Business and Government Documents Center

The Business and Government Documents Center invites you to our new exhibit featuring documents and images from Hurricane Katrina. Spanning across various collections at Bobst Library, we have assembled a range of print, video, and online items that help put this disaster into perspective.

From US government documents to Spike Lee's poetic documentary "When The Levees Broke," this exhibit offers a glimpse at the extraordinary response to this disaster.

Here is a sample of the titles with links to either full-text or the item record.

US Government Documents:
The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned

Hurricane Katrina : the roles of U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency leadership : hearing before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

Lessons Learned: EPA’s Response to Hurricane Katrina

Books:
Come hell or high water : Hurricane Katrina and the color of disaster by Michael Eric Dyson:
Click here for Bobcat Record
Click here for Google Books

Films:

When the Levees Broke: a requiem in four acts
Click here for Bobcat Record

Hurricane Katrina storm that drowned a city
Click here for Bobcat record
Click here for PBS site

Images:
Select the Accunet/AP Photo Archive from our Databases A to Z list.

Journal articles:

Special issue of The Journal of American History
Special issue of Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

Websites:

Hurricane Katrina Advisory Archive: The National Weather Service compiled this detailed archive of advisories, as well as a graphic display of the Hurricane's path.

The Hurricane Digital Memory Bank: the largest free public archive of Katrina and Rita with over 25,000 items in the collection.

Recently, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece on the publication of "A Nation at Risk" on its 25th anniversary.

Here is a link to the original document and here is a link to the New York Times article, "A Nation at a Loss."

Interested in issues on global warming and climate changes? Check out the EPA website:

http://epa.gov/

The EPA website is a great place to find up-to-date information on climate change and global warming. Interestingly, the EPA no longer updates their global warming page, but maintains the archive for historical purposes.

You can also find iformation on:
US climate policy,
Federal regulations governing environmental issues
Clean Air Act (PDF)
Clean Water Act (PDF)
Grants
Recycling

A Podcast from the NY Times CityRoom recently reflected on the the 1978 law that required New York State (this means New York City as well!) residents to pick up after their dogs. Its an interesting piece and it also provides a great opportunity to show how easy it is to find information on New York State laws, both via the free web and through subscription sites available only to NYU students.

First, lets take a look at how you can use Lexisnexis Academic Universe to find this law.

Once you are in Lexisnexis select "Legal" from the Tabs at the top. The select "Federal and State Codes" from the list. Once in this section, type in "Public Health Law 1310" -- make sure to search using "Natural Language" and select "NY. . ." from the source list. The first hit should bring up the law. Not only does Lexisnexis provide the text of the law, but it also has a history of its existence as well as Case Notes.

For those without access to Lexisnexis, here is another option:

The New York State Legislature

From there, you can search through a variety of New York State bills, resolutions and laws. By selecting "Laws of New York" and then typing in "Public Health Law 1310". The record from this site simply provides the text of the law.

And, this is the big difference between paid and free sites. With Lexisnexis you get a better overall picture of what the law is about, its history and context. The NYS Legislature site provides access to the text, but it definitely does not give the extra details that Lexisnexis offers.

Business.gov, the official business link to the U.S. Government, has added a new search feature, Business.gov muscles up search, to help business and prospective business owners find government financial assistance.

"We've reduced the amount of time [someone] would have to spend searching for loans and grants," said Nancy sternberg, the program manager for the Business Gateway, the e-government initiative that spawned Business.gov.

Source: Government Computer News

Mark Newman, a professor of Physics at Michigan University has created a series of cartograms for both the:

2008 and 2004

elections using election results. The basic idea of a cartogram is to take a variable, such as the election results, and "map" them out accordingly. The distorted visualization often gives a better perspective of data results. In the case of the elections, the maps show a much richer picture of how the country voted and they help to alter the misconception of the purported "red state/blue state" division that a normal map tends to highlight.

The New York Times reports that the White House website has been revamped.

Of particular interest for students of government are sections for Executive Orders and Proclamations.

The site will also reportedly offer ways for citizens to make comments on legislation proposed by the President as well as a new Office of Public Liaison.

In addition, a complete list of nominations and appointments can be found on the site.

The NYTimes today has an excellent set of interactive maps and data sets outlining immigration trends in the United States since 1880. The maps allow you to compare foreign born population vs. the total population for any state by decennial years; 1880, 1890, 1910 etc. In addition, you can choose from a select group of countries and track that nations immigration to various counties in the United States.

The data set focuses on diversity in nations classrooms and tracks demographic changes across school districts.

A census is a "snapshot" of the entire population at a single point in time. The U.S. Census determines how many people reside within the country's borders, who they are, and where they live. Every 10 years since 1790, data from the decennial census have been used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, as mandated by the U.S. constitution. With 860,000 temporary workers and a cost of $4.5 billion, the 2000 Census was the largest peacetime mobilization of resources and personnel by the federal government. The 2010 Census, which will take place next April, is projected to cost as much as $14 billion.

Topics covered on the site:
Census History; the American Community Survey; Apportionment; 2010 Timetable, and 2010 Questionnaire. We also provide a list of additional resources, including links to related websites and content.

Source: Population Reference Bureau

A census is a "snapshot" of the entire population at a single point in time. The U.S. Census determines how many people reside within the country's borders, who they are, and where they live. Every 10 years since 1790, data from the decennial census have been used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, as mandated by the U.S. constitution. With 860,000 temporary workers and a cost of $4.5 billion, the 2000 Census was the largest peacetime mobilization of resources and personnel by the federal government. The 2010 Census, which will take place next April, is projected to cost as much as $14 billion.

Topics covered on the site:
Census History; the American Community Survey; Apportionment; 2010 Timetable, and 2010 Questionnaire. We also provide a list of additional resources, including links to related websites and content.

Source: Population Reference Bureau

A census is a "snapshot" of the entire population at a single point in time. The U.S. Census determines how many people reside within the country's borders, who they are, and where they live. Every 10 years since 1790, data from the decennial census have been used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, as mandated by the U.S. constitution. With 860,000 temporary workers and a cost of $4.5 billion, the 2000 Census was the largest peacetime mobilization of resources and personnel by the federal government. The 2010 Census, which will take place next April, is projected to cost as much as $14 billion.

Topics covered on the site:
Census History; the American Community Survey; Apportionment; 2010 Timetable, and 2010 Questionnaire. We also provide a list of additional resources, including links to related websites and content.

Source: Population Reference Bureau

"Social Media and Web 2.0 are umbrella terms that define the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and content creation. Learn more about Social Media and Web 2.0 in government."

This site includes:
Blogs from the U.S. Government – Read blogs from various U.S. government sources.

Government Gadget Gallery – Explore gadgets from across the government.

Government Photos and Images – A large collection of photos and images made available by the U.S. government

Government RSS Library – Library of RSS feeds from across the government

Podcasts from the U.S. Government – Listen to podcasts from across the government.

State Photo and Multimedia Galleries – Find photos from the U.S. states.

Videos from the U.S. Government – Links to public domain videos that may be used and reproduced without permission or fee

Virtual Tours from the U.S. Government – View virtual tours created by federal government agencies.

USA.gov 2.0 tools

Government-wide 2.0 tools

Source: USA.gov

David Leonhardt of the NYTimes wrote a very quick piece today tracing out food prices using Bureau of Labor Statistics. What he discovered is not exactly shocking, but definitely worth taking a look at!

More info at the Bureau of Labor Statistics site.