Government Information

1
Government Information

• MIT 026B
• Winter 2002

2
Under what circumstances are there likely to be
useful government publications on your topic?
3
Scientific or Social Research Funded by the
Government

• Canadian Institute for Scientific Information
  (CISTI)
• National Sciences and Engineering Research
  Council (NSERC)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
  (SSHRC)

4
An issue discussed within a government body,
particularly within a legislative context

• Gun control, same-sex spousal benefits,
• Statutes and Regulations
• Hansard Debates

5
A complex social issue, particularly one on which
the government will have to make policy

• Information infrastructure, reproductive
  technologies, crime, aboriginal rights
• Government department reports
• Royal Commissions

6
Statistical Data

• Economic indicators
• Changes in the Gross Domestic Product
• Unemployment rates
• Interest rates
• Census data

7
Federal Government Information

• National Library of Canada
• Depository System
• Canada Site
• Statistics Canada

8
The National Library of Canada

• AMICUS The Catalogue of the National Library
• Canadiana The National Bibliography
• Canadian Information by Subject

9
Federal Depository Services

• Providing Canadians with equal and ready access
  to federal government information
• Legislative Guides
• Background Information

10
Canada Site www.gc.ca

• The central website for the Government of Canada
• Websites for individual departments, agencies and
  government bodies
• Legislative information
• Bills in the House of Commons
• Consolidated Statutes

11
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics

• -attributed to Benjamin Disraeli

12
Statistics in Canada

• 1608 First Census
• 1666/67 Census in New France
• Persons
• Areas under cultivation
• Livestock
• 1867 BNA Act Statistics are a federal
• jurisdiction

13
Statistics in Canada, cont.

• 1918 Statistics Act
• creates the Dominion Bureau of
• Statistics
• 1971 Name changes to Statistics Canada
• 1980s Cost Recovery

14
2 Purposes

• Collect, compile, analyze, abstract, publish
  statistical information
• -commercial, industrial, financial, social,
  economic, general activities of the people
• 2. Take the Census of Canada
• -formerly every 10 years, now every 5 years

15
CANSIM Database

• Canadian Socio-Economic Information Management
  System
• Main databank of Statistics Canada

16
Whats Terrific About Statistics Canada

• HUGE
• RELIABLE
• DETAILED
• EXTENSIVELY CATALOGUED
• PUBLISHED IN A WIDE RANGE OF FORMATS

17
BUT.

• What do you do when the world changes?

18
Government Information Classification Schemes

• United States SuDOC
• Canada CODOC

19
SuDOCS

• C 13.1
• C Gov. Dept/Agency
• 13 Agency/Subordinate Agency
• .
• 1 Series or category grouping
• Individual items in a series

20
Codoc
1 Federal 2Provincial

• CA2 ON LC R26
• CA Country
• 2 Level of government
• ON Identification of government
• LC Main organization/department
• - - Subordinate body
• - - Date
• R26 Cutter number

21
Government departments, in their drive to
conserve costs, are increasingly by-passing the
depository system and mounting their information
independently on their own websites.