GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS AND THE BUSINESS LIBRARY
The United States Government is the leading publisher of accurate and
reliable information bearing upon all kinds of business activities.
No question should ever be investigated or data collected by a
business firm without taking into consideration the valuable sources
of government information on that particular subject. The "Youroveta
Review," in its March, 1919 issue, says:
"It is not only safety and accuracy in the performance of its regular
duties, but also expansion and development at which a progressive firm
is aiming; and this can be attained only when the business is analyzed
from all aspects of practical interest, when the horizon is being
constantly searched, and endeavors are made to explore new commercial
avenues."
Studies of mineral, oil and gas deposits, tests of boiler and furnace
efficiencies, analyses and tests of fuels, production of crops and
cattle, labor problems, electrolysis, standards for gas and electric
service, foreign trade, water power and statistics of all industrial
activities, constitute a few of the subjects on which the government
periodically reports.
The daily paper called "Commerce Reports," which gives reports and
business tips on trade and industrial conditions, gathered by American
Consular officers at their respective posts throughout the world, is an
invaluable periodical for business men in this after-the-war period of
trade development.
The United States Shipping Board has issued a valuable series of free
pamphlets in the interest of export trade, some of which are:
World Trade; A List of Books on World Trade.
Selection of Books on Foreign Languages.
Ships and the Ocean; A List of Books on Ships, Commerce
and The Merchant Marine.
Foreign Countries; A List of Books on Foreign Countries.
Many practical illustrations could be given, if space permitted, of the
use made by business firms of government publications. For example, a
large mail order house made a decision, based on consulting the Weather
Bureau's temperature records in the different sections of the country
for a range of years, as to what date would be best for sending out,
to various districts, advance catalogs advertising summer and winter
wearing apparel; while an engineering firm, designing a gas holder to
be erected in a northern city, decided on the factor of safety to be
adopted against the lowest possible temperature, by consulting the
weather reports for the lowest temperatures which prevailed in that
section for a long range of years.
How to Procure Government Documents
To keep thoroughly informed on the large body of constantly growing
data issued by the government, to know how to procure it without delay
and apply to a specific problem is no small accomplishment, and this is
one of the important reasons why the business man needs the assistance
of a trained library worker. The average business man gets mentally
lost in the thick woods of government documents; he either does not
know which department or bureau of the government can give the specific
information he desires, or he does not know how to procure, in the
shortest time, desired data which he knows the government has on file.
[Illustration: Every business librarian should read these two monthly
lists regularly]
The best way for the business man to find out what information is
in print and can be procured for his personal use, is to write
direct to each department, or special bureau, for the catalog of
their available publications. For example, the Bureau of Foreign and
Domestic Commerce issues a catalog of Bureau publications which is
described as a "review of information available to manufacturers and
exporters in the bulletins issued by the Bureau." The Navy Department
issues an "Index to Specifications for Naval Stores and Material"
which is very useful to many classes of business men who are drawing
up specifications for the purchase of various kinds of material. The
list of publications of the United States Geological Survey is a most
valuable guide in procuring bulletins on water power and irrigation,
mines and mineral resources, as well as important papers on economic
geology, namely, oil, gas and other useful minerals. The United States
Bureau of Standards, the Bureau of Census, the Bureau of Mines, all
publish catalogs of papers issued by them, which are of the greatest
possible value to business men. These bureaus, in addition to their
printed catalogs, issue supplemental lists of new publications each
month and the "Monthly Catalog of United States Public Documents,"
issued monthly, price fifty cents per year, obtainable from the
Superintendent of Documents, also gives a list of all the publications
of all departments of the government issued each month.
[Illustration: Two samples of the forty-four price lists of documents
issued by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.]
The Superintendent of Documents issues free of charge, forty-four
lists of documents, for sale by his office, on certain subjects, such
as Roads, Labor, Foreign Relations of the United States, Finance,
Transportation, etc. A complete list of these subjects can be found
in Swanton's Guide to United States Government Publications (Bureau
of Education Bulletin 1918, No. 2), page 127, obtainable from
Superintendent of Documents at twenty cents per copy. This guide is
a most useful compilation as it describes briefly the work of each
department of the government and kind of publications issued by them,
stating where they can be obtained and what classes of publications are
free and what are for sale.
[Illustration: Cover of Guide to United States Government Publications]
Government publications which ordinarily may be obtained free by
applying direct to the Bureau issuing them, if out of stock may often
be bought from the Superintendent of Documents. The Superintendent
of Documents requires that all publications ordered from him be paid
for in advance, and this involves some difficulty, as often a man
does not know how much money to send to procure the publication, if
he has not seen the price quoted. Some business libraries, to save
delay in ordering, deposit twenty-five dollars in advance with the
Superintendent of Documents against which the cost of documents ordered
can be charged. The old idea of procuring publications through a
Congressman or Senator is the poorest kind of method of obtaining what
is wanted in a hurry, for many government documents will not cost the
business firm anything and those for which a charge is asked cost a
very small price. The Superintendent of Documents sells coupons which
may be sent in payment for documents ordered from his office. The
disadvantage of the coupon method of purchasing is that the buyer must
know in advance the price of the documents in order to send the correct
amount in coupons.
Some of the departments of the government issue advance mimeographed
sheets of information and will also give out, in advance of printing,
data on file in the department to firms which make special request for
it, and have also been known to reply promptly to telegraphic requests.
Some of the bureaus of the government have district offices in a few
of the large cities of the United States, for example, district
offices of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Weather Bureau,
etc., which are of great service in obtaining data in a hurry, and
the business man should ascertain the resources of his city in this
respect. He should also not forget to use the collection of government
documents at his Public Library when he wants to use publications of
which he cannot obtain a copy for his own immediate needs. Some of the
smaller public libraries do not have their government documents fully
cataloged and immediately available so that the business man must not
infer, because he cannot find certain government information at his
public library, that it does not exist.
State Documents
The individual states of the United States also publish valuable
documents through their state boards and commissions with which it is
well for the business man to be acquainted. Many of the individual
states have similar boards and commissions which report annually or
biennially, both in bulletins and regular reports, such as state
engineer, state geologist, state mining department, state insurance
department, state experiment station, bureau of labor and industrial
statistics, state public utilities commissions and special commissions
created to deal with any particular problems or industries, peculiar
to the individual state. The best guide available to current state
publications is the "Monthly List of State Publications" published
by the Library of Congress, fifty cents per year. The chief drawback
in the use of this list is that it is always several months behind
in being published, as is also the "Monthly Catalog of United States
Public Documents." The current trade periodicals often note the issue
of any important state publications more promptly and are a great aid
in keeping up to date on this information. Public Affairs Information
Service, a cumulated index published by H. W. Wilson Company, New
York City, and which is noted more fully in a subsequent chapter on
Reference Books, lists a number of state publications of value.
REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL READING
=Fairfax, Virginia=
Pamphlets and clippings in the business library; pamphlet printed by
Journal of Electricity, San Francisco.
=Kaempffert, Waldemar=
Putting Uncle Sam to work. McClure's magazine Dec. 1916, p. 11.
=Reinick, W. R.=
Public documents as a commercial factor. Special libraries Nov. 1913,
p. 175-77.
=Rogers, S. L.=
Value of statistics to business (census bureau). Manufacturers' record
Oct. 23, 1919, p. 34-35.
=Ulm, A. H.=
What the census bureau can tell you about business. Printers' ink
monthly May 1920, p. 37-38.