What Can U.S. Government Information Do for Me? Librarians Explain the Discovery and Use of Public Data, Documents, Maps and Images

Abstract

The importance of government resources to information professionals cannot be overstated. What Can U.S. Government Information Do for Me? demonstrates the depth and breadth those resources can bring to researchers and how librarians can benefit from learning more about them. The editors are Tom Diamond, collections and materials selector librarian at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and Dominique Hallett, government information and STEM librarian at Arkansas State University. They introduce us to the volume with a long-familiar rhetoric evangelized by information professionals across the country and within multiple professional domains: “U.S. government publications are an incredible resource waiting to be used and discovered by the public” (p. 2). The book aims to provide information about US government resources, how to use them, and provide examples for use in our respective libraries. This up-to-date tome provides information about agencies and departments, what their websites contain, and what each provides. The editors describe the work as “hands-on” and practical, serving the needs of library workers in the government information environment at academic, public, school, federal, and special libraries. Some of the highlights of this book include curricular development examples and practical resources for educators to use in the classroom.