Finding Aid for Government Information Living Indexes Oral History Project, 2007, 2009-2012 | The American Library Association Archives

Title: Government Information Living Indexes Oral History Project, 2007, 2009-2012

ID: 43/3/14

Primary Creator: Government Documents Round Table (GODORT)

Extent: 10.0 megabytes

Arrangement: Alphabetical by interviewee.

Date Acquired: 07/18/2022

Subjects: Abbott Hoduski, Bernadine, Federal Relations, Government Documents, Government Documents Round Table (GODORT), Government Libraries, Government Publications

Languages: English

Transcripts from the Government Information Living Indexes Oral History Project, including oral histories from Grace York, Bill Sleeman, Andrea Sevetson, Judy Russell, Larry Romans, Mary Redmond, Bill Olbrich, Francis J. Buckley, Jr., Duncan Aldrich, and Bernadine Abbott Hoduski.

The project's focus was to conduct oral histories with members of the government information community who have devoted much of their careers to the field. The goals were to provide a better understanding of the history of government information librarianship and GODORT as well as gather information regarding the process and the progress of protecting free access to government-produced information.

The Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) was established in 1972 (1). It replaced the Social Responsibilities Round Table's Task Force on Government Publications (2). GODORT has four purposes:

1. To provide a forum for discussion of problems, concerns, and for the exchange of ideas by librarians working with government publications;

2. To initiate and support programs that aim to increase the availability, bibliographic control, and use of government documents

3. To increase communications between document librarians and other librarians

4. To contribute to improving the education and training of document librarians (3).

GODORT is organized into task forces which allow members to participate in interest areas. Some task forces focus on specific types of documents such as state, local, federal, and international documents. Other task forces address document format or management such as education, machine-readable data files, microforms, and organization and administration (4).

Since 1972, GODORT has published a bimonthly newsletter entitled Documents to the People (DttP) (5). GODORT publishes lists of reference sources, a model syllabus for teaching state documents, recommendations for national micro-publishing standards, and a directory of government document librarians and collections (6).

GODORT has established two annula awards to recognize achievement in the are of government documents. The James Bennett Childs Award was created in 1975 to honor outstanding achievement in the field. The CIS/GODORT/ALA "Documents to the People" Award, established in 1976, grants $1,000 to the individual and/or library who most effectively encourages the use of federal documents (7). GODORT officers include a chairperson, assistant chairperson, and secretary (8).

Sub-Groups:

1-Steering Committee

3-Publications (Clearing House, DttP)

4-Treasurer

5-Public Documents Round Table

30-Administration and Organization

31-Federal Documents

32-International Documents

33-Microforms

34-Municipal Documents

35-State Documents

36-Liaison to State and Local Affiliates

Abbott Hoduski, Bernadine
Federal Relations
Government Documents
Government Documents Round Table (GODORT)
Government Libraries
Government Publications

Repository: The American Library Association Archives

Acquisition Source: Government Documents Round Table