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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici

Challenges of integrating researchers in authority files

“OCLC Research Program Officer Karen Smith-Yoshimura and MIT Libraries Director of Research and Brookings Institution Non-resident Senior Fellow Micah Altman presented “Integrating Researcher Identifiers into University and Library Systems” at theCNI Spring 2014 Membership Meeting. These slides are now available for downloading (.pptx: 6.0MB/47 slides) or viewing on SlideShare.  In addition, draft Researchers in Authority Filesreport (.docx: 813K/17 pp.) is available for community review and… Continue Reading

Data Retention Directive Invalid, says EU’s Highest Court

EFF – “Today the European Court of Justice declared the EU’s Data Retention Directive invalid, declaring that the mass collection of Internet data in Europe entailed a “wide-ranging and particularly serious interference with the fundamental rights to respect for private life and to the protection of personal data.” The Directive ordered European states to pass laws that obliged Internet… Continue Reading

IMF – Recovery Strengthening, but Requires Stronger Policy Effort

“The global recovery is becoming broader, but the changing external environment poses new challenges to emerging market and developing economies, says the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO). The IMF forecasts global growth to average 3.6 percent in 2014―up from 3 percent in 2013―and to rise to 3.9 percent in 2015. The strengthening of the recovery from… Continue Reading

Affordable Healthcare Act

Healthcare.gov  – “You can read the Affordable Care Act by visiting the links below. The health care law, sometimes known as “Obamacare,” was signed March 23, 2010. Read the full law: The law has 2 parts: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. You can view them in PDF… Continue Reading

The World Bank – Facilitating SME financing through improved Credit Reporting

Facilitating SME financing through improved Credit Reporting- Report of the International Committee on Credit Reporting, chaired by the World Bank  (Draft Version for Public Comments), March 2014. “This report is one of the concrete outputs of the work following the General Principles.  It addresses one of the most significant problems that limit the ability of most Small… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Aviation Safety, Government Efficiency, Info Security, Medicare, Paid Tax Preparers, Tobacco Produccts

2014 ANNUAL REPORT: Additional Opportunities to Reduce Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication and Achieve Other Financial Benefits, GAO-14-343SP: Published: Apr 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 8, 2014. AVIATION SAFETY: FAA Should Improve Usability of its Online Application System and Clarity of the Pilot’s Medical Form, GAO-14-330: Published: Apr 8, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 8, 2014. GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS: Opportunities to Reduce… Continue Reading

Gallup – Americans Say College Degree Leads to a Better Life

Gallup: “Americans believe in the importance of postsecondary education, with more than nine in 10 (94%) saying a postsecondary degree or credential is at least somewhat important and 70% saying it is very important, similar to last year’s findings. However, most also say higher-education institutions must evolve to better serve the needs of today’s students. These results… Continue Reading

WHO – 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution

News release and related links: “In new estimates released today, WHO reports that in 2012 around 7 million people died – one in eight of total global deaths – as a result of air pollution exposure. This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is now the world’s largest single environmental… Continue Reading

EPIC Warns White House About Privacy Risks of “Big Data”

“In response to a request from the White House, EPIC has submitted extensive comments on “Big Data and the Future of Privacy.” EPIC warned the White House about the enormous risk to Americans of current “big data” practices but also made clear that problems are not new, citing the Privacy Act of 1974 which responded to the challenges of “data… Continue Reading

Assessing Principles of Sustainable Development and Governance in the World Bank’s Project Plans

World Resources Institute: “The World Bank has sought to reinvent itself in the face of a growing number of global development challenges, including economic uncertainty, political unrest, and the increasingly severe  impacts of a changing climate. This report examines the extent to which the World Bank is integrating elements of sustainable development and effective client-country governance considerations into the design of… Continue Reading