The Changing Face of Government Information: Providing Access in the Twenty-First Century

Learn what innovative changes lie in the future of government information

The Changing Face of Government Information comprehensively examines the way government documents’ librarians acquire, provide access, and provide reference services in the new electronic environment. Noted experts discuss the impact electronic materials have had on the Government Printing Office (GPO), the reference services within the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), and the new opportunities in the transition from paper-based information policy to an electronic e-government. This source reveals the latest changes in the field of government documents librarianship and the knowledge and expertise needed to teach users how to access what they need from this enormous wealth of government information.

Major changes have taken place in the way government information is created, disseminated, accessed, and preserved. The Changing Face of Government Information explains in detail the tremendous change taking place in libraries and government documents librarianship. Topics include the increasing accessibility to the federally funded technical report literature, information on the Patriot Act’s effect on the status of libraries in the aftermath of 9/11, the uses of Documents Data Miner©, and information about catalogs, indexes, and full text databases. This book also provides a selective bibliography of print and electronic sources about Native Americans and the Federal Government, as well as specific sources for information about the environment, such as EPA air data, DOE energy information, information on flora and fauna, hazardous waste, land use, and water. Each chapter is extensively referenced and several chapters use appendixes, tables, and charts to ensure understanding of data.

This useful book gives readers the opportunity to learn:

• how the University of Oregon successfully integrated its business reference service and map collection into its government documents collection
  
• the results of a survey of FDLP institutions identifying the factors contributing to the reorganization of services
  
• details of the pilot project undertaken by the University of Arizona Library along with the United States Government Printing Office’s Library Programs Service to create a model for a virtual depository library
  
• which critical features are missing in today’s e-government reference service models
  
• details of the GPO’s plans to provide perpetual access to both electronic and tangible information resourcesand the strategies to authenticate government publications on the Internet
  
  

The Changing Face of Government Information is stimulating, horizon-expanding reading for librarians, professors, students, and researchers.

Suhasini L. Kumar