Government Blogs Worth Reading

Chasing Down More Government Bogs

The blogs described here are all products of federal government agencies. Many members of Congress also maintain blogs as part of their websites on House.gov and Senate.gov. Agency personnel and elected officeholders at the state and local level blog as well. Blogs appear, disappear, or go stale on a regular basis; many prepared lists of government blogs can't keep up with the changes. The resources below can point you to examples of agency or elected official blogs, but they may not be current or complete.

USA.gov

http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/News/blog.shtml

Provides a list of active and inactive government blogs.

Webcontent.gov

http://www.usa.gov/webcontent/technology/blogs.shtml

Provides guidance for government blogging and links to examples.

Municipalist

http://www.municipalist.com

A blog about public sector blogging, regularly reviews government blogs at all levels of government.

The Thicket at State Legislatures

http ://ncsl .typepad .com/the_thicket

A blog from the National Conference of State Legislatures, provides a list of links to state legislator blogs in the lower part of the right column.

Gov Gab

Agency: Office of Citizen Services and Communications, General Services Administration (GSA)

Launched: September 2007

Who blogs: Six staff members

Allows comments: Yes

Stated purpose: "The purpose of Gov Gab is to demonstrate the usefulness, practicality, helpfulness, and vitality of federal, state, and local government information through real-life examples in the bloggers' daily lives."

Description: The staff members who write for Gov Gab work variously on the USA.govwebsite in public affairs and assisting citizens in finding consumer information. Gov Gab's Meet the Bloggers section says, "In our daily jobs, we encounter a staggering amount of U.S. government information and services that can benefit your life ... we want to bring these resources to you in a new way - through our blog." Recent posts have discussed filing taxes electronically, deciphering food expiration dates, buying children's car safety seats, and learning the new rules for passports. Each post provides links to helpful resources. The tone is chatty and light.

Value: For the online citizen, Gov Gab is a leap ahead of those free little booklets from Pueblo, Colorado. For the librarian who works with the public, it provides current links to consumer issues in the news.

Secretary Mike Leavitt's Blog

Agency: Health and Human Services Department (HHS)

Launched: August 2007

Whoblogs: HHS secretary Mike Leavitt

Allows comments: Yes

Stated purpose: "What I value most about this job is the remarkable opportunities it provides to learn and gain perspective on problems. I hope I can share a small part of it this way."

Description: When a member of the president's cabinet is blogging, you have to wonder how long the commitment will last and when a busy schedule will take over. In his first post, secretary Leavitt said: "I want to write my entries personally, rather than relying on staff. If I can do it justice we will continue; if not -we won't," and "Topics won't be the rate-limiting factor here; time will. But, let's give this a try and see what happens." He has continued blogging into 2008. Topics include the future of Medicare, import safety, and the secretary's official travel. Leavitt takes time to answer some of the questions and comments posted to the blog, including "Why don't you address meaningful topics to the American people, such as what efforts you and the Administration are undertaking to fix our healthcare system?" and "Don't you have more important things to do than write a blog?".

Value: A member of the president's cabinet is reporting directly to the public on an informal and ongoing basis. He writes the blog himself and responds to comments himself. secretary Leavitt is a political appointee, so his official blog can only last as long as his official duties. In the meantime, it is providing unedited insight into today's health issues and what citizens feel compelled to ask about them.

Library of Congress Blog

Agency: Library of Congress (LC)

Launched: April 2007

Who blogs: Matt Raymond, Director of Communications

Allows comments: Yes

Stated purpose: "A blog is a natural and userfriendly way to help people navigate and understand the vast amounts of information and programs that are synonymous with the Library of Congress" (Press release, April 23, 2007).

Description: Librarians were some of the first professionals to blog and the LC was one of the first federal government institutions to blog, albeit many years after the first librarian bloggers. The blog reports on LC events and exhibitions, news programs, cataloging issues, and developments on the LC's website. Posts are richly enhanced with images from LC's collections.

Value: For the world, the blog provides a window into the numerous and diverse activities of LC and the growing number of its collections online. For librarians, the blog provides updates on LC programs and resources. The Library of Congress is a large institution with many talented library professionals; adding librarians as bloggers could further open up the agency to the community.

InfoFarm

Agency: National Agricultural Library (NAL), Department of Agriculture

Launched: October 2007

Who blogs: Mary Ann Leonard, NAL librarian

Allows comments: Yes

Stated purpose: "We want to give this great national library a human, personal voice; to give you a fresh glimpse into what we do; and to give us a chance to hear from you" (Oct. 1, 2007 post).

Description: Recent posts on InfoFarm have covered such topics as the Encyclopedia of Life [http://www.eol.org] website, agricultural research on the honey bee's Colony Collapse Disorder, the farm bill, the February meat recall, and rural internet connectivity. Posts are link-intensive and point readers to Agriculture Department and other web resources for further research. Comments often include research questions, which are answered promptly by the NAL blogger. Posts are substantive and engaging.

Value: InfoFarm provides expert and timely guidance about food and agriculture information resources. It is a librarian's and researcher's blog that manages to be both engaging and informative regarding both the agency's web resources and broader topics.

DipNote

Agency: State Department

Launched: September 2007

Who blogs: State Department staff (foreign service officers, program officers, the Chief of Protocol, and others). Heath Kern is identified as the blog's editor-in-chief.

Allows comments: Yes

Stated purpose: "Blogs.state.gov offers the public an alternative source to mainstream media for U.S. foreign policy information. This blog offers the opportunity for participants to discuss important foreign policy issues with senior Department officials."

Description: Posts from staff are predictably ... diplomatic. They often focus on aiding the image of U.S. foreign policy efforts and, from time to time, the images of the bloggers' bosses. For example, "Undersecretary (Patrick F.) Kennedy is very talented and we all look forward to his leadership" (Dec. 10, 2007 post). That may well be, but it is hardly the kind of foreign policy insight those outside State really care about. As a balance, comments from the public offer a variety of opinions. A weekly open question feature does not shy from controversial issues, such as "Do the Palestinians and Israelis really want peace?" State has also begun posting blog headlines on Twitter; see http://twitter.com/dipnote. However, their blog is not the place to turn for news: DipNote reported the burning of the U.S. embassy in Belgrade a day after it had happened.

Value: Posts from staff all over the world expose the variety of careers available at State and could help lure the younger generation that the department needs to fill its ranks. For those currently working with State personnel or programs, it can provide some useful context. Finally, despite my criticisms, DipNote is certainly a big step for the State Department in opening up the world of "Foggy Bottom" to U.S. citizens.

Evolution of security

Agency: Transportation security Agency (TSA), Homeland security Department

Launched: January 2008

Who blogs: Five TSA staff members; others beyond these five post occasionally as well.

Allows comments: Yes

Stated purpose: "We need your help to get the checkpoint to be a better environment for us to do our security job and for you to get through quickly and onto your flight. seems like the way to get that going is for us to open up and hear your feedback..." (Jan. 30, 2008 post).

Description: Only the launch of an open-comment blog by the Internal Revenue Service could possibly create a site with more passionate participation from readers. The blog's initial "welcome" post received 700 comments. The TSA seemed prepared for the reader reaction and has been open about comment policy, making adaptations to handle the load. hot Topic posts have been set up to receive and organize comments on heavily discussed issues: Shoes; Liquids; Inconsistencies; Lighters, Nail Clippers, and Lithium Batteries; and the catchall Gripes & Grins. Recent TSA posts have discussed the constitutionality of ISA's airport security screening procedures and the training of foreign student pilots in the U.S., but comments still take center stage on this blog.

Value: If you follow the airline and travel industries, or if you spend any significant time each year boarding planes at our nation's airports - or trying to you'll be interested in news and comments on the TSA blog. On a broader level, the blog sets a brave example for other government agencies dealing with controversial issues. If TSA can be this transparent - posting unedited comments from thousands of angry citizen-customers for all to see - perhaps other agencies will not be as afraid to open up.