The Department of Energy recently issued its latest Open Government Plan, and the document recognizes the DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) for advancing open government and the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration by making scientific and technical information (STI) publicly available.
The National Library of EnergyBeta (NLEBeta), a gateway to information across the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is taking on an expanded role in providing access to DOE scientific and technical information (STI) with the retirement of the federated search product Science Accelerator. In addition, the NLEBeta, launched in February 2013, has a redesigned home page and new features that makes it easier to use than ever.
Developed by DOE’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI), the NLEBeta search tool makes it easy for American citizens to find and access information about the Department from across the DOE complex nationwide, without knowing DOE’s organizational structure.
Let’s call it creative destruction, borrowing from a popular term in economics. The idea is that the very essence of capitalism is the destruction of old structures and the building of new ones that inevitably face the same pressures as the structures they replaced. It’s the reason the buggy whip industry fell on hard times. The information management business of the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) is in constant flux too, where the next big thing can soon become the next big flop.
While I have not taken a formal survey, my experience over many years as a Department of Energy (DOE) employee suggest to me that most people have no idea what DOE does. Let me amend that. Many people know exactly what we do. DOE controls the price of gas at the pump; it manages natural gas drilling, builds pipe lines and regulates refineries. As it turns out, people know a great deal about DOE, it’s just that most of it is dead wrong.
Look it up and you’ll find that “[t]he mission of the Energy Department is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.” Hmm. Nothing about gas prices there.
Once you get a bead on the DOE mission you are ready to mine its extraordinary set of resources.
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