tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59287312011-12-27T00:07:08.020+01:00Formerly ircworld, this blog has been reborn at Knowbodies.blogspot.comPetternoreply@blogger.comBlogger6841100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-61019337578559498992007-12-13T14:59:00.000+01:002008-12-09T13:57:21.555+01:00

Ircworld is being retired...and reborn as knowbodies.blogspot.com. There are a couple of differences; while posting to ircworld was limited to the IRC community, anyone may post to knowbodies. Ircworld was never an official USG site, but some people at the State Department may have worried that it was perceived as such. By opening it up to the general audience, and removing all mention of ircs,

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-56389086078953192632007-12-10T12:20:00.001+01:002007-12-10T12:36:29.737+01:00

This report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government "examines the phenomenon of blogging in teh context of the larger revolutionary forces at play in the development of the second-generation internet, where interactivity among users is key." Although this is a report on blogging by men in suits for men in suits (regrettably, the word "blogoneers" is used to describe pioneering

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-54718346943677168572007-11-26T10:33:00.000+01:002008-12-09T13:57:21.782+01:00

An annoyance which has for ages prevented librarians from visiting New York City, is the absence of a good, clean hotel laid out according to the Dewey Decimal system. That, I'm happy to say, is no longer a problem; the "Library Hotel in New York City is the first hotel ever to offer its guest over 6,000 volumes organized throughout the hotel by the Dewey Decimal System.* Each of the 10

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-84189071209581862902007-11-15T15:43:00.000+01:002007-11-15T17:38:12.797+01:00

Slate has now published Fred Kaplan's promised follow-up article to the piece he wrote last week calling for readers' ideas for future cultural diplomacy. There are some fascinating responses. Very well worth reading, and passing on. This passage should have resonance for most of us."Eric Henry, a doctoral student at Cornell who has spent much time in Shenyang, China, recalls that the U.S.

IRC Tel Avivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09508079997624916481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-31229364292350476052007-11-14T10:41:00.000+01:002008-12-09T13:57:22.040+01:00

"The mission of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) is to empower the children of developing countries to learn by providing one connected laptop to every school-age child. In order to accomplish our goal, we need people who believe in what we’re doing and want to help make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege. Between November 12 and November 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-31632857527412606022007-11-13T15:38:00.000+01:002007-11-13T15:59:59.617+01:00

The invaluable online magazine Slate has run another article by Fred Kaplan, bemoaning the current state of US public diplomacy, and calling for the restoration of USIA. In addition though, the article, focusing on the role of culture in public diplomacy, poses the following questions:"What could we send out to the world that might have the same impact on, say, Arabs and Muslims today that rock,

IRC Tel Avivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09508079997624916481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-67679498709781615292007-11-12T09:43:00.000+01:002007-11-12T09:59:31.482+01:00

CQ Politics is a free service from the Congressional Quarterly group, with lots of information about the campaigns, Washington, and the issues.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-49576485813566473832007-11-07T20:37:00.001+01:002007-11-07T20:41:19.664+01:00

If you've been putting off getting a life, and would like to tary a bit longer, Wikipedia vision is one place to hang out - strangely captivating. Here's how NPR describes it...Morning Edition, November 1, 2007 · Wikipedia Vision is a new online map which spins across the globe, tracking the changes people make to the encyclopedia. You can see what was edited, when and where. So this morning

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-91874288077202406972007-11-07T19:55:00.000+01:002007-11-09T10:29:40.530+01:00

Sometimes writing position descriptions or narratives about your accomplishments - or mine, at any rate - can be a real strain on the imagination. If your business is internet related, the official internet "bullshit generator" is a huge help. It puts some great verbs, adjectives and nouns at your disposal, and strings them together for you in punchy lines - punchlines, if you will. If you

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-57181583003781993672007-11-02T08:48:00.000+01:002007-11-02T09:11:04.429+01:00

A new site offering fast and easy voter registration was recently announced by the Overseas Vote Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, in cooperation with the Make Voting Work initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts.According to an article in Government Computer Week, the site, still in beta, "automatically loads required questions for the appropriate state and county, prompts users

IRC Tel Avivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09508079997624916481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-21905456042651257832007-10-30T15:07:00.000+01:002007-10-30T15:32:07.290+01:00

CSIS published the report of the Embassy of the Future Commission earlier this month. The Commission co-chaired by former Ambassadors Felix Rohatyn, Marc Grossman and George Argyros, has assessed the state of the U.S. diplomatic presence abroad and submitted recommendations for how to make the diplomatic pursuit of U.S. interests abroad even more effective than it is today. The report includes

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-43036393500784592332007-10-29T20:39:00.000+01:002007-10-29T20:49:22.249+01:00

Here's something from Virtual Library Cat. I confess I was no aware of Zimmerman's Research Guide - An Online Encyclopedia for Legal Researchers. Looks very impressive..."Have you ever wondered what website a reference librarian went to first to answer your question? Often, it's Zimmerman's. Zimmerman's Research Guide has short entries that describe the top resources on many subjects. It

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-33682084085196286452007-10-29T20:33:00.000+01:002007-10-29T20:35:24.283+01:00

No excuses for not writing your Representative when it's this easy. A good link for an embassy's amcit pages...

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-86461704157783929302007-10-24T11:52:00.000+02:002007-10-24T12:16:12.337+02:00

Whydemocracy.net is a very interesting site, and an example of public diplomacy that transcends nations. I discoverd the project when one of the 10 films (see below) was shown by the Norwegian Broadcasting Company yesterday. The particular film, Taxi to the Dark Side, was profoundly disturbing. To see when the films are being screened in your country, see the screening times page.Here is an

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-42714890614000209462007-10-19T21:25:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:22.270+01:00

The Spartan Internet Political Performance (SIPP) Index is the first quantitative metric to measure the Internet-wide performance of each Presidential candidate for the 2008 election. The Index is comprised of over 650 quantitative factors measuring the level of support and how well each candidate is connecting with individuals across the Internet. The score for each candidate represents their

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-83534400025382111612007-10-19T19:14:00.001+02:002007-10-19T19:15:18.205+02:00

Here's a fact sheet from the European Commission on the European Digital Library project

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-75788295608912260382007-10-16T13:51:00.000+02:002007-10-16T13:56:53.817+02:00

Here's another screen cast. This one explains, in just under 2.5 minutes, how our website uses the Rakim freeware to provide online assistance. It was done on the fly (no rehearsal) with the wonderful Screencast-o-matic service that I mentioned in a previous post

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-74068640518989268192007-10-13T19:45:00.000+02:002007-10-13T19:57:09.951+02:00

Oxford Analytica, according to the company profile at www.oxan.com , "is an international, independent consulting firm drawing on a network of over 1,000 senior faculty members at Oxford and other major universities and research institutions around the world. Founded in 1975 by Dr. David R. Young, Oxford Analytica has built an international reputation for seasoned judgement on and analysis of

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-35800588429997871382007-10-07T22:50:00.000+02:002007-10-07T22:53:56.321+02:00

From the "about this site" pageThis Wise Guide portal was designed to introduce you to the many fascinating, educational and useful resources available from the nation's library and one of the most popular Web sites of the federal government.The "Wise Guide" will be refreshed monthly, much like a magazine, offering links to the best of the Library's online materials. Each of these "articles" is

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-91418661357327626592007-10-07T00:28:00.000+02:002007-10-07T00:33:11.285+02:00

ontheissuesorg: every political leader on every issue. State and federal office holders, supreme court justices, and presidential candidates.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-24535411636949612122007-10-06T23:51:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:22.436+01:00

Thhe TouchGraph Google Browser provides a graphic representation of the semantic relationships between websites that Google reflects in its "related sites" databases. You enter a keyword or url, and the application returns a graphic map of the relationship between the sites. The graphic on the right is from a search on public diplomacy. There is also an Amazon TouchGraph - useful for finding

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-16820951368174372492007-10-04T10:06:00.000+02:002007-10-06T23:24:58.973+02:00

Screencastomatic is is an entirely web-based screencasting application - you don't need to buy or download anything, just visit the website, record your screencast, save it, and upload it to your blog, email it, or do whatever else you might do with an audio/video file. Here is a one minute demo I made. Screencast-o-matic is fun and easy to use, and potentially very useful!

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-65537691171421488392007-10-03T15:20:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:22.611+01:00

Although much of what is written in the blogosphere (sometimes termed "conversational media")is drivel, one might occasionally be interested in knowing what bloggers are saying about a particular news event. And sometimes, local bloggers can supplement with important information and perspectives that might be missed by mainstream media. Sphere is a search engine that finds mainstream news AND

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-10679641798909517312007-10-03T10:26:00.000+02:002007-10-03T10:29:26.445+02:00

"Comment is free, but facts are sacred." -- C.P. Scott, editorManchester Guardian, 1921The Washington Post offers The Fact Checker, launched in September 2007. According to the Post, "the purpose of this website, and an accompanying column in the Post, is to "truth squad" the national political debate inthe period leading up to the 2008 presidential election. Our goal is toshed as much light as

Jeanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04344725322259591053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-7094013594457139292007-09-29T11:18:00.000+02:002007-09-29T11:40:18.211+02:00

The Australian National Library has published a thorough report on the virtual reference services the library has been providing for the last 4 years. During that period the IRC at the U.S. embassy in Oslo has also been providing a virtual reference service, albeit on a small scale and with the primitive - but efficient and free - Rakim software. Maybe time to revisit the idea of a 24/5 virtual

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-65212823560566777302007-09-29T11:04:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:22.797+01:00

The Wonkosphere cliams to be "the best place to keep a finger on the pulse of the 2008 Presidential election. We use patented technology to scour the blogosphere and analyze what is being said, who is saying it, and whether they're ranting or raving. Updated every 4 hours." Nice red white and blue logo!

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-66576055200948931342007-09-29T10:52:00.000+02:002007-09-29T11:02:05.090+02:00

Enter a url and Keyword Density Checker will determine the site's keyword density and generate a tag cloud and list of words by frequency. Here are some other web tools at www.webconfs.com...IP to City This tools helps you determine the Country, City, Latitude and Longitude of an IP Address.Domain Age Tool This tools displays the approximate age of a website on the Internet and allows you to view

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-76122032652970381392007-09-26T13:19:00.000+02:002007-09-26T13:44:01.567+02:00

I was alerted to this site by its creator, librarian Woody Evans of Texas. It is a useful example of a Google Custom Search engine - this particular engine searches 67 websites each morning to bring light to "the shadow-places of governments, governmental contractors, and non-government actors affecting policy. De-classified, open, or public sources scoured carefully every morning!" A search for

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-39662412493317671322007-09-26T13:05:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:22.911+01:00

The State Department has launched its first blog, Dipnote..here's what Sean McCormack has to say about it in his welcome message..:"Welcome to the State Department's first-ever blog, Dipnote. As a communicator for the Department, I have the opportunity to do my fair share of talking on a daily basis. With the launch of Dipnote, we are hoping to start a dialogue with the public. More than ever,

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-41354098591708988582007-09-25T22:40:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:22.998+01:00

Discussing the appearance of a webpage via email is one example of when a picture is worth a thousand words (or at least a hundred words) With Fleck you can annotate a web page with notes and bullets, save the changes, and email the page to a contact. Web editors will know how frustrating it is to receive unclear or inadequate instructions about desired edits from other sections of the

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-43556277569657496042007-09-24T22:16:00.000+02:002007-09-26T20:32:07.334+02:00

This is kind of neat, especially if you're one of those people who is good at using a whiteboard for communicating ideas. I'm not, as you can see from the demo below, which is a completely impromptu performance - but somewhat (unintentionally) amusing, I think. Its not hard to imagine this tool being put to better (ie.serious) use, however, and it sure is a lot of fun! Remember to turn on your

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-2587046767000399342007-09-24T21:22:00.000+02:002007-09-24T21:50:47.531+02:00

This post from the "blog of the Augmented Social Cognition Research Group at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)" concerns Wiki Dashboard, a research tool tries to provide greater transparency about the identity and behavior of contributors to Wikpedia articles. The standard complaint about Wikpedia is that, precisely because anyone can edit anything, it is an unreliable source of information. (or,

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-46180973952246303942007-09-23T21:59:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:23.236+01:00

Mashable's 50 sites for booklovers!

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-54607950179326617152007-09-22T23:37:00.000+02:002007-09-22T23:52:20.735+02:00

If you need to post something on the web immediately, at no cost, and independently of your own website - Jottit is one solution. Just go to Jottit, type in your text, click "create page", and Jottit creates the page at a unique url. Its Markdown formatting system is somewhat primitive - the syntax is only a small subset of html - but it does allow hyperlinks and basic formatting.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-67331317187719559052007-09-20T08:07:00.000+02:002007-09-20T08:34:13.382+02:00

Resource Shelf's resource of the week is this nice assortment of resources for teachers and students.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-75772681595457620932007-09-13T22:34:00.000+02:002007-09-18T19:16:26.499+02:00

(from http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/015954.html)Public libraries are sole source of online employment and education information for millions of Americans ALA: "Ever-growing patron demand for computer and Internet services in U.S. public libraries has stretched existing Internet bandwidth, computer availability, and building infrastructure to capacity, according to a new study “Libraries

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-1025501271278464672007-09-13T22:28:00.001+02:002007-09-18T19:16:48.129+02:00

Customize Google is a useful Firefox addon that lets you add wanted and remove unwanted features to your Google searches. Features Use Google Suggest (suggest words while you're typing) Add links to competitors Rewrite links to point straight to the images in Google Images Removes image copying restrictions in Google Book Search Secure Gmail and Google Calendar,

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-69271166395955681852007-09-13T22:18:00.000+02:002007-09-13T22:24:45.899+02:00

RL34163 The Death Penalty: Capital Punishment Legislation in the 110th CongressSeptember 07, 2007. While most capital offenses are state crimes, Congress did revive in 1994 the death penalty as a federal sentencing option. More than a few federal statutes now proscribe offenses punishable by death. This CRS report surveys legislation in the 110th Congress that would modify federal law in the

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-32212598700393250752007-09-11T22:48:00.000+02:002007-09-11T23:02:33.998+02:00

Statetris (tetris with a twist) is a game that teaches you (or pupils) where the 50 states are located - and for a test of your "U.S.centrism", try locating the regions of France, the counties of the U.K, and the nations of Africa and Europe. (another fine tip from Neat New Stuff)

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-53261422335229511102007-09-11T22:44:00.000+02:002007-09-11T22:48:41.362+02:00

FreeFullText.com provides direct links to over 7000 scholarly periodicals which allow some or all of their online content to be viewed by ANYONE with Internet access for free (though some may require free registration).

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-58399055918707334922007-09-11T22:35:00.000+02:002007-09-11T22:37:00.390+02:00

Here, courtesy of Resource Shelf, are some 09/11 resources.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-57094092788951683242007-09-09T22:04:00.000+02:002007-09-09T22:13:43.466+02:00

FactCheck.org will surely come in handy as the as the campaign trails become increasingly littered with facts during the coming year. Note also the companion site, www.factcheckED.org, which is intended to help educators teach their students to be smarter news consumers.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-32265847394140645962007-09-09T21:45:00.000+02:002007-09-09T21:47:01.334+02:00

The Library of Congress page for teacherswill soon sport a new look - here's a preview.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-49563069964086022212007-08-15T22:17:00.000+02:002007-08-15T22:32:03.957+02:00

The promise of noöpolitikby David Ronfeldt and John ArquillaThis is another interesting article from First Monday, about the noosphere - a realm of communal mind conceived of 80 years ago by Teilhard de Chardin, but only now enabled by cyperspace - and its impact on grand strategy and diplomacy in the form of noöpolitik. The authors' thoughts on noöpolitik will be collected in a forthcoming

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-35272038879968467502007-08-15T22:05:00.000+02:002007-08-15T22:08:55.888+02:00

I hate to interrupt, but this is important..."Infomania is the mental state of continuous stress and distraction caused by the combination of queued messaging overload and incessant interruptions."Interested? Read the whole article, "Infomania, why we can't afford to ignore it any longer," in the August issue of First Monday.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-23398376798360077902007-08-14T21:01:00.000+02:002007-08-14T21:03:54.192+02:00

This toolkit might be of interest to IRCs, and their library contacts, in some parts of the world; "To assist librarians and decision makers in developing countries and elsewhere, the Reference and Information Services Section, through an IFLA project, successfully developed a Toolkit for Developing Reference Services. Designed to enrich reference knowledge and to advance reference services, the

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-36280630083648883452007-08-10T14:24:00.000+02:002007-08-10T14:47:28.885+02:00

A new Pew report examines perceptions of the press:"The American public continues to fault news organizations for a number of perceived failures, with solid majorities criticizing them for political bias, inaccuracy and failing to acknowledge mistakes. But some of the harshest indictments of the press now come from the growing segment that relies on the internet as its main source for national

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-29839692408739348962007-08-03T14:54:00.000+02:002007-08-06T12:46:47.009+02:00

The Cyberjournalist List is a very extensive list of blogs published by journalists. Includes blogs..Published by news sites - ongoingPublished by news sites - spot news and eventsPublished independently by journalistsPersonal sites of journalists

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-83294307894955449962007-07-31T14:33:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:23.683+01:00

The Whereabill (discussed in the Garvin column mentioned in previous post) is a rare bird that shows WHERE a bill becomes a law, and where it may have wandered along its way. Could be an amusing teaching aid for IRC folks and diplomats who are still in the business of explaining the U.S. legislative process to students and educators.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-16808414514028563642007-07-31T13:07:00.000+02:002007-07-31T14:30:11.894+02:00

A recent posting by the Sunlight Foundation on "insanely useful [government] websites" has inspired Peggy Garvin to write about those sites and some others in her July 27 "Government Domain" column at LLRX.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-35180290367898388642007-07-30T15:34:00.000+02:002007-07-30T15:38:39.830+02:00

(an interesting post from Neat New Stuff)"The news media never talk about government when it's working well, but in fact, state, local, and regional government agencies are coming up with thousands of ideas for better service to their communities. You can find documents, news stories, multimedia, awards, and upcoming events about them here. Search or browse through broad categories or through

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-19959259479598319132007-07-29T10:34:00.000+02:002007-07-29T10:41:59.647+02:00

This sounds vaguely familiar; a new Rand report suggests that Madison Avenue advertising principles might be effective in winning hearts and minds around the world. "Enlisting Madison Avenue: 'The Marketing Approach to Earning Popular Support in Theaters of Operation' extracts lessons from business practices and adapts them to U.S. military efforts in a unique approach to shaping the attitudes

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-38991763529708013432007-07-24T11:09:00.000+02:002007-07-24T11:37:29.934+02:00

For more on the issues raised by Andrew Keen in Cult of the Amateur, visit the Britannica blog's lively forum on web2.0 One of the bloggers, can you believe it, is that unrelenting ridiculer of blogs Michael Gorman - has he found his medium at last?! Gorman's opinionated rants would surely not get a hearing in the refereed and scholarly world he calls home, but he enriches the blogosphere with

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-44382696195223212012007-07-19T10:01:00.000+02:002007-08-14T21:10:28.587+02:00

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report yesterday to Senator Richard Lugar on the evolving strategic communications and public diplomacy initiatives at the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors. As one might expect of an accountability(formerly accounting) office, emphasis is on measurable results - no touchy-feely stuff. A buzzword

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-50956314746937133182007-07-19T09:24:00.000+02:002007-07-19T09:53:59.999+02:00

Andrew Keen's new book "The Cult of the Amateur" takes a dim view of the erosion of authority that is the hallmark of web2.0 - everyone a publisher, anyone an expert. His views are not unlike those former ALA president Michael Gorman set forth in an article on blogs a few years ago, which did little to endear him to web2.0-happy librarians. The Wall Street Journal recently carried a debate

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-212133459009505942007-07-13T23:12:00.000+02:002007-07-13T23:21:16.881+02:00

Peggy Garvin provides a useful overview of state government information resources at the LLRX.com website. And while you're at it, check out Sabrina Pacifici's Competitive Intelligence - A Selective Resource Guide

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-12885655128884341042007-07-13T22:56:00.000+02:002007-07-13T23:01:08.404+02:00

Brookings and ABC News have partnered to create Opportunity08, a website that focuses on issues that will shape the 2008 presidential election. Here's how Opportunity 08 describes itself: "Voters say they want to hear more from candidates about the issues and less about partisan politics. As we enter a presidential race with wide-open primaries in both political parties and enormous debate about

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-81286918654906474672007-07-13T19:08:00.000+02:002007-07-13T19:19:11.681+02:00

You read about Legistorm's salary database here last November, and here's information about the travel database (if you've been wondering what those CODELS do - and buy - when they come to town, here's your chance to find out);"Our travel database contains roughly 27,000 trips and provides a unique window into how private organizations are trying to gain influence in Washington. No other source

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-14459471481593814412007-07-06T11:28:00.000+02:002007-07-06T11:30:40.368+02:00

from Neat New Stuff...VoterWatch - the Congressional Record You Always Wanted http://www.voterwatch.org/Because the Congressional Record is not a faithful representation of what occurs on the floor of Congress, this "nonpartisan nonprofit organization" has created this searchable database of videos of Congress at work. Browse by date or topic, or search by keyword of member of Congress or both.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-69872665356632418882007-07-05T11:27:00.000+02:002007-07-05T12:05:25.848+02:00

In the site's own words..."America at a Crossroads is a major public television event that premiered on PBS in April 2007. This ongoing series explores the challenges confronting the post-9/11 world — including the war on terrorism; the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan; the experience of American troops serving abroad; the struggle for balance within the Muslim world; and global perspectives on

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-2683245636798901532007-07-03T13:24:00.000+02:002007-07-03T13:34:25.715+02:00

This CBN program looks at anti-Americanism in European media. The site also links to two sites that might be useful for information on European anti-Americanism, Gateway Pundit and David Medienkritic. Obviously these sites and CBC have a clear political agenda, but I found some of the information to be quite interesting, particularly the interview with "Uncouth Nation" author Andre Markovits at

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-46789990917497342952007-07-03T13:17:00.000+02:002007-07-03T13:24:14.644+02:00

Here's a review of some web2.0 applications that are useful teaching tools.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-82165830621734838082007-07-03T13:08:00.000+02:002007-07-03T13:13:36.246+02:00

Here's a blog with some interesting writers and forums..."Britannica Blog is a place for smart, lively conversations about a broad range of topics. Art, science, history, current events – it’s all grist for the mill. We’ve given our writers encouragement and a lot of freedom, so the opinions here are theirs, not the company’s. Please jump in and add your own thoughts."

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-54311088577859964132007-07-02T12:01:00.000+02:002007-07-02T12:06:41.066+02:00

For some easily accessible tips 'n tricks you could do worse to check out and subscribe toPodcasttools.com . There's an iTunes feed (search for "paul colligan" or "podcast tools weekly update") to get a 5-minute blurb every week. The site provides podcast notes and some useful hints. His site is a useful one to keep an eye on too.

OliTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-1827174800070839242007-06-29T13:21:00.000+02:002007-06-29T13:44:07.924+02:00

Here's something to supplement last month's post about Google translation services; translate.google.com provides some nifty translation buttons that you can install on your toolbar. If you're working in one of the major languages (not Norwegian), this can come in handy. Eg. if you slide the "English to Russian" button to your toolbar, highlighting a word and pressing the button returns a

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-21346832387848296632007-06-29T13:05:00.000+02:002007-06-29T13:15:12.666+02:00

Uncle Sam's Photos is a directory of more than 190 free USG photo galleries, arranged by subject.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-30507061588556055372007-06-22T12:36:00.000+02:002007-06-22T12:53:36.939+02:00

Here's what Marylaine Block at Neat New Stuff has to say about this great site for opinion information:"A statistical heaven for political junkies, with charts, tables, and maps showing the ever-changing preferences of voters as the 2008 presidential election approaches. Also check out the Pollster blog, whose blogroll includes poll links to public pollsters, academic surveys, survey research

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-81878142273756526362007-06-19T14:29:00.000+02:002007-06-19T14:33:38.844+02:00

Internet World Stats features worldwide internet usage statistics for more than 233 individual countries and world regions.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-5098744881518434442007-06-19T14:24:00.000+02:002007-06-19T14:25:46.252+02:00

Link Harvester is a very powerful tool for analyzing the sites that link to your page.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-11248005023248395062007-06-19T13:51:00.000+02:002007-06-19T14:03:01.937+02:00

Press release from the Sunlight Foundation, June 14:"WASHINGTON, DC – The Sunlight Foundation today launched a new search engine called LOUIS – the Library Of Unified Information Sources – to improve public access to federal documents through an all-inclusive, catalogued and cross-referenced collection of official documents from the executive and legislative branches of government." Read the

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-24245542590371707832007-06-14T11:03:00.000+02:002007-06-14T16:19:41.875+02:00

Embassy speakers asked to explain what the State Department does might find the DOS/USAID Strategic Plan useful. It is a handsome, illustrated publication that explains the objectives of U.S. foreign policy and the State Department's role in simple terms. The pdf version of the 2007-2012 plan is available at www.state.gov/documents/organization/86291.pdf

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-57312457100101507402007-06-13T16:16:00.000+02:002007-06-13T16:26:53.004+02:00

By adding &imgtype=face to the url generated by a google image search, you can refine your search to include only faces...might (I say might) come in handy some time. You can also add &imgtype=news to the end of a search to limit to images in the news.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-25882717440035441322007-06-12T23:40:00.000+02:002007-06-13T00:22:11.493+02:00

Caroline Walters at the USC center for Public Diplomacy writes:"After extensive input from various government agencies, private sector communication professionals, and over thirty independent studies of U.S. public diplomacy, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes unveiled her new national strategic communications plan on May 31. The plan is a result of more than a

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-82736762620291547972007-06-06T15:51:00.000+02:002007-06-06T16:28:35.635+02:00

Another fine reference tool, and companion to Nationmaster mentioned in post below, is StatemasterIt describe itself thus:"...a unique statistical database which allows you to research and compare a multitude of different data on US states. We have compiled information from various primary sources such as the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. More than

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-22437304640478660772007-06-01T20:51:00.000+02:002007-06-01T22:34:37.062+02:00

Thanks Bill M. for the tip about the new FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) website. Below is its definition of FARA, and here's a May 31 CQ/NYT article about the website..The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was enacted in 1938. FARA is a disclosure statute that requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make periodic public

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-1741025726225327812007-05-31T22:03:00.000+02:002007-05-31T22:46:33.405+02:00

Reference librarians are only human, and some of us are not above becoming defensive and snappish when someone asks a question we can't answer. I don't know how many times I've barked "what a stupid question!" at an innocent callers who asks, "if I was standing on the corner of x and y in New York city, and turned 360 degrees, what would it look like?" No longer. Now one can direct such callers

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-10571490363206520972007-05-31T15:15:00.000+02:002007-05-31T15:34:28.707+02:00

Following up on the April 23 post analyzing the merger of USIA into the State Department, here is an extract from an op-ed in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Price Floyd, former director of media affairs at the State Department:"We must do the real work of public diplomacy, not public relations. We need to greatly increase the number of people-to-people exchanges. We need to bring more officials

IRC Tel Avivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09508079997624916481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-8842611757624394402007-05-31T13:00:00.000+02:002007-05-31T22:57:52.658+02:00

ScrapbookThis addon allows saving of web pages to a local subdirectory. Provides a bookmark-like interface to retrieve them - fantastic for informational pages you feel you should keep but might also want when offline. By default data is saved into your profile directory but the location can be changed.Firefox TweaksThese are from Computerworld online and describe some tweaks to about:config in

OliTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-11816129517817199292007-05-29T09:35:00.000+02:002007-05-29T09:35:25.780+02:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/is a special section of the Guardian devoted to news and analysis of U.S. events.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-67392665765594374772007-05-26T23:13:00.000+02:002007-05-26T23:41:00.942+02:00

This new Google feature translates search terms into another language, searches pages in that language, and translates the results back into the original search language. Useful for identifying sources of information that a)would be missed altogether in a default langauge search adn b)are in languages that, to many people, are completely incomprehensible (e.g.,Arabic, Chinese, Russian) but the

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-10439502870799952822007-05-25T11:23:00.000+02:002007-05-25T16:34:52.868+02:00

This post at Lifehackers provides an overview of all the things you can do with Google! Thanks to Oli for the heads up!

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-41784764746815320412007-05-23T12:38:00.000+02:002007-05-24T20:28:26.004+02:00

Excerpt from a Sacramento Bee article: "The idea of the library as a cloistered hall where everyone whispers is giving way to a place where people go read books, have conversations and increasingly want audio-visual materials," Dickinson said. "I think this is all part and parcel of what the public wants."Personally, I can't imagine anything more soothing than a "cloistered hall where everyone

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-45239044281957345152007-05-22T22:52:00.000+02:002007-05-22T22:57:43.499+02:00

This is a truly impressive resource for comparative national statistics across a broad range of topics. Here's what developer Luke Metcalfe says about the site:The idea for NationMaster arose as I was surfing around the CIA World Factbook. It's a great read but I felt the individual figures (like number of TV's, or kilometres of coastline) didn't mean much on their own. They'd be more

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-76719607275888498042007-05-22T22:29:00.000+02:002007-05-22T22:52:31.358+02:00

Pew has just published the report Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly MainstreamFrom the summary:"The first-ever, nationwide, random sample survey of Muslim Americans finds them to be largely assimilated, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to many of the issues that have divided Muslims and Westerners around the world.The Pew Research Center conducted more than 55,000

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-11196177846243147392007-05-19T23:35:00.000+02:002007-05-19T23:37:44.033+02:00

Here's a handy little utility to help you draw your own favicon, or develop one from an image.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-9639593470113280012007-05-19T22:34:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:24.292+01:00

Google's new & improved analytics package is a good option for anyone who wants free traffic analysis for their website(s). All you need is a Google account - Google generates a snippet of code for you to paste into the pages you want to monitor. The package analyzes site usage, visitors, traffic sources, geographic origin of visitors, most popular content, etc., with the ultimate goal - for

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-33704337697593111812007-05-16T23:45:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:24.666+01:00

CIA has a new website. The press release informs of the following key changes:Updated look and feelConsistent navigation throughout the siteA movie on the homepage that easily(?) and quickly details who we are and what we doVirtual tours of CIA Headquarters and the CIA MuseumAdditional interactive presentations, including a piece on the enigmatic Kryptos sculpture and pieces on the Careers pageA

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-38785003794484095252007-05-16T23:29:00.000+02:002007-05-16T23:38:04.568+02:00

If you're curious about Library 2.0, these 23 exercises will give you an idea of what it's all about.(thanks to Librarian in Black)

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-32270196596914597662007-05-10T21:56:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:25.179+01:00

At last, a book named after my very own filing system. As a paean to disorder, this book challenges what library science is all about. Should arouse the morbid fascination of any orderly librarian!

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-63099996621700838092007-05-05T20:50:00.000+02:002007-05-05T20:53:42.446+02:00

Phil Bradley regularly updates this nice table that matches search engines to search needs. A handy cheat-sheet, and a nice handout if you're doing internet training.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-24478091807069322212007-05-03T09:52:00.000+02:002007-05-03T10:35:47.102+02:00

This is potentially an interesting blog, by Craig Hayden of the USC Public Diplomacy center. "up-to-date" (below) seems a stretch considering the site has been updated only twice so far in 2007 but, encouragingly, both posts are dated today, May 3! Stay tuned! Argument-tracking, and questions about why we believe what we believe, constitute an interesting PD exercise. This site traces arguments

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-65765716416097570302007-05-03T09:40:00.000+02:002007-05-03T09:49:04.185+02:00

The Library of Congress has a new blog - the blogger is LC's communications director Matt Raymond.

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-12987733157985170852007-04-26T22:51:00.000+02:002007-04-26T23:04:59.372+02:00

I've been using TinyURL for years, and find it extremely useful for shortening long and hard-to-email urls that are typically generated by cms websites. Tiny URL has a Firefox plugin that puts a "create TinyURL for this page" option on your right mouse button. It also has a "create TinyURL for this link" option, which is useful when you want to create a TinyURL for a page without clicking through

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-46140952537042526452007-04-23T13:31:00.000+02:002007-04-23T13:39:14.399+02:00

While attending the National War College in 2003, former Oslo PAO and Reykjavik DCM appointee Neil Klopfenstein wrote an interesting and, in my opinion, accurate paper on the impact of the USIA/State merger on public diplomacy. His conclusions are reflected in the title, "USIA's intgration into the State Department: advocating policy trumps promoting mutual understanding."

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-58621159533302334392007-04-23T00:10:00.000+02:002007-04-23T14:23:34.762+02:00

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me "how many people named x are there in the U.S., and where do they live?" I'd be no richer than I am today, but with names.whitepages.com at least I'm now prepared to answer that very tough question (and hope someone asks it soon!). Take "Bryce" for example, the database tells me there are 6,065 of them, and it's the 1118th most common name in a

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-27300735642928121952007-04-17T23:32:00.000+02:002007-04-17T23:38:28.930+02:00

From the press release announcing the ALA report 2007 State of America's LibrariesPredicted demise due to Internet fails to materialize(CHICAGO) Ten years after some experts predicted the demise of the nation's system of libraries as a result of the Internet explosion, the most current national data on library use shows that the exact opposite has happened. Data released today by the American

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-73391394525257740712007-04-17T23:14:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:25.427+01:00

PBS Teachers is a great site for teachers. Here's what it says about itself:PBS Teachers is PBS' national web destination for high-quality preK-12 educational resources. Here you'll find classroom materials suitable for a wide range of subjects and grade levels. We provide thousands of lesson plans, teaching activities, on-demand video assets, and interactive games and simulations. These

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-89474052848454586322007-04-17T12:53:00.000+02:002007-04-17T13:02:37.846+02:00

Thank you Kate for alerting me to LC's The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. This site "presents a window into the lives of American diplomats. Transcripts of interviews with U.S. diplomatic personnel capture their experiences, motivations, critiques, personal analyses, and private thoughts. These elements are crucial to understanding

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-21990271561216931822007-04-14T22:58:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:25.642+01:00

This Firefox plugin turns any webpage into a whiteboard that you can draw on with a marker. You can change the color, size, and opacity of the marker through keyboard commands. Very neat, alhtough I can't off the top of my head imagine how I would use it - perhaps in lieu of a laser pen when demonstrating features of a website?

Petternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5928731.post-71322278709405923802007-04-14T22:31:00.000+02:002008-12-09T13:57:25.775+01:00

If you want to design a page around a specific image or logo, this color palette generator tool comes in handy. Enter the url of the image, and it analyzes the colors of the image and generates a matching palette for you.

Petternoreply@blogger.com