Federal Depository Libraries – GovDocs for Jocks
I apologize to all the govdocs jockies who are a little underwhelmed by my 101 approach to all things document-y, but I've been enjoying all the new stuff I've learned. Today I'm talking about Federal Depository Libraries. If you went to library school you may have had a class in GovDocs where you learned about FDLs and their complicated and mysterious cataloging and classification system and met very odd people who made these systems their lives. By the end of the GovDocs class, most people were terrified but a few were hooked. I can remember almost every GovDocs librarian I've ever met and I don't think this is true for any other type of librarian I've encountered. So, here are some things you need to know. Other GovDocs fanboys and fangirls, please add more information in the comments. This page has an intro to the FDL program for further reading.
- The US has 1250 Federal Dpository Libraries nationwide. You can find the one nearest you by going to this page. Want to print a list for your state? Go to this page.
- The broad purpose of these libraries is to "provide local, no-fee access to Government information in an impartial environment with professional assistance"
- ANYONE can go into a FDL, even if the collection is part of a larger private library that you would not otherwise have access to. This is true, for example, at the Elmer Holmes Bobst Library where they have a very strict visitor's policy and you have to read all the way to the bottom of this page until you see the words "Government Document U.S. depository (Bobst 6th floor) open to general public"
- The purpose of these repositories is changing in the face of the shift to more and more information being created and disseminated digitally. The FDLP was created and mostly maintained as an avenue to get print publications from the Government Printing Office to the public who they serve. The GPOs role is shrinking
Best titles ever!
Hi all. Spurred by the recent posts on govdoc-l, I've made a page to collect all of those strange/odd/intriguing/inspiring government documents. Check it out and let us know if you have a favorite that you'd like to add to the list. Continue reading
Best titles ever!
Below are some government document titles that are interesting/strange/intriguing. We set this up after several emails on govdoc-l. Click on any cover for a larger image. All images hosted by Flickr. We've created a WorldCat List for the titles below when we could find records. Some of them aren't in WorldCat or GPO's Catalog of Monthly Publications. Please send your suggestions for this list to admin AT freegovinfo DOT info. If you want to explore the possible future barriers to the enjoyment of titles like these, please explore our issues page.
- M16A1 rifle : operation and preventive maintenance. DA Pam 750-30. While the title is not particularly funny, the fact that this is a comic book (and a heavily mysogynistic one at that) distributed to all US military personnel in Viet Nam makes this a good title to highlight here. Find in a library
- After the Cold War: Living with Lower Defense Spending. (1992) Office of Technology Assessment. [Y 3. T 22/2:2 C 67/SUMM. This one seems funny in retrospect!
- ALONE: Facts about Mental Health and Mental Illness was revised to: YOU ARE NOT ALONE: Facts about Mental Health and Mental Illness [HE 20.8102:Al7/985] "One of my favorite titles is from the National Institute of Mental Health, 1985. The document had a printing error in the title and was ordered destroyed by the Superintendent of Documents. "This error seriously detracts from the point that the publisher was trying to make." Find "Alone" in a library Find "You are not alone" in a library
- An Annotated list of Literature references on carpets and rugs 1940 to 1963 [A77.17:C22]. (June 1965, Department of Agriculture) An Excerpt: There is no magic instrument endowed with a power to give its bearer a complete single factual answer to many of the questions asked by consumers today on the selection and care of carpets and rugs (so the Ag Department needs to tell us, obviously) Find in a library
- Bat Bombers. By C.V. Glines. Air Force magazine, October 1990 Vol. 73, No. 10. "After the bats set fire to a hangar and a general's car, the Army Air Forces had seen enough of the experiment."
- The Bear Essentials (Irregular) [HE 20.3057:]
- Child Maltreatment: A "What to Do" Guide for Professionals Who Work With Children - Published by Canada's National Clearinghouse on Family Violence. Contributed by Amy West. Find in a library
- Citizenship and the Strawberry Jam: FDA's Life Protection Series (1967, for FDA and US dept of health, education and welfare)
Cooking up solutions: cleaning up with lasagna [EP 1.2:C77] Find in a library
Dante Home Reading Course. [I 16.12: 18] - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.- Design of Clean Rooms - A Classified List of Selected References 1955-1964
Distinguishing Bolts from Screws. US Customs and Border Protection, March 2006.- Disposition of Useless Papers in American Consular Offices August 22, 1921. US Serial Set 67th Congress 1st Session Senate Report no 271 [Y 1.1/2:Serial]. This title was found and tweeted about by Ezra Klein and Aaron Swartz on 1/3/2011. Find in a depository library
Do you know oatmeal? [A 1.26:6] - Photo contributed by Christine Gray
Don't be a "sugar daddy" to moonshiners! The True story of moonshine. [T 22. 2: M77]. Find in a library. - The Doubtful Identity of Fungus No.517, by C. Audrey Richard, Pathologist. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, in cooperation with the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, [no date]; Published in Proceedings of the American Wood Preservers' Association, 1937.
Find in a library 
Elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation : are we doing enough? [Y 4.J 89/2:S.HRG.108-445] Find in a library - Employment of homosexuals and other sex perverts in government (1950)
- Epic of Gilgamesh: Clinical Practice Guidelines for Post-Deployment Health Evaluation and Management (Flash movie). Department of Veterans Affairs / US Department of Defense. Originally posted on FGI blog. (Added 12/30/06)
Everything you always wanted to know about shipping high-level nuclear wastes [E 1.16: 0003] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.- Fakability of the air force preference inventory - Find in a library
- Familiarity and recognition of nonsense shapes
Fastener Quality Act : report of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on S. 795. Find in a library.
Fatalgrams. U.S. Dept of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration. [L 38.15:] Find in a library / Get the T-Shirt (Not affilated with FGI) - Photo contributed by Christine Gray. As were photos for:
Fertilizers in a national emergency [A 1.6: 966] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray
The golden age of bathing. [I 29.2: B32/4] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
Gobbledygook has gotta go. Bureau of Land Management [I 53.2: G53] Find in a Library.- Government versus homosexuals. by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Naval Affairs. (1975) Find in a library
- Health effects of pesticide use on children [Y 4.L 11/4:S.hrg.101-569]
- Hills Bros. coffee can chronology : field guide by Steve Lanford; Robin Mills; Chuck Adkins; United States. Bureau of Land Management. Fairbanks District Office.
Identifying sheep killed by bears [A 13.79:INT-313]. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, 1981. - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
B says:
It is an oldie, but still brings a chuckle when I think of it. In 1981, I began as a clerk in the Gov Pubs unit at ******** University. On my first day, I was to open a new box of materials and process it all the way through to get some sense of the work flow. "Identifying Sheep Killed by Bears" was the very first publication I pulled from the box. It kind of set the tone for my time in the department.
Find in a library
The impact of computer aliens along the Mexican and Canadian borders. [Y 3.W 52:2 C 73/PT.2]. This is the cover title of part 2 of this 3 part set of hearings, published in 1968-69.
David says:
This is my favorite typographical error on a Federal publication. The publication deals with the impact of nonresident alien workers who travel daily to jobs in U.S. border cities.
Impregnation of concrete pipe. [Prepared] for the Water Quality Office, Environmental Protection Agency., [EP 2.10:11024 EQE 06/71]. Find in a library. James S. says:
The title alone is pretty funny in a puerile kind of way, but the cover picture is downright creepy in a Freud kind of way.
Regardless, we should thank the brave young servicemen who were willing to sacrifice themselves for love of science and love of country.
Index of blank forms, [D 101.22:310-2/]. Amy says:
It has been discontinued, although not for the reason you might think: "Merged with: Index of administrative publications; Index of blank forms; Index of doctrinal training organizational publications; Index of technical publications; Index of supply catalogs and supply manuals, excluding types 7, 8, and 9, to form: Consolidated index of army publications and blank forms."
Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.- It's always been dumb--now it's illegal too! anabolic steroids pose serious health risks to users (Poster). Washington, D.C. : Demand Reduction Section, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, [1991?] Find in a library (WorldCat)
Kill or get killed : riot control techniques, manhandling, and close combat, for police and the military. U.S. Marine Corps [D 214.9/6:12-80] with illustrations! Find in a library
(James notes that it was such a hot title that someone actually published it privately -- in the same year! Check out the OCLC records: 25298518 (US doc) 3328029 (paladin press). It looks like they were published at the same time, or at least in the same year.
Daniel was able to obtain a PDF copy of a 1991 reprint of the Marines publication (Fleet Marine Force Reference Publication (FMFRP) 12-80, Kill or Get Killed,) and found it bore this note:
Copyright 1976 Paladin Press.
Reprinted with permission by
Paladin Press, P.O. Box 1307,
Boulder, CO 80306.
Web site: http://www paladin-press .com
In addition the author is listed as a retired officer, so it looks like the private pub came first!)
- Cover photo provided by Kathy Amen.
Know your 8-inch Howitzer. Dept. of the Army, Headquarters, US Army Armament, Munitions and Chemical Command], 1984- [D 101.22/12:750-6] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
- Methods of reduction of psychological stress due to radiation, AFPTRC-TN (series) [D301.36/7: 57-19].
- Lawn Mowers: Noise and Cost of Abatement (EPA 1974)
- Let potatoes fight. [Y3.F73/2: WGC/ w49]
Let's use TV! [ED 1.302: T23] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
L.U.S.T.LINE Subtitle is: A report on Federal and state programs to control leaking underground storage tanks. A publication of the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission, funded with support from EPA's Office of Underground Storage Tanks.
Link to the publication's online archives and index
David says: My favorite article title from L.U.S.TLINE (from #41, June 2002): "Looking for Leaks in All the Wrong Places: A Short Story With an Epiphany," by Marcel Moreau- Manual for Medical Examination of Aliens. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Public Health Service. [FS 2.6:Al 4/956]. Find in a library
- Meat is ammunition, play fair with it! [PR 32.5002:M 46/2] Monthly catalog, 1945, p. 648. A wartime exhortation to U.S. consumers to adhere to meat rationing limits.
- Methods of reduction of psychological stress due to radiation
- National community fallout shelter design competition (1965)
National Money Laundering Strategy [T 1.67/2:]. I've heard there's corruption in government, but this is ridiculous!
Out of the vapors: a social and architectural history of bathhouse row [I 29.2:B 32/3 ] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
PMS Blue Book. HE 20.4001/2: PMS in this case stands for Program Management System. Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
Patents in space. [Y4.J89/1:99-16] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
Plane Clothes: Lack of Anonymity at the Federal Air Marshal Service Compromises Aviation and National Security. What a painful pun!
Here's the PDF from fas.org because the link to text at gpoaccess didn't work (as of Aug 8, 2006)! Please contact us if you click the link and it works. (11/24/08 update: link to text STILL doesn't work but there's a PDF available of the committee print).- Preservative treatment of poles (USDA 1911)
Psychological Aspects of Equipment Design (1949). (USAF document. Attached is a page from the document "knobshapes." Photo contributed by Sarae Montgomery.
Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act of 2002 : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventh Congress, second session on H.R. 5519, October 10, 2002 [Y 4.J 89/1:107/109]. James says: wikipedia points out the ironic acronym of the title, "RAVE act"! Who ways our representatives aren't hip to the groove?!
Find in a library- Relation of Barium to the Loco-weed disease
- Some effects of modification of information about a previous response upon the acquisition of two lever positioning habits. USAF
- Space handbook : a war fighter's guide to space / prepared by Michael J. Muolo ; compiled by Richard A. Hand ; edited by Richard A. Hand, Bonnie Houchen, Lou Larson. [D 301.26/6-8:SP 1/2]. Find in an FDLP library. Document also available online and as a PDF from FGI.
"Sprocket Man" (PDF). U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (AKA CPSC Comics!)
Find in a library- Status Report of U.S. Treasury-Owned Gold [T 63.131:] The person who submitted this says:
this one has a perfectly boring title but I have nicknamed it "Gold-hoards of the T-men", which sounds much more exciting!
State-of-the-art dummy selection. U.S. Dept. of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. TD 8.2:D 89/5/v.1 Find in a library. Janette says:
I guess the other volumes were classified "top secret".
Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
Step into action! A guidebook for the above-knee amputee. US Dept of Health, Education and Welfare. [FS 2.6/2:ST 4/964] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray- This is Ann ... she drinks blood! prepared and distributed by Army Orientation Course, Special Service Division Army Service Forces, War Dept. Unattributed illustrations by Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). Find in a library (WorldCat).
Publisher:
Washington, D.C. : Special Service Division, Army Service Forces, War Dept. : U.S. G.P.O., 1943.
Trends in Money Laundering [T 1.67:] and National Money Laundering Strategy [T 1.67/2:] - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.- The use of a sentence completion test in measuring attitudes toward superiors and subordinates
- Virtual Cement and Concrete Testing Laboratory Consortium, Annual Report. [C 13.58/4:]. Lori says: "Virtual cement and concrete? A virtual testing laboratory? A virtual consortium? Who knows?
Find in a library 
Vitamin A in war and peace. [A 1.59:2] - Photo contributed by Christine Gray- Wake up America: a national sleep alert. [Y3.2: SL2/SL2] Find in a library
A winning combination: wild horses and prison inmates. [I 53.2: H78/10] Find in a library - Photo contributed by Christine Gray.
WRA: A Story of Human Conservation. (Hosted at the Internet Archive!) U.S. Dept. of the Interior, War Relocation Authority, 1946. (I 59.2:W 19/3:). Jim says:
This is the final report of the agency which oversaw the World War II internment camps for US citizens of Japanese and other suspect descents. The title is the very definition of Orwellian, and I often use it to help drive home the point that government documents are mirrors of their time.
Find in a library
(Canadian govt document) "Who Are the Zombie Masters and What Do They Want?" (PDF). A 1994 discussion paper prepared for the Premier's Council on Health, Well-Being and Social Justice. Find in a library- Young scientists look at drugs (1968 for FDA/HEW)
Your personal affairs / Armed Forces Information and Education, Department of Defense. [D 2.14:PA-6] 1963
My taxes = my info, right?
Let's talk about Open Access to taxpayer funded government information. The open access movement wants nothing less than "Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature on the internet. Making it available free of charge and free of most copyright and licensing restrictions. Removing the barriers to serious research." The argument for open access to government information is fairly simple: tax money has already paid for this work, restricting access to it through copyright, fees, print-only publication or other complicated access or licensing requirements is antithetical to the idea of scholarship and the purpose of government. This is an Internet-era desire since the costs associated with publication can now be mitigated down to something manageable. Read much more about Open Access here. There are recognized exceptions, of course, such as classified, military research, research that leads to patents, and research published in some royalty-producing form, such as books. The Office of Management and Budget has a publication that describes the value in maximizing access to information, but stops short of mandating that access to government information be free. In OMB Circular A-130 they state that
"In determining whether and how to disseminate information to the public, agencies will: (i) Disseminate information in a manner that achieves the best balance between the goals of maximizing the usefulness of the information and minimizing the cost to the government and the public;"Federal Computer Week argues that this "maximizing usefulness" clause allows for the distribution of raw data to the private sector who can repackage and "value add" to the data making the government's cost of distribution lower while not totally restricting non-fee-based access. As one example mentioned briefly here earlier, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) had been technically providing access to their weather data to the public all along, but it was in a proprietary format and difficult to work with. People who wanted easy to understand weather data had to use commercial weather providers. At the end of 2004, NOAA began making their digital forecast database available in standard XML format. Who likes this? The public. Who doesn't like this? Private sector companies that resell this data. However, since they often have the ears of our elected representatives, we have seen our own government trying to legislate restricted access to government information in order to benefit the private sector. What other hurdles are there to open access? The NOAA example includes a few: non-proprietary data formats, unfair leveraging of private sector's "rights" to value add and resell data, and legislators themselves. There are also the restrictions mentioned above: web and accessibility standards for information (requiring people to use one browser, or one type of computer), copyright and restrictions on distribution, and fees for obtaining copies of government information. Of course, the major hurdle is often mental, or perhaps ideological. We don't know we have the right to this information. We will take no for an answer. The people with the information have their own reasons for not making it as easy as humanly possible to obtain. Many of those reasons are even prosaic (though possibly obstructionist) and reasonable-seeming. In the wake of 9/11, with the government's increasing tendency to want to circle the wagons in the name of cautiousness, now more than ever it's important to continue to say "That's my information, and I'd like some more." [thanks to libwitch for the inspiration] Further Reading
- Open Access Librarian blog
- Open Access News blog
- OMB Watch - Access to Government Information Post September 11th
- Open Geodata project
- Public Library of Science
New Presidential Signing Statements purport to suspend reporting requirements
Free Government Information writers have reported on Presidential Signing Statements before. In the past two months, two new statements have been issued and are available through the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents:
- Statement on Signing the Coastal Barrier Resources Reauthorization Act of 2005 from the May 29, 2006 compiliation.
- Statement on Signing the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 from the June 19, 2006 compiliation.
Sections 1209 and 2202 of the Act prohibit use of certain funds appropriated in the Act to initiate new start programs unless the congressional defense committees receive advance written notice. The Supreme Court of the United States has stated that the President's authority to classify and control access to information bearing on the national security flows from the Constitution and does not depend upon a legislative grant of authority. Although the advance notice contemplated by sections 1209 and 2202 can be provided in most situations as a matter of comity, situations may arise, especially in wartime, in which the President must act promptly under his constitutional grants of executive power and authority as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces while protecting certain extraordinarily sensitive national security information. The executive branch shall construe these sections in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the President.Section 1209 is:
SEC. 1209. None of the funds provided in this chapter may be used to finance programs or activities denied by Congress in fiscal year 2005 and 2006 appropriations to the department of Defense or to initiate a procurement or research, development, test and evaluation new start program without prior written notification to the congressional defense committees.Section 2202 is:
None of the funds provided in this chapter may be used to finance programs or activities denied by Congress in fiscal year 2005 and 2006 appropriations to the Department of Defense or to initiate a procurement or research, development, test and evaluation new start program without prior written notification to the congressional defense committees.The signing statement also says:
The provision under the heading, ``Joint Explosive Device Defeat Fund,'' Department of Defense-Military, that calls for the reporting to congressional committees of information that may include highly sensitive and classified national security information, will be construed consistently with the President's constitutional responsibility to control the dissemination of such information.That provision states:
For the ‘‘Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Fund’’, $1,958,089,000, to remain available until September 30, 2008: Provided, That such funds shall be available to the Secretary of Defense, notwithstanding any other provision of law, for the purpose of allowing the Director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization to investigate, develop and provide equipment,supplies, services, training, facilities, personnel and funds to assist United States forces in the defeat of improvised explosive devices: Provided further, That within 60 days of the enactment of this Act, a plan for the intended management and use of the Fund is provided to the congressional defense committees: Provided further, That the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report not later than 30 days after the end of each fiscal quarter to the congressional defense committees providing assessments of the evolving threats, individual service requirements to counter the threats, the current strategy for predeployment training of members of the Armed Forces on improvised explosive devices, and details on the execution of this Fund:The full text of the supplemental bill is available on Thomas. Continue reading