Guide of the Week: Los Angeles

The ALA GODORT Handout Exchange has librarian-produced guides using resources from every level of government, from international to local. Today’s guide is a case in point:

Official Links for Los Angeles City and Los Angeles County (Mary Finley, California State University-Northridge, 2008)

This guide is broken up into six sections:

• Official Links: City of Los Angeles – Los Angeles County
• Directories and Guides: Services & Help – Business Assistance – Transportation – Education & Culture
• L. A. City/County Statistics & Facts: Economic/Demographic – Crime – Environment – Education – Health – Other – Budgets
• Election Issues & Results
• Politicians: Who represents you? – Contact the politicians – Lobbyists and Campaign Contributions
• Local Codes and Regulations

I am particularly impressed with the “statistics and facts” section as it draws Los Angeles related information from several levels of government. Sources here include:

• American FactFinder (Census Bureau)
• Airport Passenger Boarding and All-Cargo Data (Federal Aviation Administration) – Reports include data on several Los Angeles area airports.
• California Department of Finance – Site includes demographic as well as financial and economic data.
• Residential Vacancy Data (City of Los Angeles Housing Dept.)
• Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services Statistics – Statistical reports, caseload characteristics, and various research reports about social assistance programs and welfare reform from the Research, Evaluation and Quality Assurance Division of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services.

When you take all of the linked resources together, there are dozens of them. So if you have any interest in Los Angeles or large urban areas, go check out Mary Finley’s guide.

Are you a librarian with a guide to local government information? Then post a link to the Handout Exchange. Don’t know of a guide to your area? Then go create one. Your patrons and your peers will thank you.

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