Suchergebnisse

Many librarians question the usefulness of the traditional cataloging of difficult historic sets in a time when more and more information moves either to the Internet or is digitized outright. One of the most challenging sets to catalog is the United States Congressional Serial Set, a 14,000+ (and growing) mega serial comprised of five monographic sub-series. The Congressional Serial Set is an anomaly since it is both monographic and serial in nature. This article examines the intricacies in cataloging government publications in an electronic atmosphere using one House document in the Serial Set as a guide and examines the two commercial digitization projects currently underway.

Although the electronic revolution in publishing fostered a new Information Age, the need for government documents in tangible format continues. This paper examines the historical roots of congressional printing compared to 21st century challenges to information policy. The author argues that the founding fathers intentionally did not include language mandating the printing of government information, aside from the Journal as described in the Constitution, for the simple reason that they viewed it as an inherent obligation on the part of all elected officials. As such, restrictive information policies, such as the U.S.A. Patriot Act, impinge upon the original intent of the founding fathers and indeed, threaten the ideal of a democratic society.

Librarians are becoming increasingly concerned about the safety and physical integrity of valuable government documents such as the U.S. Congressional Serial Set. Using a questionnaire to survey 187 government documents collections, the investigators (i) determine current library security practices with regard to the Serial Set, (ii) identify those volumes within the collection that are most likely to be vandalized or stolen, and (iii) make recommendations for the security and preservation of these items. The goal of the study is to give librarians a better awareness of security problems and possible solutions.

What are rare and endangered government publications? In short, they are the materials representing that which is valued most in our collections. Each depository library collects documents that are important to its community: some arrive through a depository program, some come through direct solicitation from agencies, some come through traditional means of acquisition, and some come through emerging models of building digital collections. Managing these resources to ensure their availability for long-term access is a critical part of government documents librarianship. Put another way, rare and endangered government publications are the pieces of the public output of government that are most likely to go missing.