Dominican University – Graduate School of Library and

Information Science

Syllabus, Course Schedule, Outline of Readings

GSLIS 744: GOVERNMENT INFORMATION RESOURCES

THE NERVES OF GOVERNMENT: INDENTIFICATION, COLLECTION, MANAGEMENT & DISTRIBUTION OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

Prerequisites or co-requisites: 701 and 704

Spring Term 2008

Dominican University – Gray’s Lake University Center

Classes scheduled for three weekends: 1/19-20, 2008; 2/16-17, 2008; 3/15-16, 2008

9:00am – 5:00pm

John A. Shuler, MSLIS

Adjunct Faculty, Dominican University

Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago

Bibliographer for Urban Planning and Government Information/Documents Librarian

Collections Development Department

801 S. Morgan St. Richard J. Daley Library (m/c 234)

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois 60680. Office phone: (312) 413-2594

Message phone: (312) 996-2730

FAX: (312) 413-0424

Email: alfred@uic.edu

CLASS SESSIONS	CLASS TOPICS
1.a 01/19/08; 01/20/08	Introduction to course; expectations for acceptable class performance; the nature of government information and policy structure
1.b	Legislative Information and Policy Development
1.c	Presidential Information
1.d	Regulatory and Executive Information
1.e	Judiciary/Case Law Information
2.a 02/16/08; 02/17/08	Other Kinds of Federal Information
2.b	Statistics, Lies, and Other Untruths
2.c	Geographic Information Systems, Maps and Atlases
2.d	Finding State and local government information
2.e	Finding international government information
3.a 03/15/08 03/16/08	Working with other specialized tools for government information
3.b	The Policy Foundations of Electronic Government – Part One
3.c	The Policy Foundations of Electronic Government – Part Two
3.d	The Once and Future Concepts of Government Information Services in the Library

There are no textbooks for this class. All readings are drawn from public domain web sites, as well as handouts created by the instructor. To succeed in this class, please consult these readings and other material with care and attention. The course’s objectives will be to understand, discuss, and write about several critical issues libraries must wrestle with to sustain an organized government information service within their bibliographic budgets, programs, operations and collections. Further, students will demonstrate mastery of the course content, show evidence they understand the essential legislative, regulatory, and judicial policy systems/processes that “publish” government information sources, and can reasonably discuss the implications of each of these points and their future implications to libraries. To meet these course objectives students will be able to:

• Demonstrate a clear grasp of the government information lifecycle;

• Demonstrate a clear understanding of how four processes dominate the government information lifecycle: legislative, administrative (executive), regulatory, and judicial;

• Demonstrate a clear understanding of how to use both traditional and evolving forms of bibliographic structures/tools designed to understand the government information lifecycle;

• Demonstrate an informed professional assessment on the challenges and opportunities confronting libraries in a new century of electronic government information;

• Demonstrate an ability to work together in small groups to complete short assignments and make class presentations.

Students will be evaluated on how well they meet these objectives through the quality and consistency of attendance, participation, assignments, and successful completion of class projects. Demonstrable success will depend upon the following:

• showing up for class;

• clear and active participation in group discussions (i.e., demonstrable contributions based on the class assignments, readings, and relative experiences);

• a demonstrated ability to analyze, interpret and understand the basic organizing principles of government information within the structure of library theory and practice, especially as this analysis and interpretation is demonstrated through the assigned readings, class discussions, and successful completion of presentations, assignments and projects;

• Clear, organized, and effective writing.

There will be two required related bibliographic/research projects that will demonstrate the student’s understanding of how government information resources are created, used, and managed, especially within a library setting. Distribution of the each of these evaluations will follow, approximately, these percentages;

Two (2) bibliographic/research projects (including quality of the writing and organization): 60%

Participation in class and discussions: 30%

Attendance, keeping to deadlines and expectations: 10%

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science faculty use the following guidelines in grading.

Grade Numeric Definition

A 4.0 Outstanding achievement - Student performance demonstrates full command of the course materials and evinces a high level off originality and/or creativity that far surpasses course expectations; nearly flawless work

A- 3.67 Excellent achievement - Student performance demonstrates thorough knowledge of the course materials and exceeds course expectations by completing all requirements in a superior manner.

B+ 3.33 Good solid work - Student performance demonstrates strong comprehension of the course materials and exceeds course expectations on all tasks as defined by the course syllabus.

B 3.0 Satisfactory acceptable work - Student performance meets designated course expectations, demonstrates understanding of the course materials and performs at an acceptable level.

B- 2.67 Marginal work - Student performance demonstrates incomplete, substandard understanding of course materials and inability to meet course expectations.

C+ 2.33 Unsatisfactory work - Student performance demonstrates unsatisfactory understanding of course materials and inability to meet course requirements.

C 2.0 Unacceptable work - Student performance demonstrates incomplete and inadequate understanding of course materials.

C- 1.67 Poor work

F 0.0 Failing Grade

Class Schedule, Discussion Points and Readings

First Cycle – focus on the information resources of the U.S. Federal Government

Class 1: Introduction to course and expectations for acceptable class performance; the nature of government information and policy structure

Points for class discussion:

· Introduction and expectations for the course; evaluation of student performance

· The basics of government structure: international, national, regional, state, local

· The foundations of U.S. national policy structure: the constitutional aspects of American governance

· Government information resource management fundamentals

· The policy foundations of government information

· Fundamentals of government information practice and perspectives within library organizations

Readings

Structure of American Government

• From ThisNation: the most comprehensive guide to American government & politics on the net (http://www.thisnation.com) -- Pay particular attention to the sections called “Why Government?”; “The Legislative Process”; “Public Policy Process.” Also use this source to find useful explanations of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.

The U.S. Constitution

· From the United State Information Agency: An Outline of American Government (http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/outusgov) -- Review chapters 1 and 2

· From the U.S. National Archives: The Charters of Freedom (http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/charters.html) – Understand how the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights support a dense of web of expectations, liabilities, limitations, and cooperation between the government and the people. Pay particular attention to the web pages that describe these critical social documents were developed and implemented over the last two centuries.

The Policy Process

• From the Overseas Development Institute, London: The Policy Process, An Overview (http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/wp118.pdf), pay particular attention to the Conclusion, “What makes policy happen”

Legislative Information and Policy Development

Points for class discussion:

· Congressional committee structure, policy formation/debate, and information organizations

· How Congress introduces, considers and enacts legislation

· Understanding the numerology of the legislative process: bill numbers, committee reports and hearings, other committee reports, legislative floor debate and amendments, other legislative organizations, and legislative passage strategies

· How the Legislative and the Executive are bound together by a common policy/legislative/oversight process

Readings:

A. How Congress Works

· From the Library of Congress – How Our Laws are Made – Chapter I -- Congress (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.bysec/congress.html)

· From the Center on Congress, Indiana University – Learn About Congress The Two Houses of Congress (http://congress.indiana.edu/backgrounders/two_houses_of_us_congress.php)

· The Role of Congress in American Society (http://congress.indiana.edu/backgrounders/role_of_congress.php)

B. The Legislative Process

• From the U.S. Senate – Learning about all aspects of the legislative process: (http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/d_three_sections_with_teasers/process.htm)
• From the U.S. House of Representatives – The legislative process, tying it all together: (http://www.house.gov/house/Tying_it_all.html)
• How Our Laws are Made, for the House: (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html)
• Enactment of Law, for the Senate: (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/enactment/enactlawtoc.html)
• From a University Library – explaining the complexities of the legislative process to users: (http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/documents/resources/lawmaking.html)
• Law Librarian’s Society of Washington, D.C. – Federal Legislative Research: A practitioner’s guide to compiling the documents and sifting for legislative intent (http://www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/fed-leg-hist.htm)

C. Important Sources of 19^th and 20^th Century Congressional Publications

• From the Law Librarian’s Society of Washington, D.C. – An overview of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (http://www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/sch-v.htm#over)
• From the Library of Congress – A century of lawmaking for a new nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html) A significant source of full-text documents from Congress for the nearly the first century of federal government
• From the U.S. Government Printing Office – The U.S. Congressional Serial Set (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/index.html) Useful description of this important collection of material

D. The Basic Documents of Congress

• From the Library of Congress – Thomas, Legislative information on the Internet (http://thomas.loc.gov/) This source is really a global search engine of bills, laws, reports, and the Congressional Record. It may not contain other important Congressional publications listed in this section.

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Bills and Legislation (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/bills/index.html)

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Congressional Record (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/crecord/index.html) Most important source of information about the proceedings and debates held on the floors of the Senate and House Chambers

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Congressional Documents http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/cdocuments/index.html

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Congressional Reports http://www.gpoaccess.gov/serialset/creports/index.html

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Congressional Hearings http://www.gpoaccess.gov/chearings/index.html

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Congressional Prints http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cprints/index.html

E. Other Important Legislative Agencies

· Government Accountability Office (http://www.gao.gov)

· Congressional Budget Office (http://www.cbo.gov)

· Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov)

· Government Printing Office (http://www.gpo.gov)

Presidential Information and Policy Development

Points for class discussion:

· The president’s role within the structure of the constitution

· Congressional enactment in tandem with Executive action

· What else the President can do with legislation and policy

· Work distributed between the President and other executive officers

· Executive Patterns of publication: “Slip laws”, Statutes-at-Large, United States Code, Presidential Proclamations, Executive Orders, Treaties, and other formal understandings of the President

· Understanding the “numerology” of public law citations and legislation

Readings:

The Executive and its role in government information

• From ThisNation: the most comprehensive guide to American government & politics on the net (http://www.thisnation.com/executive.html)

· From U.S. National Archives and Records Administration – A guide to Presidential Documents (http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/presidential_documents/website_guide.html)

· From the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration – Presidential libraries

· (http://www.archives.gov/research_room/alic/reference_desk/presidential_libraries.html)

· From the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration – Public Papers of the Presidents

· (http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/publications/public_papers.html)

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/wcomp/index.html)

· From the White House (http://www.whitehouse.gov) Pay particular attention to how the different offices, cabinet level organizations and independent agencies are described, as well as how the relate to each other. Be able to explain the differences among the organizations, especially in terms of the Executive Office of the President, Cabinet-level officers, and heads of Independent Agencies.

Shared Information Points between the Executive and Legislative -- From Slip Laws to U.S. Statutes-at-Large to the United States Code; understanding the numerology

· From the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration – Public Laws http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/public_laws/public_laws.html

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – The United States Code http://www.gpoaccess.gov/uscode/index.html

Regulatory and Executive Information

Points for class discussion:

· The information ecology of executive agencies

· Understanding the 27 different kinds of publications produced by agencies

· Understanding how programmatic mission determine the kinds and frequency of government information

· Understanding the regulatory process

· The intimate relationship between laws and regulations

· Using the Federal Register

· Using the Code of Federal Regulations

· Using regulatory web portals

Readings:

Sources of Regulatory Information

· From U.S. National Archives and Records Administration – the Federal Register http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/index.html

· From the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration – the Code of Federal Regulations http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/code_of_federal_regulations.html

· From the Library of Congress – U.S. Executive, Agencies and Regulations http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/usexec.html

· Law Librarian’s Society of Washington, D.C. – A Research Guide to the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations http://www.llsdc.org/sourcebook/fed-reg-cfr.htm

· From the General Services Administration – FirstGov, the U.S. Government’s Official Web Portal, Executive Office of the President http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/Executive/EOP.shtml From the U.S. Government Printing Office – regulatory resources on GPO Access http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/regulatory.html

· Federal Register. Federal e-Rulemaking Web Sites http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/public_participation/rulemaking_sites.html

· From the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, E-Rulemaking: Improving the Regulatory Process (powerpoint in pdf) http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/cbg/Conferences/rpp_rulemaking/Coglianese_Erulemaking.pdf

Distribution of Government Information

· From the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration – The U.S. Government Manual http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/publications/government_manual.html

· From the General Services Administration – FirstGov, the U.S. Government’s Official Web Portal, Federal Executive Branch http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/Executive.shtml

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Federal Agency Internet Web Sites http://www.gpoaccess.gov/agencies.html

· From the Office of Management and Budget – Budget of the United States http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – The Plum Book (United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions) http://www.gpoaccess.gov/plumbook/index.html

Judiciary/Case Law Information

Points for class discussion:

· The constitutional role of the judiciary

· Understanding the administrative structure of the federal, state, local court system

· Understanding case law and finding legal information

· The role of administrative law and other quasi-judicial actions

· The use of legal information and case law at the state and local level

· Understanding legal citations

Readings:

Judiciary distribution of government information

· From the General Services Administration – FirstGov, the U.S. Government’s Official Web Portal, Federal Legislative Branch http://www.firstgov.gov/Agencies/Federal/Judicial.shtml

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Judicial Branch Resources on GPOacess http://www.gpoaccess.gov/judicial.html

· From the Library of Congress, Law Library – U.S. Judicial, The federal Court System and Decisions http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/usjudic.html

· From the U.S. Supreme Court http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

· From the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts – the federal judiciary http://www.uscourts.gov/index.html

· From the Federal Judicial Center – an education and research agency for federal courts http://www.fjc.gov/

· From the Library of Congress, Law Library – U.S. States and Territories http://www.loc.gov/law/guide/usstates.html

· From the West Texas A&M University Cornette Library – Interpreting legal citations http://www.wtamu.edu/library/govt/casecite.shtml#reading

· From Boston College, Law Library – Reading Legal Citations http://www.bc.edu/schools/law/library/research/researchguides/citations

Class 2: Other kinds of federal government information

Points for class discussion:

· Other kinds of government information and sources

· Understanding traditional methods of distributing and organizing government information: depository libraries

· Understanding traditional government information library classification systems

· Other guides, indexes, abstracts

Other kinds of Government Information and Finding Tools

• From the U.S. Government Printing Office – About the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fdlp.html
• From the U.S. Government Printing Office – U.S. Government Online Bookstore http://bookstore.gpo.gov
• From the U.S. Government Printing Office – Catalog of U.S. Government Publications http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cgp/index.html
• From the Oklahoma State University Edmon Low Library – Browse Topics http://www.library.okstate.edu/govdocs/browsetopics/
• From the General Services Administration – FedForms, your first step to federal forms http://www.fedforms.gov/
• From the Federal Information Center, National Contact Center – U.S. government news/press release websites http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/call/pressreleases.htm
• From the Federal Information Center, National Contact Center – Federal Telephone Directories http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/call/phone.htm
• Federal Citizen Information Center, the Consumer Action Website http://www.consumeraction.gov/
• From the Department of Energy, GrayLIT Network http://www.osti.gov/graylit/
• From the Department of Energy, Information Bridge http://www.osti.gov/bridge/

Statistics, Lies, and Other Untruths

Points for class discussion:

• General overview of statistical resources

• Understanding and using the U.S. Census

• Understanding other statistical sources

Readings:

Sources of Statistical Information

· Fedstats, The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies www.fedstats.gov

· From the U.S. Census Bureau www.census.gov , http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html

· From the U.S. Census Bureau, American Fact Finder http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet

· From the University of Michigan Library, Documents Center – Statistical Resources http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html

Geographic Information Systems, Maps and Atlases

Points for class discussion:

• Applying the information to local geographies

• Understanding Geographic information systems and other specialized information sources

• Understanding map sources

• The national Atlas

Readings:

Sources of Geographic Information

· National Atlas of the United States http://www.nationalatlas.gov

· From the U.S. Geological Survey – Geographic Information Systems http://www.usgs.gov/research/gis/title.html

· From the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee – National Spatial Data Clearinghouse http://www.fgdc.gov/clearinghouse/clearinghouse.html

· From the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – Enviromapper http://www.epa.gov/enviro/html/em/index.html

Finding state and local government information

Points for class discussion:

· Finding state government information

· The relationship between state and local governments

· Similarities between the federal and state constitutional arrangements

· Groups that support state and local policy development

· Finding local government information

· Understanding the basics of local government

· Local codes and regulations

· Local planning documents and information directly related to people

Readings:

· State and Local Governments on the Net http://www.statelocalgov.net/

· Council of State Governments http://www.csg.org/csg/default

· National Conference of State Legislatures http://www.ncsl.org/

· National Center for State Courts http://www.ncsconline.org/

· National Governors Association http://www.nga.org/

· U.S. Library of Congress. State Libraries http://www.loc.gov/global/library/statelib.html

· The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws Drafts of Uniform and Model Acts http://www.law.upenn.edu/library/ulc/ulc.htm

· Uniform Law Commissioners http://www.nccusl.org/Update/

· State and Local Governments on the Net http://www.statelocalgov.net

· U.S. Conference of Mayors http://usmayors.org/uscm/home.asp

· Municipal Code Corporation http://www.municode.com/

· National Association of Counties http://www.naco.org/

· National Association of Regional Councils http://www.narc.org/

· National League of Cities http://www.nlc.org/home/

· National Civic League http://www.ncl.org/

· National Association of Towns and Townships http://www.natat.org/

Finding international government information

Points for class discussion:

· Finding foreign and international government information

· The United Nations system

· European Union

· Foreign National Governments

· Regional and transnational governments

· Treaty and foreign relations

• Non-governmental organizations

Readings:

· From Northwestern University Library web pages – International Documents Collection http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resource/internat/

· From Duke University, Perkins Library, Public Documents and Maps, Non-Governmental Organizations http://docs.lib.duke.edu/igo/guides/ngo/

· From the U.S. State Department – Countries and Regions http://www.state.gov/countries/

· From the U.S. State Department – International Issues http://www.state.gov/interntl/

· Examples of International Government Organizations (IGOs): European Union http://www.europa.eu.int/index_en.htm; North Atlantic Treaty Organization: http://www.nato.int/; World Trade Organization: http://www.wto.org/

· Examples of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs): African Economic Research Organization http://www.aercafrica.org/home/index.asp; Consortium for Street Children http://www.streetchildren.org.uk/; Medecins Sans Frontieres http://www.msf.org/home.cfm

Class 3: Working with other specialized tools for government information

The Policy Foundations of Electronic Government

Points for class discussion:

· Understanding the concepts of Electronic government and information resource management

· The enabling laws of e-government

· Understanding government web pages

· National security issues and the freedom of information

Readings:

· From the Department of Energy http://cio.doe.gov/legislation.html

· eStrategy.gov – Information Points About E-Government http://www.estrategy.gov/flashmain.cfm

· Official Web Site for the President’s E-Government Initiative http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/

· U.S. Office of Management and Budget – E-government strategy report http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/egovstrategy.pdf

· Advisory Committee. Congressional Internet Caucus. E-Government Briefing Book

· http://www.netcaucus.org/books/egov2001/

· Center for Technology in Government http://www.ctg.albany.edu/

The Once and Future Concepts of Government Information Services in the Library

Points for class discussion:

· Foundations of the depository library system

· Technological revolutions

· Current trends and future directions

Readings:

· From the U.S. Government Printing Office -- A Strategic Vision for the 21^st Century http://www.gpo.gov/congressional/pdfs/04strategicplan.pdf

· About the Federal Depository Library Program http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fdlp.html

· FDLP Desktop (basic documents on how the depository program works) http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/index.html

· Biennial Report to Congress on the Status of GPO Access http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/biennial/index.html

· The Electronic Federal Depository Library Program: Transition Plan FY 1996-1998 http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/retired/transit.html

· Report to Congress: Study to Identify Measures Necessary for a Successful Transition to a More Electronic Federal Depository Library Program. Final Report. http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/study/studyhtm.html

· From the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Comprehensive Assessment of

· Public Information Dissemination http://www.nclis.gov/govt/assess/assess.html

· From the Office of Technology and Assessment Informing the Nation: Federal Information

· Dissemination in an Electronic Age http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~ota/ns20/alpha_f.html

(jas rev. 01/11/08/revised)