Government Documents for You

**The descriptions below was taken from its "About Us" page.**

The National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is a creation of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide organized access to high quality resources and tools that support innovations in teaching and learning at all levels of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. NSDL provides an organized point of access to high-quality STEM content that is aggregated from a variety of other digital libraries, NSF-funded projects, and NSDL-reviewed web sites. NSDL is designed primarily for K-12 and Undergraduate instruction, but anyone can access NSDL.org and search the library at no cost. Access to most of the resources discovered through NSDL is free; however, some content providers may require a login, or a nominal fee or subscription to retrieve their specific resources.

NSDL serves as a nexus for educators, researchers, policy makers and the public by building bridges:

• Between private sector and public interests by providing access to resources such as publisher' journal articles, teacher-created lesson plans and real-time data sets from scientists;

• Between the scientific, research and educational communities by applying advanced technologies to stimulate new ways for educators and learners to access and use scientific information;

• Between teachers and learners at all levels, in all locations by supplying content and tools in open-access, non-proprietary formats in an easily accessible online environment.

NSDL Search Interface: http://nsdl.org/search
NSDL About Us Page: http://nsdl.org/about

**Courtesy of Amanda Price, Electronic Resources Assistant, University of Alabama Libraries, The University of Alabama**

**The descriptions below was taken from its "About Us" page.**

Scirus is a comprehensive science-specific search engine that searches over 480 million science-related webpages. This allows users to: pinpoint scientific, scholarly, technical and medical data on the Web; find the latest reports, peer-reviewed articles, patents, pre-prints and journals that other search engines miss; and offers unique functionalities designed for scientists and researchers. Scirus boasts of three key advantages to its website:

1. Filters out non-scientific sites. For example, if you search on REM, Google finds the rock group - Scirus finds information on sleep, among other things.

2. Finds peer-reviewed articles such as PDF and PostScript files, which are often invisible to other search engines.

3. Searches the most comprehensive combination of web information, preprint servers, digital archives, repositories and patent and journal databases. Scirus goes deeper than the first two levels of a Web site, thereby revealing much more relevant information.

Scirus Search Interface: http://www.scirus.com/srsapp
Scirus About Us Page: http://www.scirus.com/srsapp/aboutus

**Courtesy of Amanda Price, Electronic Resources Assistant, University of Alabama Libraries, The University of Alabama**

The Federal Reserve System is revamping their site with new information because of the current crisis.

Dynamic maps of Bank Card and Mortgage Delinquencies in the United States
http://data.newyorkfed.org/creditconditionsmap/

There is also a notice that the Statistical Supplement to the Federal Reserve Bulletin will cease both online and print versions at:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/supplement/default.htm

Of current topical interest is the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP)Information page at:
http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/tarpinfo.htm

which it describes: The federal banking and thrift regulatory agencies encourage all eligible institutions to use the Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Temporary Liquidity Guarantee
Program. On October 14, 2008, the U.S. government announced a series of initiatives to strengthen market stability, improve the strength of financial institutions, and enhance market liquidity. Treasury announced a voluntary Capital Purchase Program to encourage U.S. financial institutions to build capital to increase the flow of financing to U.S. businesses and consumers and to support the U.S. economy. Under the program, Treasury will purchase up to $250 billion of senior preferred shares on standardized terms."

Post on GovDoc-L from: Sande Borders, Documents Librarian, Los Angeles Public Library

The DOD Business Transform Agency (BTA) has posted its newest version of its "Enterprise Transition Plan." This plan incorporates the transition plans of Military Services, Components and the DoD Enterprise. This plan provides a roadmap for DOD to achieve it business transformation goals.

The 2008 Enterprise Transition Plan is available at:
http://www.defenselink.mil/dbt/products/2008_BEA_ETP/Sept2008/Data/September_2008_ETP.pdf

For more information on the ETP as well as links to more information on the BEA (Business Enterprise Architecture) and LRP (Laws, Regulations and Policies) go to:
http://www.defenselink.mil/dbt/products/2008_BEA_ETP/Sept2008/ETP.html

For earlier reports go to:
http://www.defenselink.mil/dbt/products/2008_BEA_ETP/Sept2008/ETP-Archive.html

Post on GovDoc-L from: Greta E. Marlatt, Information Services Manager & Homeland Security Digital Library Content Manager, Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School

The United Nations Office of Legal Affairs has launched the Audiovisual Library of International Law

http://www.un.org/law/avl

The Audiovisual Library aims to provide free, scholarly resources to students and practitioners around the world, particularly in regions where there are few resources for the study of international law.

The website has three main parts:

The Historic Archives present documents, photos, and digital film footage relating to the UN role in the development of international law. This section includes the texts of treaties, some General Assembly declarations, and certain Security Council resolutions. Each legal instrument also has a procedural history and/or related documents (travaux preparatoires).

The Lecture Series contains lectures by leading scholars on topics in international law, and includes a bibliography of related materials. The 100 lectures posted so far are each about an hour long and discuss various aspects of international law. Most are in English, but other official languages of the UN are also represented. Certain scholars contribute introductory texts for the Historic Archives as well as lectures.

The Research Library provides links to other web-based research resources in international law, including other UN sources, national treaty series, and selected scholarly articles provided by HeinOnline (still in pilot/beta).

The Office of Legal Affairs is digitizing the English version of UN documents related to the procedural histories, and more will be added to the site as resources allow.

**Information provided by Ms Susan Kurtas, Reference Team, Dag Hammarskjöld Library,
United Nations**

Information about the new administration, including video of Obama's speech on Election Night, can be found at http://change.gov. This is the official transition website, and it contains valuable information on the new government. There is also a blog and RSS feed for the site on the News tab. And there are several places to interact with the information and to submit suggestions and look for jobs!

**Courtesy of Amanda Clay Powers, Assistant Professor/Reference Librarian, Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi State University**

The Defense Science Board has posted its new report - "Defense Imperatives for the New Administration."

The direct link is
http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports/2008-11-Defense_Imperatives.pdf

or if can be found at http://www.acq.osd.mil/dsb/reports.htm

The subjects tackled in this report include:
**Protect and defending the homeland
**Maintaining capability to project for around the world to deter or defeat
**Bringing stability to states and regions
**Thwarting terrorism and bringing terrorists to justice, anytime and anywhere
**Supporting state and local authorities in providing domestic catastrophe relief

A variety of interesting graphs and charts are included.

Post on GovDoc-L from: Greta E. Marlatt, Information Services Manager & Homeland Security Digital Library Content Manager, Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School

The General Accountability Office (GAO) has launched a new transition website intended to help make the transition an informed and smooth one.

The website can be found at http://www.gao.gov/transition_2009/

The 13 urgent issues they identified are as follows and are in alphabetic order not priority order:

* Caring for Service Members
* Defense Readiness
* Defense Spending
* Food Safety
* Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan
* Oversight of Financial Institutions and Markets
* Preparing for Large-Scale Health Emergencies
* Protecting the Homeland
* Public Diplomacy and International Broadcasting
* Retirement of the Space Shuttle
* Surface Transportation
* The 2010 Census
* Transition to Digital TV

The website also includes sections on:
* Agency-by-Agency Issues
* Major Cost-Saving Opportunities
* Management Challenges Across the Government
* Long-Term Fiscal Outlook
* Examples of Upcoming GAO reports on Major National Issues


Post on GovDoc-L from: Greta E. Marlatt, Information Services Manager & Homeland Security Digital Library Content Manager, Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School

The latest Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction Quarterly Report to the United States Congress (October 30, 2008) has been released and is available at
http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/Oct08/pdf/Report_-_October_2008.pdf

Their website blurb says "This penultimate quarter of the Year of Transfer witnessed the emergence of nascent normalcy in Iraq. As U.S. reconstruction assistance continued to target civil and military capacity building, Iraq achieved progress on the security, political, and economic fronts. Violent incidents dropped to their lowest levels since 2004; the long-awaited Provincial Election Law finally passed; and commercial activity, spurred by Iraq's oil-revenue windfall, continued to increase. But, as General Ray Odierno, the new Commanding General,
Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I), recently noted, Iraq "was a failed state [in 2006]. In 2008, it's a fragile state. We've got to move it to a stable state." To sustain progress in this direction, Iraq must improve its provision of security and essential services, such as electricity, potable water, sewage systems, and health care services."

Previous reports can be found at
http://www.sigir.mil/reports/quarterlyreports/default.aspx

Post on GovDoc-L from: Greta E. Marlatt, Information Services Manager & Homeland Security Digital Library Content Manager, Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School