"People rarely get fired for saying no. They can get in trouble with
the supervisor for giving out information that is embarrassing. You
don't get merit raises and bonuses for quickly and efficiently giving
out public records." ~ Anon.
There is a substantial potential audience for state and local government information. As government comes closer to daily life, its impact becomes more obvious. Often, you can measure interest in topics by looking at articles, editorials, and letters to the editor in the local newspaper. Taxes, education, the environment, crime and public safety, highways, economic growth and employment are issues that these governments deal with on a daily basis.
Business people are usually concerned with laws and regulations that impact how they do business and fees associated with that. Students are often required to write papers on how government is organized and who does what. Younger students are often required to write state reports. People wishing to retire are interested in the quality of life in a community, including medical care, taxes, and recreational opportunities.
Questions may range from the relative simple--where do I take trash
that
is too large for the regular pickup? -- to the complicated--how safe is
the
local hospital? If asked, most community members have a rich variety of
concerns and questions about their government.
There is an obvious relationship between expressed wants/needs and the quality and visibility of the collection. Most library users need state and local government information, but they do not realize that it is available within a knowledgeable, supportive environment at their local library or information center. We need to do a much better job of collection development and making that collection visible and easy to use.
Typically, academic libraries develop strong collections on state government while public libraries are more likely to develop collections on city and county government. Neighboring states are often of interest. Where state government has an effective depository library program, state government collections are likely to be much more comprehensive.
Although research is limited, it does suggest that few
libraries have strong, active state and local government collections.
As state and local government places much more of its information,
including interactive forms and the ability to pay fees, on websites,
the role of the library changes. It becomes especially important to
design and implement websites that provide easy access to a wide
variety of appropriate sites along with guides or pathfinders. In a
very real sense, every library can now provide access to a rich
collection of state and local government information.
The major problem with state and local government information is the
lack
of bibliographical control. Much information is invisible to all but
those in
an agency or department or those insiders who can afford to visit
agencies
and track publications and documents. Public distribution of government
documents and publications
varies notably from state to state, county to county, and city to city.
In
general, few governments have effective depository systems.
Most state agencies have had little or no interest in providing
information to the public. This
means that access to government information can be difficult for the
citizen
who cannot visit an office between 9.00 and 5.00 and plead with
government
employees. In some offices, employees are rude and refuse to provide
any public records on request even though the state, county or city has
a public records law.
Few public libraries have reasonable collections of stage documents
and publications. Many reference librarians are unfamiliar with state
resources whether these be laws, pamphlets, reports, data, manuals,
books, or periodicals.
Digital information, especially via websites, is solving this
problem. Progress has been uneven. As with
all government information, budgetary problems or political
philosophies have
led to fewer and less frequent publications over time. Preservation is
a major concern for information on government websites [here today,
gone tomorrow]. The "terrorist threat" has resulted in removal of
valuable content from some state and local government websites.
As the Federal government "hands off" more responsibility for
governing, including collecting data on a wide variety of topics, to
state and local government, state agencies and
departments will be even more sorely pressed. Statistical sources, in
particular, are at some risk.
Many websites contain state information. Those below are examples of
useful sites.
50states.com includes
an
interesting
variety of facts and trivia.
The Association for University Business and Economic Research provides access to quite a bit of state and local business/economic data.
Governor's Legacy Projectt
is a biographical database for governors present and past by the
National Governors Association.
Looksmart.com.Follow the links from World to society & politics to government for solid lists of state and local government on the web
Michigan Documents Center: State and Local Government on the Web
National Governors' Association includes a wide variety of information on state governors.Piper Resources: State and Local Government on the Net
State and County QuickFacts
is an
excellent beginning place with links to more detailed information
sources.
State
Databases: US
State and City Resources
StateGuide contains a
substantial amount of information on states and cities.
Stateline.org by the Pew Center
on the
States is an excellent source for news about state governments and
links
to state statistics.
StateNews is a daily news
service provided by the Council of State Governments.
State
Photo Galleries is a directory of state photographic databases.
Many excellent photo collections.
U.S. States and
Territories by the Law Library of the Library of Congress
. Legal links on every state and territory plus a variety of
general
information.
Building Code
information for all fifty states.
FindLaw State Resources Indexes
The National Association of
Secretaries of State provides useful information on a variety of
topics including state election laws and procedures.
Pacific Information Resources
lists
nearly 700 searchable public record databases by state.
People
Finder Guide: Public Records is an excellent annotated guide. First
place to go.
Search Systems claims to
have the largest free public records database collection for state,
territory or Canadian province.
ClassBrain.com State Reports provides most of the information needed by elementary school students. Includes work sheets and report templates.
Council of State Governments: State News
GoverNet Affairs provides bill tracking for the several states.
The National Conference of State Legislatures provides access to legislative reports, surveys and election information. Policy issues can be valuable.
Prairienet.org provides access to full text state statutes and constitutions on the web.
National Center for State Courts provide access to all of the state courts on the web.
Gateway to State and Local Tax Resources is reasonably comprehensive.
Federal and State Tax Forms which are available on the Internet.
Federation of Tax Administrators Tax Rate Tables. Compares tax rates and structure for the states.
The Sales Tax Clearing house
provides state, county, and city sales tax rates. Includes an excellent
FAQ
on sales tax issues.
State Tax Central.
Browse by state for state specific information. Content and annotation
varies.
State Tax Forms
provides needed forms or access to them, direction to state sites for
filing, news, and other features.
The National Institute of Government
Purchasing via the Members links provides access to purchasing and
contract information for several states and few cities and counties
The Licensed
Occupations Database provides information on state licensing
requirements for practice in a particular state. Reasonably
comprehensive, but not complete.
State
Health Facts Online contains health and health policy information
for all states and U.S. Territories. Data is displayed in tables,
rankings, graphs and color-coded maps. State health profiles may be
compared.
"Tennessee was our most highly ranked state in 2004. Rather than force the user to browse through different departments to search for the service they needed, Tennessee had an Online Services menu front and center on the portal page. This page lists all Online services and also includes an option to be notified by email when a new service is available. Also right on the portal was a link to see the page in Spanish..."
Most states issue a "blue book" which is a reasonably popular guide to state government. Normally, these are issued on an annual or every other year basis. However, state budget problems may result in irregular publication schedules. A good reference collection will contain the blue books for the home state and those immediately adjacent to it.
The Book of the States is published every other year. Information and data on a wide variety of subjects. Organized by subject with a general index.The National Directory of State Agencies includes major elected officials and administrative officers for the states.
Rand McNally Commercial Atlas and Marketing Guide includes transportation, population, and economic information for states, counties, and major cities in the U.S.
The State Information Book is a directory of state agencies, departments and offices with names and phone numbers.
The State Legislative Sourcebook is a loose-leaf service with information on legislative information sources for each state. Includes biographical information.
Affluent libraries will subscribe to CIS State Capital Universe from CIS/LexisNexis which is a comprehensive source of information on state legislation and regulations.
Rules and Regulations of the State of Tennessee is a multi-volume loose-leaf set. Updated by the monthly Tennessee Administrative Register. The official codification. Poor index.
The Tennessee Code Annotated is the only annotated version for Tennessee laws.
The Tennessee Government Officials Directory is an annual, loose-leaf publication. Exhaustive information on state agencies and departments, the General Assembly, higher education, county and city government, associations, lobbyists, media, and political parties.
The Tennessee Tax Guide is a comprehensive guide to state and local taxes.
While Tennessee does have depository laws in effect, they are often ignored and many state agencies do not participate. Bibliographic control of state documents and publications is weak.
Some U.S. Federal government depository libraries have prepared helpful guides to documents and publications of their state. If you need a guide, you might begin with the federal regional depository library in your state. Good examples are produced by :
Providing access to local government information is an essential
responsibility for public libraries. Strong collections promote and
assist
citizen involvement in government and encourage better decisions.
Information that should be included in the local government collection:
Tennessee has a Municipal Technical Advisory Service (Knoxville)
and a County Technical Assistance Service (Nashville). Both can provide
librarians with support in dealing with local government information
queries.
However, these high quality services face potential closure or
substantial
reductions as state budget problems continue. It is essential to
develop
close, continuing relationships with local government officials. It
may even be
possible to develop a local government depository system.
Local government information may be difficult to find because of
problems
with bibliographic control. Many of the problems associated with
federal
government information also apply to local government which, in
general, is
much less sophisticated and less aware of the need to provide citizens
with
information. Traditionally, larger public libraries maintained clipping
files
on local government (from the local newspaper), but this has been
abandoned
in many communities because it is labor intensive and the files were
not
frequently used. Most local newspapers are not fully indexed or
preserved in
a form easily used by the public. Check to see if your local newspaper
has an archive or "morgue" that is available for responding to
questions.
About
Counties includes data, policies, and some directory information.
Counties in the United States by the National Association of Counties. Searchable from menu or U.S. map.
In a 2004 study of which cities are best for e-government, Nashville
was ranked 23d and Knoxville was 59th.
Nashville
is a Flash created site that is colorful and interesting. Good
introduction to the community hosting state government.
Tennesseeanytime
provides information about Tennessee communities. Search by county, ZIP
code or city. Much useful information.
City Comparison by
Yahoo1
compares several larger cities on 23 variables plus links.
City-Data.com includes data
for cities with a population of 100,000 or greater. Variety of useful
statistics.
ERSys.com provides statistical
data on
cities and metropolitan areas. Statistics may not be current.
Municipal Codes Online by the Seattle Public Library
State of the Cities Data System provides data for metro areas, central cities, and suburbs.
U.S.
Cities Online by the national mayors organization.
U.S. City and Town Official
Websites is a directory. Browsable by state.
Use the "By City" category in the "Index by Categories" in the back of the index volume of American Statistics Index. The same approach works well with Statistical Reference Index.
City Profiles USA [year] includes brief description of about 250 major U.S. and Canadian cities with brief description of each city. Includes contact information.
The Cost of Living Index is issued by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association. Especially useful for those contemplating a move to a new city.
Counties USA includes demographic, directory, and some geographical information for 3100 counties
The County and City Extra is an annual compilation of comparative statistics for counties, metro areas, and cities. Focus is on economic, social, and demographic data.
County Business Patterns contains data on a variety of industries, businesses, and services, including employees, payroll, and number of establishments.
Demographics USA (County Edition) includes population and retail sales statistics as well as TV market data for each county.
Editor and Publisher's Market Guide includes brief information about a wide variety of information about cities where a daily newspaper is published. Focus is on living conditions and retail opportunities.
Index to Current Urban Documents is not widely held, has uneven coverage, but is the only source of its kind.
Sourcebook of ZIP Code Demographics
U.S. Bureau of the Census, County and City Data Book. Many other Census Bureau publications include county data.
U.S. Bureau of the Census, State and Metropolitan Area Data Book
U.S.A. Counties is a CD-ROM publication with economic and social statistics. A county may be compared with other counties.
