Government Information Essentials

Winner of the 2019 Margaret T. Lane/Virginia F. Saunders Memorial Research Award Government documents, both physical and electronic, constitute a rich and varied resource that calls for special attention. And because government information is useful and pervasive in nearly every kind of library, more and more librarians of all types need to know how to work effectively with federal, state, and international resources. This contributed volume gathers the expertise of experienced government information librarians from across the country. Providing real-world insight into the work, collections, and interests of this discipline, this book surveys the wide variety of government information and the people who use it; discusses what it's like to be a government documents librarian, from the first day on the job through taking on a management role; addresses networking, training, and other essential tools for collaboration and learning; covers space planning, streamlining, disaster preparedness and response, the increasing prevalence of digital information, and other key collection issues; offers best practices for connecting library users with government information; looks at research guides, workshops, and other teaching and training topics; and explores advocating for transparency and access to information, promoting government documents to library users, and using exhibits as community outreach. With more government publications becoming freely available, this volume fills an important need, presenting concrete guidance that will help librarians flourish in this crucial field.