Eye on the net: new and notable

Citation

Latham, B. (2008), "Eye on the net: new and notable", Reference Reviews, Vol. 22 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/rr.2008.09922gag.001

Eye on the net: new and notable

Article Type: Eye on the net: new and notable From: Reference Reviews, Volume 22, Issue 7

Democracy: being allowed to vote for the candidate one dislikes least. I think chess master Robert Byrne said something to this effect and it is that time of quaternary year again – the presidential election is nearly upon us. Various other pithy election-related sayings also come to mind (one of my personal favorites: Leno’s quip that if God had wanted us to vote, He would have given us candidates) but there is more election-related information out there than just clever one-liners.

One can start with the web sites for the Democratic and Republican Conventions (www.denverconvention2008.com; www.gopconvention.com). Both of these sites are good one-stop shops for information about the conventions, respective parties and delegates. Users can find everything from YouTube videos to podcasts to RSS feeds for relevant news stories.

And speaking of the Fourth Estate, the major news agencies all have their 2008 election-related materials up, and users will want to take a gander at the sites from PBS (www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2008), the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/public/page/election2008.html?mod=2_1309), CNN (www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008), Fox News http://elections.foxnews.com), and for a more international perspective, the BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/americas/2008/vote_usa_2008/default.stm). All of these sites contain the same types of information – the latest news on the parties, candidates, polls, and the issues at the forefront of the election.

For information about the candidates themselves, there are a variety of sources users can consult, starting, of course, with the campaign site of the individual candidate. The 2008 Presidential Election site from usa.gov has them linked in one place (www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting/PresidentialCampaign-2008.shtml), as well as links to other useful information on matters such as campaign contributions and how to get involved in volunteering in the election process.

But perhaps you have gotten a request at the reference desk which illustrates the need to start with the basics (think Churchill’s comment about the best argument against democracy being a five-minute conversation with the average voter). You may want to visit the 2008 Presidential Election section of the Electoral College’s web site (www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008). This site provides information on how the US presidential election process works – exactly what the Electoral College is, how the votes are distributed among the states, what the state laws and requirements governing electors are, and historical election results. It also has a list of excellent links to other election and voting resources, such as how to register to vote, campaign finance issues, polls and predictions for the election, and other information about the election process.

And lastly, there’s Project Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org). Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization which has the stated goal of providing “the most crucial component in our struggle to self-govern: access to abundant, accurate, and relevant information about those who govern us and those who wish to replace those who do”. In furtherance of this goal, its web site has voting records, campaign finance records, interest group ratings, as well as documentation on candidates – from speeches and public statements to biographical information. The Project is organized in a way that makes it simple to find information about a candidate’s (or current public official’s) stand on particular issues. Users can search by state or by zip code to first find out who represents them (if they do not already know – I refer you back to Churchill) and then see public statements from these officials on a variety of issues and topics.

These are just a handful of the resources out there with information about elections in general and the 2008 presidential election in particular which can be utilized to make oneself (and one’s patrons) informed voters. That way there is no chance of disappointing fourth US president James Madison who was fond of saying that, “A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both”.

Bethany LathamInternet Editor, Reference Reviews and Assistant Professor and Electronic Resources/Documents Librarian, Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL, USA