Friday, March 23, 2007

Student Multimedia Showcase

School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the UNC at Chapel Hill has a newly redesigned web site. Check out the top right-hand "student showcase" box to see samples of student multimedia work.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Chronicling America

View newspaper pages from 1900 to 1910 from the following states: California, District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Utah, and Virginia.

Chronicling America is a prototype Website providing access to information about historic newspapers and select digitized newspaper pages, and is produced by the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). NDNP, a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Library of Congress (LC)...

Monday, March 19, 2007

Favorite web sites

News librarians share their favorite web sites:
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory – for information and data on global warming

Quick facts: RefDesk.com; Library Spot;
How Stuff Works ;
CIA World Factbook

Free translations

For small newspapers - HomeTownNews and Topix.net
Nonprofits - Guidestar
Public records assistance - SearchSystems
For newspapers and magazines, Radio and TV: NewsLink

Friday, March 16, 2007

They Rule

This site was mentioned on the News Library List:
They Rule aims to provide a glimpse of some of the relationships of the US ruling class. It takes as its focus the boards of some of the most powerful U.S. companies, which share many of the same directors. Some individuals sit on 5, 6 or 7 of the top 500 companies. It allows users to browse through these interlocking directories and run searches on the boards and companies. A user can save a map of connections complete with their annotations and email links to these maps to others. They Rule is a starting point for research about these powerful individuals and corporations.

They Rule allows you to create maps of the interlocking directories of the top companies in the US in 2004. The data was collected from their websites and SEC filings in early 2004, so it may not be completely accurate - companies merge and disappear and directors shift boards.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Hot Jobs

Recent press release from the Dept of Labor:
  • Sixteen of the 30 jobs with the fastest growth are health related, while 6 are computer related. Most of the remaining fast-growth occupations are in environmental services and education (See Table 1).
  • Fast-growth occupations have growth rates of 30 percent or higher, more than twice the average for all occupations—13.0 percent (See Table 1).
  • The fastest-growing major occupational group—professional and related occupations—is made up mostly of occupations that generally require postsecondary education or training.
  • Examples of these are physician assistants, network systems and data communication analysts, computer software engineers, database administrators, physical therapists, preschool and postsecondary teachers, and environmental engineers.

Sunshine Week

Charlotte Observer news researchers Maria Wygand and Marion Paynter are writing a Sunshine Week blog that gives web sites and useful tips on obtaining public records that anyone can use. They are also taking questions from the public. They have pulled a lot of information together. Check it out.

I attended the N.C. Open Government Coalition's forum this morning at the Sunshine Center on the Elon University campus. They are a great group who are working hard to keep public records public.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Women's History Month

Here is a contact for issues dealing with women in the military:

Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in the Military
Official Mailing Address:OUSD (P&R) DACOWITSRoom 2C548A, 4000 Defense PentagonWashington, DC 20301-4000
dacowits@osd.mil Telephone: (703) 697-2122DSN# 227-2122

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Elon Law Expert Sources

Lanita was at Elon’s Law School today and got a quick breakdown on who are experts on what. The faculty is eager to be of assistance to us when we’re looking for a local source.

Constitutional Law: Steven Friedland and George Johnson
Torts (lawsuits between people) and international law: Helen Grant
Procedure and trials: Catherine Dunham
Legal education/property/criminal law: Steven Friedland

Contact information for all faculty can be found here:
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/academics/law/facstaff.xhtml

Monday, March 05, 2007

Military

Just ran across this Feb 25th article from the American Psychological Association titled, PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE INCREASING—STRAINING MILITARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, REPORTS APA TASK FORCE - still newsworthy in light of the Washington Post's recent articles.

Regional and State Unemployment

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released this report recently:

Annual average unemployment rates declined between 2005 and 2006 in 43states and the District of Columbia and in all 4 regions, the Bureau ofLabor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Employ-ment-population ratios rose in 41 states and the District of Columbia andin all 4 regions. The U.S. jobless rate fell by 0.5 percentage point to4.6 percent in 2006, while the national employment-population ratio increased by 0.4 percentage point to 63.1 percent.

Here is a link to the table of contents for other releases.

Thursday, March 01, 2007