Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government: Free, Educational Content from GPO for Children and Adults of all Ages

November 23, 2015

PrintIn 1999, the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) launched its educational website, Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids. This year, GPO redesigned and revitalized the site with all new content and features, and it is now available to the public as “Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government.”

The new site presents educational content on the workings of the U.S. Government and U.S. history, with a focus on civics. It features all new site content, a device-friendly infrastructure, and a modernized look and feel that has been optimized for an intuitive learning experience.

Ben’s Guide has three levels of Learning Adventures: Apprentice (ages 4-8), Journeyperson (ages 9-13), and Master (ages 14 and up). These represent the age ranges for the content but are also a historical reference to the longstanding apprentice program that is still in place at GPO today. The inspiration for the Ben character comes from Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), who was an apprentice and printer in the early days of our country. Although best known for being one of our Founding Fathers, he drafted and distributed historical documents during the early years of our Nation. He’s an important figure at GPO, too, and his legacy of publishing information truly lives on in what we do today.

A new, interactive game, Branch-O-Mania, is available, which is not only fun, but educational, and tests knowledge of the three branches of the U.S. Government. Educators, parents, and students can also access free, printable activities that include Word Searches and Crossword Puzzles for various age ranges. Check out the game and printables here. Also included is a site glossary that includes over 80 terms and definitions related to the U.S. Government, as used on the website.

In 2013, GPO signed an official partnership with the American Association of School Librarians (AASL). Under the terms of the partnership, AASL volunteer school librarians agreed to review the educational content on Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government for age-appropriateness. In addition, they utilized their expertise in curriculum development and educational initiatives to develop lesson plans to complement Ben’s Guide content.

Through ongoing communication and coordination with GPO, volunteers provided feedback on the educational content, called Learning Adventures, for the Apprentice, Journeyperson, and Master levels. They applied their knowledge of the presentation of information and instructional design to the specific age levels to improve and enhance comprehension of the material.

Select volunteers went the extra ‘knowledge’ mile and created lesson plans related to the content of Ben’s Guide. Educators can not only use the new Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government in an educational setting, but can also consult ready-made lesson plans to integrate into their course curriculum. These lesson plans follow a structured rubric that sets forth the elements, standards, scenario, overview, assessment, and instructional plan. Lesson plans submitted by volunteers were reviewed and vetted by AASL before being officially accepted and published.

The lesson plans are archived and available on Ben’s Guide and at the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner Lesson Plan Database site. The AASL lesson plans are arranged into three groups: grades K-5, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12. All of the lesson plans are freely-available to the public and can be accessed and incorporated into the classroom setting.

Be sure to check out the new Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government on your computer, tablet, or device of choice. Let us know what you think. We will continue to enhance the site by adding new content and design enhancements based on user feedback.

You can find other resources related to items featured in Ben’s Guide by clicking here or through any of these methods:

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Kelly Seifert is the Strategic Communications Coordinator for GPO’s Library Services & Content Management division.

 

 

 

 

Leave a Comment » | Children, Civics and Citizenship, Government Printing Office (GPO), Teachers and teaching | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

The Life & Death of JFK—A GPO Collection

November 19, 2015

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.“ –President John F. Kennedy

35_john_f_kennedy[1]

John F. Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States (1961-1963), the youngest man elected to the office. (Image source: whitehouse.gov)

Just as JFK’s purposeful idealism moved and shaped our nation, his November 22nd, 1963 assassination was a defining moment in American history.

Amid the aftershock of that dreadful day, President Lyndon B. Johnson directed an independent commission to investigate Kennedy’s death. In 1964, GPO employees proofed, printed, and bound the official President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, commonly known as the Warren Commission Report. Fascinating stories about the heavily secure production process and overwhelming public interest are presented in these two GPO videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoKPEVN7L1s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzyJyWBqd9E

JFK-Assassination_WARREN-COMMISSION-REPORTIn 2013, nearly 50 years after it was released to the public, GPO digitized the complete 889-page report and its 26 hearing volumes. The digitization effort was a very different task compared to the 235,000 report copies and nearly 5,600 sets of the hearings originally printed! The free digital edition of the Warren Commission Report is available online through GPO’s Federal Digital System.

In addition, GPO makes available a variety of Kennedy gov docs. Click over to the GPO Bookstore collection for Federal publications about the life of the slain 35th president and his momentous 1000 days in office. Works on the Cuban Missile Crisis, founding of the Peace Corps (proud RPCV here!), and NASA’s manned space program await you.

From 1960s print to modern day digital, GPO’s information products are a permanent tribute to a presidential legacy imprinted on the annals of U.S. history.

How do I obtain JFK publications?

You can find official John F. Kennedy publications by clicking here or through any of these methods:

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Our guest blogger is Chelsea Milko, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Public Relations Office.

Leave a Comment » | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Cold War, Commission report, Congress, Executive Branch, Presidents, The White House, U.S. History | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

Gettysburg—Battle, Speech & Gov Doc

November 18, 2015

024-005-00196-4On a chilled November morning, holding a hand-scrawled copy of a well-crafted oration, President Abraham Lincoln spoke those iconic words, “Four score and seven years ago…”

Before Lincoln even penned one line of his immortalized Gettysburg Address, delivered 152 years ago at the dedication of the cemetery for the fallen, so much had happened earlier that summer. National Park Service’s work Gettysburg National Military Park, authored by Frederick Tilberg, describes the events that spawned both battle and address.

The attack-counterattack stratagem of commanding generals Robert E. Lee of the Confederate Army and George Gordon Meade of the Union Forces resulted in three days of struggle, shelling, and shattered bodies. Both sides bore heavy losses. Columns of valorous cavalrymen became matted fields of fallen blue and gray. Pickett’s Charge, Little Round Top, and the High Water Mark of the Confederacy marked the gore and glory of the Gettysburg campaign.

The Alexander Gardner portrait of Lincoln, taken 4 days before the Gettysburg Address.

The Alexander Gardner portrait of Lincoln, taken 4 days before the Gettysburg Address (excerpt from publication).

What makes this publication so distinct is that it draws a wider circle around the conflict. Beyond the battlefield maneuvers and artillery fire, those hellish days in the Pennsylvania farmland left a whirl of aftereffects. The work touches upon the burden of care shouldered by the war-weary townspeople and the establishment of the burial ground.

Included within the narrative are quite a few examples from the great gallery of artwork inspired by daring infantry assaults and cannonade. The gallantry is dazzling in the famous cyclorama painting “The Battle of Gettysburg” by French artist Paul Philippoteaux that forms the book’s cover.

In his famed speech, President Lincoln carefully expressed the crisis—and unfinished work—that confronted a divided nation. As the author writes, “Lincoln gave meaning to the sacrifice of the dead—he gave inspiration to the living.” The deeds of battle and the words of an American president resonate today as they did so long ago.

How do I obtain this publication?

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Our guest blogger is Chelsea Milko, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Public Relations Office.

Leave a Comment » | Center of Military History, Civil War, U.S. Army | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

The Benefits of Service for Our Nation’s Veterans

November 10, 2015

Service. Courage. Honor. Healthcare. You certainly won’t see that last word—healthcare—on a Veterans Day parade banner. But it belongs there nonetheless. For one important way the U.S. Government honors military service is by providing its Veterans first-rate health benefits and services. It’s the care they have earned.

051-000-00254-7 Guiding our nation’s Veterans and their families through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) health benefits and services network—America’s largest integrated health care system—is a job for Health Care Benefits Overview 2015 Edition, Vol. 2. The 50-page booklet states: “Enrollment in the VA health care system provides Veterans with the promise that comprehensive health care services will be available when and where they are needed.” Now that’s a guarantee worth reading about!

A few neat facts from the benefits overview: VA serves more than 8 million Veterans each year. Coverage is immediate, travels with recipients, meets healthcare law standards, and surpasses quality and effectiveness measurements. And VA offers a free transportation program for Veterans who face challenges traveling to and from health care facilities.

Our Mission Page 34 (003)

Click on image to enlarge

Of course, the publication includes the standard cut-and-dry FAQs on basic eligibility requirements, enrollment, copays, Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage, and the like. The comprehensive medical benefits package available to Veterans doesn’t stop there. Information on services such as community living centers, medical foster homes, geriatric evaluation, and home telehealth is part of the VA’s silver plate of world-class care.

In a way, this publication functions a bit like a magazine advertising modern, digital services: Veterans Crisis Line, My HealtheVet, eBenefits gateway, and the Veterans Canteen Service all have attention-grabbing ads. It’s a smart strategy. Meeting vets on the interwebs and connecting them to their VA medical benefits package is a necessary update to the care they have earned.

One particular statement, from a full-page dangling dog tag advert on page 34 (image above), provides the perfect ending to this post: “Thank you for your service. Now let us serve you.”

How do I obtain this publication?

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Our guest blogger is Chelsea Milko, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Public Relations Office.

 

Leave a Comment » | Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

Understanding Memory Loss with Two NIH eBooklets

November 3, 2015

A recent National Institutes of Health-funded study found that out-of-pocket health care costs for dementia are greater than for any other disease. Such a serious disease with a serious price tag calls for comprehensive, accurate information to answer specific questions.

The NIH National Institute on Aging Alzheimer Disease Education and Referral Center (ADEAR, an appropriately reassuring acronym) has got you covered. Given that November is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, it’s a fitting time to peruse their two free eBooks—available in English and Spanish—on the topics of Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss.

9780160930157Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease

Forgetfulness happens to everyone. We all have those foggy moments when we misplace car keys or blank on a person’s name. When those occurrences worsen over time, a more serious problem may exist. This digital booklet plainly outlines AD causes, signs, treatment, research, and caregiver guidance. In addition, there’s a section on how to join clinical trials looking into prevention and treatment of AD and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Understanding Memory Loss

For those dealing with age-related cognitive degeneration, medical terminology can cause a cloud of confusion. This booklet, and as well as the publication above, contains a simplified “words to know” glossary. It also addresses signs of serious memory problems, provides tips for coping with cognitive decline, and lays out the difference between forgetfulness and real memory impairment.9780160930133

Maybe you’re a health professional searching for current information on cognitive health and memory loss. Maybe you’re a caretaker looking to educate a loved one on what to do when they have trouble remembering. The knowledge journey for memory loss sufferers and their support network is not easy—minds are astir with questions and hearts weigh heavy with concern. But it’s really good to know that important dementia research conducted by the U.S. Government is just a few clicks away.

How do I obtain these FREE downloadable eBooks?

Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Our guest blogger is Chelsea Milko, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Office of Public Affairs. 

Leave a Comment » | Department of Health & Human Services, Family, Health care, NIH | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins