Spend some time becoming familiar with the GPO home page.
It is also important to become familiar with the Superintendent of Documents Classification System. A helpful Explanation is available on the web.
1. A patron has asked for information about the Government Printing Office, including the size of its staff, its budget, and its printing plants. Which sources provide the best current information about the GPO?
2. You have been asked for biographical information about the current Public Printer and the Superintendent of Documents? Provide a brief biographical profile of these two important individuals.
3. You have read that the GPO provides free subject bibliographies on more than 300 subjects. How do you find out which subject bibliographies are available? Select one or two and comment on their utility.
4. For an introduction to U.S. government information column in the state library association periodical, you have been asked to write a brief introduction to the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. Prepare a sample search using the digital version. Comment on ease of use and utility.
5. Prepare a profile for the Federal Consumer Information Center. Comment on ease of use and utility.
6. Create a table with the letter or letters associated with the major departments of the executive branch. A class stem is not required, just the A for Agriculture Department for example. Also provide the class for: (1) the Federal Election Commission (2) the Panama Canal Commission (3) the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and (4) the Congressional Budget Office.
*7. What is the SuDocs number for each of these publications? Arrange these numbers in proper shelf order.
8. Arrange the following SuDocs numbers in proper shelf order and find titles and corporate authors to match the numbers:
Are the last two items held in a local library?
9. Can you find a list of Federal advisory committees by agency, specifically those associated with the Department of Agriculture?
10. Ben's Guide to U.S. Information for Kids is a noteworthy attempt to make government information available for a particular audience. Evaluate the ease of use and utility of this website.
11. The GPO is planning for a Collection of Last Resort. What can you find on this collecton? Is this an important initiative?
12. There are several tutiorials and guides to the SuDoc classification scheme on the web. Which ones are best? Why?
Last major revision: August 2006.
