Government 2.0
Keep up, Talk Back

Legacy of Access
Historic model = distributed government

publications within reasonable travel distance
New model = government publications

available at any hour online
UM Library designated in 1909

 Maintains large print collection
 Provides expertise for tracking down government
information in any format

New
Transparency
Tools

White House
http://www.whitehouse.gov

 Blog, rapid posting of material
 Accountability websites
 Task Forces

THOMAS
http://thomas.loc.gov
 Access to current and recent legislation:
 Read the text of bills your Senators or
Representative are considering
 See how legislators voted on bills
 Read the text of speeches and debates in Congress
Great for materials 1989-present


Regulations.gov
http://www.regulations.gov
 Find proposed regulations
 Find accompanying documents
 Submit your comments

USA.gov
http://www.usa.gov

Government Science
3 favorites for following government-funded

science:
 Science.gov: http://www.science.gov
 ScienceAccelerator: http://www.scienceaccelerator.gov
 TreeSearch: http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us

Follow the Money
What do these initiatives cost?

 What’s the budget for a specific program?
 Who gets government grant money and
contracts?
Office of Management & Budget (OMB)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/

 Official Presidential budget
Recovery.gov

http://www.recovery.gov

 Accounting for the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act

Consolidated Federal Funds Report
(CFFR)
http://www.census.gov/govs/www/cffr.html
 Census Bureau database that breaks down funding
to state, county, & local governments/programs

How much will that legislation cost?
http://www.cbo.gov

Federal Election Commission
Who donated money to whom?
http://www.fec.gov/

What businesses have government contracts?
http://www.usaspending.gov/

Accountability Tools
ExpectMore.gov:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore

Government Accountability Office
http://www.gao.gov
Main watchdog of government programs

Gov Doc Mashups
Flip side of transparency: People inspired
to reuse government information
American Presidency Project Historical Census Browser
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/
collections/stats/histcensus

Mash-ups
Follow the Money Open Secrets
http://www.followthemoney.org http://www.opensecrets.org

Mash-Ups
GovTrack Open CRS
http://www.govtrack.us/ http://opencrs.com/

Keeping Up
Many new tools for staying apprised

of new government reports:
 Power of RSS
 Email lists
 Twitter
Government News Blog:

http://mt-govinfo.blogspot.com
 Keeping Up Guide:
http://libguides.lib.umt.edu/govrss

Questions?