December 07, 2023
Government Documents: Information at the Source
News Resources and Tips
Have you ever read a news story and wondered where it came from or how it got started? News stories get their start in many different ways, of course, but one way they are prompted is by the release of information from the government. Librarians refer to this as "government information," or "government documents."
Government information can be produced and published by any entity within the state and federal governments of the USA, and this occurs very frequently. Sometimes this information is a new law passed by Congress and signed by the President. Other times it can be an opinion handed down by the Supreme Court. But still other times, it could be life expectancy estimates based on studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or a summary of the Consumer Price Index for a recent month from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Andrew Dudash, a librarian for the Penn State University Libraries, created Documents in the News, along with colleagues Ashoo Kumar and Sandy Morgart. It’s an ongoing curated list of government information which has been cited in articles from various newspaper sources. Each document cited includes a citation to a news story generated from it. It's not comprehensive, but it is a great illustration of how many stories are prompted by activities of our government and government agencies.
The important takeaway here is that if you're reading a story that cites information from a government agency, chances are that you can read the primary source information yourself with just a quick web search. What might you find?
