For easy
access, IEEE-USA has now made available
select published government reports to IEEE
members through the IEEE-USA E-Book Catalog.
Members can currently download six
government reports for free, including:
United
States Government Policy and Supporting
Positions —
Better known as The Plum Book,
this report is prepared after each
presidential election by the Senate
Committee on Governmental Affairs and the
House Committee on Government Reform. The
book provides comprehensive information on
thousands of federal civil service
leadership and support positions in the
legislative and executive branches of the
federal government that may be subject to
noncompetitive appointment, nationwide. It
provides a current list of data, that
includes the following major categories of
positions:
-
Executive
Schedule and salary-equivalent positions
paid at the rates established for Levels
I through V of the Executive Schedule
-
Senior
Executive Service general positions
-
Senior
Foreign Service positions
-
Schedule C
positions exempted from competitive
service by the President, or by the
Director, Office of Personnel
Management, because of the confidential
or policy-determining nature of the
position duties
-
Other
positions at the GS-14 level and above
exempted from the competitive service by
law because of the confidential or
policy-determining nature of the
position duties
The Plum Book
also provides information on SES
appointments. Additionally, appendices
provide information on the positions listed
and the federal salary schedules under which
they are paid.
Many people use
the Plum Book to find employment in the
current administration. During this period
of economic uncertainty, at approximately
218 pages, The Plum Book may be the biggest
and most sought after “want ad” in America.
A History
of the Committee on Science and Technology:
1958-2008
— This
historical account commemorates the 50th
Anniversary of the House Science and
Technology Committee, formed in 1958 in
response to the Soviet Union’s first
satellite launch into space. Sputnik 1 was
launched into orbit in 1957, and in 1958 the
Committee on Astronautics and Space
Exploration was formed.
The Committee’s
name has changed several times in its 50
year history. In 1974, it was changed from
the Committee on Astronautics and Space
Exploration to the Committee on Science and
Technology. At the time, the Committee was
responsible for legislation related to
energy, the environment, the atmosphere,
civil aviation research and development, and
the National Weather Service. In 1977, the
name was changed again to the Committee on
Science, Space and Technology. The
Republican Party took control of the House
in 1995, and officially changed the name to
the Committee on Science. Representative
Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), named Chair of the
Committee when Democrats resumed control of
Congress in 2007, reverted the name back to
the Committee on Science and Technology.
The chapters in
this report include: Chronology of Major
Events in Federal Science Policy, 1787-2007;
The Development of Federal Science
Policy, 1787-1957; The Committee on
Science and Technology, 1958-2008;
Committee Leaders; and Members of the
Committee.
The
Globalization of R&D and Innovation: Scale,
Drivers, Consequences and Policy Options
—
Developed by the House Committee on Science
and Technology, this report is the result of
an effort to gain more understanding of the
globalization of research and development
and innovation. The Committee held four
hearings to explore the scale, drivers and
consequences of the migration of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) jobs and facilities to foreign
countries. Broadly disparate views on the
long-term benefits and harmful effect on the
U.S. economy emerged from the hearing.
This report
offers background information on the
Globalization of R&D and Innovation; a
summary of the hearings; the Committee
findings; issues and policy recommendations.
Some of the topics discussed include:
ensuring that America’s capacity to innovate
is fully funded; unleashing America’s best
and brightest minds to address the 21st
century competitiveness challenge;
collecting additional, better, and timelier
data; creating better career paths for STEM
workers; improving the competitiveness of
the next generation of STEM workers;
reviewing university technology
commercialization efforts; and establishing
tax and trade policies that put the United
States on equal footing for attracting
high-wage STEM jobs.
Other
government documents that can be downloaded
are Smart Grid: Enabler of the New Energy
Economy, developed by the Electricity
Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of
Energy, December 2008; Science and
Engineering Indicators 2008, compiled by the
National Science Board; and
University-Private Sector Research
Partnership in the Innovation Ecosystem,
developed by the President’s Council of
Advisors on Science and Technology,
Executive Office of the President, November
2008
IEEE members
can download your free copies of these
select government documents at
www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks.
Ideas for
new e-Books
IEEE-USA
E-Books invites IEEE members and volunteers
to submit queries for e-books they may want
to write. If you’ve got an idea for an
e-book that will educate other IEEE members
on a particular topic of expertise, e-mail
your e-book queries and ideas to IEEE-USA
Publishing Manager Georgia Stelluto at
g.stelluto@ieee.org.
IEEE members
can purchase IEEE-USA e-books at deeply
discounted member prices – and download some
free e-books at
www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks.
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