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Free Government Information (FGI) is a place for initiating dialogue and building consensus among the various players (libraries, government agencies, non-profit organizations, researchers, journalists, etc.) who have a stake in the preservation of and perpetual free access to government information. FGI promotes free government information through collaboration, education, advocacy and research.

Down a few rabbit holes in search for a historic pamphlet on Fascism

May 30, 2023 / 7 Comments on Down a few rabbit holes in search for a historic pamphlet on Fascism

I went down a little rabbit hole today and thought I’d share since it’s a good representation of some of the issues we face in the library government information world.

It all started innocently enough with my daily substack missive from Heather Cox Richardson’s “Letters from an American” (May 29, 2023) — if you haven’t subscribed to her essay, you’re missing out. She’s amazing at putting current events into historical context! Go subscribe NOW!)

Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, the series was designed “to help [the personnel] become better-informed men and women and therefore better soldiers.”

On March 24, 1945, the topic for the week was “FASCISM!”

She had me from the first sentence! I thought, this is SO relevant to today’s political situation. So of course I went to her footnotes (she ALWAYS cites what she writes!!) and noticed that for “Army Talk Orientation Fact Sheet #64 – Fascism!” she had linked to the Internet Archive. No harm in that, but I wondered to myself why she hadn’t linked to a .gov repository. Here’s where things went a little sideways.

(more…)

Library of Congress Completes Digitization of 23 Early Presidential Collections

January 20, 2021 / Leave a comment

This is awesome! The Library of Congress has just finished a 20 year(!) project to digitize the papers of the Presidents from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. I hope GPO is going to catalog these collections so that the records get into library catalogs!

The Library of Congress has completed a more than two decade-long initiative to digitize the papers of nearly two dozen early presidents. The Library holds the papers of 23 presidents from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge, all of which have been digitized and are now available online.

The Library plans to highlight each presidential collection on social media in the weeks leading up to the next presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021.

Full Set of Presidential Collections

NARA digitizes 374 treaties between indigenous peoples and the US

October 17, 2020 / Leave a comment

Thanks to an anonymous donation, the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has “conserved and digitized the Ratified Indian treaties in its holdings,” 374 treaties between indigenous peoples and the United States (and its predecessor colonies). The IDA Treaties Explorer lets one also explore maps and see which tribes are associated with which treaties. This is an amazing collection of historical documents!

[HT to Kottke.org: Home of Fine Hypertext Products!]

GPO releases digital Congressional Record for 1911-1921

October 25, 2017 / Leave a comment

GPO is diligently working on releasing digital versions of the historic Congressional Record. The Congressional Record is now available on govinfo from 1911 – 2008. Historic!

The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) partners with the Library of Congress to release the digital version of the bound Congressional Record from 1911-1921 on GPO’s govinfo. This release covers the debates and proceedings of the 62nd through the 66th Congresses.

This era of Congress covers historical topics such as:

  • The final year of the administration of President Taft, the election and reelection of President Wilson, and the election of President Harding
  • Ratification of the 16th (income tax), 17th (popular election of Senators), 18th (Prohibition), and 19th (voting rights for women) Amendments to the Constitution
  • Admission of New Mexico and Arizona as states
  • Jeanette Rankin elected as first woman to the House of Representatives
  • Establishment of the Federal Reserve
  • Enactment of P.L. 62-5, capping the number of Members of the House of Representatives at 435
  • Senate enactment of the cloture rule to limit debate
  • Sinking of the Lusitania
  • World War I

via GPO Issues Digital Release of Historical Congressional Record for 1911-1921.

GPO releases digital Congressional Record for the 1920s

September 26, 2017 / Leave a comment

GPO has just released another decade of digitized Congressional Record, this time 1921 – 1930. The Congressional Record is now available on govinfo from 1921 – 2008. Very cool!

Washington –The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) partners with the Library of Congress to release the digital version of the bound Congressional Record from 1921-1930 on GPO’s govinfo site. This release covers the debates and proceedings of the 67th through the 71st Congresses.

This era of Congress covers historical topics such as:

  • The final two years of the administration of President Wilson, the administrations of Presidents
    Harding and Coolidge, and the first two years of the administration of President Hoover.
  • Prohibition
  • The Immigration Act of 1924
  • The Kellogg-Briand Pact to end war
  • The Dawes Plan for WWI reparations
  • The Teapot Dome Scandal
  • The Stock Market Crash of 1929

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