GOVERNMENT INFORMATION is a term used to categorize any information disseminated by a government agency. As such, material produced by government bodies at the local, state, federal, and international level, in addition to government-funded institutions and organizations, are all considered government documents.
U.S. Code (44 U.S.C. 1901) defines a government document as "...informational matter which is published as an individual document at government expense or as required by law.” Every governmental division produces documents, images, or artifacts that belong to the citizens of the United States and can be accessed through a variety of means online, by written request, through the Freedom of Information Act [FOIA], or by walking into many institutions and using their libraries or other resource station.
They range from data and statistics, books, maps, articles, databases, laws and regulations, patents and trademarks, to current and historical publications dating to the formation of the United States.
They are published in all formats - paper, microform, and electronic.
For research, instruction, innovation, business, innovation and enterpreneurship, community service, civic engagement, or personal life.
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The Rice University Fondren Library has been a Federal Depository Library since March 23,1967. The service is managed by Kelley Center for Government Information.
It is always best to contact the Kelley Center before visiting in-person; FDLP staff may not be available to assist you due to previous engagements. Please call (713) 348-5483 or email govhelp@rice.edu for an appointment, so we may prepare for your visit. We are located in Fondren Library's basement.
To locate the library and visitor parking lots, visit the Rice University campus maps webpage.
The best visitor parking lots for accessing Fondren Library are Founder's Court Lot (credit card payment only) or Central Campus Garage (cash and credit card payment).
View current parking rates and the facilities on this webpage.
Rice parking department: (713) 348-2020
Physical address for Rice University: 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005
Visit this online research guide to find more government publications on this topic: https://libguides.rice.edu/IndependenceDay,
or check out Guides by Special Topics to find government publications on other topics.
Through Government Information Online (GIO) you can ask government information librarians questions on almost any subject from aardvarks to zygomycosis. GIO is a free online information service supported by libraries that participate in the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Federal Depository Library Program. Many are also official depository libraries for other types of governments and public agencies.