Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Seeking Michigan Web Site Launched. The Department of History, Arts and Libraries today announced the launch of the Seeking Michigan Web site ( www.seekingmichigan.org ), a growing collection of unique historical information that - through digitized source documents, maps, films, images, oral histories and artifacts - creatively tells the stories of Michigan's families, homes, businesses, communities and landscapes. Seeking Michigan's first major project is the digitization of roughly 1 million death records covering the years 1897 through 1920. These records - never before available electronically - are indexed for easy searching by name, death date, location and age, and hold tremendous research opportunities for genealogists, historians and students. Whether they are interested in Civil War records, photographs, architecture, music, photography or family history, Michigan enthusiasts are sure to discover a brand new side to Michigan through this unique online resource, a collaboration that has long been in the making between the Archives of Michigan and the Library of Michigan. Site design and digitization of resources were funded through various grants. "Seeking Michigan takes great information from both of our agencies and makes it available to everyone in a convenient and easy-to-navigate Web site," said State Librarian Nancy R. Robertson. "We were inspired by the state motto in designing the site. If you look, you will discover stories, photos and much more to connect you to our state's pleasant peninsulas and one-of-a-kind past." With plans in place to add much more material, Seeking Michigan currently includes: -More than 100,000 pages of Civil War documents; -Approximately 10,000 photographs; -A variety of Michigan sheet music; -Roughly 1 million death records; -A rich section about Michigan's 44 past governors; -Works Progress Administration data (circa 1936-1942) about land and buildings throughout rural Michigan; and -Oral histories with notable Michigan residents. According to Sandra Clark, director of the Michigan Historical Center, Seeking Michigan boldly moves the archives and library experience outside of the bricks and mortar of the building in which the collections are housed. By employing the latest Web technologies and social media, the site aims for an enhanced user experience. "We want to give visitors historical content and, whenever possible, the context for that content," she explained. "For K-12 educators, there's also a 'teach' page that links up with related resources and grade-level content expectations." Clark noted that Seeking Michigan will open up Michigan's history to a whole new market of information hunters. "Seeking Michigan is definitely a big boost for those who already have an interest in our state's history, including scholars, authors, genealogists and publishers," she said. "What we're very excited about is the prospect of introducing new generations of Michigan residents to the Michigan they thought they knew and helping them forge connections with our state's remarkable past." Seeking Michigan was made possible with generous funding from the Talbert and Leota Abrams Foundation, a Lansing-based nonprofit that primarily focuses on funding library and educational science programs. Since the mid-1980s, the Abrams Foundation has provided more than $2.5 million toward the development of the Library of Michigan's and Archives of Michigan' genealogy collection, including the digitization of the death records so crucial to family historians' research efforts. The National Historic Publications and Records Commission provided additional funding. The Library of Michigan Foundation (www.michigan.gov/lmfoundation) and the Michigan History Foundation (www.michigan.gov/mhfoundation) helped facilitate the funding process for Seeking Michigan and provide donors the opportunity to contribute to Seeking Michigan and many other initiatives. The Archives of Michigan is part of the Michigan Historical Center. The Michigan Historical Center and the Library of Michigan are agencies within the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL). Dedicated to enriching quality of life and strengthening the economy by providing access to information, preserving and promoting Michigan's heritage and fostering cultural creativity, HAL also includes the Mackinac Island State Park Commission and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. To learn more, visit www.michigan.gov/hal. Source : Michigan Newswire, March 17, 2009. [Red Tape Blog] 5:43:07 PM     State Tobacco-Quit Phone Line Closes After Five Days. More fallout from the down economy: The state shut down its tobacco-quit phone line Monday due to an unprecedented flood of callers wanting to claim free nicotine replacement products because they can't afford them or want to quit before a federal tax hike goes into effect. About 400 staff members fielded more than 65,000 calls during the five-day period after the phone line was launched last week, including 21,000 during the first 24 hours and 6,000 calls Monday from smokers interested in free nicotine patches, gum and lozenges. In past years, the quit line drew 100 to 200 calls on a heavy day. The program was intended to run through April 30, but all the medications were snapped up in five days, state Community Health officials said. The quit line will be closed until September, said James McCurtis, spokesman for the Department of Community Health, when spots open up in smoking cessation programs that smokers have to take to get the free medications. Karen Brown, tobacco use treatment specialist for Community Health, said 2,169 people enrolled for the free classes in five days, eclipsing the former record of 2,114 who signed up over a month's time last September when the free nicotine replacement products were offered for the first time. Brown said the record response is partly due to smokers needing free help during the economic recession, and partly because they want to quit before the 61-cents-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax takes effect April 1. For the full article, see Mark Hornbeck, "Quit-smoking line closes 5 days after launch as freebies run out", Detroit News, March 17, 2009. [Red Tape Blog] 5:42:27 PM     EFF Launches Search Tool for Uncovered Government Documents. EFF Launches Search Tool for Uncovered Government Documents, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), March 16th, 2009. In celebration of Sunshine Week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched a sophisticated search tool that allows the public to closely examine thousands of pages of documents the organization has pried loose from secretive government agencies. The documents relate to a wide range of cutting-edge technology issues and government policies that affect civil liberties and personal privacy. Search EFF's FOIA Documents. [Free Government Information (FGI) blogs] 3:23:52 PM     Your Online Privacy I'm at the South by Southwest Interactive festival and a few days ago, I went to an interesting session about privacy, specifically online privacy. It's something that concerns us all when we use social networking sites, or shop online, or even do a simple search on a commercial search engine. I hear it all the time and heard it in the session too: people are especially concerned about their privacy on government websites. The good news is that there are lots of laws and regulations related to privacy and government websites, and I think that in many ways that's a good thing. We should be free to browse and interact on government websites without the fear that our personal information is gathered and aggregated and used for some unknown purpose. At the same time there are a lot of really good reasons why government websites may want to gather personal information. If we could do it, we could deliver information and services in a more personal and effective way. I imagine a world where I could visit a government website, sign in with a username and password and then have a dashboard that would tell me useful things relevant to my life. Maybe I would see my property tax bill and be able to click a button to pay it, or renew my driver's license when it expires, or see an estimate of my future social security benefits. It sounds pretty easy, doesn't it? I love the idea of integrating local, state and federal information in one location. I mean, why not? Wouldn't this be a real convenience? Isn't it silly and outdated that my property tax bill and driver's license renewal and social security estimate are all paper that comes to me in the mail? The hurdles are more than just technology, and there are a few key things that have to happen to get us there. First, government on every level will have to update existing laws and regulations to allow this sharing of information and, to protect its usage, citizens should be able to opt in, so they can chose to participate, or not. Lastly, websites that collect information have to be completely clear and honest about how the information will be used, not used, shared and not shared. What else needs to happen to make the public comfortable with this? - Joanne [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 3:22:36 PM

© Copyright 2009 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 4/1/2009; 2:33:46 PM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien