1. Government Information and YOU!
Image from The Most Famous Poster, American Treasures of the Library of
Congress http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm015.html
UCLA Library
5. Key Characteristics…
• Primary sources
• Authoritative sources
• Legal requirements for authenticity and
accuracy
• Usually copyright and cost free
• Covers every discipline and subject
• Major source of research grant funding and
research output
• Encourages civic participation (lifelong
learning)
6. Government Information can answer
almost anything…
• How many El Salvadorans live in LosHow many El Salvadorans live in Los
Angeles?Angeles?
• Is my drinking water safe?Is my drinking water safe?
• What is the fine for talking on a cell phoneWhat is the fine for talking on a cell phone
in my car?in my car?
• What are Cap-and-trade systems;What are Cap-and-trade systems; areare
they really going to help thethey really going to help the
environment?environment?
• I want to explore the Cinderella
themes in Dorothy Edwards short
stories.
7. Formal Definitions…
44 USC § 1901
“Government publication” as used in
this chapter, means informational
matter which is published as an
individual document at
Government expense, or as
required by law.”
8. 44 USC § 3301
“records” includes all books, papers,
maps, photographs, machine
readable materials, or other
documentary materials, regardless
of physical format or
characteristics, made or received
by an agency of the United States
Government under Federal law or
in connection with the transaction
of public business…
9. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
• 5 U.S.C. 552, as amended, generally
provides any person with the statutory
right, enforceable in court, to obtain
access to Government information in
executive branch agency records. This
right to access is limited when such
information is protected from disclosure
by one of FOIA's nine statutory
exemptions.
• http://www.archives.gov/foia/
12. 4 Approaches to Finding Gov Info
• Known title
• Subject
• Agency
• Special Technique
13. The Government Information Forest
Legislation: Bills, Acts,
Hearings, Debates Laws: Statutes, Codes,
Court decisions
Regulations: Federal Register,
Code of Federal Regulations(CFR)
Executive Branch: Executive
Orders, Proclamations, Speeches
Agencies: Dept. of Homeland
Security, Dept. of Public Social
Services, Social Security Admin.
Maps: CIA, topographic,
geologic, land use
14. The Government Information Forest
Government Officials: Barbara
Boxer, Mukasey, Paulsen
Statistics: Census, Statistical
Abstract, Construction Starts
Obvious Publication: 9-11 Report,
Starr Report, Governor’s Budget
Technical Reports: DOE,
EPA, NASA,
Research/Investigations:
NIH, Criminal Justice, FDA
19. UCLA Library Government
Information Specialists
are here to help!
• Federal: Maria Jankowska, Kris
Kasianovitz
• State, Local, Canadian,NGOs:
Kris Kasianovitz
• International: Joseph Yue
• British: Maria Jankowska
• Foreign: Area Studies Librarians
Hinweis der Redaktion
Introduction
Ask each student to write down 1 -2 items, ideas that they would like to discuss from the readings.
Ask someone to define Gov Info
Discuss levels of government
Organization of government
How we collect government information and make it accessible
Family –birth, death, marriage
Health
Vaccines (funding for development and regulations)
Nutritional guidelines
Bioterrorism intervention
Drug approval
Regulation of nursing homes
Medicare payment schedules for hospitals
Income
TAXES
Equal employment opportunity guidelines
Consumer price index
Civil service salaries
Mediation in labor disputes
Social security and food stamps
Housing
Certifies home repair contractors and prosecutes ripoffs
Building inspectors
Enforces disclosure rules when getting a mortgage
Consumer pamphlets on renting, buying homes, and moving companies
Community
Roads
Zoning ordinances
Water supplies
Waste disposal
Power and cable industry regs
Toxic waste cleanup
Weather alerts
Disaster assistance
Recreation
National park system
Passports
Airport security
Grant funding for the arts and humanities
Genealogy
Fishing and hunting licenses
State park camping reservations
Students
Student loans
Work study scholarships
College admission court decisions
Research grants for faculty and academic departments
Federal depository libraries
Originally sponsored the internet
Copyright protections
Business
Regulates stock market (sometimes)
Technical research
Patents
Trade regulations and statistics
Employment regulations
Safety standards
Loans to start a small business
Publications, Information, Documents – the materials published by the government for public dissemination. Typically what we get in libraries
Declassification is the process of documents that formerly were classified becoming available to the public, under the principle of freedom of information. Procedures for declassification vary by country.
Public records refers to information that has been filed or recorded by local, state, federal or other government agencies, such as corporate and property records. Public records are created by the federal and local government, (vital records, immigration records, real estate records, driving records, criminal records, etc.) or by the individual (magazine subscriptions, voter registration, etc.). Most essential public records are maintained by the government and many are accessible to the public either free-of-charge or for an administrative fee. Availability is determined by federal, state, and local regulations.
Primary Source material
Provides authoritative overview or background information for an area (Country Reports, CIA World FactBook, Statistical Abstract, Census)
Usually copyright and cost free – except for born digital where printing costs are passed on to users.
Many agency sites have strong legal requirements for authenticity and accuracy (we won’t get into the politics of the current administration…which could challenge that…)
Covers every discipline and subject imaginable: Arts (NEA) to Sciences
It affects us all – news, food we eat, air we breathe, cars we drive, beds we sleep in, people in our neighborhoods, etc.
Encourages civic participation – Public Comments, write your elected officials (Save Internet Radio! Internet RADIO EQUALITY ACT, S. 1353 IN THE SENATE AND H.R. 2060 IN THE HOUSE)
Major research grant funding source and research output– catalog of federal domestic assistance, NIH.
Talk about the relation of gov info publishing and news sources.