Adding Government Information to the Mix

Hillary Campbell

Government Documents Librarian

University of Texas at Dallas

Current State of the FDLP

Items “born” online, no print equivalent Directors can’t see incentives for staying

in the program Public and small academic collections in

jeopardy GPO trying to find incentives Important to find local ways to justify

staying in the program

Many Librarians Think…

Government Documents questions are scary

The print and microform collections are scary

The electronic collection is big and scary Only Political Science students need

government documents anyway

Sound Familiar?

Conquering Librarian Fears

GDL-Regularly demonstrate and suggest helpful resources

GDL-Offer assistance in library instruction planning

GDL- Routinely update library staff on the status of the FDLP program and GPO’s mission and planning

GDL – Be available for reference assistance

HELP THE LIBRARIANS!

How can librarians incorporate government documents?

Library Instruction Online Tutorials Course Management Software – WebCT

/ Blackboard Web Portals / Online Guides

Library Instruction

Government Documents component in every session

Show & Tell the fun stuff for basic sessions

Hard copy publications for subject-specific sessions

Show primary sources Collaboration between GDL and

teaching librarians

Online Tutorials

Use government publications as examples

Plagiarism, primary sources, refereed vs. trade

Make government documents visible in library tours

Online Tutorial Example

Course Management Software

GDL acts as a secondary subject specialist

Keep current on projects enhanced by government documents

Offer to conduct chat sessions Deposit on-the-fly research guides for

specific topics Email

Web Portals

Government Documents heading for each subject.

Use local librarians for inspiration if no GDL

Use Browse Topics for inspiration Involve faculty/patrons/local librarians Create portals just for government info,

either scholarly or consumer-oriented

Browse Topics

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/topics/

Cool Site Ideas

O*net: http://online.onetcenter.org/ Popular Baby Names:

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/ American FactFinder: www.census.gov Ben’s Guide: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/ Browse Topics:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/topics/ FedStats: http://www.fedstats.gov/

Cool Site Ideas

Federal Citizen Information Center: http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_shop/cicshop.htm

Recreation One Stop Initiative: http://www.recreation.gov/

America’s Job Bank: http://www.ajb.org/ American Memory Project:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/

American Memory Project

Popular Baby Names

O*net

Questions?

www.utdallas.edu/~hxc024100/