Three Government Documents Librarians want to share a few things about the nexus of government information, technology, and the humanities. Yes, the feds have gone all-out-techie and have developed many online resources to help citizens find information on everything from basic e-government applications to sophisticated research portals. While much of what those sophisticated portals contain is science and technology oriented, the humanities have not been ignored. Each librarian will discuss a specific type of digital government resource: web portals that provide links to humanities topics; individual web sites sponsored by government organizations like the National Endowment for the Humanities; and, finally, mobile apps that can link citizens to collections of art, tours of the National Mall in DC (museums, landmarks, cherry blossoms, what more could you want?) and, for the children, an interactive version of a 1919 illustrated edition of Aesop’s Fables from the Library of Congress! If time permits, we will discuss the newest fed gov initiative, federal eBooks, to be made available through Government Printing Office (GPO) partnerships with Apple, Google, Barnes & Noble, and other vendors.
Our discussion will involve asking provocative questions–including those that address just how much interest there exists in having the government provide multiple technologies for accessing its information. Another question will seek answers to the following: how does the government’s move to digital affect the legal and ethical demands for preservation of all government information?
I’m very interested in this session. When I check to see if some famous set of government documents has been digitized, and they don’t turn up, I often wonder if I’m simply not looking in the right place or not searching effectively. Recently this happened with a search for the Kefauver Committee Hearings. I obviously didn’t expect to find all of those many pages online. Some materials turned up via Google books, but I end thinking that my search is flawed. (After all, wouldn’t the Kefauver Hearings have been digitized by now?) Thank you for suggesting this one.