In This Issue ● Historic Indian Publications by the United States Federal Government ● From Government to Government Information Librarian ● Accessing Thailand’s Government Information DttP Documents to the People Fall 2015 | Volume 43, No. 3 | ISSN 0091-2085 ww Serving the Unique Needs of Libraries and Policy Researchers since 2003 The World Bank eLibrary offers … ■ all World Bank publications and research since the 1990s ■ content on low- and middle-income countries with emphasis on poverty and development economics ■ key country and regional data from World Development Indicators ■ fast and easy discovery and access ■ personalization and time-saving research tools for users ■ services and support for librarians. Shouldn’t your library subscribe? Request a free trial today at [email protected] elibrary.worldbank.org DttP: Documents to the People (ISSN: 0091-2085) is published quarterly in spring, summer, fall, and winter by the American Library Association (ALA), 50 East Huron Street, Chicago, IL 60611. It is the official publication of ALA’s Government Documents Round Table (GODORT). Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to DttP, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. DttP features articles on local, state, national, and international government information and government activities of GODORT. The opinions expressed DttP by its contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent those of Documents to the People GODORT Fall 2015 | Volume 43, No. 3 | ISSN 0091-2085 Editorial Staff: Please see the wiki for full contact information: wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/ DttP_Editorial_Staff_and_Column_Editors. Columns Co-Lead Editors: Greg Curtis, University of Maine; (207) 581-1681; Elizabeth Psyck, Grand Valley 4 From the Chair—Stephen Woods State University; (616) 331-8674; [email protected] 6 Editor’s Corner—Elizabeth Psyck Editors: 7 The Once and Future United Nations Depository Sonya Durney, Portland Public Library; (207) 871-1700; [email protected] Sonnet Ireland, University of New Orleans; (504) 280-7276; [email protected] 11 Digitizing Docs—Charmaine Henriques and Daniel Zellner Stephanie Bowe, University of Maryland; (410) 706-0783; [email protected] 11 By the Numbers— Amy Riegelman Reviews Editor: Paula Webb, University of South Alabama, pwebb@south alabama.edu Features Advertising Editor: Gretchen Gould, University of Northern Iowa; (319) 273- 17 Historic Indian Publications by the United States Federal 6327, [email protected] Government Advertising: Inquiries about advertising may be addressed to the Advertising Part Three: Census, Law and Other Publications Editor. Please see wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/DttP_Advertising_Rates for rates and publication schedule. DttP accepts advertising to inform readers of products Brandon R. Burnette and services. DttP will adhere to all ethical and commonly accepted advertising practices and will make every effort to ensure that its practices in relation to 22 From Government to Government Information Librarian advertising are consistent with those of other Association publications. DttP reserves the right to reject any advertisement deemed not relevant or consistent to Tara Das the above or to the aims and policies of ALA. 25 Accessing Thailand’s Government Information Distribution Manager: ALA Subscription Department, 50 E. Huron St., Tassanee Chitcharoen Chicago, IL 60611. 1-800-545-2433, press 5; fax: (312) 280-1538; subscriptions@ ala.org 30 Reviews Subscriptions/Claims: DttP is sent free to ALA/GODORT members on a per volume (annual) basis. For subscriptions, prepayment is required in the amount of $35 in North America, $45 elsewhere. Checks or money orders should be made ‘Round the Table payable to “ALA/GODORT” and sent to the Distribution Manager. Changes of address and claims six months of the date of issue should be sent to the Distribution 32 GODORT Annual Conference Highlights Manager. To purchase back issues, write to: UMI, 300 North Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48106. 36 Index to Advertisers Contributions: Articles, news items, letters, and other information intended for publication in DttP should be submitted to the Co-Lead Editors. All submitted material is subject to editorial review. Please see the wiki for additional information: wikis.ala.org/godort/index.php/DttP. Indexing: Indexed in Library Literature 19, no. 1 (1991) and CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts 33, no. 1 (2005), and selectively in PAIS 33, no 1 (2005). Editorial Production: ALA Production Services — Troy D. Linker, Chris Keech, Tim Clifford, TJ Johnson, and Lauren Ehle. Columnists: Documents Without Borders Get to Know​ . Jim Church Julia Stewart Doe Library Southern Methodist Univ. University of California, Berkely [email protected] [email protected] Spread the Word Jane Canfield Melanie A. Blau-McDonald Biblioteca Encarnacion Valdes Southwest Ohio and Neighboring Pontifica Universidad Catolica Libraries Consortium [email protected] [email protected] Federal Documents Focus Rebecca Hyde St. Louis University [email protected] About the Cover: Lucia Orlando Univ. of California Santa Cruz Award winners at the 2015 GODORT reception. From left to right: [email protected] James Jacobs, Lynda Kellam, Daniel Cornwall, John A. Stevenson, Steve Beleu, and Shelly Gililam. From the Chair Who Do We Think We Are? Stephen Woods ho do you think you are? Maybe would discover holes in my own understanding and would have W someone has asked you this ques- to do some research or have a conversation with a colleague. tion before or you have the type of per- That fear of appearing foolish before my students provided sonality where you continually ask your- plenty of incentive to stretch my appreciation for government self this question. It’s a question that any information and to stay engaged. honest leader faces when taking over the reigns of an organiza- Now I don’t want you to think that being a government tion with a long and storied tradition like GODORT. However, information specialist is the sum of who I am. For those who I think the question taken at face value is an excellent place to don’t know me, I’m a father of three beginning to embark on start our conversation. that poverty- stricken road of paying college tuition. I have So, who am I? I will confess that when I started out as an amazing wife who works with web accessibility in online a government documents librarian in 1995, I felt like a coun- courses. I love sports, but will also confess to being a closet Jane terfeit. I had no academic training in government information, Austin fan as well as a voracious reader of other classics. only practical experience working in the University of Iowa’s So, who are we? Many of you have similar stories to the Government Documents Department. However, I was a vora- one I’ve told, but others may have embraced their identity as cious reader and supplemented formal course work by enrolling information specialists right way. Others are still in that process in the “virtual school” of Joe Morehead, Judith Robinson, and of finding their place in the profession and looking for ways to DttP. grow in confidence. I truly believe that GODORT can be an Scholarship and teaching helped me to fully overcome my organization that inspires all of us regardless of how confident inability to self identify as a government information special- we are in our professional journey. ist. Lily Wai and others in the profession encouraged me to Our Ad Hoc Committee on Reorganization has been work- share with others at state and national conferences the things ing hard to examine the structure and effectiveness of our com- that I was working on in my everyday activities as a librarian. munity. Many of you generously responded to the survey that GODORT actually sponsored my first national presentation at was jointly sponsored by the Ad Hoc Committee on Virtual ALA’s Annual Conference in Atlanta in 2002. I still remember Meetings. However, I would argue that in order for these com- the anxiety I felt discussing my library’s involvement in Idaho’s mittees to accomplish their work our community must agree redistricting in front of all of you—my peers. That faded, when upon a clear mission statement and vision. I discovered there were others who were just as passionate about Let me first state what I mean by a mission statement. So the topic. that we can all be on the same page, I’ve asked each of the chairs I’ll admit that scholarship through writing was not my of each of the committees and taskforces to read the document: chosen form of communication. That was forced on me as a “Proclaiming Your Dream: Developing Vision and Mission necessity of tenure. Those same feelings of being found out as Statements.”1 It states, “An organization’s mission statement a fraud constantly entered my thought process while writing. describes what the group is going to do and why it’s going to do However, I took the plunge in 2002 and started writing a col- that.” Our mission is something we can control and it is what we umn in DttP that I founded called By the Numbers. Looking do in our professional capacity. over ten years’ worth of columns, there are few literary master- For the last five years our mission has been to ensure that pieces, but I discovered a valuable and pragmatic insight in the all government information is freely distributed by the govern- process of publishing. Writing forced me to really think deeply ment. That can be one of our values, but it can never be our about what I do and to communicate it in a coherent fashion. mission. To develop a meaningful mission statement we need Furthermore, it gave me confidence in my growing understand- to identify the things we do and particularly those activities that ing of the profession.