2012 Best Practices for Government Libraries

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BEST PRACTICES 2012
to problems. This and other lists will help you to understand the rapidly changing
technical environment libraries are now involved in.
Keeping up with new information
Use the type of media you are used to receiving your information in, whether
Email, RSS, Twitter, Digg, or whatever to keep up with new information. To alert
users to new information, use the media they are used to. If the government
department you work in promotes the use of social media, then employ that as well
as the media they regularly use. Every so often test out other ways to receive
information and adopt what works for you and your clients.
For you as a solo not to be overwhelmed by the amount of information being
generated, filter the information by using appropriate sources/tools for alerting or
researching information. Being in larger professional networks is of great
assistance in identifying resources and tools to use, to determine the criteria to use
such tools, and weigh the criteria appropriately to your situation. The criteria could
include comprehensiveness, scope, and subject alignment with core business.
Users may request to be kept up-to-date with changes in a particular subject
area. Be aware of terms that are peculiar to your particular working environment, it
could be “Gov” speak, in-house terminology, or terminology that is parochial. Don't
assume the terms used are “industry-wide” and the same globally. This is where
professional research skills come in.
For solo libraries that have very small budgets, journal contents alerting
services are one tool to use; Journaltocs (http://www.journaltocs.ac.uk/) (TicTocs
has now closed) has a great coverage. Journaltocs may be better option to use than
individual publisher's websites. Again it will depend on the individual department.
Google alerts is another tool to keep in mind. The advantage of using Google
alerts is the breadth of search, especially if you are looking for a specific subject.
One under-utilised Google search feature is the tilda (~). Using the tilde before a
search term can retrieve synonyms. Yahoo Pipes is another tool.
Government Information and Information that affects Government Policy
There are a number of sources of government information and government
policy. Mostly the free information sources will be covered here with the inclusion of
some Australian resources. FUMSI/Freepint/Resource Shelf are not covered, as I
believe these are sufficiently well known, as well as free U.S. government
information sources, as there is a SLA webinar on this.
Two commercial services in Australia provide primary source federal and state
government material are Capital Monitor (LexisNexis)
(http://www.lexisnexis.com.au/newsandbusiness/solutions.html?expanddiv=capital
monitor?#capitalmonitor) and CCH Political Alerts
(http://www.cch.com.au/au/CCHParl/MinisitePages/Political-Alert.aspx). These
provide electronic access to legislative and government information almost
immediately, which can be filtered to your own needs. As a solo librarian,
subscribing to either or both of these services are a must to follow the business of