In recent years the traditional role of the librarian has changed. Although we rely heavily on print resources and subscription databases to complete reference requests, we also seek out open access resources online.

Many of the online resources we utilize have been created by educational and governmental organizations whose goal is to increase the public’s access to information. Unfortunately, identifying resources that are both reliable and freely available to the public has become difficult.

As librarians we seek to identify and evaluate relevant sources of information upon which our patrons can depend. Of particular interest to us is the repackaging of public information that provides both ease of access and added value.

Listed below is a random selection of some of the more noteworthy resources that have come online recently:

The Show Me the Spending Coalition’s website is dedicated to transparency in state government spending. It provides an interactive map of states implementing state spending accountability databases. To our count there are approximately 10 states with some degree of expenditure tracking currently online. Of the 10 states we were most impressed by the Missouri Accountability Portal (MAP). MAP is both easy to use and comprehensive.

Drought.gov, the United States Drought Portal contains information in varying formats concerning the emerging threat of droughts in the U.S. as well as information about past droughts for comparison.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently updated their Hospital Compare website to include information about service quality, patient satisfaction, and pricing information for specific procedures.

Diana Simpson, bibliographer for the Air Force’s Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center has compiled a wonderful bibliography of resources related to private military companies. The Private Military Companies bibliography contains an annotated list of internet resources, books, documents, periodicals and videos that can either be accessed online or through your local library. A small portion of these resources may have restricted access.

The Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean contains a selection, updated to the end of December 2007, of the main statistical series available on economic and social trends in the countries of the region. The publication is available online both in .PDF format and Excel spreadsheets.

The Public Library of Law claims to be one of the largest free online law libraries in the world. Provided a user consents to site's terms of use and registration (no charge), she/he can freely access U.S. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals cases, cases from all 50 States back to 1997, and federal statutory law and codes from all 50 states.

For more information regarding these resources or others like them feel free to contact a librarian who specializes in your area of interest.