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| Last modified: Jul 29, 2005 | |
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Special Acknowledgement: `This tutorial is based on "Searching for Government
Information: What's the Difference?" presented by Marilyn K. Moody, ALA-GODORT
Preconference, New York, N.Y., July 5, 1996. Marilyn Moody's presentation for
GODORT of Michigan Annual Meeting May 9, 1997 is the original author's tutorial.
Another tutorial, How to Effectively Locate Federal Government Information on
the Web is maintained by Patricia Cruse and Sherry DeDecker.
What is it?
A known item.
What's the difference?
Multiple formats:
Print, Microfiche, CD-ROM in depository libraries
Electronic version available at GPO Access or Core Documents of U.S. Democracy, Agency Home Page or another's Home Page.
Weaker bibliographic control, especially for electronic versions:
Our Library Catalog offers access to some full-text documents on the Web. Use also Catalog of United States Government Publications to link to the electronic version (when the URL is in the catalog record).
Bibliographies and catalogs need to be employed for a comprehensive search, especially if the document was published before 1994.
Monthly Catalog in print (-1996), on CD-ROM, and at the Government
Printing Office Home Page. From Catalog of United
States Government Publications (MOCAT) the researcher can find
the nearest Federal Depository Library where the document can be obtained
if published since 1994.
Sample title search: "social and economic characteristics" AND
michigan AND 1990
You may need An Explanation of the
Superintendent of Documents Classification System to find documents
in most libraries.
Sales Product
Catalog (SPC) Formerly the Publications Reference File (PRF) for
latest sales and ordering information of documents.
Sample search: census AND Michigan
Search Engines:
GOVBOT A database that provides access to the content of all government sites, including title searches.
Uncle Sam MIGRATING
GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS The University of Memphis
Serials and periodicals in dual format and electronic format only. Census
Bureau publications courtesy of Larry Schankman's
Electronic Data Dissemination of Census Publications
Pathway Services:
Browse Titles
Tracks electronic titles by agency and links to the electronic version.
See Agency Index, Census Bureau, Current Industrial Reports
What is it?
A search by agency or issuing group.
(Agency bibliographies and Web sites may be the focus of the search.)
Requires searcher to approach information gathering from a different perspective.
Amount of agency information on the WEB increases utility of this approach.
Requires familiarity with governmental structure and agency mission and purpose.
(See Government Manual at GPO Access for assistance.)
Lack of global standards for providing access to government information.
Web crawlers only index static Web pages; they cannot easily index information that lies within a database.
Note: .gov or .mil are the domains for US Federal government systems so you can restrict your searching in AltaVista using the qualifier host:.gov.
The use of ".gov" is not restricted to US federal government internet addresses. Foreign country codes are shown in the. table of domains assigned to countries
Local governments are supposed to use: ci.cityname.XX.us (XX is a 2 letter state name) or co.countyname.XX.us, but not all government-maintained web sites conform to the standard.
Browse Pathway
GILS
The Government Information Locator Service (GILS) describes entire
agencies: Their mission, statuatory authoritiy, purpose and role which
are reflected in their publications. Includes subject headings useful
for searching by topic and links to home pages and the Monthly Catalog.
A list of federal agencies on the Internet. Agency Internet Sites based on the entries in the US Government Manual currently maintained by Mary Jane Ledvina Louisiana State University Libraries in a "service partnership" with GPO.
Clinton Administration's NonProfit Gateway. A central starting point to help nonprofit organizations access online Federal information and services. Linked to all Cabinet Departments and many agencies, it contains information about grants, regulations, taxes, and other services as well as information on a wide range of other topics and programs.
What is it?
Involves the formulation of a search strategy.
What's the difference?
Enormous number of subjects covered.
Need to incorporate varying strategies.
Lack of clear direction on best place to begin searching.
Pathway Browse:
Topics
Broad, general topic approach to federal documents. Subject headings include
Census of Population and Housing (Population Topics).
Government
Resources on the Web
Reliable and up-to-date, Grace York's megasite has the best subject approach
to documents on the Web. Includes pathfinders for print and electronic sources
and is especially strong in Politics
and Statistics,
e.g. 1990
CENSUS DATA LOCATOR and Census
Update with a grid for
non-census data showing availability of data by geographic level (national,
Michigan and Southeast Michigan).
What is it?
"Keyword Approach" is an oversimplified name for using the search engines in government databases. These don't work well for general searches -- there are too many occurrences of common words.
What's the difference?
In order to get them to work, you need to have some background in the field you're searching. Without that background, you're unlikely to find what you're looking for; with it, you have a good chance.
Three examples of areas where special knowledge is needed are
What is it?
What's the difference?
An individual statistic may be identified in multitple sources.
Need to understand clearly the level and type of statistics needed.
Use of specialized sources.
Census statistics -- entire subspeciality.
Must use WEB -- but search can be difficult.
FEDSTATS Links to more than 70 federal agencies. The Search Engine mines 14 federal agencies, inluding the Bureau of Justice, the Social Security Administration, and the Environmental Projection Agency.
Government Information Sharing
Project
CD-ROM products including Population and Housing Census, Economic Censuses,
U.S.A. Counties, REIS, and School District Data Book Profiles: 1989-1990,
are mounted on the Internet at Oregon State University and are accessible
via a user-friendly, interactive interface. See also Selected Government
Resources by Subject, e.g., Selected Government
Resources on Demography/Census, Criminal Justice,
Economics/ Business,
and Health and Medicine
for user-friendly access to other important statistical sources.
Michigan Metropolitan Information Center (MIMIC) provides a census tract map and profile of the Empowerment Zone and profiles each of the 48 census tracts individually.
1990 Census Data Locator at University of Michigan introduces census subject variables.
1990 Census Lookup on the Internet is the easiest way to customize a census profile for any geographic endity anywhere in the country.
DataCenter & Demographics Profile provides maps, charts, graphs and text about demographic change in Southeast Michigan over the last thirty years.
Michigan Electronic Library provides links to Michigan Census and other statistics.
Michigan Comnet Gateway maintains the Home Page for the Southeast Michigan Census Council
To identify places to view with the Tiger Map Server and obtain census data from the 1990 Census Lookup server, you can search for places, counties or MCDs by entering the name and state abbreviation (optional), or 5-digit zip code at U.S. Gazetteer
Selected Links for Community Health:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Detroit Community Aids Library
Michigan Department of Community Health
Minority Health Statistics Grant Program: Impact on Black Health Research
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information Research and Statistics
What is it?
Tracking federal current or recent legislation
Must understand underlying process: How Our Laws are Made
Almost impossible to understand the nuances without a guide or direction. For background on specific issues, see Congressional Digest: The Pro & Con Monthly in Periodicals and Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report in Documents Reference; these guides are indexed in Wilson Periodical Indexes (Wilson Select on FirstSearch ).
Non-intuitive and illogical.
Web access may provide even less guidance than the print counterpart.
GPO Access Electronic
Information
Fulltext online database searching of core congressional and administrative
federal documents, Government Information Locator Services, Monthly
Catalog, and Pathway Services. Alternative Gateway from the
University of California. GPO Access Training
Booklet offers overview.
THOMAS: Legislative Information
on the Internet
The best free source on congressional activities. It includes searchable
daily proceedings from the floors of the House and Senate. A related
site and research project at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, CRFilter, is a free service that
works with THOMAS to help you monitor your specific interests in the
Congressional Record since 1993.
Thomas provides full text access to bills, laws, and reports of the current congress, including ability to search these items by keywords, names, bill number, etc., Also includes hot legislation, bill summary and status, C-SPAN Web Server, and e-mail directories.
Congressional Universe (WSU Only)
(formerly Congressional Compass)
Congressional Universe is licensed by Wayne State University for the
use of WSU library patrons. Students, faculty and staff with direct
connections to the campus network may also use Congressional Universe.
Congressional Universe combines the indexing and abstracting capabilities
of Congressional Information Service (CIS) and the full-text databases
of LEXIS-NEXIS. It covers reports, hearings Congressional Record,
and legislative histories of each public law. It also includes the
full-text and status of bills, regulations, and two periodicals, National
Journal and Congress Daily. Additional features include
Member directories and campaign contributions and a guide to creating
citations
LEXIS (WSU Only) database provides full text searching of federal
bills and their legislative status; the Congressional Record and committee
schedules; federal and state laws, regulations, and court decisions;
corporate reports, and newspapers.
Lexis/Nexis is available to the WSU community in the Purdy/Kresge
Library Reference area, Room 125. A sign-up sheet for Lexis/Nexis
is located at the Reference Desk. To search LEXIS, see (University
of Michigan Documents Center) LEXIS Searching for Government Information.
To search NEXIS, see (WSU)
Library System Leaflet No. 12.
Advocacy Sites that keep professionals up-to-date on what's happening
in Washington DC:
American Library Association
ALA Washington Office
Electronic Table of Contents
Government Information
Quarterly
Journal of Government
Information
Other sites of interest:
Current lines of
ownership in the U.S. legal publishing industry
Project Vote Smart tracks the performance
of over 13,000 political leaders
Tracking Michigan, current or recent legislation
Must understand underlying process: How a Bill Becomes a Law
Almost impossible to understand the nuances without a guide or direction.
Web access may provide even less guidance than the print counterpart.
Michigan State Government
at Michigan Electronic Library
Michigan Electronic
Library: Government, Politics, and Law