Welcome to the U.S. Government Printing Office’s (GPO) Government Book Talk! Our goal is to raise the profile of some of the best publications from the Federal Government, past and present. We’ll be reviewing new and popular publications, providing information about new publications in the offing, and talking about some out-of-print classics. The goal is to spotlight the amazing variety of Government publications and their impact on ourselves and our world – and have fun while doing it.
About the agency: GPO opened its doors on March 4, 1861 and is part of the legislative branch of the federal government. GPO employees have been Keeping America Informed on the documents of our democracy, in both printed and electronic form, for the last 150 years. The agency produces the Congressional Record, Federal Register, the nation’s passports, and other Federal Government documents.
About the blogger: My name is Jim Cameron (not the movie director). I’m a long-time GPO employee, working mainly for the agency’s publications sales program in the areas of writing, editing, and outreach, but I also have a good deal of experience with the Federal depository library side of the house. I’m a serious book person – my wife claims that I own several thousand books, but I’m sure that’s an exaggeration. My interests lie mainly in the areas of history and biography – perfect for someone involved with Government books.
But, as they say, enough about me. I’d like this online conversation to be as informative and enjoyable as one we’d have in a book club. If you have thoughts about a post, more information about a topic, or ideas about books to discuss, let me know. I see this blog not as a single voice, but as a community of book lovers, be those books print or electronic. Let the discussion begin!
govbooktalk
Trudy Hawkins
Government Book Talk 
What a wonderful idea! So many great Government pubs out there!
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Fantastic stuff!
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What a wonderful idea! I already love your style of writing, and can’t wait to “visit” with everyone from time to time. I agree that trying to find a particular document can be trying, and this is a great resource to get some guidance in plain English instead of “government speak”! I, myself, collect old books/documents produced by GPO. My favorite ones are the GPO Style Manuals and a 1925 Congressional Bill Style Manual. Congrats on a successful launch!
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Keep up the good work. So much info, so little time.
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[…] From the First Post Mr. Cameron writes: I’m a long-time GPO employee, working mainly for the agency’s publications sales program in the areas of writing, editing, and outreach, but I also have a good deal of experience with the Federal depository library side of the house. […]
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This is a great idea and should help with the concept “Documents to the People” and make folks more aware of what a wealth of information is available in our depositories
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The RSS feed for this site can be found at https://govbooktalk.wordpress.com/feed/, a link on the front page to it would be nice.
Jim – Thanks to you and GPO for doing this! This is a great way to fight the perception that all govdocs are dull.
If you run low on ideas in a given week, consider one of FGI/Govdoc-l items from the Best. Title. Ever. list at http://freegovinfo.info/best
Looking forward to what you have to come up with!
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Dan:
Thanks for the nice words. I’ve put up an RSS page with the link. It’s a learning curve. We hope to imrpove as we go along!
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Great idea. I’m a government information librarian and I recently started putting a government document of the week and government website of the week on my webpage. This week it happens to be a Canadian government document, but you can see the past entries on the Previous Highlights tab. http://libguides.wwu.edu/govinfo
And let me be the tenth to say: RSS feed.
Thanks.
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I agree with the others that this is a great idea! I know a lot of depositories do their own blogs on all things documents so it’s great to have this blog from GPO. this will be a great addition to provide the public and as additional info. for lib inst. classes when we want to give students a wider view of what all docs can cover.
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How do I get notices of new posts and blog entries?
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We’re looking into an RSS feed for those who want to keep track of our blog.
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I look forward to reviewing this site to see what types of information will be provided. I for one wish I could find a legitimate copy of the new health care reform, and the student loan programs just approved by the government. Any ideas?
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GPO has information on the health care reform effort via its Federal Digital System (FDsys) here. To purchase copies, check out our online bookstore special page.
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needs rss feed
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Thank you so much for the updates and I know the People in the office just love postive feedback:) I do love the idea of the rss feed. I can only imagian the office you have with all of your books I love my books I must have a custom book shelf made for all my specail and education books. Thanks for the letting us post. God Bless you and the Team
Michelle
USA
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Excellent idea! I was a librarian at a partial-depository library (medical library) so I know first-hand about all the really helpful pubs the government has for consumers about health.
I second the suggestion for older pubs of historical significance.
Have you considered an rss?
Thank you very much for this service!
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We hadn’t thought about an RSS feed, but we will.
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please notify me if an rss is established. i have relied extensively on u.s. gpo pubs for many years for both personal and professional purposes. thanks so much for setting up this discussion.
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not before time
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Wonderful idea. Thanks!
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Thank you for the notification. I would like to see older publications of historical signifacance brought back to life
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Thanks a lot for notifying me! I’m following with interest all your publications. This blog: great idea!!!
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I am very interested in this. It sounds like a good idea. Looking forward to seeing more.
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happy new year 2011 from cairo egypt
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Thank you for notifying me about this blog. There are sooooooo many publications that it is hard to make your way around and find the best. I look forward to your posts.
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This sounds interesting as I’m not too familiar with government publications. I look forward to following this.
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Thanks for the notification option.
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What a wonderful idea! So many great Government pubs out there!
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