Changing Landscape of Government Information Management and the Role of Government Information Librarians

Sanga Sung

This paper examines the evolving role of government information services at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign Library in response to national shifts in government publishing, discovery infrastructure, and user needs. As the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) transitions to a digital-first model, traditional responsibilities like print selection and cataloging have given way to new priorities, including instruction, outreach, and digital stewardship. Through a case study of organizational restructuring, service redesign, and cross-unit collaboration, the paper highlights how academic libraries can adapt to ensure continued access, discoverability, and engagement with government information. The findings offer broader insights into the future of government information librarianship and the critical role libraries play in supporting civic literacy and public access in a dynamic information environment.

Introduction

Government information includes a wide range of formats, including reports, legislative records, maps, datasets, statistics, social media content, and health alerts. These materials serve
as essential primary sources and official records, documenting the workings of government, its decisions, and their impact on society. Users of government information are equally diverse: students cite it in papers, scholars analyze it for trends, journalists investigate issues and provide public context, advocates draw on these sources to demand change, and members of the public consult them for practical information about rights,
services, and communities. Libraries that collect, preserve, and promote access to government information provide crucial
support not only for academic inquiry but also for public knowledge and civic engagement.

The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), established in 1813, has long served as the cornerstone of public access to US government information.¹ The program serves not only as a distribution channel but also as a national infrastructure for
the preservation, discovery, and access of government information. Historically, the US Government Publishing Office
(GPO) supplied physical publications and catalog records to
participating depository libraries at no cost. In turn, FDLP
libraries are responsible for “providing local, free access to information from the Federal government in an impartial environment.”² While the FDLP remains foundational, the value and scope of government information extend far beyond federal output. At the local, state, national, and international levels, governments generate and disseminate information that informs public policy, civic participation, legal rights, economic development, and more.

The roles of the FDLP and government information librarianship have evolved significantly in response to changes in publication formats, user expectations and behaviors, and digital access models. Librarians are no longer focused solely on managing physical collections. Instead they guide discovery, teach critical source evaluation, support digital access, and address the challenges of fragmented and dynamic government information ecosystems. These evolving responsibilities have reshaped staffing models, service strategies, and professional identities.

This paper is a case study of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign Library, hereafter referred to as the Illinois Library, to explore how one academic library has navigated these changes. It examines how local developments in organizational structure, cataloging workflows, instruction, and outreach reflect broader national shifts. By tracing this library’s adaptation to the changing government information landscape, the paper offers insights into how institutions can continue to lead efforts to preserve, promote, and ensure equitable access to government information in a digital-first era.

Historic Context and Collection Scope

The Illinois Library serves as a selective depository in FDLP. Selective depositories choose a subset of the documents distributed through the program based on local needs while regional depositories receive and retain all materials distributed through the FDLP and oversee the activities of the selectives in their state or region.³ Although the Illinois Library was once considered for regional status, the Illinois State Library was ultimately designated as the Regional Depository for Illinois. Nevertheless, the Illinois Library historically selected 90 to 95 percent of titles available from the GPO, building an extensive and comprehensive federal depository collection of government information. In 2024, for example, the Illinois Library selected
94.8 percent of what was offered, continuing its long-standing role as a high-percentage federal depository library.

While official GPO records long listed the Illinois Library’s depository designation as beginning in 1907, a letter dated
August 8, 1912, from Head Librarian Phineas L. Windsor to Superintendent of Documents August Donath, suggests the designation actually occurred in 1884.⁴ To date, no official documentation has been located to confirm the 1884 designation, but the letter indicates the Illinois Library’s early and sustained commitment to government information access.

In addition to its participation in the FDLP, the Illinois Library has contributed to other major government information programs. It has served as a depository for Illinois state government information since the late 1960s, with holdings that include legislative documents dating back to statehood in 1818. The Illinois Library has also been a United Nations (UN) Depository since 1946, collecting key agency reports, country profiles, and statistical series, though the UN Depository Programme is set to be phased out recently. The Illinois Library served as a Canadian Depository since 1927 until the program ended in December 2013, focusing on agriculture, education, health, the environment, and transportation, and a collector of British government publications, including parliamentary papers, bills, committee and commission reports, and command papers.⁵

As many of these programs have transitioned to open-access and digital-only models, the nature of depository programs has evolved as well as the Illinois Library’s role. While physical shipments have largely ceased, the Illinois Library continues to provide reference support, access assistance, and collection integration for government information across jurisdictions. This long-standing participation in multiple depository programs laid the foundation for the Illinois Library’s continued leadership in the management of government information, even as formats and access models have shifted over time.

Changing Environment

Organization Changes

As depository programs and access models evolved, organizational restructuring at the Illinois Library also transformed
the management of government information, with evolving government information workflows simultaneously shaping institutional change. In 2007, the Illinois Library launched its New Service Model (NSM) initiative, which aimed to reconfigure “collection models, patron services, and library operations” in response to shifting user needs and technological changes.⁶ As part of the effort, the number of departmental libraries was changed from fifty to fewer than thirty and emphasis was placed on improving cross-unit coordination and operational flexibility.

Prior to this reorganization, the Government Documents unit operated independently within the Public Services Division. The team oversaw all US federal and Illinois State government documents acquired by the Illinois Library. All three librarians in the unit were engaged in cataloging, with one librarian focusing primarily on US federal documents.

A key milestone in this transformation occurred in June 2009, when the Government Documents Library was permanently closed. Its reference services were merged into Reference, Research and Government Information Services, creating a unified public service point, while cataloging and receiving functions were transferred to the Content and Access Services unit, which assumed the responsibility for all acquired materials, including government information.⁷ The closure of a dedicated physical space for government documents marked a shift away from a standalone unit to a more integrated model of access and support. The updated terminology reflected a broader understanding within the field that government information encompassed more than print, embracing digital content, datasets, legal information, and multimedia formats under the umbrella of government information.

In the same year, two of the three librarians with primary responsibilities for government information departed, and the librarian who remained served as the sole librarian overseeing the government information collection and services. This remaining librarian focused on government information reference, instruction, and collection development within the newly integrated central reference services unit. Meanwhile, the cataloging and receiving staff were fully reassigned to the Content and Access Services unit, aligning government information cataloging with the Illinois Library’s central technical services.

The staffing structure remained in place until the retirement of the government information librarian in June 2019. Following this transition, the Illinois Library undertook an assessment of the physical government titles it received and handled, along with associated services. Based on the assessment, a new position was created and filled in July 2020. This role combined government information services with broader reference and instruction duties. Notably, this role also brought together responsibilities previously divided across multiple positions, combining oversight of federal, state, international, and intergovernmental government information services.

Despite these structural and staffing shifts, the Illinois Library continues to serve as a selective depository and remains committed to providing access to government information for both the campus and the broader public. The government information program has adapted to changes in institutional priorities, staffing models, and user needs while continuing to support discovery, access, and long-term stewardship of government-produced content.

Cataloging and Access Services

While staffing and service structures were redefined, cataloging and access workflows for government information at the Illinois Library have evolved alongside national infrastructure and technology change. Since 1976, the GPO has cataloged US government publications, distributing records through platforms such as the Catalog of US Government Publications (CGP), the Library Services and Content Management (LSCM) GitHub repository, the FDLP Data Manager, and OCLC.⁸ While non-depository libraries can acquire records through OCLC’s WorldCat and Connexion services by subscription, depository libraries such as Illinois have historically received records at no cost. Over time, methods of delivery, acquisition, and local integration have shifted, reflecting broader changes in metadata standards and discovery systems.

Beginning in 2009, the Illinois Library received catalog records through the Cataloging Record Distribution Program (CRDP), administered by LSCM and supported by vendor MARCIVE. This automated record distribution simplified cataloging workflows and improved metadata consistency across depository libraries. The 2019 migration of the Illinois Library’s integrated library system to Alma further streamlined this process, enabling automated batch imports that created or updated holdings and portfolios with minimal manual intervention.

In August 2024, the GPO announced the end of the CRDP following MARIVE’s decision to cease its service in March 2025.⁹ This decision coincided with GPO’s transition to an electronic-only publication model and marked a turning point for metadata workflows in depository libraries. Since January 2025, the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) has assumed responsibility for providing cataloging records and managing access to government information for member libraries. As a result, cataloging work at the Illinois Library has become more centralized and less labor-intensive, reflecting a shift from local processing to collaborative metadata management. These evolving workflows mirror broader national trends toward digital access and shared infrastructure, setting the stage for the FDLP’s transition to a fully digital program.

National Shift to a Digital FDLP

These institutional and workflow transformations reflect a larger national movement toward digital dissemination of
government information, culminating in GPO’s formal transition to a Digital FDLP. While many depository programs had already moved toward digital-first publication models, GPO formally launched its transition to a Digital FDLP in February 2024.¹⁰ This shift marked a significant milestone in how federal government information is collected, preserved, and accessed, prioritizing permanent public access to born-digital content while acknowledging the enduring importance of tangible collections.

The digital transition reflects over three decades of incremental change and positions the FDLP to use new tools, partnerships, and technologies to expand access and improve services.¹¹ In 2024, GPO implemented limited print distribution for a small number of titles, providing select depositories with continued access to tangible resources no longer widely distributed. The Illinois Library was selected as one of the depository libraries to receive eighteen titles, which span multiple formats and subject areas, including Economic Indicators, the Congressional Directory, the FCC Records, the Forest Atlas of the United States, and several US Geological Survey and Bureau of Land Management map series. These titles represent enduring statistical and reference tools that continue to support research and public access.

This transition also coincided with GPO’s announcement that it would sunset the CRDP by March 2025, as noted earlier. The program’s conclusion was driven by shifting discovery needs, the growing availability of high-quality records from other vendors, and evolving digital workflows. It reflects broader shifts in federal metadata services and the need for libraries to adopt new cataloging workflows to support discovery of digital content.

Following the launch of the Digital FDLP, National Collection Service Area (NCSA) Steering Committees were established to support coordination and communication among depository libraries within each geographic region. These committees are charged with promoting collaboration around shared collection development and retention strategies, as well as helping to
shape evolving policies and practices for managing a digital-first FDLP.¹²

Though delivery methods and infrastructure are evolving, the mission of the FDLP—to provide free, ready, and permanent public access to federal government information for current and future generations—remains unchanged.¹³ For libraries, the digital transition introduces expanded responsibilities in metadata management, digital preservation, and user support. It demands strategic planning and proactive approaches to ensure discoverability, usability, and long-term access to an increasingly digital National Collection.

Evolving Government Information Services

Shifting Professional Responsibilities

The role of government information librarians at the Illinois Library has evolved in direct response to national trends, shifting access models, and internal organizational restructuring. Previously, these roles were centered on managing tangible materials: selecting, receiving, processing, cataloging, and managing physical collections, as well as providing reference services rooted in print-based tools. Increasingly, as discovery and access are handled through centralized systems, collaborative cataloging services, and online access points managed externally along with a broader shift toward electronic formats, the emphasis at the Illinois Library has moved from technical processing to user engagement, instruction, and public service.

Librarians are now expected to help users navigate complex discovery platforms and fragmented digital content across federal, state, and international levels as the growing volume of born-digital information and inconsistent metadata practices make discovery and evaluation more challenging.¹⁴

As the Government Documents Library was dissolved in 2009 and services were integrated into broader reference and technical services units, these responsibilities became more distributed across the organization. Cataloging duties, once handled by subject librarians, were reassigned to a centralized technical services unit, while reference, instruction, and outreach were consolidated under a single librarian. The transformation of national metadata infrastructure further contributed to the shift in librarian responsibilities. The implementation of batch loading services reduced local technical workflows while increasing reliance on external cataloging support.

As a result, the emphasis of government information librarianship has shifted toward instruction, outreach, and user focused services. Reflecting these changing needs, a study found that over 80 percent of government information job postings from 2010 to 2016 emphasized reference and instructional responsibilities, with fewer including traditional cataloging tasks.¹⁵

At the Illinois Library, this shift also aligns with institutional changes under the NSM initiative, which dispersed government information responsibilities across several departments. With no single librarian managing the full lifecycle of government information, new demands have emerged for cross-unit collaboration. Librarians must now coordinate metadata practices and cataloging workflows with colleagues in technical services while ensuring those efforts align with reference, instruction, and outreach goals. The diminished role of physical collection management has amplified the need for communication and collaboration across functional areas.

Even as centralized cataloging and digital access services reduce the technical workload of government information librarians, challenges related to discovery and access remain a significant part of their responsibilities. The sheer volume of born-digital content, variations in agency practices, inconsistent links and metadata can create barriers for users attempting to locate authoritative government sources. Additionally, the practice of selecting and deselecting print materials, once a routine and essential task for government information professionals, has largely disappeared with the transition of the FDLP to a digital model, apart from the small number of limited print titles still distributed. In place of this, librarians are now tasked with curating and promoting relevant digital content for specific user groups.

At the Illinois Library, these shifts are reflected in the current role of the government information librarian, which emphasizes instruction, reference, and public services over traditional technical processing tasks. While direct cataloging responsibilities have diminished, collaboration with technical services colleagues remains essential for resolving discovery issues, coordinating cataloging workflows, and maintaining metadata integrity. Curating digital collections through research guides, online exhibits, and dedicated platforms has become a key strategy for improving access. In addition, targeted instructional support is provided to help users develop search strategies and navigate access challenges unique to government information. These efforts ensure that both campus and public users can engage with a diverse and evolving body of government content.

Changing Formats and Audiences

As the responsibilities of government information librarians have shifted toward instruction, discovery, and user engagement, so too has the definition of government information—expanding beyond traditional print collections to include a wide array of digital and born-digital materials. Government information is no longer limited to printed reports and legislative documents but encompasses a broad range of formats, including datasets, websites, social media posts, audiovisual materials, and other born-digital content. These digital and non-traditional formats present new challenges that extend beyond traditional collection management, requiring librarians to develop new expertise in navigating and interpreting complex and fragmented platforms.

The shift to digital access has also broadened the reach of
government information services. Open availability of federal, state, and international resources online means that users increasingly encounter government content outside formal academic settings. A 2011 study of FDLP users found that people sought government information for a wide range of purposes beyond academic research, including education, personal use, health and safety, legal needs, civic participation, and business-related activities.¹⁶ These trends are mirrored at the Illinois Library, where email reference inquiries to the government information librarian from 2020 to 2025 included at least twenty-two users clearly unaffiliated with the university, along with thirty-five additional users who used non-institutional email addresses suggesting many of them were likely unaffiliated as well. Affiliated users also spanned across roles, including sixty-three graduate students, fifty-two faculty, and thirty-eight undergraduates, illustrating the interdisciplinary and cross-generational nature of demand for government information.

Chat interactions from the Illinois Library’s Ask a Librarian chat service further illustrates the range of users engaging with government information. From July 2023 through August 2025, forty-six chats tagged with government information-related subjects. These chats reflected engagement from twelve graduate students, seven faculty and staff, eight local community members, and ten unaffiliated individuals outside of the institution. While these datasets offer valuable insights, they have limitations as subject tagging is not required by chat responders and in-person and phone-based reference interactions handled directly by the government information librarian are not systematically recorded. In practice, several community members regularly contact the government information librarian by phone or visit in person, suggesting that public-facing and informal channels continue to play an important role.

In response to these changing formats and expanding audiences, the Illinois Library has developed a multifaceted approach to government information services. Instructional support now includes a range of materials tailored to diverse information needs and learning preferences, including tutorial videos, interactive learning modules, and research guides. Outreach programs are designed to engage specific user groups, including campus affiliates and public patrons, through workshops, events, and digital engagement. Additionally, the government information librarian works closely with units across the Illinois Library and with state and national partners to improve discovery, preservation, and access strategies for the increasingly complex ecosystem of government information formats. These efforts aim to ensure that all years can connect with reliable and relevant government content in meaningful ways.

Growing Needs for Instruction and Outreach

Shifts in content and audience engagement have also reshaped Illinois Library’s instructional and outreach priorities, emphasizing new strategies for teaching discovery and evaluation skills. As outlined in the previous sections, the transition to digital formats and expanded user audiences has made instructional support and public engagement increasingly essential.

Course-integrated instruction from 2004 to 2019 was primarily concentrated in Journalism, Afro-American Studies, Political Science, and Library and Information Science. In more recent years, instructional engagement has expanded in both volume and disciplinary range, with more frequent sessions held in areas such as History, Education Policy, Communication, Journalism, and Social Work. Instructional efforts also extend beyond the classroom, with the government information librarian supporting numerous outreach efforts through workshops and events, including contributions to library-wide initiatives like the Savvy Researcher series. Past sessions have covered topics such as policy and legislative research, locating and using government data and statistics, and strategies for locating government information using open web sources. Targeted programming has also been developed for visiting scholars and summer enrichment programs. While earlier outreach focused more on standalone workshops, recent efforts have emphasized embedded instruction and deeper curricular integration.

Alongside disciplinary expansion, instructional content has increasingly focused on helping students navigate the digital government information landscape. As government content is dispersed across agency websites, databases, and digital archives, instruction centers on strategies for locating, evaluating, and interpreting diverse and often fragmented sources. Instruction often emphasizes how purpose, audience, and political context shape the content and tone of government publications, helping students develop the critical evaluation skills needed to identify bias or selective framing in official documents.¹⁷ A 2025 citation analysis of first-year undergraduates at the Illinois Library found that many students cited newspaper articles or non-governmental webpages when referencing government policies or statistics.¹⁸ While not inherently problematic, these findings highlight the importance of instilling critical source evaluation skills, particularly in distinguishing between government-produced content and third-party interpretations.

Recent instruction requests have also focused on teaching students how to navigate barriers to access, particularly in response to the removal or modification of online government information following political transitions. These requests reflect growing awareness among instructors and students of the fragility of digital government content and the need for critical skills related to preservation, transparency, and long-term access.

Civic literacy has also emerged as a core theme in government information outreach, particularly as users are confronted with issues like misinformation, transparency, and access to public information.¹⁹ Recognizing the role of government information in supporting democratic participation, the Illinois Library has led initiatives to promote civic awareness and engagement. These include campus-wide voter registration drives, Constitution Day programming with exhibits and interactive events, a panel discussion on local government and advocacy, and a tabling event focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy in the context of elections and political messaging.

To meet the evolving needs of diverse user groups, government information instruction and outreach at the Illinois Library are designed to be flexible and inclusive. Instructional resources range from brief tutorial videos to in-depth Canvas modules, library guides, and online exhibits, offering support for different learning preferences and levels of familiarity. Outreach programming is similarly tailored to specific audiences, including academic departments, student organizations, and community members. These efforts are supported through partnerships across library departments and collaboration with state and national government information professionals, ensuring that discovery, preservation, and access strategies reflect the complexity and diversity of government information formats.

Opportunities and Emerging Directions

Infrastructure and Digital Stewardship

At the systems level, new approaches to cataloging and metadata sharing have helped simplify how collections are managed. For example, the Illinois Library benefits from the cataloging and metadata services coordinated by CARLI, which helps reduce duplication of effort while improving record quality and accessibility. Nationally, the GPO supports discovery through services such as FDLP, and new platforms like DiscoverGov, a new unified search platform that integrates the Catalog of US Government Publications (CGP) and GovInfo.

As more materials are released in digital formats and hosted on agency websites, library systems must remain flexible to ensure that users can discover and retrieve authoritative materials in diverse and changing environments. More broadly, the changing information landscape, including government agencies’ use of social media, multimedia publications, and ephemeral digital content, demands ongoing adaptation across multiple areas of librarianship. These nontraditional formats require thoughtful approaches to collection management, new strategies to ensure discoverability and long-term access, and updated instruction
to help users locate, interpret, and ethically use these sources. Government information professionals must navigate these changes while continuing to uphold the core values of transparency, public access, and accountability. At the same time, tangible formats should not be overlooked, as they remain a valuable part of government information access, especially for users with limited internet or device access or for those with specific accessibility preferences and needs. Libraries that take on these evolving responsibilities will be better prepared to serve users in today’s complex and evolving information landscape.

Collaborations and Collective Stewardship

The transition to a digital-first FDLP has created new opportunities for collaborative stewardship and underscores the importance of partnerships across libraries, government agencies, and cultural organizations to ensure long-term access to public information.²⁰ The establishment of NCSAs has grouped depository libraries into four regions to coordinate access, retention, and planning efforts. Through the NCSA Steering Committee, the Illinois Library participates in shaping the collective future of federal information services in its region.

Professional organizations also play a vital role in supporting the evolving needs of government information librarians. The Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) of the American Library Association (ALA) provides forums for collaboration, professional development, and advocacy. Local and regional networks also support these efforts. For example, the Illinois Library is an active member of the Northeastern Illinois Documents Librarians (NIDL), a group dedicated to resource sharing, communication, and professional development for those working with government information.²¹

Partnerships with GPO offers additional avenues for engagement. Initiatives such as the Preservation Steward program and opportunities to serve as Digital Content Contributors or Digital Access partners enable libraries to support preservation and digital access infrastructure. As a recipient of several limited-distribution print titles, the Illinois Library is uniquely positioned to support preservation of materials that are no longer widely distributed. Although the Illinois Library is not currently designated as a Preservation Steward, participating in these programs remains a valuable opportunity that aligns with its existing strengths.

Collaborative efforts outside of library organizations also demonstrate the increasing importance of civic engagement and preservation of public knowledge. Major initiatives such as the End of Term (EOT) Web Archive and the Data Rescue Project represent large-scale responses to at-risk government information.²² More recently, projects such as Tracking Government Information (TGI), which documents the scope of modified or removed federal information, have added to this preservation landscape.²³ The Illinois Library’s government information librarian’s participation in TGI reflects the important contributions that individual librarians can make to national transparency and accountability efforts.

Emerging Technologies

Alongside these collaborative efforts, rapid technological advancements are transforming how government information is created, discovered, and preserved. Rapid developments in technology are reshaping how government information is created, shared, discovered, and preserved. These transformations present new opportunities for enhancing access and analysis, but they also introduce challenges around transparency, accessibility, and credibility.

Some government agencies are actively using AI tools to improve public services and internal processes. Examples
include automated mail sorting in the US Postal Services,
AI-powered customer service systems in New York City, and a state government initiative using AI to help citizens search
over a million pages of documents.²⁴ These implementations illustrate how AI is reshaping the management and delivery of government information. At the same time, commercial platforms are increasingly integrating AI to personalize searches, raising new challenges for identifying and accessing authoritative public content.

These developments are reshaping how users interact with government content, often making it harder to identify credible sources or causing authoritative materials to be overlooked. Limited transparency, biased data, and uneven implementation can result in misinformation or exclusion.²⁵ Together, these challenges underscore the growing need for government information professionals to teach critical evaluation skills and guide
users in navigating an increasingly complex information landscape.

Beyond AI, government agencies are collecting and working with increasingly large and complex datasets across areas such as public health, economics, education, and the environment. These datasets are often made available through public-facing portals, dashboards, or APIs, offering new opportunities for users to interact with information. However, the formats, platforms, and technical requirements for accessing this information can vary widely. As a result, users may need guidance not only in finding these sources but also in understanding how to interpret and apply them.

In addition, many agencies are implementing dynamic and visual tools such as interactive maps, data visualizations, and custom dashboards to make government information more accessible and engaging. While these tools can enhance understanding by highlighting spatial relationships, they may also obscure context or simplify complex issues, highlighting the need for continued instruction in data literacy and critical analysis.

Conclusion

The role of the FDLP and government information librarianship has undergone significant transformation in response to ongoing shifts in the publishing landscape, institutional infrastructure, and user expectations. The move from print to digital formats has not only altered how government information is produced and distributed but also how it is accessed, preserved, and supported. As more content becomes born-digital and is hosted across a range of decentralized platforms, the responsibilities of government information professionals have shifted accordingly, placing greater emphasis on instruction, outreach, discovery, and digital stewardship.

The case of the Illinois Library illustrates how one academic institution has navigated these changes by adapting its staffing, services, and organizational structures to better serve evolving user needs. The decline in print distribution and cataloging responsibilities has led to new collaborative models, with librarians closely working across departments to address access and metadata challenges. Instruction has expanded to encompass a broader disciplinary range and a more complex information environment, while outreach efforts reflect growing awareness of civic literacy, public engagement, and the value of government information in everyday life.

At the same time, the digital shift introduces challenges that cannot be overlooked. Issues of discoverability, preservation, and equitable access persist, particularly for non-traditional formats and at-risk content. These concerns underscore the continued importance of professional collaboration, both locally and nationally, and the need for libraries to play and take an active role in shaping the infrastructure and policies that support long-term public access.

As the information landscape continues to evolve, government information professionals must not only adapt to change but also guide it through collaboration and innovation. Their expertise positions them to strengthen discovery systems, advocate for equitable digital access, and advance preservation policies that protect the public record. By continuing to champion transparency, civic engagement, and cooperation, librarians can ensure that government information remains accessible, meaningful, and central to an informed democracy.

Sanga Sung (ssung@illinois.edu), Government information Librarian, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign Library

Notes

1. “FDLP Basic Collection: Core US Government
   Resources—About the FDLP,” Government Publishing Office, https://libguides.fdlp.gov/fdlp-basic-collection/about-the-fdlp.
2. “US Federal Depository Library Program,” US
   Department of the Interior, https://www.doi.gov/library/collections/federal-documents.
3. US Government Printing Office, Designation Handbook for Federal Depository Libraries (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 2008), 7, https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/LPS100554.
4. US Superintendent of Documents. Official List of
   Depository Libraries Consisting of Designated, Geological,
   and Official Gazette Depositories, Corrected to January
   1, 1909 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1909), 9, https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GOVPUB-GP3-1905f325384d726383926ec11fbade43; Phineas Windsor to August Donath, August 8, 1912, in University
   Librarian’s Office Papers, University of Illinois Archives, Urbana, Illinois.
5. “United States and Illinois Government Documents
   Collection,” University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign Library, https://www.library.illinois.edu/collections/statements/government/.
6. Mary S. Laskowski and Jennifer A. Maddox Abbott,
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   Technical Services Quarterly 33, no. 1 (2016): 1-13,
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7. “Government Docs Library Closing,” University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign Library, https://www.library.illinois.edu/news/gdlclosing/.
8. “Cataloging Toolbox for US Federal Government
   Information,” Government Documents Round Table,
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   6020568.
9. Laurie B. Hall to Cataloging Record Distribution
   Program Contact, August 15, 2024, in “Cataloging
   Record Distribution Project, US Government Publishing Office, https://fdlp.gov/file-repository-item/letter-crdp-libraries-about-ending-service.
10. “Digital FDLP Implementation,” US Government Publishing Office, https://www.fdlp.gov/project/digital-fdlp-implementation.
11. US Government Publishing Office, Feasibility of a Digital Federal Depository Library Program: Report of the GPO Director’s Task Force, 2022, 6, https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo246284.
12. “The National Collection of US Government Public
    Information,” US Government Publishing Office,
    https://fdlp.gov/about-the-fdlp/the-national-collection.
13. “FDLP Mission, Vision, & Values,” US Government Publishing Office, https://fdlp.gov/about/mission/fdlp-mission-vision-and-values.
14. Barbie Selby, “Age of Aquarius—The FDLP in the
    21st Century,” Government Information Quarterly 25,
    no. 1 (2008): 38-47, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2007.09.002.
15. Claudene Sproles and Angel Clemons, “The Migration
    of Government Documents Duties to Public Services:
    An Analysis of Recent Trends in Government Documents Librarian Job Advertisements,” The Reference Librarian 60, no. 2 (2019): 83-92, https://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2019.1570419.
16. US Government Printing Office, FDLP Users Speak: the Value and Performance of Libraries Participating in the
    Federal Depository Library Program, 2011, https://purl.fdlp.gov/GPO/gpo11922.
17. Karen Hogenboom, “Going Beyond .gov: Using
    Government Information to Teach Evaluation of Sources,” portal: Libraries and the Academy 5, no. 4 (2005): 455-466, https://doi.org/10.1353/pla.2005.0052.
18. Sanga Sung and Alexander Deeke, “Government
    Information Use by First-Year Undergraduate Students:
    A Citation Analysis,” Evidence Based Library and
    Information Practice 20, no. 3 (2025): 42–64. https://doi.org/10.18438/eblip30816.
19. Nancy Kranich, “Civic Literacy: Reimagining a Role for Libraries,” The Library Quarterly 94, no. 1 (2024): 4-34, https://doi.org/10.1086/727809.
20. Sellby, 43.
21. “NIDL—Northeastern Illinois Documents Librarians,” Illinois Institute of Technology Libraries, https://guides.library.iit.edu/nidl.
22. “End of Term Web Archive,” End of Term Web Archive, https://eotarchive.org/; “Data Rescue Project,” Data
    Rescue Project, https://www.datarescueproject.org/.
23. “Tracking Government Information (TGI)”, Tracking Government Information, https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/trackinggovinfo.
24. Hila Mehr, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, Artificial Intelligence for Citizen Services and Government, 2017, 5-8, https://creatingfutureus.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Mehr-2017-AIforGovCitizenServices.pdf.
25. Helen Margetts and Cosmina Dorobantu, “Rethink Government with AI,” Nature 568, no. 7751 (2019): 164-165, https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01099-5.