GOVERNMENT INFORMATION WORKING GROUP

Role:

• To address access, ownership and promotion of the collection and information related to government publications and information, primarily, but not limited to, those materials received by the Libraries through the Federal Depository Program.
• To address issues related to state, regional, and international publications, as needed.
• To work with the Serials WG, Collections Advisory WG, and Web WG on issues that overlap jurisdictions.

Membership to be appointed by Director's Advisory Council:

• Government Information Librarian
• One representative from a Circulation unit
• One representative from Serials (Docs Processing)
• One representative from Cataloging
• One representative from Owen Library (chosen by Director's Advisory Council after soliciting volunteers)

The representative members serve 2 year terms. If a vacancy arises with less than 1 year remaining in a term, the new representative will serve the remainder of that term and a full 2 year term. If more than 1 year remains in a term, the new representative will serve the remainder of the 2 year term.

Governance:

The Government Information Working Group reports to the Assistant Director for Collections & Technical Services. The working group will select its own chair for a 6 month minimum term of office and will meet regularly or as needed. The group will coordinate its activities with other working groups and library departments, as warranted. Working groups will establish procedures and make policy within the scope of their responsibilities. Working groups are accountable for their decisions and are expected to share decisions with library colleagues using the standard working groups procedure. Any proposals generated by a working group that require funding for implementation must be referred to Director's Advisory Council for funding approval. Similarly, any proposals with very broad policy implications also need Director's Advisory Council approval. The chair of the working group is expected to update Director's Advisory Council on its activities on a regular basis.

Specific Charges:

• To advise the Documents Librarian on issues that arise, reports requested by the Government Depository Office, etc.
• To promote the use of the documents collections and government information throughout the WSU community as well as broader local and regional use.
• To insure consistency in document processing and practices so that library users are able to understand bibliographic information and retrieve what they want and need in the WSU Libraries.
• To track trends in documents publishing and dissemination of government information and make appropriate decisions regarding access and ownership, etc.
• To address issues related to efficiency of processing and handling, including initial receipt shelving, etc.
• To insure compliance with Federal and State depository regulations and requirements.

APPROVED by Library Council: 7-15-98; Membership revised 7/00; Revised 9-11-02; Revised 12/4/02; changed AD's title to AD for Collections & Technical Services 4/28/04

Decisions Digest
Minutes Archive
Working Agreement