GPO And Depository Libraries Partner To Offer Online Reference Assistance

WASHINGTON— The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) joins the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and Federal Depository Libraries around the country to provide an online reference service to the American public. This unique free web based “Ask a Librarian” service will give the public an opportunity to ask librarians questions about government resources. An example of how this service works: with the current process in the Presidential elections, the public may have questions about the primaries, caucuses and Electoral College process. A librarian is available at http://govtinfo.org/ to answer those or any other questions about the government.

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“This service enables GPO and the depository libraries to help Americans answer questions about their democracy by connecting them to the expertise offered by Government reference librarians,” said Ric Davis, Acting Superintendent of Documents. “This is another example of the strong partnership GPO has with the Federal Depository Library community in their commitment of Keeping America Informed.”

UIC will manage and maintain this service called “Government Information Online: Ask a Librarian”. GIO is supported by nearly 20 public, academic and state libraries throughout the country. Librarians are specialized in finding government information on any topic.

“GIO promotes and complements the growing digital initiatives of both UIC and GPO as well as the digital Government information provided through the Federal Depository Library Program,” said Mary Case, University Librarian at UIC. “We are pleased to be able to collaborate on this exciting initiative with GPO, our Committee on Institutional Cooperation colleagues and a growing number of depository libraries around the country.”

About GPO:

The GPO is the Federal Government’s primary centralized resource for gathering, cataloging, producing, providing, authenticating, and preserving published U.S. Government information in all its forms. GPO is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for all three Branches of the Federal Government. In addition to publication sales, GPO makes government information available at no cost to the public through GPO Access (www.gpoaccess.gov), and through partnerships with more than 1,250 libraries nationwide participating in the Federal Depository Library Program. For more information, please visit www.gpo.gov.

About UIC:

UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world. UIC also is one to twelve research universities in the Midwest with membership in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), which strives to advance academic by sharing resources and promoting and coordinating collaborative activities across the member universities. For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu