Rhonda's Resource Blog

Periodic Table of Visualization Methods

2011-06-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

Confused about how to visually display your data?

The Periodic table of Visualization, a nifty resource from Visual-Literacy.org, can help you identify the appropriate type of chart to display your information.

Chris Wallace has added functionality to the table by enabling you to show and print the mouse-over diagrams here: Visualization Methods from the Periodic Table. He has also provided a link the to the Wikipedia page for the explanation of the methodogy for each diagram.

Seeing Standards: A Visualization of the Metadata Universe

2010-06-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here is a great find for the meta data maven. This site elegantly visualizes the most heavily used metadata standards in the cultural heritage community. The standards are evaluated on their strength of application to defined categories in each of four axes: community, domain, function, and purpose. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons license, so you can take the image file and print out a poster size hard copy locally.

A metadata standard glossary is available in poster or pamphlet form. This is a metadata gem.

Oil Spill Information

2010-05-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

The current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to have an enormous environmental and economic impact for the gulf region. This is provides updated information regarding the spill, information specific for each State effected, social media links, area contingency plans, and more.

Tudor Effigies

2010-04-24T19:08:00.000-07:00

Finding resources for researching period clothing can be difficult. One researcher has taken a novel approach to researching and providing information regarding 16th century dress, especially the dress of the middle class.

Tudor Effigies provides a database of Church effigies as a resource for researching period clothes covering the sixteenth century. Church effigies often offer life-size details of middle class clothing which is generally absent in other resources.

Dr Jane Malcolm-Davies of the Textile Conservation Centre, Winchester School of Art, provides the research methodology that went into this project.

Recovery.gov

2009-10-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Recovery.gov is the U. S. government's web site providing access to data related to Recovery Act spending and allows for the reporting of potential fraud, waste, and abuse. Search options include grants, contracts, loans, agency, state, and amount. Information regarding how job data is estimated is provided via a link to a pdf document. Tables provide information regarding the top ten agencies which have paid out the most money and funding for all states and territories. Information regarding awards granted near you can be obtained by zipcode. Information regarding transparency, accountability, and agency reporting is also available.

The Academic Blog Portal

2009-09-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

This wiki provides access to the academic blogosphere. Access blogs by academics according to subject, university, language, and country.

One of my favorite finds on this site: Information Literacy Land of Confusion.

The VerySpacial.com blog had an entry for Mapping Halloween Action. Who says geospacial imaging can't be fun!

So, whether your interest is art, public policy, history, language, bioethics, law, or some other discipline, check this portal out and have a little fun.

Data.gov

2009-07-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

Data.gov provides access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the U. S. Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Information in searchable data catalogs can be accessed in three ways: through the raw data catalog, the tool catalog, and the geodata catalog.

This is a great site for info geeks. Search by keyword, single or multiple categories, and/or single or multiple agencies. There are datasets for a wide range of subjects including agriculture, business, climate, ecology, administrative and political boundaries, imagery and base maps, military, locations and geodetic networks, oceans and estuaries, transportation networks, utilities and communications, and much, much more.

H1N1 Flu

2009-05-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

This a link to the Center for Disease Control's H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) information page. The page describes the symptoms and provides information for caring for persons with the virus.

USA Spending

2009-02-18T10:05:00.000-08:00

The Obama Administration is committed to providing more transparency in government. If you want to track how the government is spending money, log onto the USA Spending site. This site tracks government contract spending and provides links to how federal money is spent in different States.

To track the spending of the Obama recovery stimulus package, use the recovery.gov web site.

Obama agenda for change

2008-12-17T05:37:00.000-08:00

The new Obama/Biden administration has many issues to address. It has established a website which outlines the new administration's agenda to address the economic crisis. It also offers a way you can send your input on topics ranging from the economy to health care. The bottom of the website provides links to information on a large range of topics, resources, and ways to become actively involved in the change process.

There is also a link to the Transition Directory which was developed to introduce members of the Transition and the incoming Administration to the Federal government resources available to them.

GAO Transition Priorities for the New Administration

2008-11-08T08:54:00.000-08:00

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) (no joke, there really is such a thing), has established a website to help the new administration and the new Congress with the transition by listing recommendations for addressing issues facing the country. Drawing upon its institutional knowledge, the GAO site provides key reports for further research and contact information for GAO experts.

Issues the GAO identify as urgent include:

Oversight of financial institutions and markets
U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan
Protecting the homeland
Undisciplined defense spending
Improving the U.S. image abroad
Finalizing plans for the 2010 Census
Caring for service members
Preparing for public health emergencies
Revamping oversight of food safety
Restructuring the approach to surface transportation
Retirement of the Space Shuttle
Ensuring an effective transition to digital TV, and
Rebuilding military readiness

The site lists agency-by-agency issues, cost-cutting opportunities, management challenges, and provides a model for the country's long term fiscal outlook. Information regarding FraudNET, the government's provision to report mismanagement of funds is also provided.

Can I vote?

2008-10-14T06:15:00.000-07:00

Recently, there has been concern that valid voters are being scrubbed from voter registration rolls. If you want to check to be sure you are registered to vote, use this site to guide you through the steps you need to follow to check the status of your voter registration.

The site is a non-partisan site developed by election officials. You will be given directions about how to contact your local registrar to check your status. I used the site because I received a piece of literature in the mail regarding my absentee voter status, and I wanted to be sure it was legitimate. It was, my registration was fine, and I just received my absentee ballot.

Rhonda

Election Fact Checking

2008-09-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Well, tis the season for election fact checking. The best and quickest resource for that is FactCheck.org.

So if you want to know what was accurate and what wasn't in all of those political convention speeches, visit the FactCheck.org site by clicking on the title of this post.

Rhonda

Welcome!

2008-08-03T13:16:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Rhonda’s Resource Blog.

This blog is an expression of two interests: information resources and government. The mission of this blog is to share good sources of information with an emphasis on government resources, although other subjects may also be included. This blog is U.S. based and its emphasis will reflect that.

Why the emphasis on government resources? Democracies are dependent upon an informed citizenry. Government records are the threads that weave our communal and societal fabric together. They reflect our common struggles, triumphs, concerns, and values. Our archival heritage provides us with an understanding of where we have been and provides us with insights to where we are going. It is therefore, vitally important for a society to keep its archival heritage intact.

Examples of the destruction of a society’s archival and bibliographic record, sometimes as an intentional aspect of ethnic cleansing, can be found throughout history. Yugoslavia and Iraq are recent examples of cultures which have lost irreplaceable cultural and information resources. Not all compromises to a culture’s archival record come from outside the culture. Forces within a culture may also seek to alter the historic record. The U. S. Congress passed the Presidential Records Act of 1978 (PRA) in response to the mishandling of Presidential Records during the Nixon Administration. A former Clinton Administration official was caught trying to take public records from the National Archives. There has been much controversy during the Bush Administration regarding the scrubbing and mishandling of government information.

Not all government information and resources are political. The U.S. government is the largest publisher in the world. Much of the publications are a result of research conducted with public monies. Technology, medicine, and science are major subject areas in which government publishes information. Then, there are government information resources that are just plain fun. If like me, you enjoy history, government resources can be the granddaddy of gold mines. Just explore the Library of Congress' American Memory website.

When the Founding Fathers put forth their Declaration of Independence, the disconnection of the citizens to its public records was high on their list of grievances falling fourth on the list:

“He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.”

Jefferson, 1776, Declaration of Independence

Please feel free to share your thoughts and favorite resources.

Rhonda Super