Favorite Web Sites: U.S. Government
Information
The web sites featured this month have been critically evaluated
and selected by the IU Northwest librarians as well as a group of academic
and public librarians across the United States who compile a yearly Best
Free Reference Web Sites List for the American
Library Association. Here is a list of selection
criteria initially created by the MARS Best Free Websites Task
Force to choose these sites. The Library hopes our readers will
find these web sites useful for locating reliable, accurate and
authoritative information on the Internet.
As a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) web site presents up-to-date U.S. economic statistical
information in a comprehensive and clearly organized format. Information
is arranged under broad categories such as "Inflation and
Spending" and "International Statistics." The latest
numbers for the Consumer Price Index, unemployment rate and the
Producer Price Index are prominently positioned on the home page.
The BLS site provides past and current statistics for the U.S.
economy as a whole, but individual state economic data can be obtained
easily by clicking the state on a color-coded map. The gem of this
web site is the "Economy at a Glance" section. A handy
tool bar on the home page provides quick links to this section
as well as 1999 MARSBEST winners Occupational Outlook Handbook
and FEDSTATS. Overall, the Bureau of Labor Statistics site is a
one-stop web resource for finding current U.S. economic data. (Summary
used by permission of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
A product of a multi-agency development effort led by the Interagency
Council on Statistical Policy, FedStats provides one-stop access
to publicly available statistics produced by more than 70 U.S.
government agencies, including Agriculture, Census, Education,
Health and Human Services, Interior, Justice, Labor, Transportation,
and Treasury. It permits several access points to the agency sites,
including an A-Z subject index; keyword searching; and searches
by state, county and locality. There is also a "Fast Facts" section
which links to the online versions of such frequently requested
publications as the Statistical Abstract of the United States,
State and Metropolitan Area Data Book, Economic Report of the President,
and other budget documents, in addition to providing direct access
to economic and social indicators via the Federal Statistics Briefing
Rooms.. (Summary used by permission of the MARS Best Free Websites
Committee)
This website is a "private-public partnership" with
a vision to connect "the world to all U.S. Government information
and services." It has a user-friendly interface with both
a simple and advanced search function. In the center of the home
page (in Yahoo style) is a subject guide listing topics such as "Money
and Taxes" and "Business and Economy." These subject
headings lead to more specific areas and links. This allows the
user to locate information without necessarily knowing the government
organization's name. A sidebar on the home page also facilitates
access by "featured subjects," "government by organization" links, "transactions,
forms & services" links, and "contact your government" links.
Users at all levels will find this site easy to navigate. (Summary
used by permission of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
Hosted by the Government Printing Office's award-winning GPO Access
site, the NARA link includes: the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
("codification of the general and permanent rules published
in the Federal Register by the Executive departments and agencies
of the Federal Government"); the Federal Register ("official
daily publication for Rules, Proposed Rules, and Notices of Federal
agencies and organizations, as well as Executive Orders and other
Presidential Documents"); the Government Manual ("the
official handbook of the Federal Government"); and Public
Papers of the Presidents of the United States ("papers and
speeches of the President of the United States that were issued
by the Office of the Press Secretary"). Links to a wealth
of searchable Congressional information such as the Congressional
Record and the United States Code are also available. While trying
to locate legal and administrative governmental information is
still not for the feint of heart, this collocation of resources
combined with the ability to search them is noteworthy. (Summary
used by permission of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
An invaluable tool for students and career-changers as well as
economists. The Handbook lists close to eight hundred occupations
and the following characteristics of each: nature of work, working
conditions, employment, training, job outlook, earnings, related
occupations, and sources of additional information. Three methods
of access are provided: a keyword search, an index to all identified
occupations, and occupational clusters. (Summary used by permission
of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
This site, sponsored by the Library of Congress, provides access
to a wealth of congressional information on Bills under consideration,
Public Laws, Committee Reports, the Congressional Record, and the
Senators and Representatives themselves that is well organized
making the site easy to navigate. The site also provides links
to other government web sites, including the GPO Access, a site
that could be used, hand-in-hand, with this one for a larger picture
of government publications available to the public. (Summary
used by permission of the MARS Best Free Websites Committee)
Full-Text ERIC Documents Now Included in the ERIC Journal
Index
The IU Northwest Library recently added full-text ERIC documents to its ERIC journal
index subscription. Provided through the ERIC Document Reproduction
Service (EDRS), this resource contains approximately 92 percent
of the documents abstracted in ERIC from 1993 to
the present. ERIC documents include a vast array of publications
such as teaching guides, bibliographies, research reports, issue
papers, test and evaluation instruments as well as instructional
materials.
- To view these documents from IU Northwest campus computers ONLY,
go to the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (CSA) web site by choosing ERIC from
the Journal Resources pull-down menu on Reference
department online catalog computers.
- After you reach the CSA main menu, select ERIC by
clicking the box located to the left of the database name.
- In the Quick or Advanced Search Find box
located in the left frame, type the appropriate keywords and
click Search.
- The search results will appear in the right frame. To view
an ERIC document from a search, (NOTE: These documents
will have an ED number in the AN field.) click the Locate
Document link on the right side of the record.
- At the next screen, in the Retrieve Electronic full-text box,
click the Via E* Subscribe and Ordering Options link to
view the full-text ERIC document. If the selected document is
part of the subscription, a full-text document in PDF format
will appear via Adobe Acrobat(r) Reader.
NOTE: Along with ERIC and PsycINFO,
Sociological Abstracts and Social Services Abstracts are
now Cambridge Scientific Abstracts databases. They all are
still only available from IU Northwest campus computers and the latter
three databases are NOT full-text.
AgBioForum Offers the Latest Developments in Agrobiotechnology
Electronically
AgBioForum recently joined the IU Northwest Library's growing
collection of online journals. According to its web site, AgBioForum is "a
quarterly electronic journal devoted to the economics and management
of agricultural biotechnology." This journal publishes non-technical
short articles focusing on current research mainly on the interactions
of agro-biotechnology with economic and sociopolitical processes.Its
web site features the current issue's table of contents with clickable
links to each full-text article. Users also have access to back
issues dating back to 1998.
To access this online journal from IU Northwest campus computers ONLY,
go to the
IU Northwest
Library's Electronic Information Page and under the Library
Catalogs, Electronic Journals & Other Databases heading,
select Other Databases. At the next screen, click AgBioForum.
Early English Books Online Now Searchable Through IUCAT
Through a special project conducted by the IU Bloomington Libraries, Early
English Books Online (EEBO) resources are now listed
in IUCAT.
Early English Books Online is an electronic collection
that includes every book published in England, Scotland, Wales,
Ireland and the United States between 1475 and 1700. It is based
on the bibliographies by Pollard, Redgrave and Wing. The resource
includes literature, music, religious pamphlets, science materials
and many other primary sources. The web address in the online catalog
record links the user to an image of the work's full-text. Early
English Books Online will also interest a wide range of
scholars in fields outside traditional language, culture and historical
areas.
To find a complete list of records of all the Early English
Books Online titles now available in IUCAT, search
IUCAT for the series Early English Books Online. Make
sure the library limit box is set to ALL Libraries.
This collection can also be accessed by going directly to the Early
English Books Online web site at wwwlib.umi.com/eebo
.
, Library News Web Editor |
