Visualizing the International Government Information Collection at University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign

Abstract

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) has been a Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) Library since 1907. Over the course of time, the Library has amassed one of the largest collections of government information with materials covering areas of agriculture, education, the environment, health, natural resources, and transportation.1 In addition to federal and state publications in the United States, the Library also possesses an impressive collection of international government publications. The University Library became a United Nations depository in 1946 and Canadian depository in 1927, along with an extensive collection of British government resources.2 The collection not only serves as a preservation of original documents from international agencies and governments for research, but also represents the diversity of the library collection and history at UIUC. While there have been many efforts to promote and focus on the federal information collection, the international government collection can be explored more to enhance visibility and usage of the materials.