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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JUST FOR FUN

• A video showcasing some particularly odd titles
  of U.S. government publications
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vlBG8mfCdYlM
• For a more complete printed list of odd titles
  see http//freegovinfo.info/best

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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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FINDING U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS

• Miami University Libraries Catalog
• Most U.S. publications since 1976 are in the
  Library Catalog, including many online titles,
  but many pre-1976 publications are not.
• LexisNexis Congressional
• Provides complete historical indexing for
  congressional publications

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SELECTED U.S. ONLINE DATABASES

• GPO Monthly Catalog, 1976-
• LexisNexis Congressional, 1789-
• LexisNexis Statistical, 1970s-
• See Library Web site, Research by Subject,
  Government for full list

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IMPORTANT U.S. WEB SITES

• Frequently Used Sites Related to U.S. Federal
  Government Information
• USA.gov (formerly FirstGov)
• University of Michigan Library Documents Center
• American FactFinder (Census data)

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MORE U.S. WEB SITE EXAMPLES

• GPO Access
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Food and Drug Administration
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Dept. of Defense
• State Dept.
• White House

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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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LAWS

• CODES
• Rearrangement of all laws in effect by broad
  subject category with amendments incorporated and
  notes on court decisions
• United States Code
• Ohio Revised Code

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REGULATIONS

• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
• Regulations in effect arranged by subject
  category
• Federal Register
• First publication of proposed and final
  regulations with background information and
  summary of public comments

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CFR
FEDERAL REGISTER
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COURT CASES

• Published in sets of reporters
• Cover appellate court decisions
• Each reporter referred to by a unique
  abbreviation in legal citations
• U.S. United States Reports
• F.2d Federal Reporter, 2nd series

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LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS

• Overview/synthesis of legal principles by topic
• Footnotes direct user to related laws and court
  cases
• Pocket supplements inside back covers provide
  latest updates/court cases

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LEGAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS

• American Jurisprudence (AmJur)
• Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)
• Note subscription not current not updated
• Ohio Jurisprudence

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DIGESTS

• Indexes to court cases
• Supreme Court Digest
• Federal Practice Digest (all federal courts)
• Ohio Digest

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FINDING LAWS CASES

• Use online legal databases such as
• LexisNexis Legal Research
• Full text of federal state court cases, U.S.
  Code state codes, law reviews (journals)
• LexisNexis Congressional
• Full text of Statutes at Large (all U.S. laws),
  U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal
  Register

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LAW DATABASES (con.)

• Hein Online
• Full text of law reviews, Statutes at Large,
  Supreme Court decisions, Code of Federal
  Regulations, Federal Register.

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FINDING LAWS CASES (con.)

• Or use the indexes that come with the print sets.
• The library catalog is not useful in locating
  individual laws or cases.

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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 publications shelved in King or
  Science book collection
• See Library Catalog for all materials locations
• Many current publications on agency web sites

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OHIO DATABASES

• Gongwer News Service

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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
• See Library Catalog for materials call numbers
• Many current publications on UN UN agency web
  sites

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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
• See Library Catalog for materials call numbers
• Many current publications on EU web site

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EU PUBLICATIONS