of the Chief FOIA Officers Council will be held on Thursday, July 27 from 10 am to noon. You can register to join the audience in the William G. McGowan Theater beginning on July… Continue Reading
Fortune 500 from 1955 – how American economy has changed
“The first-ever Fortune 500 was published in 1955. 60 years later we look back at where the companies from the head of the class—Fortune 500 companies 1-10, with revenues ranging from $1.7-$9.8 billion—are now. Some no longer exist, some exist by another name and/or as shadows of their former corporate selves, and some still stand… Continue Reading
