Librarians are information professionals, and the U.S. federal government produces a massive trove of valuable information. Yet due to how federal government information is produced and organized, these resources can be more difficult to locate and effectively use than traditional information sources. Additional layers of understanding must be added to the librarian’s core skill set in order...

Why should one put forth the effort to learn about government information? You may be thinking that there was a reason, probably a good one, for avoiding that government documents course in graduate school. The fact is that, for those of you working in reference and collection development, a passing knowledge of the types of information available from the federal government and where to...

Now that you are familiar with the basics of how U.S. federal government information is created and organized, let’s take a look at how that information is presented. We will look at the available formats or methods of delivery, the types of information by the branches of government, and some of the specific special audiences that government information targets.

The primary focus here is on sources provided by the U.S. federal government itself, rather than commercial vendor products which repackage this same information. There is often more than one way to approach government information reference questions, depending on what sources are on offer. Sources from the government are, by and large, freely available to all; libraries and individuals may not...

If you’re a complete newbie to government information, before we delve into the data that the Federal Reserve Bulletins and other publications provide, you may be wondering exactly what the Federal Reserve System is. “The Fed,” as it is often called, is the United States of America’s bank. Created through the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, the Federal Reserve serves a...

Of all the datasets compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, the most recognizable to general users is the Decennial Census of Population and Housing. It is integral to everything from apportioning our government representation to furthering the work of genealogists. The Decennial Census is almost as old as the...

Due to these factors, the Department of Education has developed a regulatory function, and regulatory agencies collect a great deal of information. To document its educational initiatives and to aid with planning for future policies, the U.S. federal government sponsors and fosters research about the educational system and creates a large volume of information. This information is used for...

There are two primary agencies responsible for the majority of the information generated regarding the environment: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DoE). Both of these agencies are relatively new, as they were founded in 1970 and 1977, respectively. This is not to say that historical information on environmental topics produced by the government is not...

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), a sub-agency of the Department of the Interior, was created by legislation enacted in 1879, and it is the largest mapping agency of the federal government. This mapping initially focused on public lands, geological structures, and mineral resources. Later, the USGS expanded its mission to also include water, biological, and energy resources. The USGS is...

Another major function the federal government has taken upon itself is the protection of its citizens from threats to their health—whether it is physical or mental. Some of this information was covered in detail in Chapter 8, so this chapter will focus more on the realm of consumer information, though there is some overlap. The government offers information it hopes citizens will use to...

It may also seem odd to cover a topic such as copyright in a work on government information, since the majority of government information falls within the public domain. Yet the federal government, through the U.S. Copyright Office, is responsible for administering the complex statutory framework that is U.S. copyright law and registering said copyrights. Thus it generates a substantial amount of...

The most simplistic version often touted about how a bill becomes a law would lead one to believe that a bill is introduced in either the House or the Senate, discussed in committee, forwarded for a vote, passed, and then, when this same process has been repeated in the other chamber, goes on to the president and is signed into law. In actuality, the process looks something a bit more like Figure...

Science.gov is a portal providing public access to free journal articles, peer-reviewed accepted manuscripts, and a variety of research publications funded by federal science agencies. Some agencies collaborate on the content that makes up Science.gov, such as the Department of Education and the Defense Technical...

Bethany Latham, a professor at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, holds a BA in history, a master’s in library and information studies, and has received certification from the Government Publishing Office through its FDLP Coordinator Certificate Program. She has fifteen years of experience in the field of government information and electronic resources. In her...

This innovative series written and edited for librarians by librarians provides authoritative, practical information and guidance on a wide spectrum of library processes and operations. Books in the series are focused, describing practical solutions to problems facing today’s librarian and delivering step-by-step guides for planning, creating, implementing, managing, and evaluating a wide...