Ask a Gov Doc Librarian

GPO and Despository Libraries have partnered up to offer free online reference assistance, via chat or email.The service is being maintained and managed by the University of Illinois at Chicago, and 18 other depository libraries are taking part in the program as well. The service is formally called "Government Information Online: Ask a Librarian," at http://govtinfo.org/.

Of course, if you are a McNeese patron or live in the 7th Congressional District of Louisiana, you should ask me for assistance first! *wink*

You can contact me via Instant Message chat (Screen name is MSUGovDoc for AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and Meebo IM), by email at reblakeley@mcneese.edu, or by telephone: 337-475-5740. Feel free to stop by and visit us on the 4th floor of the Frazar Memorial Library at McNeese State University as well. We are happy to assist you!

U.S. Budget

I love receiving the informative notices about certain government documents from the GPO-FDLP listerv because not only do I always learn something, but now you can too! The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) announced that the President's Budget of the United States Government-Fiscal Year 2009 is now available, for the first time, as a digitally authenticated version on GPO Access. This means the PDF documents are signed and certified by GPO as a true, original copy to "assure users of the authenticity of the documents" and "that the electronic PDF documents have not been altered since GPO disseminated them". To learn more about digital authentication, visit GPOAccess's authetication page.

The announcement from the GPO-FDLP listserv states that: "According to the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921, the President must annually submit a budget to Congress by the first Monday in February. As the proposed spending plan for the U.S. Government, the President's budget must show:

- The condition of the Treasury at the end of the last completed fiscal year.

- The estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the current fiscal year.

- The estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the next fiscal year if the budget proposals are carried out.

- The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) assists the President in the creation of the President's budget by gathering data from agencies and compiling it into the final plan to be approved by the President.

The totals for the current and upcoming fiscal years are only projected amounts. Annual budget documents provide Congress, state and local governments, and the public with a complete description of the President's budget plans for the coming fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications, such as the Economic Report of the President, are included and may vary from year to year".

Also, the following print and CD-ROM versions of the Budget of the U.S. are available at your local federal depository libary or at the McNeese Library on the 4th floor:

Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009
Appendix, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009
Analytical Perspectives, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009
Historical Tables, Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2009
Budget of the United States Government, February 2008, Fiscal Year 2009(CD-ROM)

Lights, Camera, Louisiana Legislature Action!

It's well known that you can view live C-Span broadcasts of the activity on Capitol Hill via the web, but did you know that you can watch our state legislature online too?

To view the current day's proceedings live, go to the Louisiana Legislature's home page and scroll down to "Today at the Louisiana Capitol". If you see TV icon next to the committee meeting link, click on it to view the live House and Senate committee broadcasts. If there is no TV icon, that meeting is not being broadcast.

The Louisiana House of Representatives archive their broadcasts back to 1999, but if you want to view a video from the years 1999-2003 you need to fill out a request form Then the video will be posted for your viewing pleasure. Links to the House video web are located on the right side of the House website.

The Louisiana State Senate just began archiving their legislative broacasts on their website. Read their news release for information on how to access the broadcasts.

Fidel Castro Resigns

Fidel Castro resigned as President of Cuba. His announcement has been posted in various media outlets and originally found on the website of the Communist Party newspaper Granma. I tried to find the original announcement on their website, but it is taking forever to load. Their server must not be able to handle the amount of traffic that is flocking to their website today!

To learn more about Cuba and our foreign relations with them, visit this CIA World Factbook section on Cuba. The State Department has a Background Note page about Cuba last updated in November 2007.

President Bush made a brief statement while in Rwanda today when a reporter asked how Castro's resignation will effect U.S. foreign policy. Also, many congressional officials are releasing statements on the matter, including Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

An interesting debate is going on at the Department of State's blog, DIPNOTE, where they are asking the public how they feel about this latest event. Please feel free to take part in the discussion there.

Happy Presidents Day!

The third Monday of February is designated as “Presidents Day” here in the United States. It was originally intended to celebrate the birthdays of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but since we shouldn't play favorites, we now celebrate all of the Presidents of the United States of America!

In the spirit of President's Day, mashable.com crated a list of websites related to all things Presidential. Here are some of my favorites:

PresidentialTimeline.org Interactive virtual timeline exhibit run by the National Archives, based on material from the Presidential Libraries.

AmericanPresidents.org Maintained by C-SPAN to complement their television series on the American Presidents.

Presidential Bios from whitehouse.gov

Primary Election

Did you vote in the presidential primary election yet? Not sure when your state is voting? Go see the primary election calendar to see when your state is voting in the presidential primary. It also includes information for state primaries and the general election.

Did you vote in Louisiana's primary today? (Huckabee and Obama won in the state of Louisiana). If you haven't registered to vote yet, do not fear...you can still register to vote in the general election on November 4th. Louisiana residents can register and find polling places here or visit www.geauxvote.com for more information on our unique closed party primary elections (causes confusion for some!) and other general info on voting in Louisiana.

I'll devote a whole entry on presidential election information in other blog posts before November 4th, but to learn more about presidential primaries, take a look at these websites that attempt to make the process seem less confusing: Caucuses and Primaries and Guide to the U.S. Elections: Voting.

Government Agencies on Twitter

While updating my Twitter account last night (what the heck is Twitter, you ask? This will tell you), I noticed that womenshealth.gov created their own Twitter account and added me to their network. Kudos to the government agencies who are jumping on the Web 2.0 bandwagon and getting their information out to the community!


That got me wondering what other government agencies have created Twitter accounts, so I did some hunting and found an article on CNET News claiming NASA wants to tackle Web 2.0 initiatives in order to "save itself from turning into a dinosaur in the Internet age". Well, fine, but I don't think NASA could ever be uncool or obsolete...I think it's one of the more popular government agencies within the conciousness of the general public. Space will always be cool in my eyes. But I fully support and understand that they need to market that coolness and get information to the people via popular web and media outlets. However, it's been several months since they announced their interest in joining Twitter, and I have yet to find them on it (but they do have a presence on Facebook). Maybe it has something to do with blocking Twitter on government employee computers? Hmm.

Many non-profit organizations, such as the American Red Cross, have created Twitter accounts to alert people during emergencies or natural disasters. The Red Cross Twitter page just created a "tweet" alert about the status of Arkansas after the tornado outbreak.

Even Presidential candidates like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton regularly update their Twitter accounts. I can't find one for John McCain, but it looks like Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul joined the Twitter bandwagon too. But don't worry...the Bill Clinton Twitter is fake. ;-)

Super Tuesday!

Today is Super Tuesday...not to be confused with Fat Tuesday (Happy Mardi Gras!). Good thing Louisiana is not one of the 24 states choosing their party candidates today, because everyone is too busy with all the Mardi Gras hoopla! Instead, Louisiana will be voting on February 9th. For more information on voting and elections in Louisiana, go to www.geauxvote.com.

Even Google is excited about Super Tuesday, stating that "this will be the largest number of primaries taking place at one time in the history of the U.S. electoral system" therefore Google created some fun Web 2.0 tools for tracking the progress of the candidates.

So have a wonderful Tuesday...whether or not you are voting or throwing plastic beads from a float!