The first question you might have is, "What the heck is the U.S. Naval Observatory?" Well, it does some very cool things:
The U.S. Naval Observatory performs an essential scientific role for the United States, the Navy, and the Department of Defense. Its mission includes determining the positions and motions of the Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, stars and other celestial objects, providing astronomical data; determining precise time; measuring the Earth's rotation; and maintaining the Master Clock for the United States. Observatory astronomers formulate the theories and conduct the relevant research necessary to improve these mission goals. This astronomical and timing data, essential for accurate navigation and the support of communications on Earth and in Space, is vital to the Navy and Department of Defense. It is also used extensively by other agencies of the government and the public at large.
In our wanderings around the federal Internet, the library website here is one of the more intriguing ones we've seen. It offers three basic ways to navigate -- via links in a vertical navigational window on the left, via text links at the bottom of the page, or via links surrounding the attractive image of the Greek muse Urania, who is the muse of astronomy. This image is the Observatory Seal, and is also featured on the library bookplate. And the OPAC here is called Urania.
The library is in the process of scanning its historical photo collection. More than 800 of the 5,000+ photos and glass plates have been scanned so far. Use the box provided to search the collection. Dropdown menus provide boolean, case matching and image type options. Alternately, you can use the list of search keywords; simply check the box or boxes next to the relevant terms.
Speaking of eye candy, check out this historical picture of the library, probably from the 1890s.
The electronic journals page is extensive; a few links are restricted to the Observatory community, but most are not. Browse alphabetically; obviously, the listings are heavy on astronomy specifically and science in general. There's a nice page of links to other libraries; you'll find many that are new to you and may be worth a browse. Links to key astronomical resources are available from another page.
Alas, while I enjoyed browsing here, it reminded me of how I am still upset about Pluto being kicked to the curb, unceremoniously demoted to "dwarf planet" status. Oh well...
A family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success. Read more »
Recently I have found myself cooing over visualisation maps (and heat maps) of health and well being resources. The content rich data is overlayed with mapping technologies, and some interesting themes and patterns are emerging.
A lot of the talk around social media in the last year has been around information overload. Social media has provided us with new and exciting ways to create content. But it has also meant learning new ways to manage and engage with social media tools. Are we teetering on the edge of an information overload precipice?
Information overload is a figment of your imagination. Or a failure of your filter. Or a symptom of your technological submissiveness. Depends on who you ask.
What if you had to sort through 3.5 million articles and social media posts a day and try to pull out the most relevant items for your organisation? What if you then had to cobble it all together into something readable for your top groups and executives in your organisation?
Alacra Compliance saves time by aggregating information from both free and fee-based sources and enabling users to conduct an accurate federated search across these sources (coined “simultaneous search” by Alacra).
FreePint Family
Quilting big data threads
The fallacy of information overload
Information overload: fact, fantasy or filter failure? 
