Article from thestar.com

Thought you might be interested in this article from thestar.com.

Please visit link: http://www.thestar.com/article/208454

Kyoto Protocol - CBC reports

A blurb from CBC breaking news:

The federal government released the specific details of its
much-anticipated emissions plan Thursday, requiring most of Canada's
industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 18 per cent in
three years. The new plan means Canada will be at least eight years
behind meeting its requirements under the international Kyoto Protocol.

There is a good analysis of the issue from CBC's In-Depth series , but the Library of Parliament has released its own studies, including the Brief The Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. Salient speeches from Parliament and further reading can be found on LEGISInfo.

The Quality of Life for Seniors in Halton

A new 2007 report entitled "The Quality of Life for Seniors in Halton" has been released by the Halton Region. It addresses such things as income, housing, personal safety and access to information and services. It includes statistics on: projected growth for this demographic up to the year 2015, numbers anticipated to use social housing, leisure activities, transportation issues, internet use etc. Conclusions are drawn for future planning. Of note for library service is that "opportunities for cognitive, physical and social leisure activities are important to the quality of life of seniors"... and more than 59. 2 % of those aged 55- 64 have internet access. This document is worth perusing.

Census of Geography: Illustrated Glossary

To take full advantage of Census data, users need to have a basic understanding of the terms relating to geography and the associated products and services. On the Statistics Canada website, catalogue number 92-195-195-XWE, staff can get clear definitions of terms such as CMA ( census metropolitan area), CSD ( census subdivision) and DA ( dissemination area). They can also contact GeoHelp online. Unlike the old days, there is no print equivalent of this tool as it is available in a phased release. Tutorials will become available in the 2nd quarter of 2007.

CODOC to Dewey/LC - the Controversy

There has been a great deal of interest of late in the GOV-INFO listservabout the purpose and end result of retroconversion projects in libraries. Specifically, whether retroconversion marginalizes government resources work and treatment of the subject matter. We started a retroconversion project at OPL many years ago to enable easier retrieving and reshelving of government materials. It is a back burner endeavor, because cataloguing staff fit it in among other, more important projects. In order to ensure that our government resources are retained for posterity and according to DSP retention guidelines, we continue to store materials in a separate area in reference and in storage. While government resource work is still ( thankfully) recognized as important at OPL, the demise of CODOC does sadden me. CODOC is so logical, as it enabled the organization of materials according to government branch in a hierarchical fashion. I would like to see future listserv discussions focus on the burden downloading e-documents has created for libraries who can ill afford to print hardcopy, particularly in color. To me, that is the real threat facing government resources, at least in public libraries.

Subscribing to ALA Tech Source Blog

One might ask why a blog to keep track of government resources would subscribe another blog's feed - specifically ALA's Tech Source http://feeds.feedburner.com/TechsourceBlog. Well - simple and short answer, it records happenings in the industry that might affect government resources. For example, on April 1, 2007 - Google purchased OCLC and all of its holdings. WorldCat was renamed "Google Library" and every work published to the system is now available for full-text searching in the system. At OPL, I'm hoping that this might aid a retroconversion project from CODOC to Dewey - where cataloguers are looking for examples of older materials classified in Dewey that aren't available in Amicus. The more interesting comments listed in the announcement is that the fate of Dublin Core is stated to be uncertain... they say that ..."The fate of the Dublin Core initiative is unknown at this time, although it is promising that it was renamed "Cupertino Core." Officials admitted that CoreRank is their best hope to keep Google ahead of the search engine pack".... As many of our government e-services digitization projects use Dublin Core protocols, I am waiting to hear from our tech people how this might play out. More to follow

Agreement reached about the Great Lakes

On April 3, 2007, the Ontario Government released a backgrounder about the Great Lakes -St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement. Of interest is the agreement about water diversion, notably:

• it provides strong protections for Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin waters....
• The provinces and the states have agreed to: ban diversions of water out of {this area} and prohibit new or increased transfer of water from one Great Lake watershed to another unless strictly regulated criteria are met...

For a comprehensive overview of Great Lakes ecological concerns, refer to State of the Great Lakes 2005 document and corresponding reports from the annual SOLEC [State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference] group. Warning! It is a huge .pdf file and takes time to load

Ontario Min. of Environment launches new site for teens and children

On March 27th the Ministry of the Environment launched 2 sites
called Obviously for teens and children.
Great site with articles, contests, homework help
relating to the environment.
check www.obviously.ca

Wait Times for Ontario Physicians

Now you can monitor the time it takes to see a surgeon and/or physician in Ontario.

Patients or physicians can check this recently updated site and
determine the waiting periods for patients for 4 key types of surgeries. (cardian,cataract surgery,diagnostic scan, joint replacement)
source (Publications Ontario News release Mar. 15)

Check:
www.ontariowaittimes.com

Social Atlas of Halton: Landscape by the Numbers

This document provides demographic data about each municipality in Halton, down to the ward level. For example, if one needs information on the ethnic breakdown of Bronte ( Oakville ), you can look online at http://www.halton.ca/ppw/planningroads/Planning/DataStudies/ByNumbers/default.htm

or consult one of the print versions at BPL or OPL. I used this recently to investigate age groups around a neighbourhood branch for administration.