Article Alert is a new free aggregation and digest service that links readers to interesting and informative magazine and journal articles on four major topics:  (1) American Life, (2) Economy, (3) Global Challenges, and (4) International Relations.

Editors and reference specialists employed by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Information Programs select from articles available on the Web in full-text format. Article selection does not constitute an endorsement of the authors’ views by the U.S. government.

Did you know the Library of Congress is the largest library in the world? One way to search the Library’s publicly available digital collections (whether digitized or born digital)  is to use the Browse by Topic pages.  Topics you can explore include American history, arts and culture, government, sports and much more.

Join the more than 3 million monthly visitors who consult the Central Intelligence Agency’s database of information World Factbook. Now completely redesigned, the website includes facts about the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues of 266 world entities.

Created as part of the President’s commitment to open government and democratizing information, Data.gov provides access to economic, healthcare, environmental, and other government information on a single website. Although currently only a limited portion of the rich variety of federal datasets is available, the public is invited to actively participate in shaping the future of this resource by suggesting additional datasets and site enhancements to provide seamless access and use of federal data.

Learn more:

• Data policy
• Tutorial
• Open Government Initiative
• Office of Management & Budget

Published by the Economic Research Service, the 36-page report Emerging Issues in the U.S. Organic Industry examines recent economic research on the adoption of organic farming systems, organic production costs and returns, and market conditions to gain a better understanding of the organic supply squeeze and other emerging issues in this rapidly changing industry.

A new science report that represents a consensus of 13 agencies and is focused on potential climate change impacts on the United States has been launched by the White House. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States is the most comprehensive report to date on the possible impacts of climate change for everyone across America.

Read more:

• U.S. Global Change Research Program
• White House issues: Energy & Environment

Indigenous People Today: living in two worlds is the topic of the June 2009 edition of eJournal USA.  This publication explores issues surrounding the languages and culture of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples, their legal status and how they are networking around the world.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from 1 June to 30 November.

Travel info for U.S. citizens:

• Advice from the U.S. Dept. of State
• Know before you go – hurricane season 2009

Travel advice for Australian citizens:

• Cyclones, hurricanes & typhoons
• Visiting the USA

To learn more about hurricanes:

• National Hurricane Center
• Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory

The volunteer EducationUSA advisers in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane recently received the Unsung Hero Award for 20 years of volunteer advising to Australians interested in studying in the United States. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the Association of International Educators conference in Los Angeles and was one of only 5 awards presented worldwide to EducationUSA advisers. More than 7,000 international educators from around the world attended the conference. The Australian network was established in 1989 by the US Embassy and its consulates to meet the interest in U.S. education opportunities. Recent adviser initiatives include the creation of virtual consulting student services and on-line adviser course development. Helen Reidy, based in Sydney, is the national coordinator for the program.

To learn more about:

• Education advising in Australia
• NAFSA: Association of International Educators

The 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report  has just been released by the U.S. Department of State.  The most comprehensive worldwide report on the efforts of governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons, the TIP survey includes findings from 170 countries. This is the primary diplomatic tool through which the U.S. Government encourages partnership and increased determination in the fight against forced labor, sexual exploitation, and modern-day slavery.

Read more:

• Remarks by Secretary of State Clinton
• Remarks by Ambassador CdeBaca
• Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons