The Committee on Energy and Commerce has held 9 hearings into the chain of events that caused the BP oil spill disaster and it’s impacts on the Gulf Coast. Read Chairman Waxman’s Statement on the BP Oil Spill Report. Full text of the most recent hearings are available on the Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on … Continue reading BP Oil Spill Reports
Do you think avatars and Second Life virtual worlds are only for geeky teen boys playing World of War Craft? Well, think again! The U.S. House of Representatives got in on the action in 2008 when the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet of the Committee on Energy and Commerce met in Second Life to … Continue reading “I would like to thank, Mr. Chairman, your avatar for holding this hearing.”
September 17th is the 223rd anniversary of the U.S. Constitution. Come see the display in the library and pick-up your very own pocket-size copy of the Constitution. Visit our online resource guide for a digital version of the constitution and section by section interpretation of its meaning. Continue reading Happy Constitution Day!
Sure, health care reform is big news, but what about March Madness? Get firsthand information on the presidential picks in this ESPN interview. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCUltDjFrGM] Brought to you by Gleeson Library’s Government Information Librarian, Carol Spector. Find out more about our government information collection by visiting our homepage. Continue reading Obama’s Brackets
U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings are a great primary source for research papers. Included in hearings are: expert testimonies statistics first-hand accounts of current events political intrigue What more could you possibly want? Here are some examples of recent topics debated in Congressional Committee Hearings: Steroids in Baseball Medical Marijuana Genocide in Darfur Cost of War … Continue reading Hot Hearings
Looking for background information on a complicated issue? Your new best friend: Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports. These reports are written by Library of Congress staff members and are intended to keep our members of congress up-to-date on current affairs. In the words of the CRS: With public policy issues growing more complex and political … Continue reading I ♥ CRS Reports
In response to the earthquake in Haiti, the Emergency Access Initiative (EAI) is providing free online access to full text articles from major biomedicine journals and reference books. This service is available to healthcare professionals, librarians, and members of the public in the United States who have been affected by the disaster. If you know … Continue reading Emergency Access Initiative
Where does your Thanksgiving dinner come from? Linda Zellmer, Government Information and Data Services Librarian at Western Illinois University, has used data from the 1997, 2002, and 2007 Census of Agriculture to develop a set of maps showing where the foods consumed at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner (e.g., turkey, cranberries, squash, and green beans) are … Continue reading The Geography of a Thanksgiving Meal
Looking for in-depth analysis of a federal program you’ve heard about in the news? Then you’ll be really pleased to discover the reports issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress. Sometimes referred to as the “congressional watchdog,” GAO investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer … Continue reading GAO Reports
In honor of Constitution Day and The September Project, the library has created a display highlighting books and government documents from our collection on the First Amendment. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified on December 15th, 1791. It reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the … Continue reading Constitution Day