Book Review

Book Review By: Liza Weisbrod, Auburn University

Brown, Christopher C. Mastering United States Government Information: Sources and Services. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited, 2020. ISBN 978-1-4408-7250-1 (paperback), $75.00; 978-1-4408-7251-8 (ebook), $75.00-$225.00.

Navigating government information sources can be an overwhelming task. Often, as document librarians, we are asked to be familiar with (and find) information of all sorts—legal materials, technical reports, legislation, statistics, maps, regulations, and more—on topics in a multitude of subjects. There is an old saying that the ‘U.S. government is the world’s largest publisher’ and, whether it’s true or not, there’s a lot of material to learn and understand. That is why Christopher Brown’s new book, Mastering United States Government Information, is so important.

Brown, a documents librarian at the University of Denver, begins by defining how government information is structured, followed by a brief history of how government information has been disseminated over the years. The book is organized by the governmental entity that publishes the information, rather than by subject; for example, ‘Documents of the Presidency,’ ‘The Regulatory Process,’ ‘Statistical Sources (Not Including Census),’ ‘Economic Census and Related Business Data,’ are a few chapter titles. There is a terrific chapter on legislative histories and how to find them (even if your library doesn’t have the ProQuest Legislative Insight database), and information-filled chapters on finding statistics of all types, including the census. Each chapter can be read independently and can serve as a reference work to consult when you need a refresher in a particular area. Among the book’s strong points are the clear definitions of information sources. Publications like the Serial Set, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Census, and the different legislative materials are all carefully described along with their history and relationship to other publications.

Brown provides several different ways that information can be found. He relies heavily on free resources like the HathiTrust, the Internet Archive, university databases, and governmental websites, while still including important commercial and subscription databases. He addresses one of the big pitfalls of online resources—link rot—in a practical way. To get around the problem of shifting URLs, he often provides a Google search, or the HathiTrust record number, for a particular document. Furnishing a Google search has the dual purpose of providing access to a specific document along with teaching the user an effective method of internet searching for government information. Rather than just providing a list of documents, the author provides strategies and tools to locate information. This approach should keep the book current longer than most works of this sort. Brown also provides helpful practice exercises at the end of every chapter.

Mastering United States Government Information is filled with practical, clear, concise information about government resources. The book is well-written and readable and provides sensible advice about finding and using government information. While written for government document librarians, it is a great resource for any librarian who has occasion to work with government information. I highly recommend it for all public and academic librarians.

Book cover image retrieved from https://products.abc-clio.com/abccliocorporate/product.aspx? pc=A6153P

Liza Weisbrod

Music & Government Documents Librarian Auburn University

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