The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AO) announced on November 2 that it is looking for feedback on PACER through an online survey to assess user satisfaction with current services and generate suggestions for future improvements to the system.

At a press conference on 29 October the Governor’s Office announced that Governor Patrick is considering closing the State Library of Massachusetts as a cost-saving measure. The State Library of Massachusetts now has an online petition to collect support to ensure that these collections remain freely accessible to all members of the public.

SLA Action Alert

Publishers Weekly would like your input on the Google Book Search Settlement (from PW) and they are conducting a survey designed to gather a broad view of how the Settlement is being viewed. For details on the proposed settlement (from Google), click here.
If you’re interested, take a few minutes to answer this brief, targeted questionnaire to help gauge industry opinion on whether the settlement should be approved, modified or rejected. Note that you do not have to have standing in the suit to participate in the survey.
Please click on this link when you are ready to take the survey.

In today’s media environment – with so many newspapers cutting back on editorial staff, and online media becoming more ever-present each day – do you have the information you need to accomplish your personal goals and to be an effective citizen?
The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy and PBS Engage have teamed up to explore the issues around each citizen’s information needs, and we would like to hear from you. See the Commission’s draft introduction to its report and please share your answers to our questions below.

Recovery.gov was launched after the enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (P.L. 111-5) to provide the public with, “information on how the Act is working, tools to help you hold the government accountable, and up-to-date data on the expenditure of funds.” The Act established an oversight board of inspectors general called the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which is responsible for running Recovery.gov. . .
. . . the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board and OMB will partner with the National Academy of Public Administration to host an online national dialogue to answer the question:
What ideas, tools, and approaches can make Recovery.gov a place where the public can transparently monitor the expenditure and use of recovery funds?
You’re invited to join IT professionals, the public, state and local partners, potential recipients and solution providers for a week-long dialogue to answer that question. If you are interested in participating, log on to www.recovery.gov starting April 27th.

Today, the President invited everyone to use a new feature on WhiteHouse.gov called “Open for Questions” to ask a question about the economy and rate other questions up or down. Then, on Thursday morning, the President will conduct a special online town hall on the economy and answer some of the most popular questions and the event will be streamed on WhiteHouse.gov.

Voting and question submission will close at 9:30 AM EDT on Thursday. President Obama will hold a live online town hall will be at 11:30 AM to answer some of the most popular submissions.

Today, you don’t need to come to Washington or wait for politicians to leave their security bubbles to get a word in edge wise, all you need is to connect with them on Twitter and keep the lobbying to 140 characters or less. In our quest to pass S. 482, a bill to require senators to file their campaign finance reports electronically, we are taking our lobbying, with your help, to Twitter.
Here’s the scoop: There are currently seventeen senators on Twitter. For the most part these senators have not yet signed on as cosponsors to S. 482. In fact, only two of the seventeen are already cosponsors. We need your help to petition over Twitter the fifteen who have not cosponsored and ask them to support the bill by signing on as a cosponsor.

Sign on to the letter to Administrator Jackson urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect the public’s right to know by restoring the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), reversing Bush administration changes that reduced reporting on toxic pollution!

Contact your Representative by 28 February 2009
In early February 2009, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (Rep. John Conyers, D-MI) re-introduced a bill that would reverse the NIH Public Access Policy and make it impossible for other federal agencies to put similar policies into place. The legislation is H.R. 801: the “Fair Copyright in Research Works Act”.
All supporters of public access – researchers, libraries, campus administrators, patient advocates, publishers, and others – are asked to please contact your Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives no later than 28 February 2009 to express your support for public access to taxpayer-funded research and ask that he or she oppose H.R.801. You can find your elected official on SLA’s Web site in the Legislative Action section by typing in your zip code to receive the list of your elected officials.
Ask your Representative to oppose the H.R. 801 – The Fair Copyright in Research Works Act – TODAY!

More than 100 groups and individuals from across the country have been working collaboratively to develop recommendations for the next president on how best to improve federal government transparency. The effort, the 21st Century Right to Know project, was organized by OMB Watch, and it involves organizations and individuals from across the political spectrum. A draft set of recommendations is now available for review and endorsement.

Take Action: Endorse the 21st Century Right to Know Recommendations