|
Navigation Menu |
Government Documents In the section on the production of information by the government we stated that government agencies are the largest producers of information in the United States. We also mentioned that libraries throughout the country are set up as depository libraries to receive copies of the documents produced by government agencies. When you are doing your research you should consider looking for government documents that might support your topic. Government documents can be broken down into three broad categories: 1) federal documents, 2) state documents, and 3) local documents. Federal Documents Federal documents are those produced by federal agencies such as the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture, etc. These agencies send their documents to the Government Printing Office (GPO), which then makes them available to the public. In Minnesota you can access federal documents at a number of depository libraries. There are two basic types of federal depository libraries: full-depository librarieswhich contain all the federal documents available through the depository system, and partial-depository libraries which contain some of the federal documents published. The University of Minnesota Library is the only full-depository library in the state of Minnesota Partial-depository libraries include in the metro area include the Minneapolis Public Library and the Hennepin County Public Library. As a student of the MnSCU system you can search for federal documents using the U.S. Government Documents database loaded on PALS. Students can also access the Government Printing Office database of federal documents on the Internet. State Documents State documents are those produced by state agencies in each state. State agencies deposit their documents in many different libraries. In the metropolitan area you can access state documents at: Legislative Reference Library State documents can be located using the Library Catalog on PALS and setting the library to the "Legislative Reference Library." The Legislative Reference Library catalogs all state documents. If your local college library does not own a specific state document you can send for the document using interlibrary loan. Local Documents Local documents are those produced by various local branches of government, i.e., county or city governments. Local documents are usually available in the main branch of a city or county public library system. Local documents can also be found in county or city law libraries.
|
