Government information doesn’t have to be scary

Real world tips for non-experts

Elizabeth PsyckGrand Valley State University

Your Patrons are using government information

If they can do it, so can you!

Frequency of use by position

_x0005_Daily _x0006_Weekly _x0007_Monthly Quarterly _x0006_Rarely _x0005_Never0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Staff

Faculty

Graduate Students

Undergraduate Students

Pew Internet & American Life: Government Online

82% looked for information or completed a transaction on a government website.

46% looked for information about a public policy or issue.

35% researched official government documents or statistics.

25% got advice or information about a health or safety issue.

In the 12 months before this 2010 survey:

Smith, Aaron. “Government Online: The Internet Gives Citizens New Paths to Government Services and Information.” Pew Internet & American Life Project. Accessed September 26, 2013. http://www.Pewinternet.org/reports/2010/government-online

Note: these statistics reflect internet users, rather than all Americans.

STRATEGIES

Don’t panic!

You can do this.

Strategize.

You’ve got a question. Who might collect that information? Is there a

generic website?

Science Science.gov?NASA?USGS?

Health Health.gov? CDC?NIH?

BusinessBusiness.gov?BLS?Census?

USA.gov is your friend

So is Google.

We’re here to help.

Government documents specialists love to help. Seriously. Don’t be

afraid to ask.

It gets easier.

The more you answer, the easier it gets. Here’s a starter list of resources.

There is no separate statistics section in this presentation. Why?

(a) some of you wouldn’t find it useful(b) many of these sources have

statistics(c) I could talk for WEEKS about

statistics(d) government information is SO MUCH MORE than just statistics

GENERAL

HEALTH

CENSUS

KIDS & EDUCATION

HISTORY