Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11-13 and 16-17, 2010
Making Documents Accessible
Deb Van Tassel, University of ColoradoJanet Fisher, Arizona State Library and Archives
Camille O’Neill, Arizona Western College
Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11-13 and 16-17, 2010
Multi-state effort
Debra Van TasselUniversity of Colorado - Boulder
A continuing education program to train reference and public services
librarians and library workers in the use of electronic government
information
Gi21is made possible by a grant
from the
U.S. InstituteOf
Museum and Library Services.
Identified Issues• For help with a variety of common problems,
more people turn to the Internet than consult experts or family
• Most Americans (70%) expect to be able to get info or services from a government agency website
• Reliance on a commercial search engine misses “a lot” of government information
More Issues
• 4 in 5 (78%) have visited government websites to seek info
• Assistance from library staff vital to finding info
• General “lack of awareness and skills” to make effective use of online gov info among librarians
- Pew Internet & American Life Project“Information Searches that Solve
Problems”
93% of Current Government Informationis published electronically
GoalsGoal 1: Develop a group of government
information professionals who are available to train and support non-government information professionals in their use of electronic government information.
Goal 2: Expand the base of library professionals and library workers who have knowledge of and experience with electronic government information resources among our various states.
Goals
Goal 3: Increase their level of satisfaction with government information resources in meeting the information needs of their specific user communities.
Goal 4: Develop a new model for the support and training of participants of the Federal Depository Libraries in the 5 state region that can be adopted nationally.
5 State Coordinators
Arizona State Library
University of Colorado, Boulder
New Mexico State Library
University of Utah
Wyoming State Library
Gov Info Specialists by State
18
5
11
5
9
TOTAL 48
Gi21 Trainees
TOTAL 73183 sessions
Average: 8.8
176
90
120
111
234
Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11-13 and 16-17, 2010
Transitions: What comes next?
Janet FisherArizona State Library, Archives and Public
Records
Transitioning from Gi21
• In addition to training during grant period– Depository Librarians continued talking about the project
and headway made during grant period• Fall 2008 Federal Depository Conference• Librarians used and referred patrons to subject modules
– First project coordinator volunteered time from Fall 2008 through early this year to update pages and investigate involv more states in this project
– Arizona took on responsibility to keep site up-to-date• Checking every link• Content will be updated and additional information added
Difficulties in creating sustainable project
• No champion emerged within 5 states as we were coping with the economy and our own libraries
• Services of a grant writer no longer available to identify and write another grant -- librarians completing training commitments of first grant
Others still refer to project
• ALA Open Forum for all Divisions in Summer 2009 – e-government information is important for all librarians to know
• OCLC WebJunction’s newsletter, Crossroads - February 2010 issue featured the Government Information in the 21st Century site
CROSSROADS NewsletterFebruary 2010
Patrons Seek E-Government Resources More than Ever
“Public libraries are relied upon to provide access to e-government resources, and to help patrons find and use the information there. With such high demand, how do library staff keep current with federal, state, and local government agency websites? For starters, check out Government Information in the 21st Century which provides guidance and hundreds of links to federal e-government resources. We'll be adding more content throughout the month, so stay tuned. And if you have resources to share, please let us know.”
Others offering related training and publications
• WebJunction archive includes:– Webinar “Re-tooling Frontline Staff with E-government
Resources” (Florida focus) (http://www.webjunction.org/events/webinars/webinar-archives/-/articles/content/98612509)
– Best Practices for Government Libraries 2010: The New Face of Value (collaborative document; downloadable (http://www.webjunction.org/gi21/-/resources/discussion/99201998)
Others offering related training and publications (continued)
• University of Maryland, College of Information Studies – E-Government Concentration
• ALA publication, Libraries Connect Communities: Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study 2009–2010, references importance of e-government (http://www.ala.org/ala/research/initiatives/plftas/index.cfm)
Library decision-makers using Gi21 as foundation for other efforts
• Arizona applied for Broadband Stimulus grant – Included training on e-government sources
related to job and business-related tools, based on modules in Gi21
• Other ideas?????
Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11-13 and 16-17, 2010
Portals to Federal Government Information
Camille O’NeillArizona Western College
Academic Library
• A partnership library• Serves Arizona Western College (community college service
region includes Yuma & La Paz Counties)• Serves Northern Arizona University--Yuma Branch Campus• Uses a library catalog shared with the Yuma County Library
District• Serves as a Federal Depository Library for the western portion of
the 7th U.S. Congressional District • Located in SW corner of Arizona near borders with Mexico and
California• Nearest other depository is 160 miles away• Yuma County unemployment rate is over 20%
Start at our Library’s web site:http://www.azwestern.edu/library/
• Click on “Government Information” link• Click through transition page to “Government
Information” Libguide--Research Help Guide:• http://libguides.azwestern.edu/gov_info
About the Libguide Format• Recent library objective was to update our formerly
print research guides • Saw Libguides demonstrated at American Library
Association conference• It’s a very user-friendly way for novices to
incorporate Web 2.0 tools, update content• We already had Government Documents web pages,
migrated them to Libguide format• Ann Ewbank, Arizona State University-West campus,
came to Yuma for Libguide training & shared ASU’s “Best Practices”
• More info at http://www.libguides.com
• “Home” page includes basic information about the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)
• “Quick Links” to government information • Government RSS feeds of current interest• Ask A Librarian services
RSS Feed from
USA.gov
Quick Links
Catalog of Government Publications
“The finding tool for federal publications
that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications,” some
with full text links . Can find nearby libraries
with holdings.
Finding Government Information
All depository libraries are required to
provide access to the Basic Collection
FDLP Basic Collection
Selected Portals to Federal Information
Federal Information Online tab
More of “Federal
Information” Online page
Selected Portals to Federal Information
USA.gov: the official web portal of the
U. S. Government
Usa.gov
• The official web portal of the U.S. Government.
• Use it to access health, consumer, educational, career, and many other types of information.
• Recently revised• Available in Spanish version
Explore Topics Most
Popular
Usa.gov: Explore by Topic or Audience, or Search
Usa.gov Web 2.0 & Mobile apps
Web 2.0 & mobile tools
Usa.gov en espanol
GPO Access & FDsys
• Provides “online access to the official published information of the Federal Government”
• Will transition to FDsys.gov in the near future• FDsys “provides public access to Government
information submitted by Congress and Federal agencies and preserved as technology changes”
Government Information in
the 21st Century
Modules
Government Information on
the Web Subject Index
St. Mary’s University
• Partnership project with the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)
• Provides “starting points for browsing subject areas, bringing both broad and detailed subject listings from many libraries together in one index.”
Create your own search
or use subject list
Federal Information portals from Arizona State
Library, Archives & Public Records
Thomas.gov Legislative Information
Current Activity
Weekly Top Five
items searched
Government portals
selected by Library of Congress
Ben’s Guide to the U.S.
Government for Kids includes resources for
educators
Government portals from
Library of Congress
Selected Statistical Resources
Fedstats.gov: Data from over 100 agencies
Census.gov
• Census.gov is a comprehensive site for statistical data about the United States, its population, and much more
• Includes business & industry data• Includes American Factfinder, a user-friendly
interface. Users can create their own tables & maps
Census.gov
American Factfinder
New resource – data sets from the Executive
Branch
Thank you!
Contact us at:Debra Van [email protected]
Janet [email protected]
Camille O’Neill
Six State Virtual Government Information Conference August 11-13 and 16-17, 2010