Internet Reviews

Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost

Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian for public services and collection development at Willamette University, email: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian for technical services at Willamette University, email: cdrost@willamette.edu

Data.gov Access: https://www.data.gov/.

Managed and hosted by the U.S. General Services Administration, Data.gov currently hosts more than 190,000 datasets provided by government agencies at the federal, state, and local level. The site’s purpose is to provide access to publicly available federal government data in order to increase transparency and accountability.

Under the 2013 Federal Open Data Policy, all newly generated government data is required to be made openly available, in machine readable format, while ensuring privacy and security.

The homepage provides basic keyword searching across datasets currently cataloged in Data.gov, 14 browsable topics, and highlights and updates for recent additions to the site. The “Data” section takes the user to an advanced search interface, which provides options for searching and filtering the full list of datasets. Researchers can browse datasets under the “Topics” section, with each topic section further divided into subdivisions. Each topic usually starts with updates that provide latest additions to the category and highlights that feature major changes in that category. “Impact” lists examples of how using the data sets has led to job creating, savings, and other business and community impacts. “Applications” provides a directory of products that incorporate open government data to provide useful government, community, and business tools. The “Developers” section provides support for programmers and data scientists on open source projects, data harvesting guidelines, API instructions, and a link to Challenges.gov, which lists opportunities to develop and contribute to government agencies’ initiatives.

Most results present users with various file formats and media that can be daunting for the average user. The keyword search can be misleading, picking up keywords from large broad datasets, records that are not standardized, and results that might not have the file format that is appropriate for the user’s needs. This is a great directory of raw data, but it assumes that users are familiar with working with datasets.

Data.gov is open to everyone, but the datasets are geared towards users who are familiar with working with data. The average person would have difficulty analyzing the raw data sources. Recommended as a resource for users who are prepared for some trial and error to locate and navigate varying forms of data sources.—Ken Fujiuchi, Buffalo State College, fujiuck@buffalostate.edu

Disaster Information Management Research Center. Access: https://sis.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc.html.

The Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) is part of the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM)Specialized Information Services Division, and works to collect, organize, and make available resources and research related to disasters of all types, from hurricanes and earthquakes to terrorist actions to disease outbreaks. The DIMRC website provides quick access to background and reference information on different types of disasters, preparedness, and response tools, as well as links to related information resources, training, and certification opportunities.

As expected of a resource created and maintained by librarians, the DIMRC website does not contain much original content, but is rather a curated and annotated guide to existing resources created by other authoritative organizations.

Different users will find very different ways to use this exceedingly helpful clearinghouse. Undergraduates and the general public, for instance, will probably find most immediately helpful the brief pages dedicated to “Disaster Types and Topics,” which primarily covers “Bioterrorism,” “Chemical Emergencies,” “Fires and Wildfires,” “Geological Hazards,” “Infectious Diseases,” “Radiation Emergencies,” and “Weather and Storms.” There are also links to assorted narrower disaster-related topics, such as “Animals in Disasters” or “Pregnant Women in Disasters and Emergencies,” as well as specific events such as the Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010 or individually named hurricanes. Each page, whether dedicated to a broad category or narrow topic, contains a curated list of links to pertinent organizations and relevant factsheets. These links are to reputable sources, primarily government agencies, professional organizations (such as the American Veterinary Medical Association on the “animals in disasters” page), or university research centers.

The trainings and webinars hosted or linked by DIMRC seem geared toward professional emergency responders and are likely to be of less use to an academic audience. Similarly, there are several resources, such as WISER, an app for first responders, and CHEMM, a chemical hazards emergency management guide, that are explicitly geared toward use by professionals in the field.

The DIMRC site also includes links to broader resources, such as the NLM’s TOXNET databases, which are focused on toxicology, environmental health, and hazardous chemicals. These resources, while pertinent, are not unique to DIMRC and could probably be accessed more efficiently through more direct avenues. Of interest to students in the fields of public health, medical anthropology/sociology, public policy, or environmental science.—Eli Gandour-Rood, University of Puget Sound, egandourrood@pugetsound.edu

Social Welfare History Project. Access: https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/.

The Social Welfare History Project (SWHP) is a digital archive created and managed by the libraries of Virginia Commonwealth University. The site’s content focuses on materials related to social welfare and social reform in the United States. In addition to an image portal, there are curated exhibits on various topics. One exhibit, relevant to our current public discourse, is titled “Immigration and Ethnicity: Documents in United States History” and traces anti-immigration sentiment and related legislation from the 19th century forward. The exhibit, curated by Catherine A. Paul, contains documents ranging from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the full text of the Presidential Commission on Immigration and Naturalization from 1953. The associated documents are clear and easily readable even when increased 200% in size. Like each of the curated exhibits, “Immigration and Ethnicity” provides footnotes for further reading and an APA citation for the page.

Other content includes the “Recollection” section, which contains both firsthand and academic reflections on various issues of social welfare. This includes correspondence, essays, and news articles accompanied by scanned images of documents and ephemera.

The Social Welfare History Project site is well organized, and users can browse by topic, era, issue, or specific social welfare organizations. There is also a federated search box. This collection is a valuable resource that will prove useful for everything from high school projects to graduate research. The SWHP site is also fascinating to peruse at random.—Bart Howard Everts, Rutgers University-Camden, beverts@libraries.rutgers.edu