About Government Information Resources Definition Government information is any information printed or released electronically at government expense or by the authority of a government agency. In subject, this information covers every aspect of life, just as commercial information does. In format, government information appears as books, pamphlets, periodicals, maps, posters, videos, CD-Roms, and most recently as online files via the Internet.
Government information released in a physical format is known as government documents.
U.S. Documents in the Mary Couts Burnett Library are shelved as a separate collection. They are arranged on the shelves by a special classification system known as the Superintendent of Documents classification by which materials are grouped by issuing agency. A detailed explanation of this system is available on the library website. Many U.S. documents are distributed on microfiche, and these are filed in special cabinets in the documents stacks. Selected U.S. documents are released on CD-ROM or on floppy disk.