The Changing Face of Government Information: Providing Access in the Twenty‐First Century

Citation

Singh Kalra, H. (2007), "The Changing Face of Government Information: Providing Access in the Twenty‐First Century", Online Information Review, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 384-385. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520710764159

Accessing government information has always been an interesting area for librarians and information workers. The work under review presents the state‐of the‐art of US government information and ‘addresses concerns relating to (US) government documents librarianship in an electronic milieu’. The work contains 14 articles on various facets of government documents librarianship by 19 contributors, and an introduction by the editor, who has also contributed an article.

The title and subtitle of the book suggest that it discusses government information and government documents librarianship from major countries of the world. But all articles primarily deal with US government document librarianship, and all contributors have US affiliations, except one Canadian. Contributors to this book are experts in their subject fields from university environments (e.g. government documents librarians, map/data librarians, digital projects managers, researchers and faculty). A total of 12 articles are grouped into four broad themes covering the transition of the Government Printing Office (GPO) to electronic format; the impact of 9/11 on access to government information; government information management; and preservation and authentication of government information. Two articles describing information resources on Native Americans in US government publications, and local environmental information, at the end form a section entitled Annotated Resources. Themes are covered well in the articles, describing projects, laws, government initiatives and librarians’ responses to the changing environment for accessing government information.

Six articles on the “impact of GPO transition to a more electronic format on the collection and reference services” form nearly half of the volume. Various articles describe changes affecting access to government statistical data, depository projects, reference service arrangement in federal depository libraries and collaborative efforts for providing such services.

There are two articles each on the other three themes. Articles on the “impact of 9/11 and access to government information” focus on libraries’ response to government restrictions on information such as, enactment of the Patriot Act, and issues of intellectual freedom, privacy and confidentiality arising out of such restrictions; and on the historical availability of government information online and in the aftermath of 9/11. Articles on the theme “management of government information” describe Documents Data Miner projects, and access to scientific and technical reports. Articles on the theme “preservation and authentication of government information” explain the initiatives in digital preservation and legal issues involved, and on GPO initiatives in collaboration with other stakeholders for long‐term preservation of printed and electronic government information. An index at the end provides subject access both to the topics covered in the articles, and to the materials described in the Annotated Resources.

In summary, the book meets its stated aim of raising concerns about and identifying unresolved issues regarding access to government information. It would be useful reading for librarians working in government documents libraries in the USA. It would also be a good addition to libraries of the US library schools offering a specialisation in government information librarianship.