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 subjectspecific 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/cics
hop.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/