I am a librarian who is passionate about helping people access information. When I worked as a reference librarian in a public library, I received questions nearly every day about how to use government websites.
In this newsletter, I show you how to use U.S. government websites. Government websites are crucial information portals that help us with lots of things - from paying our taxes to researching legislation to accessing important data.1
But more often than not, they are confusing to find, use, and navigate. I’m here to help with that.
Thank you for reading!
Official government websites (i.e. the url ends in “.gov”) are run by the U.S. government. The content on government websites is subject to influence by leadership, administrations, policies, or other players. When performing research, it is always valuable to consider biases and use a variety of sources to evaluate issues, reach conclusions, and develop your opinions. My presentation of government information is not an endorsement of a particular policy, agency, or administration, but rather an effort to connect you with resources and provide strategies to use them effectively.
Posts by The Civic Librarian are not in any way approved, endorsed, sponsored, authorized by, or associated with any U.S. government agencies or organizations.
If you want to learn more about government information and the laws that protect our access to it, check out the website for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA - one of the better-known public access laws).
