Two hot topics that always generate controversy are taxes and firearms. As the tax season looms ever nearer and as the nation still recovers from the shooting rampage in Tucson, Ariz., two special resources highlighted in the January/February issue of The CyberSkeptic's Guide to Internet Research offer valuable information.
In Knowing Nonprofits (p. 4), Susan Fingerman looks at the Tax Foundation (www.taxfoundation.org), a nonprofit dating from 1937 that provides tax-related information for businesses and individuals. She notes that its mission statement is to "educate taxpayers about sound fiscal policy and the size of the tax burden borne by Americans at all levels of government."
While the organization may be 70plus years old, the Tax Foundation created a "modern Web 2.0 site" featuring a Google-powered search box, according to Fingerman. Many foundation publications are geared toward the business community. The "2011 State Business Tax Climate Index," a 60-page document, includes rankings of the top 10 best and worst states from the five tax indexes (corporate, individual income, sales, unemployment, and property) and tables showing the tax changes from 2006 to 2011. Information directed at individuals includes the Fiscal Facts publication "Summary of Latest Federal Individual Income Tax Data" from October 2010, which outlines individuals and what they are paying in taxes.
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Most of the foundation's reports and publications can be emailed, downloaded as a PDF, or commented on directly from the website to its Twitter link.
In Net Focus (pp. 6-7), Nick Tomaiuolo gives the Firearms Research Digest (www.firearmsresearch .org), originating at the Harvard School of Public Health, high marks. The website lets users access bibliographic information for articles appearing in more than 300 medical, social science, public health, and legal journals. Because the site is a bibliographic database, users must go elsewhere to find the full text of the articles. However, Tomaiuolo says the database doesn't just upload original article references. Instead, staff members from the Harvard Injury Control Research Center write concise, easy-to-read summaries for each article, eliminating specialized terminology found in the published abstracts that can make comprehension difficult.
Currently, there are about 1,000 "highly relevant" citations dating from 2002 to 2009, but the plan is to expand coverage to include citations dating from 1988. Records represent searches run against such databases as MEDLINE, PsycINFO, ERIC, and LexisNexis. The site also offers a basic search box as well as a link to an advanced search option that lets users combine keywords with author names, publication titles, topics (divided into 32 categories, such as Legislation and Policy, Mental Health, and Public Opinion), and a date range. For Tomaiuolo, "The easiest way to access the database's content is to use these Topic, Publication, or Year links." He rates the Firearms Research Digest as being an easy-to-use site that quickly connects users with the information they are looking for.
In the Navy--Portal
The U.S. Navy Office of Information is tasked with providing media outlets with photos, videos, reports, and images of the Navy and its 280 ships in action. During a particularly hectic time when a number of global crises were happening almost simultaneously, it became clear that the office needed to transition from a tape-based to an all-digital workflow. As Damon Moritz, video program manager, explains in Sue Marquette Poremba's article, "A Look Inside the U.S. Navy Visual News Portal" (Intranets, January/February, pp. 1, 4-5), the office was "repeating our workflow over and over ... to meet multiple customer requirements" due to limited storage space. Another sticking point was that tapes and DVDs were still being delivered via mail when most media outlets wanted same-day service. The office realized it needed to find a way to provide a much quicker turnaround time and to stop duplicating work.
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Moritz's search led him to MediaBeacon, Inc., a digital asset management company with a browser focus. Its distribution platform uses Google Web Toolkit and modern browser technologies. Customers can play videos on any browser without having to deal with plug-ins. Another of MediaBeacon's primary benefits is its ability to handle multiple video platforms, which means that clients can use all types of technology to access the media instantly. Members of the media who have been given clearance can access the Navy portal directly, which allows them to do in-depth research without needing any assistance from Moritz's staff. And that, as they say, is ship-shape.
Lauree Padgett is Information Today, Inc.'s senior managing editor. Send your comments about this column to itletters@infotoday.com.
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