Fundamentals of Government Information: Mining, Finding, Evaluating, and Using Government Resources

Government information is an integral part of library work. Sifting through the massive amount of government data available to find the answers and current information you and your patrons need, however, can be difficult and overwhelming. Fundamentals of Government Information will bring ease and effectiveness to this daunting process by providing you with the background knowledge and tools needed to quickly access the very best government information resources. Here, the editors pool their extensive experience to present, in an approachable and well-organized style, the most current online and print government information resources available. You will find models and techniques throughout, as well as more than 50 chapter exercises. Key topics include: Essential government resources, the nature of government information, and government rules and regulations; The court system and judicial law; Statistical resources like the Statistical Abstract of the United States; Health information and PubMed General scientific information and scientific publishing agencies like NASA and the United States Geologic Survey (USGS); Environmental and energy resources from agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy Consumer information from sources such as the Pew Center on the Internet and American Life and Census data.