James R Jacobs
@freegovinfo.bsky.social
390 followers 140 following 79 posts
Advocate for free government information, librarian, Web archivist, "cheerful data booster," and sea kayaker to boot!!
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
freegovinfo.bsky.social
Should have guessed it: "Due to a lack of apportionment of funds, this website is currently unavailable." oversight.gov is where many reports and audits are collected for Inspectors General across the exec branch. It takes some digging in wayback to access reports. web.archive.org/web/20250000...
Website Unavailable
oversight.gov
Reposted by James R Jacobs
bendobrown.bsky.social
Hi! The @archive.org has many epic features like saving sites and viewing deleted pages, but it's also got some little useful functions like tracking edits, searching broadcasts and visualising topics in news items.

I visit all of them in this YouTube tutorial 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwuX...
OSINT At Home #26: Top 5 Wayback Machine Hacks to Recover Pages, Prove Edits & Search TV News
YouTube video by Bendobrown
www.youtube.com
Reposted by James R Jacobs
archive.org
What happens to democracy when government records vanish?

James Jacobs, Jim Jacobs, & Shari Laster discuss how libraries, archivists & advocates protect public access in the latest Future Knowledge #podcast, PRESERVING GOVERNMENT INFORMATION.

🎧 Listen: futureknowledge.transistor.fm
Podcast cover for Episode #9 of "Future Knowledge" titled "Preserving Government Information." The design features portraits of the three guests—James Jacobs, Jim Jacobs & Shari Laster—arranged in a grid. Surrounding them are collage-style retro-futuristic elements, including a classical statue head, a vintage computer with the word "NEW" on its screen, a modernist observation tower, and abstract architectural shapes. The title uses bold, blocky typography, giving the cover a vintage sci-fi aesthetic.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
archive.org
The California Local Government Documents Collection of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social (hosted by Internet Archive) is digitizing 10,000+ publications from cities, counties, & regional agencies across California.

Explore the collection ⤵️
archive.org/details/igsc...
UC Berkeley video about the Institute of Governmental Studies
Reposted by James R Jacobs
archive.org
THIS WEEK: Join us for PRESERVING GOVERNMENT INFORMATION: a vital #booktalk on public access & digital threats, co-hosted by @Auths_Alliance. 📖

📅 Thurs Aug 28
🕙 10 AM PT /1 PM ET
📍 ONLINE
🎟️ www.eventbrite.com/e/1513557303...

#opengov #libraries
Promotional image. Features photos of James Jacobs, Jim Jacobs, and Shari Laster, the cover of the book Preserving Government Information: Past Present, and Future, and the logos of the Internet Archive and Authors Alliance. Text on image reads: Book Talk. Preserving Government Information, with James Jacobs, Jim Jacobs, and Shari Laster. August 28th, 10 am Pacific Time, 1 pm Eastern Time. Online. Join us for a timely conversation with librarians James Jacobs and Jim Jacobs about safeguarding public information in the digital age. Librarian Shari Laster will guide our discussion.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
zacklabe.com
"The Department of Defense has said it will cancel plans to discontinue a program that makes public satellite data that is crucial for hurricane forecasting and sea ice monitoring" via @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/c...
In a Reversal, Key Hurricane-Monitoring Data Will Stay Online
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by James R Jacobs
archive.org
What rights do libraries & archives need to preserve our shared cultural heritage in the digital age? We explore the Four Digital Rights statement with global librarians, incl. Stephen Wyber of @ifla.org.

🎧 futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/fou...

Co-hosted with @authorsalliance.bsky.social
Podcast cover for Episode #6 of "Future Knowledge" titled "Four Digital Rights for Memory Institutions." The design features a portrait of a woman with glasses and wavy blonde hair (likely Lila Bailey), along with collage-style imagery including a vintage computer labeled "NEW," a classical statue head, modernist buildings, and a stylized observation tower. Guests listed are Lila Bailey, Brewster Kahle, Caroline de Cock, Adam Sofronijević, Stephen Wyber, Raymond Hernandez, and Peter Scholing. Bold typography and retro-futuristic visuals create a vintage sci-fi aesthetic.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
Reposted by James R Jacobs
paxll.bsky.social
Yes, the King files are a desperate distraction, but also, this:

"The King files were compiled by the FBI in projects associated with its COINTELPRO...These projects illegally surveilled and worked to discredit Americans that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover thought were a danger to American society."
Reposted by James R Jacobs
wolvendamien.bsky.social
Hi yes hello this is 1 facet of exactly why we told you not to use "generative AI" in the regulatory production pipeline: Eventually the bullshit it spits out— even its citations— will fail to agree w/ consensus reality, but they'll sure *look* like they do, & by then you'll have started trusting it
FDA’s artificial intelligence is supposed to revolutionize drug approvals. It’s making up nonexistent studies. | CNN Politics
Insiders tell CNN the FDA’s AI is “hallucinating” studies and can’t access key documents. Agency leaders insist the AI is getting better, and use is not mandatory.
www.cnn.com
Reposted by James R Jacobs
ant.bsky.social
The even trailer by Densho’s Brian Niiya is both beautiful and historic.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
ant.bsky.social
Today at Noon PT: Will be the launch of the Digital Library of Japanese American Incarceration Films - a project of @archive.org & @denshoproject.bsky.social to make 100 films available for teachers, historians & the public.

To register 4 launch event: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Image of a poster for:
Join us for the launch of the Digital Library of Japanese American Incarceration Films, a new online collection of 100+ films, spanning 80 years of footage, documenting the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. This virtual program will be moderated by Densho founder Tom Ikeda and feature a panel of speakers: film scholar and educator Frako Loden, filmmaker and former Internet Archives leader Wendy Hanamura, Densho Content Director and historian Brian Niiya, as well as Densho Communications Manager Jennifer Noji. These speakers will address the crucial role of film in preserving, commemorating, and teaching this critical history.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
lincolnproject.us
Lots of confusion around Epstein. Hope this helps!
Reposted by James R Jacobs
tressiemcphd.bsky.social
I’m going to be very honest and clear.

I am fully preparing myself to die under this new American regime. That’s not to say that it’s the end of the world. It isn’t. But I am almost 50 years old. It will take so long to do anything with this mess that this is the new normal for *me*.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
joncooper-us.bsky.social
No, you really can’t make this shit up.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
bjkeefe.bsky.social
Reminder: The Wayback Machine is your friend. And democracy's and science's friend, too.

web.archive.org/web/20250000...
Wayback Machine
web.archive.org
Reposted by James R Jacobs
emorwee.bsky.social
BREAKING: A source tells me that the Trump administration has shut down public access to every single National Climate Assessment, the Congressionally-mandated quadrennial report assessing how climate change is affecting the U.S.

This is what you get when you try to access them online
An error message reads: Safari can't find the server "nca2023.globalchange.gov"
Reposted by James R Jacobs
rbreich.bsky.social
Billionaire tax cuts are a policy choice.

Cutting healthcare for millions is a policy choice.

Cutting food assistance for children is a policy choice.

Taking from the poor and giving to the rich is a policy choice.

Make no mistake: Trump and the GOP are choosing to do this.
Reposted by James R Jacobs
mjhvincent.bsky.social
This is a fucking disgrace
ericholthaus.com
The total amount of public land that Trump wants to make available for sale is equivalent to more than TWICE the size of CALIFORNIA.

All to pay for tax cuts to some of the richest people in world history.
janessagoldbeck.bsky.social
This would be the largest public lands sell-off in modern U.S. history and it's happening with no hearings, no debate, and no public input.

See what public lands would be available for sale:
www.wilderness.org/articles/med...
Reposted by James R Jacobs
rbreich.bsky.social
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." 

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953