Archive for April 2010
You are browsing the archives of April 2010.
Pfizer and Three Other Major Pharmaceutical Companies Have Put Physician Payment Disclosure Data Online
California Watch reported last week that Pfizer has begun disclosing payments to doctors. Pfizer’s newly launched database includes payments to individual healthcare professionals, medical practices and medical institutions from July 1 to December 31, 2009. Several other major pharmaceutical companies have also started increasing transparency, in anticipation of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act which will require this type of payment disclosure to be universal by 2012.
Internet Resources for Text Publications
Publications pre-dating the Internet can be difficult to access, typically requiring a trip to a specialized library or private collection. However, several organizations and individuals are working toward digitizing older content for an online audience.
Library of Congress and Google Twitter Archives
This week, the Library of Congress and Google both announced that they are developing digital archives allowing researchers to search all public tweets since Twitter debuted in March 2006.
Video Blog: County Clerk-Recorder Records
Each county in the United States has a Clerk-Recorder’s office or equivalent. These offices provide marriage licensing and notary services, as well as maintain archives of public records. Here’s a short video of Mike Rice at the Alameda County Clerk-Recorder’s office discussing how to navigate your way around the office’s in-house index systems.
TransparencyData.com Released for Combined State and Federal Campaign Contribution Data
Today, the Sunlight Foundation released TransparencyData.com which compiles federal data from OpenSecrets and state data from FollowTheMoney.org into a comprehensive and user-friendly search interface for researchers and journalists. Transparency Data currently provides access to state and federal campaign contributions, and will offer lobbying data within several weeks.
The Office of Congressional Ethics
The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) is an independent panel that reviews and investigates allegations of ethical misconduct within the US House of Representatives. At the end of its review process, OCE makes many of its reports (what OCE calls “referrals”) and investigative materials available for public review creating a new repository for public records researchers.
