Marie Kaddell of LexisNexis has just released Best Practices for Government Libraries 2012: Pushing Boundaries:  Mobility, Community, Accessibility [PDF]. Marie, 2012 Past Chair of SLA/DGI, edits the annual compilation of content submitted by government librarians and community leaders with an interest in government libraries. On her Government Info Pro blog, Marie reports “the 2012 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 75 contributors including librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.”

Contributions cover benchmarking, career planning, international work, open government, public libraries, public records, records management, and social media.

Articles and guides contributed by DGI members include:

• Pushing Boundaries: From Collections to Service, by James King, Information Architect, National Institutes of Health Library
• An Online Community Is Born: NIC’s National Jail Exchange, by Connie Clem, Managing Editor, National Jail Exchange, Principal, Clem Information Strategies
• Gaining Management Skills through Professional Association Leadership, by Kim Schultz, Marketing Research Analyst, Affinion Loyalty Group
• Reaching Out to Tribal College and University Libraries: A Project to
  Provide Interior Library Resources and Services, by George Franchois, Director, U.S. Department of the Interior Library
• Planning for the Worst: Disaster Preparedness and Response in Federal Libraries, by Aileen M. J. Marshall, MA, MLIS, Reference Librarian at the U.S. Department of Transportation

An e-book edition of Best Practices is in the works.

Convention center policies and accommodations vary a bit from city to city. If you are bringing a smartphone, iPad, or other device to connect to the web at McCormick Place, here is what you need to know:

There will be charging stations–clusters of power outlets–available for SLA attendees to literally recharge their batteries. Look for the signs directing you to the stations. Other outlets throughout the center probably will not be accessible. (Session presenters will have access for their A/V, of course.)

Wifi is to be provided in all session rooms, but it could be subject to service interruptions. Par for the course.

For those who tweet, the official conference Twitter hashtag is #slachicago. Why? Shorter versions with “2012″ were being used by other tweeting entities and would be susceptible to spam.

SLA Government Information Division members may also want to tag DGI-related tweets with #sladgi. Tweetspace is precious, so #slachicago should be the default. That way, everyone can read about the spectacular DGI programs.

SLA’s official conference Twitter account is @slachicago. This account is re-tweeting tweets tagged with #slachicago. If you’re watching from McCormick or from home, @slachicago is the account to follow.

DGI has its own Twitter account at @SLADGI. Please follow us throughout the year! We’ll be tweeting from it occasionally, but many DGIers are tweeting from their own accounts too.

Mobile apps from the U.S. government can help you with anything from luggage packing tips from the TSA to finding the latest unemployment numbers.

Looking for a place to start exploring the breadth of what these apps offer? Check out the recent Government Computer News article The 10 best federal mobile apps. You’ll find that some of your favorite research sites are also available on mobile devices. Among the top ten: Science.gov, Cancer.gov, and USA Jobs. The General Services Administration maintains a directory of government mobile apps at apps.usa.gov and an RSS feed announcing new apps.

If you’re coming to the annual conference, be sure to attend “Gov on the Go: Mobile Apps,” a DGI sponsored program, on Wednesday of the conference at noon. For the complete division conference schedule, see our blog post C U in Chicago…DGI Sessions Update.

Call for Speakers @ SLA 2012 Annual Conference
Session: “Gov on the Go: Mobile Apps”
Where: SLA Annual – Chicago, IL
When: Wednesday July 18, 2012 @ noon
Deadline to respond: February 20th

The Government Information Division is looking for speakers for an exciting session on mobile apps!  This session can cover topics from how government libraries use mobile apps to help their patrons find the right information to how governments develop mobile apps to make information more accessible to the public at large.  Interested speakers should contact Kim Schultz, 2012 DGI Chair, for more information.  Please email kim dot lyall @ gmail dot com if you are interested in speaking or have ideas or contacts to pass along.

Information on the SLA Annual Conference is available at:
http://www.sla.org/content/Events/conference/ac2012/

USA.gov now has an iPhone app (also compatible with the iPad). The free USA Search app brings Search.USA.gov to your phone. Don’t have an iPhone? You can get similar functionality with the USA.gov mobile version, m.usa.gov (about/launch page).

Both the mobile web version and the iPhone app have USA.gov’s USA Search engine for searching U.S. government websites and images online. The iPhone app also has a prominent link to a feed of current product recall notices. Each version links you to the Federal Citizens Information Center 800 number, the FCIC email address, the GovGab blog, and the USA.gov website.

In other news, the Federal Citizens Information Center recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of USA.gov (originally known as FirstGov.gov). Read about it in the GovGab post, Happy Birthday FCIC and USA.gov! and take a look at the evolution of FirstGov/USA.gov through the years.

Registration is open for the 18 November 2010 workshop Mobile Computing: Delivering Content to the Research Community. The event is being sponsored by CENDI and NFAIS and hosted by the National Archives.

Details

• When: 18 November 2010, 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• Where: National Archives, Washington, DC
• Fee: CENDI and NFAIS members, $95; non-members, $125 (includes lunch and refreshment breaks)

Description

The program will begin with an overview of the current landscape for the mobile delivery of content, including the level of adoption by content providers and users as well as the types of devices that are most popular.  This will be followed by a look at the technology challenges in delivering content to mobile devices.  In the afternoon, a panel of publishers will present case studies on how they delivering content to mobile devices and discuss new opportunities offered by this unique delivery channel.  Next will be a look at newly developed applications to facilitate the use of mobile computing within scientific communication and workflow.  The meeting will close with a discussion on open government and policies on the future of mobile computing.