April 2008: Notable State Documents

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May 2009: Carolina Summer Fun

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March 2009: Women in Congress

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January 2011: 2010 Census Data

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December 2010: National Christmas Tree

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January 2010: United States Census

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February 2011: National Broadband Map

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Library Permanently Closed: See Google

magine if you will the near perfect statefunded program. Yes, I know, such words sound like an oxymoron, given the track record of both state and federally-funded programs, past, present and undoubtedly in the future. Indeed, such words sound almost mythological in light of recent attempts by the federal government to spend us out of the current recession with still doubtful results (so far, a record deficit). Yet, you’re an imaginative individual and can put aside petty political persiflage and visualize such a program. Not only does this program do precisely what it said it would do, it does it so surprisingly well that, as a taxpayer, you’re completely astonished and whole-heartedly impressed.

Librarians Are the New Polymaths

Belle Greene may have been small in stature but her legacy is great.

Hacked Off in the Web

According to a new report (http://tinyurl.com/2g6ghps), if you are on the Web at all you’re not safe from hackers, phishers, and spammers (oh my!). The Norton Cybercrime Report: The Human Impact (http://cybercrime.newslinevine.com/) of 7,000 Web users tells us that 65% of all users globally, and 73% of U. S. users, have been hacked in some sort of cybercrime. Globally, the U. S. ranks very high but in this case we’re not first in line. China wins Number One with 83% of its users web-abused in some manner. These are figures to give one pause.

Can Open Access Save Us?

Just about every time I open a journal or read a blog online, I see something about e-books saving newspapers and magazines. Both magazines and newspapers–and really all scholalry communication–are going the way of all flesh, we’re told, but e-book reading may provide a stay of execution, however short that may be. It got me to thinking if there might be something else that would provide a similarDies Irae proroguement for scholarly communication in general. That’s when it occurred to me it could well be open access (OA), or at least as I envision it here.

IRs Rx for Libs? Possibly

Open access, or the idea anyway, came to life nearly a decade and a half ago. Now almost fifteen years later, we’re still talking about it, still paying exorbitant amounts for periodicals, or their still relatively new counterparts, electronic aggregate databases. Experts tell me that fifteen years is not enough time for a good idea to catch on. I guess that’s the way it is with Murphy’s Law: bad ideas catch on instantly while good ideas come and go, most never seeing the light of day.

Now, Don’t Go Chasing Rabbits

The Ithaka US Faculty Survey 2012 (http://bit.ly/10NnQw9) is out, and by the time you read my blurb, it will have cobwebs on it, and the 2013 will be well on the way. So, why write about it at all? It’s always important to find out what people think of you, in this case libraries and their main clientele, faculty, even if what you find out may have to have a dozen qualifications surrounding it. Libraries and librarians are either on the cusp of something new and exciting, or on the edge of the abyss, soon to fall into oblivion, so finding out what people think should be important to us. So why not take a peek?

Collaboration Is the New Black

Orange may be the new black, but as I have seen only five minutes of that show, I can’t really use it here. Besides, based on the five minutes I saw, I would assume it is a series written by males. Not since the Victoria’s Secret catalog have I seen so many women wearing fewer clothes, or engaging in so many unmentionable acts. I’ll stop there because my Victorianism is showing, I’m sure.

A Contribuição do IBGE para a avaliação dos programas do plano plurianual

Esta dissertação tem por objetivo analisar a participação do IBGE no processo de avaliação do Plano Plurianual 2004-2007. O estudo inicia pela contextualização da melhoria da gestão pública e pelo embasamento teórico sobre a temática de avaliação de programas, seus indicadores e a perspectiva da efetividade. O planejamento na administração pública brasileira passou por várias fases, cada qual com suas características marcantes, chegando ao modelo atual, o Plano Plurianual, que integra planejamento e orçamento, busca dar transparência aos objetivos e prioridades do governo e melhorar a gestão orientando-a para resultados. O IBGE tem atribuições definidas em lei, um papel importante no desenvolvimento do país e competências reconhecidas, que o legitimam perante a sociedade como o principal coordenador e produtor de informações de natureza estatística e geocientífica. Assim almeja-se verificar a real participação do IBGE e das informações divulgadas por ele nos programas do PPA 2004-2007, dando um enfoque maior no processo de avaliação dada a sua relevância para a gestão pública. Para tanto, a pesquisa utiliza como métodos a pesquisa bibliográfica, a revisão documental e questionários com pessoas-chaves que são os gerentes de programa do Plano Plurianual. A pesquisa se restringiu aos programas considerados finalísticos e de serviços ao Estado. Os resultados obtidos nesta pesquisa demonstram que a atuação do IBGE se encontra muito aquém de sua competência técnica reconhecida nacional e internacionalmente, da credibilidade e qualidade de suas informações, e de sua relevância percebida pelo Governo para o processo de gestão do PPA. Pode-se concluir que o IBGE tem um vasto campo de atuação de modo a contribuir efetivamente para o desenvolvimento sustentável do país.