Day One (9am-4:30pm)

Overview of Government Documents

·        History of the Government Printing Office

·        Discussion of the importance of government documents, unique features of documents including the Superintendent of Documents classification system

·        E-Government, what is it and how does it affect libraries and the FDLP

Searching and Retrieving Government Documents Efficiently using online and print resources

·        GPO Access www.gpoaccess.gov

·        FDsys www.gpo.gov

·        Thomas http://thomas.loc.gov

·        LexisNexis Congressional (through KSU library – requires proxy for access off campus)

GPO Access & FDsys

·        Overview

·        Searching techniques and review of Boolean logic

o       Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations and Unified Agenda

o       Congressional Record

o       Congressional Bills and Public Laws

o       Catalog of US Government Publications

• Reference resources on government http://www.mbkcons.com/wkshp/govdocs/ksugovt/ksugovlinks.htm
• Exercises

Comparison of GPO Access with THOMAS and LexisNexis Congressional (Available through KentLink)

• Explore differences in searching techniques and resources
• Sample exercises

Finding Ohio Government Documents on the web (using Gongwers News Service  and Ohio Capital Connection)

• http://www.mbkcons.com/wkshp/govdocs/ksugovt/ksugovlinks.htm

Continue searching GPO Access, FDsys, Thomas, and LexisNexis Congressional

History of Print Indexes

Finding Government Information on the Internet

Government Information on the Web (fee vs free search tools)

• Historical and political documents
• Reference tools and resources
• International government documents,
• Federal Government Information
• State and Local Government Information and resources
• Other websites and search engines  http://www.mbkcons.com/wkshp/govdocs/govdocslinks.htm

Current Government Activities in the News

From the NYTimes 7 March 2010: Article about Florida Everglades and water rights

(VAN NATTA, DON  Jr. and DAMIEN CAVE. "Deal to Save Everglades May Help Sugar Firm" New York Times (7 March 2010): US Section  - digital edition (Florida’s plan to reclaim the wetlands is instead on track to rescue the fortunes of United States Sugar) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/us/08everglades.html

What types of government documents would you use to find out more about water rights, wetland reclamation, and the Florida Everglades?

 Sample exercises

Background of GPO Access, Government Documents on-line and the development of the databases  : see article from ACADEME January 2002