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MLA 2013 presentation
- 1. Government information doesn’t have to be scary Real world tips for non-experts Elizabeth Psyck Grand Valley State University
- 9. Your Patrons are using government information If they can do it, so can you!
- 10. Frequency of use by position 800 Staff 700 600 Faculty 500 400 Graduate Students 300 200 Undergraduate Students 100 0 Daily Weekly … Quarterly Rarely Never
- 11. Pew Internet & American Life: Government Online In the 12 months before this 2010 survey: 82% looked for information or completed a transaction on a government website. 46% looked for information about a public policy or issue. 35% researched official government documents or statistics. 25% got advice or information about a health or safety issue. Note: these statistics reflect internet users, rather than all Americans. Smith, Aaron. “Government Online: The Internet Gives Citizens New Paths to Government Services and Information.” Pew Internet & American Life Project. Accessed September 26, 2013. http://www.Pewinternet.org/reports/2010/government-online
- 12. STRATEGIES
- 13. Don’t panic! You can do this.
- 14. Strategize. You’ve got a question. Who might collect that information? Is there a generic website?
- 15. Science Science.gov? NASA? USGS? Health Health.gov? CDC? NIH? Business Business.gov? BLS? Census?
- 16. USA.gov is your friend
- 17. So is Google.
- 18. We’re here to help. Government documents specialists love to help. Seriously. Don’t be afraid to ask.
- 19. It gets easier. The more you answer, the easier it gets. Here’s a starter list of resources.
- 20. There is no separate statistics section in this presentation. Why? (a) some of you wouldn’t find it useful (b) many of these sources have statistics (c) I could talk for WEEKS about statistics (d) government information is SO MUCH MORE than just statistics
- 21. GENERAL
- 28. HEALTH
- 38. CENSUS
- 43. KIDS & EDUCATION
- 53. HISTORY
Editor's Notes
- (CC BY-SA 2.0) “Halloween” by Fabio Venni (fabbio)http://www.flickr.com/photos/fabiovenni/1808485678/
- Gov Docs are scary, right?Kara Harms (Kara Allyson) “Creepy Hallway” http://www.flickr.com/photos/kara_allyson/5486875889/ (CC BY-ND 2.0)
- Librarians sometimes feel like we have to prepare for battle whenever we get a question about government documents. It’s a little like slaying the dragon, right?Photo by me!
- Or maybe you aren’t comfortable admitting they’re scary, but they’re boring right?Jess Ruby (.Ruby Tuesday.) “Untitled” www.flickr.com/photos/ihearaviolin/8353750949/ (CC BY-NC 2.0)
- “Wrong Answer” Karl Baron (Kalleboo) http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalleboo/2240834096/ (CC BY 2.0) Librarians have been taught that govdocs are scary and different and not to be trifled with.
- Government documents are not just for experts. And I’m certainly not going to turn you all into experts in [length of time]. But that’s totally ok!“How to be an expert” by Alan Cleaver http://www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/2453107414/ (CC BY 2.0)
- The goal is to take you from being grumpy whenever you have to use government information:http://cdn.grumpycats.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/08.19.2013-1.jpg
- To being SUPER EXCITEDhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/cgandolfo/355390899/sizes/l/in/photostream/
- And anyway, don’t you want to be ready to answer when they show up with these questions? Or at least have a mental plan in place to work with them?
- So, while there are some people who say they never use government information (which I think is a lie! Who doesn’t file their taxes?) Look at everyone who does!EVERYBODY ACTS THE SAMEBecause this means probably we aren’t going to change behavior.Also – probably this is as frequently as those people need this kind of information.