Access to Information

• Let Aunt Bertha help you: Aunt Bertha, is a new portal that collects and makes it easy to access information on government and charitable services. (Mashable)
• Back to the Census: The National Archives released more than 3.8 million pages of data from the 1940 census online yesterday. The web portal had 22.5 million hits within three hours of its launch. (Politico)
• Serious science: There is a contentious debate swirling around open-access to federally funded research. But, witnesses at a House subcommittee hearing last week argued that there is no real reason for all the acrimony. (Fierce Government)
• Sun shining across government websites: The Sunshine Review has seen so much improvement in the types and amounts of data that public agencies put online in past few years that they are considering making their guidelines even more strict. (Government Technology)

International

• Pirates raid Germany: The Pirate Party, who advocate for internet freedom, has seen its popularity jump significantly in Germany since a strong showing in a regional election last month. (Reuters/Yahoo)
• Americans for a more transparent China: Gary Locke, the U.S. Ambassador to China, focused on social media and accountability during a town hall meeting with employees of Baidu, China’s most popular search engine. (Tech President)