Beyond Library Walls: Government Information Librarians in an Electronic Age

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Beyond Library Walls Government Information
Librarians in an Electronic Age

• Jennifer Gerke
• Debra Van Tassel
• University of Colorado at Boulder

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Overview

• Four Parts
• Introduction
• Solution
• Effectiveness
• Future
• Questions and Discussion

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Depository LibrariesA quick history

• In 1813 the first provision of congressional
  publications to libraries
• In 1895 the depository library as it currently
  stands was developed
• Mostly unchanged until 1962 when the
  regional/selective model was introduced
• 1994 GPO Access

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What is the role of thedocuments librarian?
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Are we needed?

• For help with a variety of common problems, more
  people turn to the Internet than consult experts
  or family
• Most Americans (70) expect to be able to get
  info or services from a government agency website
• Reliance on a commercial search engine misses a
  lot of government information
• - Pew Internet American Life
  Project Information Searches that
  SolveProblems
• December 30, 2007

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Looking at e-Government

• 4 in 5 (78) have visited government websites to
  seek info
• Assistance from library staff vital to finding
  info
• General lack of awareness and skills to make
  effective use of online gov info among librarians
• - Pew Internet American Life
  Project Information Searches that Solve
  Problems

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Questions to consider

• Is every library a depository library?
• Can anyone be a documents librarian?
• Do we still need librarians specializing in this
  field?

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93 of Current Government Information is
available online
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What NOW?
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• A continuing education program to train reference
  and public services librarians and library
  workers in the use of electronic government
  information

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• Gi21
• is made possible by a grant
• from the
• U.S. Institute
• Of
• Museum and Library Services.

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Goals

• Goal 1 Develop a group of government
  information professionals who are available to
  train and support non-government information
  professionals in their use of electronic
  government information.
• Goal 2 Expand the base of library professionals
  and library workers who have knowledge of and
  experience with electronic government information
  resources among our various states.

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Goals

• Goal 3 Increase their level of satisfaction
  with government information resources in meeting
  the information needs of their specific user
  communities.
• Goal 4 Develop a new model for the support and
  training of participants of the Federal
  Depository Libraries in the 5 state region that
  can be adopted nationally.

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5 State Coordinators

• Arizona State Library
• University of Colorado, Boulder
• New Mexico State Library
• University of Utah
• Wyoming State Library

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Gov Info Specialists by State
5
5
18
9
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TOTAL 48
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Survey of Depository Librarians

• What subjects are important to non-depository
  librarians?
• How often do non-depository librarians use
  electronic government information?
• What length of training session would they
  prefer?
• Where in their state should training sessions be
  presented?

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Surveys of Non-Depository Librarians

• Level of use of government information?
• Daily 19
• Weekly 40
• Monthly 21
• Once/Year 6
• Not Sure 13
• Length of training session desired?
• Half Day 72
• Full Day 49
• Two Hour 43
• One Hour 23
• Geographic location near you?
• Large Cities
• Phoenix - Flagstaff - Denver - Santa Fe -
  Albuquerque - Cheyenne - Laramie

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Top Subjects by Survey

• Demographics
• Legal Information
• Health Medicine
• Small Business Entrepreneurship
• Citizenship Immigration
• Energy Natural Resources
• Consumer Information
• Crime Justice
• History Genealogy
• Environment

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Additional Subject Modules

• 11. Maps and Transportation
• 12. Economy and Trade
• 13. Education
• 14. Science and Technology
• 15. Special Populations
• 16. Elections and the Political Process
• 17. Military and War
• 18. Recreation and Culture
• 19. Foreign Country Information
• 20. International Relations
• 21. Kids Stuff

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State Training Plans

• Location
• Libraries one or series of sessions
• State or Regional Development Workshops
• State Conventions
• Target
• Colleagues at own institution
• Surrounding public libraries
• Webinars to reach remote areas
• Themed workshops Legal Information
• Partner for statewide workshops

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Online Component

• Designed to reinforce learning
• Provide the needed support network
• Subject module development
• Training content and materials
• Team communication
• Shared Resources
• Free to all users

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WebJunction

• Successful online library community
• 30,000 members
• 50,000 unique visitors per month
• Roots in the public library community
• Expanding academic library community
• Initial funding Gates Foundation
• Parent organization OCLC
• Multiple technologies

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http//www.webjunction.org/gi21
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Top Requested Subjects

• Legal Information 15
• Demographics 12
• Overview/Sampler 12
• Consumer Information 7
• Kids Stuff 7
• Small Business 7
• Citizenship Immigration 6
• Health Medicine 7

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Training Sessions
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Utah and Wyoming
28
Arizona and New Mexico
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Colorado
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10 Minute Break

• Can you think of other collections and/or
  subjects that could be presented following the
  Gi21 Model?

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Number of Attendees
111
90
234
176
120

• TOTAL 731
• 83 sessions
• Average 8.8

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Attendance by Library Type

• Public/Community/Town 240
• Academic/University 112
• Special 66
• School Public/School 52
• None Given 261

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Attendance by Ethnicity

• Caucasian 377
• Hispanic 24
• Native American 16
• Asian 4
• Mixed 4
• Pacific Islander 1
• None given 305

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Evaluation of Training

• Pre- and Post-tests
• Comfort with using e-government info
• Knowledge using e-government info
• Session Evaluations
• Understanding of e-government info
• Confidence using e-government info
• Effectiveness of training/trainer

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Pre-test Comments

• I have never used it. What is it?
• I can probably find information on these topics,
  but am not familiar with government information
  on them.
• I guess I am not aware that the government had
  information on these subjects
• I often use Google in creative ways, hoping it
  will lead me to what I need.

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Change in Comfort

• 2.85 average comfort with government information
  before training
• 3.59 average comfort after training
• 26 increase in comfort after training

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Post-test Comments

• I have far more resources available to me after
  the workshop.
• Thank you for enlightening me so I can serve my
  patrons better.
• I feel prepared to further explore these
  resources and improve my use of them.
• Overall, I am more confident that I can find LOTS
  of government information after this class.

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MorePost-test Comments

• I just need more free time
• More in-depth training
• This workshop was an excellent introduction
• Good beginning training now for some practice
  and use
• The presentation was great! Wished it was
  longer
• More hands-on practice
• More handouts

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Trainers
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Length of Training Sessions

• 61 were one-hour training sessions
• Rated as Least Effective
• 35 were half day training sessions
• Rated as Most Effective
• 13 were full day training sessions
• Tied with below as Second Most Effective
• 32 were series of one-hour sessions

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Scheduling Training sessions

• Scheduled by State Coordinator (17)
• Individual initiated contact/proposal (16)
• From request form (2)
• Promotional materials (2)
• Contact from earlier session (1)

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Most Effective Components

• 77 of trainers believe hands-on is effective
• 71 employed this technique
• 74 of trainers believe real life questions to
  demonstrate resources are effective
• 46 of trainers believe handouts with URLs are
  effective
• 35 believe live demo with computer/projector
  effective
• 87 employed this technique

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Success?

• 100 of Trainers believe the goals of their state
  training plan were achieved
• 100 of the Trainers believe the goals of the
  IMLS grant were achieved
• Trainee data is still being compiled and
  analyzed. Preliminary data is positive.

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Documents are Weird right?

• Well grant you
• Material is different
• And that our mission may be broader
• But dont all libraries have
• Unique materials
• Online materials
• Difficulties in access

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It is time to moveBeyond Library Walls

• Online Library Tools
• Webjunction.org/gi21 just an example
• The Librarian has left the building
• Classes in the classroom
• Instruction in other libraries
• Webinars
• Live Classroom presentations
• And more to come

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References

• Garr, Sheila M. Snapshots of the Federal
  Depository Library Program. http//www.access.gpo
  .gov/su_docs/fdlp/history/snapshot.html, 1994.
• Government Printing Office. Cumulative Metrics
  http//www.fdlp.gov/repository/metrics/index.html,
  retrieved August 2008.
• Pew Internet and American Life Project.
  Information Searches that Solve Problems
  http//www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/231/report_displa
  y.asp December 30, 2007.

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Thanks, now its your turn!