Selected State Reports

Vivid account of ties between education and politics

State Documents

■ Software Directory 1982, Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (1982), 134 pp.

The need for a directory of Illinois software producers and distributors was suggested by an article in Crain's Chicago Business. Listings in the first section, "Producers and Distributors of Software Packages," include names, addresses, telephone numbers, as well as some information about the product. In the other three sections (on mainframe software, minicomputer software and microcomputer software) only the company's name and city are included.

■ Disinfecting Drinking Water, Policy Paper no. 3, Illinois Environmental Agency (June 1982), 9 pp.

In 1915, before water disinfection methods were introduced, there were 132 deaths from typhoid fever in Chicago; following disinfection, there were only 43 such deaths two years later. Waterborne diseases continue to occur, primarily due to defects in the distribution system and through cross-connections between a source of drinking water and a source of pollution. Despite some drawbacks to its use, chlorine is still the most effective disinfectant.

■ Reports and Recommendations of Task Forces Appointed by the Illinois Governor's Committee on the International Year of Disabled Persons, Department of Rehabilitation Services (August 1982), 58 pp.

Summaries of the reports, recommendations and conclusions submitted by the task forces in 10 different areas are included: public awareness, employment, education, accessibility, transportation, housing, legislation, advocacy, health care systems, disability prevention. The governor's original charge was that the task forces develop realistic recommendations for implementation by the state's public as well as private sectors.

■ Illinois Energy Plan, Volume IV, An Inventory of the Coal Resources of Illinois, Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources (September 1982), 66 pp.

No other state in the United States has larger reserves of bituminous coal than Illinois, and one tenth of all the coal in the country lies under this state's soil. This report describes the distribution of that coal by area and depth, the thickness and structure of coal seams, coal's chemical and physical properties and technological applications. It is a response to the Energy Policy and Planning Act of 1979 and is one of five reports; the final one will contain conclusions and recommendations.

Items listed under State Documents have been received by the Documents Units, Illinois State Library, Springfield, and are usually available from public libraries in the state through interlibrary loan.
Anna J. Merritt

January 1983 | Illinois Issues | 32