Federal Government Shutdown Updates - Alternative Resources

During the Federal government partial shutdown, some online resources may be affected.  Please monitor this list for potential workarounds.  If the agency that you seek is not included, please contact Lisa Hartman, Reference Librarian & Government Documents Coordinator (lahartman@frostburg.edu, 301-687-4734), or the reference desk (libref@frostburg.edu, 301-687-4424), for potential alternative sources.  

This post will be updated as new information becomes available.


1/22/18 8:30 am update:

• General information on federal government - http://usa.gov is still functional.
• Census
• Census.gov is still functioning
• American Factfinder is still functioning.
• Alternative non-federal sources:
• Maryland State Data Center
• Missouri Census Data Center
• Stats America - http://www.statsamerica.org/ 
• Census/Investigative Reporters & Editors: http://census.ire.org/ 
• Census Viewer: http://censusviewer.com/free-maps-and-data-links/  
• Crime Statistics 
•  FBI Uniform Crime Reporting is still functioning
• Alternative non-federal sources:
• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (Univ. of Michigan) - http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD
• Education
• ERIC is still functioning
• Various Statistics
  • Quandl (Archived Datasets from a variety of agencies - http://www.quandl.com/
  •  Beyond.gov (USC Aiken) - https://library.usca.edu/c.php?g=155790&p=1022005,  - A variety of alternatives to federal government agencies for federal government information.

Additional sources of information about the shutdown:

• "Dark websites"
• NSF.gov 
• As of 1/22/18 at 8:00 am, many of the agency web sites that were dark during the 2013 shutdown are still functioning. However, they are most likely not being regularly updated. (Many agencies have a message stating this on their home page.)

1940 Census Released

The embargo has been lifted, and for the first time, the 1940 census is not only available, but available online. The files accessible via Census.gov can be downloaded in a zip file of the whole thing or in individual PDF's. It is nicely broken down into the Census of Housing, Census of Agriculture, etc.

Here's the transcript of a pretty good NPR story (from "All Things Considered"), which you can listen to if you choose.

And here's a clip from last night's CBS nightly news.

MD Government Documents Digital Collection

This week's Featured Online Resource is the State Publications Depository and Distribution Program's new digital collection. This is a collection of full-text documents, usually downloadable in PDF form, published by "Maryland State Agencies, Executive Commissions, Task Forces, and Interstate Agencies and covers subjects of interest to consumers and researchers alike."

Pictured, left, is the 2010 Data Book from the Maryland Higher Education, a 58-page PDF filled with numbers such as student enrollment, retention rates, etc. for colleges and universities in the state.

It serves as one example of government-created information available. A user will also find grant reports, reports on various bodies of water and other ecosystems, proposed regulations, etc.

The depository is searchable and browsable, with links to sub-depositories.

Toward a Theory of Spacepower

A featured Government Document is Toward a Theory of Spacepower: Selected Essays, from the Institute for National Strategic Studies. It's edited by Charles D. Lutes et al.

It's a fascinating volume on an intriguing and partially-frightening concept. The intro says the essays in the book define spacepower as "the ability to use space to influence others, events, or the environment to achieve one's purposes or goals." Further, it states that spacepower theorists draw on sea, land, and airpower as analogies.

Essays discuss International Discussions Theory as applied to spacepower; Stategic Theory, Military Theory, the role of the President of the United States in spacepower, "real constraints" on spacepower, and many other topics.

Deficit Reduction Financing Act of 2010

Going through the Maryland General Assembly is House Bill 1533, the Deficit Reduction Financing Act of 2010.
Features:

• would repeal the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund and the Stem Cell Research Commission
• would repeal some requirements that contractors pay their employees minimum wage
• would provide that retirees eligible for a prescription drug plan under Medicare would not be eligible for the State precription plan
• would reduce General Fund appropriations for state-funded institutions of higher learning by at least 50 million dollars
• would eliminate 1,000 positions in the USM.

Toward Transparency: USAspending.gov

As President Obama promised in camaign speeches, the federal government is posting its expenditures on a new website, USAspending.gov.
The site abounds with pie charts and graphs showing expenditures on contracts, grants and loans, and includes the federal IT dashboard, pictured right, which delves into detail concerning expenditures on Information Technology.

For more notable government websites, see Government Computer News's list of 10 "great dot-gov" websites --the list appears in the brown box in the article.

Gov Docs News Flash

NPR reports on Census 2010

Today's "Morning Edition," NPR's daily news and culture show, included a story on the federal census for 2010 as it applies to New York.

Additionally, here's an interactive map from npr--click on various options and categories for info on each state.

Additional links

NPR story from Apr 19: 2010 Census Stirs Debate in Washington

Census Bureau's video page

GOV DOCS news flash for May 18

Budget of the United States Government 2010 Now Available

Entitled A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise, this year's federal budget is

available electronically

via gpoaccess.gov, the government printing office's portal of free information. Download various sections separately or download the entire document.