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 over 150 years ago 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. The agency produces the Congressional Record, Federal Register, the nation’s passports, and other Federal Government documents. It also maintains the Federal Depository Library Program to ensure public libraries nationwide have access to Federal published information.
About the authors:
- GovBookTalk: 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.
- GPOBookstore: My name is Michele Bartram, and while relatively new to GPO as the head of promotions for GPO’s online bookstore, I am returning to the Federal Government after years in marketing and ecommerce in the private sector. My first round in Government, I had the opportunity to pitch and build the original web site for the United States Mint, along with an education site, and online store. I grew up in a house of books, and reading is my passion, although I now enjoying perusing both print and digital publications. My interests are in current affairs and Federal programs, which makes it very exciting to learn about the wonderful work done by our fellow Federal agencies!
About our blog software: GPO uses WordPress, a free blog software provider with which we have an agreement, to operate our blog, but the content belongs to us.
If you have thoughts about a post, more information about a topic, or ideas about books to discuss, let us know. We 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!
Would be great to see more useful tools for children’s book writers.
A very well written and informative post, thanks very much
nice blog you have here, come and visit me someday if you want, cheers
How long has the GPO Online bookstore been in operations?
Tony- Here’s the lowdown on the Online Bookstore. The first ecommerce site went live in 2000, and received its current dark blue graphical facelift in 2006.
You will be happy to know that today we are launching the beta website of our brand new U.S. Government Bookstore at http://newbookstore.gpo.gov/!
It will live at this temporary URL while it is in beta review… Afterwards, it will replace our current online bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov/,
Check it out and tell us what you think!!!
Thank you for this lens very interesting
In our country GPO means general post office. Government printing office is a extremely a valuable printing industry. It is secured. On line bookstores should open all the books for world wide people. No restriction would apply here.
Yes, I agree that the American public should be kept abreast with what’s going on. I don’t know if the entire public would necessarily care but at least they couldn’t complain that the resources aren’t there!
I can relate with Jim Cameron, in that I too have a thousand books! As both an English literature major and a student teacher, I’ve had the priviledge of reading a lot of good texts. While I mainly enjoy and appreciate historical and classical texts, I think the public needs to have better access to government publications. As it stands, the general public seems to only read the bestseller’s list, which is populated entirely with young adult reads, and celebrity autobiographies. Thanks for the info!
Providing better access to Federal Government publications is what the Government Printing Office is all about! Thanks for the comment! Michele Bartram
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can be of assistance to me. Thank you
Hello there, that is a great read. It always fantastic when someone takes some time to inform, as you have.
Good job done by the admin and thanks for the posting good quality content.
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Hello, you used to write magnificent, but the last several posts have been kinda boring… I miss your great writings. Past several posts are just a bit out of track! come on!
Sorry you aren’t enjoying our recent posts. We are expanding to use a number of bloggers within GPO and our library community to showcase different styles and points of view.
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I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already Cheers!
Thanks for all your efforts that you have put in this About Government Book Talk Very interesting info. “The more I live, the more I think that humor is the saving sense.” by Jacob August Riis.
Excuse my stupidity, but I can’t seem to find your sites rss feeds. Mind directing me to it? Thanks.
Bobbi- No problem! Just click on the tab at the top of our blog that says RSS Feeds and click on the following link: http://govbooktalk.wordpress.com/feed/
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Strong writing!
Heya just wanted to give you a quick heads up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading correctly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue. I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same outcome.
Noemi: Thanks! Can you tell me what specific blog post page you were on when you encountered the image loading problem?
Hello! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m definitely enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
Another department at the Government Printing Office manages our GPO Twitter feed. To follow GPO’s Twitter feed, visit https://twitter.com/#!/usgpo
I think it’s great that you guys are taking advantage of the power of WordPress.
I just started using it for my company and I can’t say I’m disappointed! Cheers
it’s just great
you are amazing!
Thanks! You made our day!
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What book would you recommend to read if im interested in learning about government conspiracies? I want to read a factual and accurate book, hopefully something written by a renowned author. Thank you so much
Unfortunately, that isn’t a topic we carry on our bookstore. I would recommend going to one of the prominent online booksellers and reading their customer reviews and ratings for books of this topic. Hopefully you’ll find what you’re looking for…
Muchos Gracias for your blog article.Thanks Again. Really Great.
Thanks a lot for the blog.Much thanks again. Will read on…
If a company chooses to use the comma before “Inc.” in its name, we ensure that it is included after as well: “Acme Example, Inc., is a sample company.” When parentheses follow the name, should the comma still appear after?
“Acme Example, Inc. (Acme), is a sample company”
or
“Acme Example, Inc. (Acme) is a sample company.”
Thank you!
Cahdi: Thanks for your question. I consulted our Style Manual guru at GPO who replied:
So there you have it. Government style rules allow you freedom to choose which method you prefer.
Cheers, GPO
Yes can I also ask if I can copy any work from G.P.O?
Below is a good explanation of Federal Government copyright policy:
A work of the United States government, as defined by United States copyright law, is “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. government as part of that person’s official duties.”[1] The term only applies to the work of the federal government, including the governments of “non-organized territorial areas” under the jurisdiction of the U.S Government,[2] but not state or local governments.
In general, under section 105 of the Copyright Act,[3] such works– including blog posts– are not entitled to domestic copyright protection under U.S. law, sometimes referred to as “noncopyright.”
However, many publications of the U.S. Government contain protectable works authored by others (e.g., photos or drawings, patent applications, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, public comments on regulations), and this rule does not necessarily apply to the creative content of those works. Thus, you must check each publication and work produced by GPO to ascertain whether it is public domain or some other copyright protection status.
I would name your blog the dreamland! While Santa knocks at our door just once per year, you blog is open the whole year – wow!
Hi Michelle, love your writing syle – so easy to read.
How long and where were you in Spain?
Vincent- Gracias por los cumplidos… (Thanks for the compliments). I lived and worked in marketing in Spain for about 5 years in sunny Sevilla. I still miss the tapas!
Felices Fiestas, Michele
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My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find many of your post’s to be precisely what I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content in your case? I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on a number of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome website!
I was going to post, but someone beat me to it:
ARE WORDS AT BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE SUPPOSED TO READ “THEME CONTEMPT” INSTEAD OF “THEME CONTENT”?
Thanks for the clarification.
Awesome thoughts! Really well written.. check out my Political blog..you might really appreciate it. PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT!! I would love to hear from you
Dave- It is ironic, but true. The WordPress theme that was selected by my predecessor for the Government Printing Office blog is called “Contempt.” (They substituted the custom book image for the header.) It certainly gave me a chuckle when I first saw it! Thanks for pointing it out and for the compliments…
Hi from Nambour, Australia. My name is Nicky. I am a nineteen year old law student. I stumbled across this blog when I was doing some research for my university assignment. Thanks for your work. I now have a lot more direction.
This is a great idea, but I would like to see links on the side for the most used tags, and also RSS feeds for those tags only (for example, I am only interested in education documents). Or it would at least be useful to be able to search the posts, if nothing else.
In the course of eternal fight between good & evil power, many interesting stories remain hidden beyond our conscious knowledge. Those hidden facts, when are brought to light, become useful for the followers of the good, act as a source of inspiration for them.
In the light of this view, I would always love to appreciate such publication. May I expect such publication here from or should I’ve to search anywhere else?
Love to all.
Cheers!
Ripon #
Thanks for publicizing these fantastic government documents, with thoughtful and well-written reviews.
Feel free to publicize any digitized versions of older documents too as they become available, though is there any funding for that kind of digitization? There’s no shortage of high-quality material!
Thanks, Craig. We do try to mix up older and newer publications. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
GPO Comrades: Do you have anything on your website that outlines the history of who, when and where NASA satellites are used to detect oil and other natural resources for government and private industry?
The mainstream corporate media as a shining example of antitrust laws being trampled through selective enforcement and in duplicitous protection of propaganda ministries, rarely if ever mentions that Central Africa and the Congo are zones for systematic systemic genocide.
Under the CIA Torture Paradigm and employed tactics, techniques and technologies used for affecting counterintelligence reverse measures, both sides of the created resulting conflicts are being funded by blackops components within our own government.
These crimes against humanity includes using gang rape and mutilation as a weapon against men, women, children, and infants. It was difficult for me to believe that the nation of my birth that has twice seen my blood in her defense is actually the greatest terrorist threat facing the world today.
Certainly you are aware that the agenda of Corporatism is to process the total aggregate of the world into a commodity.
Often this global plantation model is employed codependently with Pentagon Colonization, which recognizes 730 U.S. military bases positioned on the soil of over 130 sovereign foreign nations. No other nation has a military base on U.S. soil. The major export of the United States is military hardware, bombs and perpetual wars for profit veiled as American democracy.
Lest we forget while our citizen are slowly expiring within an unseen American Holocaust brought by the treasonous Congressional Capos, that it is these very same parasites who have converted the United States into a Virtual Death Camp Environment with thirty years of failed trickle down Reaganomics.
No matter our social differences or politics, we the people need not look down for our enemies who are not our neighbors, we only need to look up to the anti-American jackals sniffing the rectums of treason on Capitol Hill.
Bob Levin for Congress 2012, Oregon’s 1st Congressional District
Bob Levin, Investigative Journalist/FBI Whistleblower
http://www.BobLevin.org
Is there a PDF of NASA’s old brand guidelines available online? See this link for info on what I’m talking about http://www.iainclaridge.co.uk/blog/?p=3672
There is no .pdf of the NASA Graphics Standards Manual (January 1976), however, it is available in a library.
See this listing in WorldCat.
There is an indication that the manual is numbered NHB 1430.2 so you might have an interest in the 1983 version of that publication which can be found in multiple libraries and online:
WorldCat listing
NASA listing
I’m your new fanpage, Can you have a bottom of “Like” or “Share”?
That is easier for share in my Facebook, Thank you.. ^_^
Thanks! we’re working on a Share with facebook feature. I’ll let everyone know when it’s ready.
Hi, In the country where I come from it is actually normal for family libraries to contain thousands of volumes – with many rare books among the totaliy, I have an over a century old copy of Platos Apology of Socrates in German, typed in a gothic script and all that. My question is, however, have you published any monographs or materials about pre-WWI foreign affairs or United States foreign policy during the belle epogue?
I can’t think of much in the recent past. Of course, the Foreign Relations of the U.S. series has been produced by the State Department for many years. here’s a link: http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/fruslinc.html#list
Two questions: 1) How can my office sell our quarterly publication via the GPO Bookstore? I work for the Department of Defense. 2) Would you know if any government publications are made available for sale on the Kindle or i-Pad?
You can contact me at jcameron@gpo.gov or call me at 202-512-1709 and I can explain how to get your publicaiton into the GPO sales Program. We are making a number of titles available as eBooks and we can discuss this, too.
When will the GPO start making ALL it’s documents available to the public in electronic form, or at least as pdf files? You know… the 21st Century and all that. This is ridiculous.
To best answer your inquiry, here’s some historical background information. In 1993, Congress passed the U.S. Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act (Public Law 103-40), which expanded GPO’s mission to provide electronic access to Federal Government information. This legislation required GPO to provide the following:
1. Online Federal Register and Congressional Record; other applications determined by Superintendent of Documents
2. A Federal information locator
3. Electronic Storage Facility for Federal Information
4. Federal Bulletin Board (included by Senate Report)
In response to this legislation, in June 1994, GPO launched GPO Access, which provides electronic access to about 100 collections of Government information.
In January 2009 GPO unveiled the next generation of Government information online with its Federal Digital System (FDsys).
File formats for each publication that we provide electronic access to are made available based on the file formats that are provided to GPO by Congress and Federal agencies. GPO does not have control over these formats. Certain publications that are published by Federal agencies and Congress are not provided to GPO for electronic dissemination, only print.
As GPO works to improve its Federal Digital System, we are very interested in public feedback concerning available resources. If there is a particular Government publication that you would like to access in electronic form, please send us your suggestions through our askGPO system at http://gpo.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/gpo.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php.
I’m a student at S.I.U. in Carbondale,IL. but I’m also a retired U.S.Army veteran.And I’m in school to be a Military History Teacher,I’m getting ready to start my student teaching.Can you send me some copies of anything you have on the History of the U.S., from the years 1600 to present.I would love you if you could help me out.
Thanks for your interest. Unfortunately, we are chartered only to sell Government publications to the public, not do free distribution. You might want to try the Federal Depository Library program, which makes Government publications available for free use in more than 1,200 libraries nationwide. here’s a link through which you can locate a library near you: http://catalog.gpo.gov/fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp
Hello,
Our ministry is starting a program of for local groups to help them be better prepared during times of catastrope. My question is can we legally provide government survival publications etc with our group distribution kits.
Thanks for any help in advance.
Most Federal Government publications are in the public domain and can be used however you see fit. If in doubt, you can always contact the issuing agency directly to see if there are any issues with your using them.
WOW,
Now that is great and expedient service in action. Thank you for your quick reply. I noticed on your board earlier that you were looking for a way to utilize a like/dislike function. Have you checked to see if there is a plug-in or widget for this function. I’ll keep an eye out and if I come across one I’ll pass you the link.
Once again thanks for your help.
Shane
Hello ! are there any gov. publications, probably in the field of Transportation, concerning the valuation of Billboards ? Billboards often are impacted by road and bridge projects, and my research to date indicates that the valuation of Billboards is at the discretion of each state’s Department of Transportation. The USDOT may have a uniform procedure and if so, I would need to know what it is. Thank you very much for your excellent work. Bernadette Pasqua, Realty Specialist, NJDOT
Bernadette:
The major DOT source I found for billboards is at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/realestate/oacprog.htm. It looks pretty comprehensive, although I haven’t reviewed it to see if valuation is touched upon. I hope this helps.
How do you select the books you feature on GovBookTalk? May I submit publications for your consideration?
Donna – Our primary rule of thumb is to feature content produced by the Federal government. As the Government Printing Office, we happen to have printed most of it, which makes it easier to actually have physical copies in front of us when we write our reviews.
We welcome any suggestions you may have regarding Federal publications for consideration.
Thank you. How do I submit a publication? You may contact me offline to avoid unsolicited responses.
Is the GPO planning to (ever) provide it’s books as e.Books, or at least as .pdf files. My guess is that the book files have to be converted to pdf before they go to press; and if the purpose of the GPO is to disseminate this information as widely as possible—it seems like that would be a rather logical thing to do.
GPO is actively pursuing the conversion of some of the publications it sells to ebook formats. We are beginning the test phase and expect to have the first few conversions done soon. I’ll be announcing their advent here on Government Book Talk.
Question: My husband’s father was part of the intelligence community during WWII stationed in Morocco. We are currently packing up our home to move and we came across an old trunk. It contains some WWII-era documents that are classified. Richard had said (jokingly, or so I thought) that toward the end of the war he’d asked if he could destroy a pile of classified documents of no great importance. He was told “yes”, but only if he made 5 copies of each document first. In the end, he gave up. Not having anyone to hand them over to, he brought them home with him and squirreled them away. Clearly, these are those same documents. What do I do with them? Technically, they are US government property are they not? Thank you! D.
Dual Citizenship and Dual Passport are printing in there?
The Government Printing Office does print all U.S. passports and other materials pertaining to U.S. citizenship.
Is there anywhere I can actually purchase some of the items I see discussed on this site? I really enjoy this site and would like to own various titles.
Thanks
Sure. Go to http://bookstore.gpo.gov and you’ll find many of the titles I’ve been discussing — and a lot more!
To learn and share our mission how about knowledge in mountain4. Thanks and God bless our mission.
This is such a fun site to review each morning. Is it possible to add a “like” option just like Facebooks has or a smiley face or something so that I can say yep, I liked today’s post without having to submit a comment?
Hi, Sarah:
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve been combing through WordPress support and they don’t seem to have the “like” function that Facebook has. I may contact them about it – it would be good to have.
Will the blog posts keep coming to my email? I enjoy the blog, but don’t want to have to use a reader…I’d just like to keep reading the info via the email I already have to keep up with. Do I have to set something up to make sure the content will continue to be emailed to me?
Thanks for help on this.
Good question! I have just added a blog subscription block so you can have posts emailed to you. Thanks for the suggestion.
Here’s how GPO addresses this commonly asked question:
The intent of Title 17, Section 105, United States Code, is to place in the public domain all works of the United States Government, defined as works “prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties.”
This means that public documents can generally be reprinted without legal restriction. However, Government publications often contain certain copyright material which was used with permission of the copyright owner. Publication in a Government document does not authorize any use or appropriation of such copyright material without consent of the owner.
Since the Government Printing office serves as a printing and distribution agency for Government publications and has no jurisdiction over their content or subject matter, we suggest that you consult with the originating department or agency, or its successor, prior to the reprinting of any given publication.
What is the most direct and efficient method of determining who is the “originating department or agency”?
Many of the documents offered have no information that would indicate the originator.
For in-print titles sold by GPO, try http://bookstore.gpo.gov. There is a field in each individual record for the originating agency. For books we don’t sell, check the Catalog of Government Publications: http://catalog.gpo.gov. WorldCat may be of help for older titles.
can i copy any work from g.p.o.?or do i need permission.
Mr. Cameron,
Is there any reason why GPO publications are not sold in regular bookstores? A prohibition in law or regs?
Thanks.
Max Holland
Actually, commercial bookstores can sell Government publications. In the past, there have been some constraints that have limited us, but more recently we’ve been experimenting with more flexible terms and conditions. As a result, in a number of cases, at least one major bookstore chain has ordered books for resale. Let’s hope it’s a trend!
ARE WORDS AT BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE SUPPOSED TO READ “THEME CONTEMPT” INSTEAD OF “THEME CONTENT”?
Curiously enough, “Contempt” is actually the name of the template we’re using for the blog.
Would you please un-subscribe my email subscription service to Government Book Talk. Thank you very much.
Hi!
Should I get subscribed or get unsubscribed much before getting subscribed to this email subscription?
Ripon #
I’m afraid I don’t understand your question.
Would you please un-subscribe my subscription to Government Book Talk. Thank you very much.
We don’t maintain a subscription list for our blog. We did send out an announcement to those who have asked to be kept apprised of our publications, but you won’t automatically get blog posts from us unless you ask for them.