Students will be expected to learn the structure of government information resources. The student will learn how to find information produced by the U.S. Federal Government, State Governments, and Local Governments. The student will learn about foreign sources to a lesser extent. The student will also learn about information policy issues related to government information.

Course Requirements:

Each will be responsible for two categories of government information. The student will develop a report on how each category is structure and will explore how the information can be accessed. This work will be presented in class. Students will also be given exercises that will require them to research a topic related to government and report how the research was done.

Several guest lecturers will be invited to address the seminar.

Week 1, Sept. 10: Introduction and Guest Lecture: Francis Buckley, former Superintendent of Documents of the United States

Week 2, Sept. 17: Tour of Government Documents Library

Week 3, Sept. 24: Guest Lecture: Francis Buckley, former Superintendent of Documents of the United States

Week 4, Oct. 1: Guest Lecture: Local Government Document Resources

Weeks 5 to 14: Student Research Presentations and Guest Lectures

Student Paper/Presentation Topics:

The Government Printing Office and the Superintendent of Documents

The Federal Depository Library Program

General Finding Aids to Federal Documents

The Federal Legislative Branch: Sources and Finding Aids

The Presidency and Presidential Libraries

The Federal Register: Federal Laws and Regulations

Legal Information Resources: LEXIS and Westlaw

Maps, Patents, Trademarks, and Statistical Sources

State Government Information (the case of Michigan)

Local and Regional Government Information