From the LC Web Site:

While the term “biotechnology” covers a very broad area, this guide focuses on the most recent uses of biotechnology in its four major fields: 1. medicine (vaccine development, chemotherapy drugs, stem cell therapy, gene therapy, and pharmacogenomics); 2. agriculture (genetically modified organisms and cloning); 3. energy and environment (biofuel and waste management); and 4. the bioethical and legal implications of biotechnology.

This guide updates and replaces TB 84-7, and furnishes a review of the literature in the collections of the Library of Congress on the topic. Not intended as a comprehensive bibliography, this compilation is designed–as the name of the series implies–to put the reader “on target.”

Direct To: Biotechnology Guide

Source: Science, Technology & Business Division, Library of Congress

The new MedlinePlus compilation deals with impaired driving.

Source: MedlinePlus

From the Cornell Law School Web Site:

Need to find case law from Peru, Nauru, or Vanuatu? Statutory law from Serbia, South Africa, or Saint Lucia? The new Foreign and International Law Guide is the place to begin. Every country in the world is included in the Foreign Law Sites section, which provides links to the top four online resources for foreign law research, a list of Law Library resources, and links to current research guides on how to navigate the legal system and find the law. US Government Resources, Transnational Organizations, and Topical Guide sections are current and the guide is continually update

Direct to Foreign and International Law Guide

Source: The Primary Source, Cornell Law School

Dr. Jacso Reviews:

+ Happy Planet Index

A very good starting point to quantify the life satisfaction level and longevity of people in 178 countries in context of the (ab)use of planetary resources.

+ The Measure of America

This novel and highly informative digital atlas paints a series of illuminating pictures about the Human Development measures not only of the country and its 50 states, but also of the 436 congressional districts, in a visually appealing format with often distressing but realistic content.

+ State Health Facts

Very good (if not yet perfect) resource for health and health-related economic, legislative and management statistics in the 50 U.S. states, offering current and highly relevant data, with intuitive browsing and state-of-the-art output options.

Source: Gale

Direct links to ALL of the results from following surveys can be found here.

+ 2008 Library Vocabulary Results

+ Ready Reference Core Tools (Multi-Subject)

+ Collection Development Core Tools

+ Government Documents Core Reference Tools

+ Arts & Humanities ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Bio-Sciences (non-medical**)’Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Business ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Consumer Health and Medical ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Professional* Health and Medical Reference Core Reference Tools

+ Physical and Earth Sciences ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tool

+ Education and Homework Research ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tool

+ Genealogy ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Legal ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Social Sciences ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

Source: Diane Kovacs

Oscars 2.0: Film Academy Revamps Its Web Site

Want to hear Cameron Crowe’s thoughts on winning an Oscar or see how king-sized movie posters are assembled? How about a sneak peek at some of the exclusive exhibitions held at the film academy’s Beverly Hills headquarters?

It’s all at Oscars.org, the newly revamped Web site of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, officially launching Tuesday. Film fans of all kinds are welcome, said AMPAS Executive Administrator Ric Robertson.

“It’s for almost anyone with an interest in movies,” he said. “Depending on the level of interest, there’s something there for just about everybody.”

The site is more than an extensive homage to the Academy Awards. Visitors can learn about the academy’s vast film and script archives (both open to the public), discover educational programs for young filmmakers, glimpse artwork from upcoming academy exhibitions (Fellini’s sketches are on view now) and meet the people who vote on the Oscars via video.

There’s also a link to Oscars’ YouTube page and a chance to receive automated Oscar trivia questions each day from now until the Academy Awards are presented Feb. 22.

Source: AP (via TBO.com)

How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal

This report is intended for Members and staff assisting grant seekers in districts and states, and it includes writing proposals for both government and private foundations grants. In preparation for writing a proposal, the report first discusses preliminary information gathering and preparation, developing ideas for the proposal, gathering community support, identifying funding resources, and seeking preliminary review of the proposal and support of relevant administrative officials. The second section of the report covers the actual writing of the proposal, from outlining of project goals, stating the purpose and objectives of the proposal, explaining the program methods to solve the stated problem, and how the results of the project will be evaluated, to long-term project planning, and, finally, developing the proposal budget. The last section of the report includes a listing of free grants-writing websites, some in Spanish as well as English, including the Foundation Center’s “Proposal Writing Short Course.” Related CRS reports are CRS Report 97-220, Grants Work in a Congressional Office; CRS Report RL34012, Grants Information for Constituents; and CRS Report RS21117, Ethical Considerations in Assisting Constituents With Grant Requests Before Federal Agencies. This report will be updated as needed.

Source: Congressional Research Service (via OpenCRS)

From a Post by Jimmy Wales:

Since July 1, more than 125,000 of you have donated $4 million. In addition, we’ve received major gifts and foundation support totaling $2 million. This combined revenue will cover our operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009.

Source: WikiMedia Foundation

This mashup offers crime maps for over 200 university areas in the United States. Browse by state and then school name to find maps you’re interested in viewing. It’s also possible to search by address on individual maps. Crime alerts sent via text message or email are available. Free.

Direct to Ucrime.

From the article:

The West Virginia Humanities Council announced it has awarded a contract to Information Research Corp. of Fairmont to develop an online version of the West Virginia Encyclopedia.

The online version of the encyclopedia is targeted to be up and running by June 20 (West Virginia Day) 2010.

Source: Charleston Daily Mail

Pew Launches Project to Examine Federal Subsidies

With the role of government in financial markets rapidly expanding, The Pew Charitable Trusts today announced a new project to focus public and policymaker attention on the size and scope of all federal subsidies. Subsidyscope, an initiative of Pew’s Economic Policy Department, will aggregate information on subsidies from multiple sources into a comprehensive, searchable, open-source database, which will serve as a gateway for press, policymakers, advocates and the public. The project will be guided by a broad and bipartisan advisory board of budget, fiscal and transparency experts.

Source: Pew Charitable Trusts

Another in the continuing series of health resource information compilations.

+ Gun Safety

Source: MedlinePlus

From an e-mail alert:

The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive source of government-funded scientific, technical, engineering and business-related information. For more than 60 years, NTIS has served as an innovative resource to Federal agencies, businesses and universities looking for high-caliber information. Now NTIS users can subscribe to any of the 39 RSS Feeds of information about technical documents recently added to the collection of almost 3 million information products.

While you can find information on virtually any subject on the web, there’s no guarantee that the information is accurate - or that it has been published by a legitimate source. NTIS undergoes a rigorous process to ensure that all the information we offer is authentic and credible. This integrity, along with the breadth and depth of our collection, is why NTIS is regarded as the nation’s preeminent source of government scientific information.

NTIS classifies citations into 39 subject categories. Each of these subject categories is divided into subcategories. This method provides sorting categories for both hard and soft sciences.

The feeds are updated every two weeks.

Here’s a complete list of feeds organized by category.

Source: National Technical Information Service

From the news release:

The U.S. Census Bureau released today the new Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2009. First published in 1878, “Uncle Sam’s Almanac” is a summary of statistics on a wide range of important topics, from A (aquaculture) to Z (zinc production). Whether one seeks numbers on biofuel or banking, foreign trade or foreign aid, cars or bars, there is no better one-stop shop for statistics.

The 128th edition contains more than 1,400 tables of social, political and economic facts about our nation and the world. Among topics covered in the 49 new tables in this edition are the religious composition of our nation’s population, osteopathic physicians, online news consumption, expenditures for wildlife-related recreation and women in parliaments around the globe. Although the emphasis is on national-level statistics, some tables present state- and even city- and metropolitan-level data as well.

Direct to 2009 Edition of the Statistical Abstract of the United States (Available in PDF)
Note: 2006, 2007, and 2008 Editions also Available.

See Also: 2009 Edition Also Available Here

See Also: Digital Editions of the U.S. Statistical Abstract (back to 1878) are available here.

See Also: U.S. Census Glossary

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (via DocuTicker)

Donors to the Presidential Inaugural Committee

In keeping with President-elect Obama’s commitment to changing the way business is done in Washington, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) is taking unprecedented steps to insure transparency in the public reporting of donors to a Presidential Inaugural Committee. This chart will allow you to view, sort, and search virtually real-time information on all donors contributing over $200 to the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee.

Unlike previous inaugural committees, the 2009 PIC does not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, labor unions, current federally-registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens and registered foreign agents and does not accept individual contributions in excess of $50,000.

For information on donors bundling contributions for the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee, please click here.

Source: Presidential Inauguration Committee