INTRODUCTION TO THE

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• INTRODUCTION TO THE
• GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
• LAW DEPT.

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GOVT INFORMATION LAWCOLLECTIONS

• UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
• LAW
• OHIO GOVERNMENT
• UNITED NATIONS
• EUROPEAN UNION

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UNITED STATES COLLECTION
Publications from U.S. government agencies such
as

• Agriculture Dept.
• Commerce Dept.
• Defense Dept.
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Health Human Services Dept.
• Justice Dept.

• Labor Dept.
• NASA
• President
• State Dept.
• Transportation Dept.
• Congress
• And many others

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U.S. COLLECTIONTYPES OF INFORMATION

• Congressional committee reports hearings
• Congressional proceedings
• Court cases
• Laws regulations
• Agency brochures pamphlets

• Statistics
• Research reports
• Technical reports
• Newsletters
• Historical materials
• Covers most subjects in the social sciences
  sciences

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U.S. COLLECTIONFORMATS

• Paper
• Microform
• CD-ROMs
• DVDs
• Web sites
• Online Databases

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U.S. COLLECTIONSELECTED CHARACTERISTICS

• Historical publications date from early 1800s
  on
• Publications that are meant for public
  distribution via the U.S. Government Printing
  Office (GPO) not internal agency records
• Publications are received thru Federal Depository
  Library Program

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FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM

• GPO distributes selected publications to
  designated libraries, including MU, at no charge,
  beginning in 1800s
• Purpose is to make govt info freely widely
  available to the public
• Beginning in 1980s many publications distributed
  in microfiche
• Beginning in 1990s many publications in
  electronic form NOT distributed but available on
  the Web

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U.S. COLLECTIONARRANGEMENT

• Unique call number system
• Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc)
• Begins with letters that stand for agency name
• Arranged first alphabetically by letters, then
  numerically by following numbers
• Ex. Y 4.J 89/2S.Hrg.108-267

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EXECUTIVE AGENCY PAMPHLETS AND RESEARCH REPORTS
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EXECUTIVE AGENCY PERIODICALS
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CDs Microfiche
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EXECUTIVE AGENCY TECHNICAL REPORTS
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CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE HEARINGS
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CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE REPORTS DOCUMENTS
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CONGRESSIONAL PROCEEDINGS
C
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STATISTICAL PUBLICATIONS
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CENSUS
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EXAMPLES OF IMPORTANT U.S. TITLES

• U.S. Government Manual
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
• Budget of the U.S.
• Public Papers of the President
• Vital Statistics of the United States
• Economic Report of the President

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MANY U.S. GOVT PUBLICATIONS REFLECT NEWS
EVENTS,
HISTORICAL CURRENT . . .
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1986
Report of the Presidential Commission on the
Space Shuttle Challenger Accident (PR 40.8SP
1/R 29)
Y 3.2AS 7/R 29
1963 John F. Kennedy Assassination Commission and
Board reports
PR 36.8K 38/H 35/V.1-26
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CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS THAT MADE NEWS
Y 4.In 8/20100-5
1998
Y 4.J 89/2S.HRG.102-1084/pt.1
1987
1991
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1997 (original incident 1947) The Roswell Report
Case Closed (D 301.2R 73)
2001 The 9/11 Commission Report (Y 3.2T
27/2/FINAL)
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2005 Hurricane Katrina
Y 1.1/8109-377
Y 4.G 74/9109-467
Y 4.V 64/4S.HRG.109-405
Y 4.G 74/7L 56/7
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OTHER COLLECTIONSLAW

• U.S. Ohio Laws
• U.S. Ohio Regulations
• U.S. Ohio Court Cases
• U.S. Ohio Legal Encyclopedias
• U.S. Ohio Digests (indexes to court cases)

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EXAMPLES OF LAW TITLES
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CODES ALL CURRENT U.S. OHIO LAWS
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U.S. REGULATIONS
CFR
FEDERAL REGISTER
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REPORTERS -- SETS OF COURT DECISIONS
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LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS
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OHIO GOVERNMENT COLLECTION

• Publications from Ohio government agencies
• Small pamphlets shelved in Govt Law Ohio
  section unique call number system similar to
  SuDoc (U.S.)
• Most substantial Ohio publications shelved in
  King or Science book collection

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UNITED NATIONS COLLECTION

• Publications of UN headquarters agencies
• Shelved in UN collection area (LC call numbers)
• Publications on international issues, such as
  economics, environment, human rights

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UN PUBLICATIONS
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EUROPEAN UNION COLLECTION

• Publications of EU agencies
• Shelved in European Collection area (LC call
  numbers)
• Publications on European Union issues such as
  economics, environment, human rights

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EU PUBLICATIONS
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FINDING GOVT LAW MATERIALS

• Library Catalog contains many of our materials
  (altho not all)
• LexisNexis Congressional
• Provides complete historical indexing for
  congressional publications
• Other Library Databases listed under Research by
  Subject, then Government