Introduction to Government Documents
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Transcript of Introduction to Government Documents
INTRODUCTION TO GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTSKate Dougherty, Electronic Resources and Government Documents Librarian, Southern University at New OrleansJune
2011
Overview
Government Documents: What
and Why? FDsys Federal Register Regulations.gov U.S. Code
Court Decisions Government
Reports Library Catalog SuDoc Shelving
System Citing Government
Documents Exercises
Objectives
Identify when you might want to use government documents
Identify a source for locating federal laws & regulations
Locate a federal law or regulation on a specific topic
Describe the Federal Register and know when to use it
Describe the U.S. Code and know when to use it
Describe Regulations and know when to use it
Identify a source for finding court decisions
Locate a court decision Locate a government
report in the library catalog and find it on the shelf
Locate guidelines for citing a government document
By the end of this session, you will be able to:
Where do government documents come from?
All branches of government:
Legislative (Congress) Makes laws
Executive (President & federal agencies – FDA, EPA, CDC, etc.) Experts that make regulations to implement
laws
Judicial (court decisions)
Some Types of Government Documents
Laws Regulations Reports Statistics Websites Databases Brochures Forms (FAFSA, tax forms, etc.)
Why Use Government Documents? Primary sources (first-hand information) Current and historical Reliable Usually free Great for statistics and information on
current/social issues
Laws, Regulations, & Congressional Documents
FDsys free online access to official Federal
Government publications Stands for “Federal Digital System” Mostly laws, regulations and Congressional
debates and documents Not currently good for reports Still adding more collections See “Featured Collections” for most popular
(browse only – use search box on homepage to search)
Federal Register Notice
Federal Register (FR)
Daily “newspaper” telling you what federal agencies (EPA, CDC, FEMA, etc.) are up to
Required to notify the public through the Federal Register before finalizing regulations
Tells you what’s being planned & how to comment
Also used to announce grants Advocacy groups monitor FR for issues to
comment on and new grant opportunities
Regulations.gov
Submit comments on proposed federal agency actions/regulations online
www.regulations.gov
Bad idea!I think this
is great!
United States Code
Contains the permanent laws of the United States
Legislative branch of government Divided by broad subjects into 50 “titles” Titles are arranged by topic Access through FDsys
Court Decisions
Available in LexisNexis U.S. and state supreme courts LN only includes cases involving the
entire population of the state or country (i.e., cases about state laws, etc. - NOT ones like the Michael Jackson murder case)
Court Decisions
Court Decisions
Can look up a case:• by citation, if you have it• By party
• You only need to know one party
• Can enter a party in either box, the order doesn’t matter
• By topic/keyword (e.g., “intellectual property”)
Government Reports
Education, health, environment, etc. Use library catalog to find these
Both print and online Use power search Select “Federal Documents” or “Louisiana
Documents” under “Type” Mostly links to electronic versions; some in
print in the SUNO library
Power Search
SuDocs Number System
Paper copies in the library are shelved according to SuDocs system
Different from other library call number systems
Typical call numbers look like this:L 2.3/4:998-99
Beginning letter(s) treated alphabetically Abbreviation for government agency that
published it 3 points to remember…
SuDocs Shelving System
1. The dot “.”is not a decimal point! All numbers are whole numbers. Example: L 2.3/4:998-99
“3” is the whole number 3, not 3 tenths
Decimal Order SuDoc Order
D 1.1: D 1.1:
D 1.12: D 1.3:
D 1.122: D 1.12:
D 1.3: D 1.33:
D 1.33: D 1.122:
SuDocs Shelving System
2. Nothing comes before something D 1.1: comes before D 1.1:2000
SuDoc Shelving System
3. If the call number is the same to a certain point, then varies, the order is: Years, Letters, Numbers. Years/Letters/Numbers Order
Example 1 Example 2
A 1.35:993 EP 1.23:998
A 1.35:R 42 EP 1.23:A 62
A 1.35:R 42/995 EP 1.23:91-44
A 1.35:R 42/2 EP 1.23:600/998-103
A 1.35:321 EP 1.23:600/R-98-23
Citing Government Documents In most cases, the issuing agency is the
author (rather than an individual) See the University of Memphis Brief
Guide to Citing Government Publications
Exercises
1. Go to FDsys and locate a resource of interest to your advocacy group
2. Use the SUNO eLibrary catalog to find a federal document on your topic. If it’s a paper copy, find it on the shelf (with help if needed).
Questions?
Kate Dougherty, Electronic Resources & Government Documents Librarian
[email protected] 504.286.5222