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Daily Archives: October 2, 2017

Why blogs endure: A study of recent college graduates and motivations for blog readership

Why blogs endure: A study of recent college graduates and motivations for blog readership, Alison J. Head, Michele Van Hoeck, Kirsten Hostetler. First Monday, Volume 22, Number 10 – 2 October 2017.

“This paper reports the results from a mixed methods study of recent college graduates who were asked if and why they used blogs as sources for continued learning purposes. Findings are based on 1,651 online survey responses and 63 follow-up telephone interviews with young graduates from 10 U.S. colleges and universities. Despite the media’s declarations about the impending demise of the blogosphere, almost two-thirds of the respondents (62 percent) had read blogs to fulfill their learning needs during the past 12 months. Blogs were an affordable source of information to these readers, especially for acquiring additional knowledge and closing skill gaps in their personal lives after college. Results from a logistic regression analysis indicated respondents were more likely to have read blogs during the past 12 months if they needed step-by-step instructions for hobbies, do-it-yourself household repairs, or money management and creating a personal budget. Respondents who used blogs were also more likely to also use complementary sources, such as educational videos on YouTube, to meet their learning needs. The concept of shared utility is introduced as a basis for explaining reasons for use of the blog format, and conclusions are drawn about why blogs, an early Web form, are still useful to millennials as sources of continued learning.”

2017 Global Blockchain Benchmarking Study

Hileman, Garrick and Rauchs, Michel, 2017 Global Blockchain Benchmarking Study (September 22, 2017). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3040224 “The first global blockchain benchmarking study presents a systematic and comprehensive picture of a rapidly evolving industry, examining how blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) are being used in the public sector and enterprise. The study analysed non-publicly… Continue Reading

New Website Shows IGs Found More Than $25B in Potential Cost Savings in FY 2017

“Oversight.gov was created by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) to consolidate in one place all public reports from Federal Inspectors General (IGs) in order to improve the public’s access to independent and authoritative information about the Federal Government. The site includes a publicly accessible, text searchable repository of reports… Continue Reading

GPO Launches New Federal Bookstore Website

“The U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) launches a newly designed, user-friendly U.S. Government Online Bookstore. https://bookstore.gpo.gov. The site features a simple, mobile-friendly navigation that connects the user to more than four thousand titles on topics from the Federal Government. GPO started making Government publications available for sale in the 1920s with a retail bookstore and… Continue Reading

Google – First, Flexible Sampling will replace First Click Free for Articles

Google Blog: “Journalism provides accurate and timely information when it matters most, shaping our understanding of important issues and pushing us to learn more in search of the truth. People come to Google looking for high-quality content, and our job is to help them find it. However, sometimes that content is behind a paywall. While… Continue Reading

Corporate Tax Reform: Issues for Congress

CRS report via FAS – Corporate Tax Reform: Issues for Congress, Jane G. Gravelle, Senior Specialist in Economic Policy. September 22, 2017. “Interest in corporate tax reform that lowers the rate and broadens the base has developed in the past several years. Some discussions by economists in opinion pieces have suggested there is an urgent… Continue Reading

Overview of the Federal Government’s Power to Exclude Aliens

CRS report via FAS – Overview of the Federal Government’s Power to Exclude Aliens, Ben Harrington, Legislative Attorney. September 27, 2017. “The Supreme Court has determined that inherent principles of sovereignty give Congress“ plenary power” to regulate immigration. The core of this power—the part that has proven most impervious to judicial review—is the authority to… Continue Reading