Note: links active when this file was originally written may no longer work.

Federal Depository Library Conference

October 17-20, 2004

Programs on Using Documents in Teaching

Ambassadors to Academia

This presentation was made by a panel of six instruction librarians, each of whom presented separately. Among the points made were: 

• Cooperative learning is an effective tool in teaching information literacy. This means creating arbitrary small groups, each of which is responsible for completing a project and sharing the grade.
• Assignments including Gov Docs can involve the Serial Set as a resource.
• Since First Year students are often most interested in themselves as a topic of study (at least at small liberal art schools), the U.S. Census is a perfect resource to get them involved with Gov Docs. Asking students questions in relation to the Census info for their tract such as: “Is your family like or unlike other families in your community?” can pique their curiosity about social statistics, and showing them the actual Census form can get them interested in how information is gathered, and how categories like race are in fact socially constructed (this becomes apparent upon looking at historical versions of the Census and Census questionnaires.) “What's true or not true about you, based on your answers to the form?”
• Government documents are excellent examples of primary sources in the context of history classes, as they are an authoritative snapshot of history.
• There is good (and bad) access to hidden facts both through depository collections as well as through agency websites (FBI) and the National Archive and LC's American Memory, Our Documents.gov, and others.
• Government documents and web resources can provide students with lots of ways to use genealogy in history research. Items like the War of the Rebellion set of print volumes, famous trials, NPS' database of soldiers and sailors of the Civil War allow students to trace family history in the context of gov docs research and provide opportunities for creative assignments and library instruction (Personal note: what resources would work for minority populations, families new to the U.S., and other groups not likely to have relatives in the Civil War or in American history?)

Reference included Government Publications Unmasked, 2003, Library Instruction Publications

Making Government Information More Accessible: Relevant, Effective Documents Instruction

This program was more theoretical and the presenters discussed models of teaching which incorporated government information in primarily semester-long courses.They were enthusiastic in their promotion of government information in the classes, and showed how, again, it can be used to teach basic information literacy skills.

Some specific good ideas:

• build on what the students already know
• relate government information to types of information sources they are already familiar with
• use the information cycle approach to discussing information sources and their strengths and weaknesses
• the legislative process is a good metaphor for the research process
• use authoritativeness, trustworthiness of government sources (as well as their free access) to help in teaching evaluation skills, building awareness of sources beyond Google

Some concrete ideas for making government information relevant and interesting

• take copies of the newspaper to class and have the students mark references to government information (to show them how pervasive it is)
• have the students describe their hometowns and then find information about the towns in Census data
• have students each fill out a Census questionnaire and then answer questions about the class based on this data
• find a person in older Census files (maybe an ancestor, or a famous person) and learn all you can about that person from this data.

Resources noted:

• ACRL Information Literacy Standards
• "The current information literacy instruction environment for government documents," Pt. 1. DttP: Documents to the People 32 (2), 36-39. (Summer, 2004)

[Back to top]

Back to Documents Users Group Minutes Page

Back to San Antonio Depository Libraries Page