Government Info Pro

Updated Public Records Guide: Public Records Resources Online

Thanks to Jennifer McMahan, Supervisory Librarian, 1425 NY Ave. Library, U.S. Department of Justice Library Staff, for sharing the update to a wonderful public records research resource: Public Records Resources Online: How to Find Everything There Is to Know About "Mr./Ms. X".  The full guide is provided as a PDF.

Here's a summary of what's covered in the Public Records Resources Online: How to Find Everything There Is to Know About "Mr./Ms. X":

• Summary of public records on Mr./Ms. X ...
• His/her social security number is ...
• He/she was born / died ...
• He/she was married / divorced ...
• He/she lives / lived ...
• He/she owns / is licensed to drive ...
• He/she is a licensed ...
• His/her corporate affiliations ...
• Information about his/her companies / charities ...
• His/her court records and filings ...
• His/her Web site / E-mail address ...
• He/she went to college ...
• Information about him/her in the News ...
• His/her voter registration & campaign contributions ...
• Information about him/her on the Web ...
• and more...

Here is the PDF version of Public Records Resources Online.

Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series: Telling the Story of America: Initiatives of the Park Service's Interpretation & Education Office

George Franchois, Director, U.S. Department of the Interior Library, extends an invitation to an upcoming free Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series lecture entitled "Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series: The Washington National Mall".

If you love history, these are fascinating programs to attend. The Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series lectures are a great example of government libraries successfully partnering with other groups in the organization. You can read more about it in this article by Jennifer Klang, Head of Reference Services, Department of the Interior Library:  Department of the Interior Offers Popular National Park Service Lecture Series (starting on page 81) and over 70 other articles and submissions provided by more than 75 contributors including librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more. in the 2012 Best Practices in Government Libraries.

Now, read on:

Hi Everyone -

Please join us for the next in our regular monthly series of free Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series lectures, entitled "Telling the Story of America: Initiatives of the Park Service’s Interpretation & Education Office" on Tuesday, January 15th from 1:00 - 1:45 pm in the Department of the Interior Library.

The mission of the National Park Service’s Interpretation & Education Office is to tell a more pluralistic and inclusive story of American history. This branch of the Park Service is currently attempting to do so through two ongoing projects; the Digital Storytelling Ambassadors Program, which has been operating in a pilot phase since July 2011, and the March on Washington Youth Summit, which is being planned for August 26-27, 2013. The Digital Storytelling Ambassadors Program focuses on everyday people sharing their perspectives in their own voices similar to NPR's StoryCorps. The March on Washington Youth Summit will bring 300 high school and college aged youth to the National Mall to discuss issues relevant to their lives in the context of the March on Washington and other Civil Rights commemorations.

Please join Jocelyn Cole from the Park Service’s Interpretation & Education Office as she will present what her office has done and where they are going with these projects. With both initiatives, the Interpretation and Education Office aims to incorporate the narratives of Americans whose stories may have been overlooked or ignored.

All that are interested are invited. The DOI Library is located in the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street, NW, Room 1151 in Washington. Space is limited so please contact the Library by e-mail to let us know you will be coming. For more information about future DOI Library Park Ranger Speaker Series programs, we encourage you to visit our Park Ranger Speaker Series website.

We hope to see you on January 15th!

E-Books and E-Readers Program Best Practices at the NIST Research Library

Thanks to Stacy Bruss, Reference Librarian, National Institute of Standards and Technology, for this article:  E-Books and E-Readers Program Best Practices at the NIST Research Library. This article was originally published in the 2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries in PDF. Best Practices is a collaborative document that is put out annually on a specific topic of interest to government librarians. The 2012 edition includes over 70 articles and other submissions provided by more than 75 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.

The 2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries:Pushing Boundaries:  Mobility, Community, Accessibility is now available in PDF:  2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries in PDF. 2011 and prior years of Best Practices for Government Libraries are all available from the right sidebar here on the Government Info Pro. The e-book version will be released shortly.

If you did not write for the 2012 Best Practices, I invite you to submit a guest post for the Government Info Pro.

Read on...

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Research Library is one of three programs within the Information Services Office (ISO) — along with the Electronic Information and Publications Program and the Museum and History Program— that support the research efforts of the 3,000 scientists and engineers at the NIST campus located in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

The Research Library implemented successful full-scale e-book and e-reader lending programs starting in FY10. Both programs provide its customers mobility to conduct and access their research where and when they need to. While planning and implementing these programs, the Library learned many lessons and developed best practices that other libraries can learn from and use.

E-Books Lending Program

The Library established its e-book program due to a number of factors:

• The extreme popularity of e-journals, which integrated well with the customers’ research workflow.
• Customers specifically requested e-books so they could conduct their research remotely and seamlessly alongside e-journals, preferably on the same platform.
• As the number of available e-book titles expanded, the Library made a collection development decision to replace missing or popular print titles on waiting lists with ebooks.

Today, the Library’s e-book program consists of over 2,200 titles with more than 8,900 full-text downloads last year.

E-Book Best Practice #1: Consider customers’ preferences. Pilot or trial a small number of e-books to get feedback on the preferences of your customers at the outset of your e-book program. It’s best to start with e-book providers that have similar interfaces, licensing, and business models to your e-journals.

There are a number of e-book vendors in the market today that provide institutional access to e-books. These vendors differ in the subject areas of e-book content provided, online interfaces, file formats, digital rights management (DRM), licensing, and business models. This variety among e-book vendors is why it is important to pilot or trial different types of e-book providers with your customers, incorporating these differences to determine which providers work best for both your library and your customers...

READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN PDF starting on page 17.

Federal Librarian, Lyle Minter, Graces the Pages of the Congressional Record This Week

Best wishes to federal librarian Lyle Minter, Supervisory Information Research Specialist in the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service, on his retirement and congratulation to him for appearing in Wednesday's Congressional Record. You can view it here:  Lyle W Minter Presentation by Honorable Gerald Connolly 1-2-2013. (Congressional Record, Page E2034, 1/2/2013). 

Related articles

Nominations Are Open for FEDLINK's National Awards for Federal Librarianship

Call for Grey Literature from the FedGrey Working Group

The FedGrey Working Group is conducting an online survey to assess:

The scope of existing grey lit collections in the federal government and what steps organizations are now taking to maintain and provide access to their grey literature collections.

Here's the link to the survey:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MXZ6JJD.

"The mission of the FLICC FedGrey Working Group is to promote federal library and information center interest, expertise and utilization of grey literature and to advance its discussion, research and access within the federal information community." (from the FEDGREY Working Group Mission Statement)

If you have an interest in learning more about the FedGrey Working Group or would like to join the Group contact Holly Kerwin.

Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the (Civil) War

George Franchois, Director, U.S. Department of the Interior Library, extends an invitation to an upcoming free Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series lecture entitled "The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the (Civil) War".

Read on:

Hi Everyone -

Please join us for the next in our regular monthly series of free Department of the Interior Library Park Ranger Speaker Series lectures, entitled "The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the (Civil) War" on Tuesday, August 21st from 1:00 - 1:45 pm in the Department of the Interior Library.

The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the (Civil) War was formed in response to the death of Senator Edward Baker (R-OR), who fell at the head of troops under his command at Ball’s Bluff in October 1861. The members, comprised of Congressmen from both political parties, focused on Washington, DC area operations despite the fact that Union military forces participated throughout 1861 in dozens of actions from Missouri and Kentucky to the Florida and Carolina coasts.

The committee demanded to know why well equipped Union soldiers supported by the might and vast resources of the United States government failed to win battles such as Bull Run and Ball’s Bluff. The patriotic volunteer soldiers were not to blame, the committee thought, therefore the professional generals of the regular army were the ones that failed the nation. In time, the committee questioned not the competency of the generals but their loyalty.

Please join Park Ranger Michael Kelly as he takes a look at the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the (Civil) War. Find out how what started as a routine board of inquiry instead became an all-powerful force that proved a bane to military leaders and a thorn in the side of President Lincoln for the remainder of the war.

All that are interested are invited. The DOI Library is located in the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street, NW, Room 1151 in Washington. Space is limited so please contact the Library by e-mail to let us know you will be coming. For more information about future DOI Library Park Ranger Speaker Series programs, we encourage you to visit our Park Ranger Speaker Series website.

We hope to see you on August 21st!

AALL 2012: Finding Your Inner Nancy Drew: Public Records Resources Online

Bridget Gilhool, Head Librarian, Antitrust Library, Department of Justice and Jennifer McMahan, Deputy Director, Department of Justice Libraries, presented to a full house today at AALL 2012 in Boston. 

Thier program: Finding Your Inner Nancy Drew: Public Records Research Online was a great deep dive on finding public records.

Speakers: Bridget Gilhool and Jennifer McMahan

Here's the search guide that was shared throughout the presentation: Public Records Resources Online: How to Find Everything There Is to Know About Mr. X/Ms. X. This is the updated version of the guide originally published in the 2011 Best Practices for Government Libraries. The updated guide will be published in the 2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries. Learn more about this year's Best Practices for Government Libraries here:  Submission Deadline Extended for the 2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries.

Federal Law Librarians Caucus Meeting at AALL 2012 in Boston

For those of you attending AALL, there will be a Federal Law Librarians Caucus Meeting on Sunday, July 22^nd from 12 PM – 1 PM at AALL in Boston.  It will be held in Sheraton-Clarendon AB.

Jane Sanchez, Director, Library Services and Content Management, will speak on the following topics, among others:  FDsys, training on FDsys via iCohere and in-person, GPO’s cataloging & indexing program, the importance of their collaborations and partnership with federal agencies, the FDLP forecast, the importance of the new Fedlink working group for the FDLP, as well as planning and managing the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP).  Mary Alice Baish, Assistant Public Printer, Superintendant of Documents will be attending as well and will discuss her role as Superintendant of Documents.

 

Follow Up to 2012 FEDLINK Expo

FEDLINK hosted the first FEDLINK Expo on May 14^th -15^th.  The Expo sessions focused on federal information community trends identified by FEDLINK as imperatives for librarians to be aware of as they chart their future paths. The trends FEDLINK identifed are:

• Demonstrate returns on investment.
• Establish mission critical programs.
• Integrate mobile devices, “apps” and dashboards into workflows
• Expand roles as analyst, educator and consultant.
• Cultivate use of the Semantic Web, cloud computing and Web 3.0.
• Customize and personalize information to meet the needs of users.
• Collaborate via knowledge transfer and information sharing.

Speakers included: 

• Roderick Atkinson, Congressional Research Service
• Mary Alice Baish, Superintendent of Documents
• Stacy Bruss, National Institute Standards and Technology
• Elliot E. Maxwell, author and advisor to Department of Health and Human Services
• Karen Pica, Office of Management and Budget
• Mary Oey, Library of Congress Preservation Directorate
• Roberta I. Shaffer, Associate Librarian of Congress
• Barbara Silcox, National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Peter R. Young, Library of Congress

Vendor demonstrations, exhibits, and a poster session were also integrated into the two day expo.

Here's the announcement for the FEDLINK Expo:  http://www.loc.gov/flicc/meeting_announcements/2012/springexpoma.pdf. 

Here are my tweets from the 2012 FEDLINK Expo sessions:

• Attending 2012 Fedlink Spring Exposition - Brave New World - at Library of Congress. #fedlink12
• Integrate mobile devices, apps; cultivate knowledge of semantic web, cloud computing, web 3.0 - 2 key trends for fed libs. Dessy #fedlink12
• Horizoning - looking at what might have an impact & when they will intersect with your horizon so you can plan for them. Shaffer #fedlink12
• The world is challenged with two frightening trends: illiteracy and aliteracy. Shaffer #fedlink12
• Congratulations to 2011 Federal Librarian of the Year, MaryLynn Francisco. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency #fedlink12
• Congratulations to 2011 Federal Library Technician of Year, Leanna Bush, US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense #fedlink12
• Congratulations to the 2011 FEDLINK Small Library of the Year, Eglin Air Force Base Library. #fedlink12
• Congratulations to the 2011 FEDLINK Large Library of the Year, Woodworth Consolidated Library, Fort Gordon, GA. #fedlink12
• GPO Mission: To produce, protect, preserve, and distribute docs of our democracy. Baish #fedlink12
• FDLP Mission: To provide for no-free ready and permanent public access to fed gov info now and for future gens. Baish #fedlink12
• Fed Depository Libs: Added libraries of independent agencies to FDLP in 1962, highest appellate courts of states in 1972. Baish #fedlink12
• GPO-fed lib opps include sharing metadata records, digitization of historical pubs, born digital content. Baish #fedlink12
• FDLP Forecast Study Project: http://www.fdlp.gov/project-information Baish #fedlink12
• GPO web harvestingpilot project - moving to harvest whole siteFor info on OMB's Office of Federal Procurement Policy visit: http://www.whitehouse.com/omb #fedlink12
• New fed librarians - Check out NewFeds website: http://newfedsinfo.wordpress.com #fedlink12
• Conservation and digitization projects for archival materials not just about preservation but also ezpanded access. Miller #fedlink12
• FEDLINK business plan pillars: identified trends driving programs, benchmarking and smartgoaling, strategic sourcing. #fedlink12
• NIST did number of e-book pilots before full-scale program in 2010 to get clear picture of user requirements & preferences. Bruss #fedlink12
• A good way to start e-book program is with providers with similar interface, licensing, access model to your e-journals. Bruss #fedlink12
• Many managers want to compare circulation of e-books with hard-copy books but this is an apples & oranges scenario. Bruss #fedlink12
• Remember, compared to e-readers, iPads and tablets will require additional IT security. Bruss #fedlink12
• E-reader petting zoo creates a dynamic hands-on learning experience to the e-book/e-reader session this afternoon. Bruss #fedlink12
• 20+ Terabytes of tweets in LC Twitter Archive for 2006-2010. Young #fedlink12
• Delete processing a condition of gift agreement for LC Twitter Archive – continuously redacted archive. Young #fedlink12
• The future big data role for fed libraries? Big data sets with analytical tools. Young @fedlink12
• Data/geospatial analysis can: Conveys complex leg issues simply, reveals impacts otherwise concealed, geographic focus. Atkinson #fedlink12
• Mentioned during big data session at #fedlink12 - Carly Strasser’s DCXL blog http://dcxl.cdlib.org/ - Data Curation for Excel (DCXL) project.
• Librarians have an opportunity to step up and take a role in the world of data, data analysis, and data curation. Dessy #fedlink12

DOI Library Program: Compiling a Federal Legislative History: A Step-by-Step Example for Advanced Researchers

George Franchois, Coordinator of Library Services, U.S. Department of the Interior Library, extends an invitation to an upcoming DOI Library Training Session: "The National Technical Reports Library: Introduction and New Features".

Read on:

Hi Everyone -

I just wanted to send an e-mail to invite you and your staffs to the Department of the Interior Library on Wednesday, November 2nd from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm for a training session entitled "Compiling a Federal Legislative History: A Step-by-Step Example for Advanced Researchers," part of our series of free training sessions at the DOI Library.

In order to find the legislative intent of a bill or public law, researchers need to compile reports, testimony, debate, and other materials related to that piece of legislation to find keys as to what Congress hoped to accomplish. The final compilation of all these materials provides the researcher with a "legislative history" of the bill or law in question and hopefully will answer the question of what Congress intended with this legislation. Those familiar with legislative history research who are interested in learning advanced processes used in compiling a federal legislative history will find this program invaluable. A specific Public Law will be the focus of a step-by-step piecing together of a legislative history, using print resources such as the U.S. Statutes at Large, Congressional Record, and U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Online sources of federal legislative history information will also be highlighted. This program will be conducted by DOI Law Librarian Maureen Booth and Reference Librarian Shyamalika Ghoshal.

All that are interested are invited. The DOI Library is located in the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street, NW, Room 1151 in Washington. Space is limited so please contact the Library by e-mail to let us know you will be coming. For more information about future DOI Library Training Sessionsms, we encourage you to visit our Training Sessions website .

We hope to see you here on November 2nd!