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Introduction
Welcome to the gov docs student worker training
manual online. The purpose of this manual is to orient you to
your new job as a government documents student worker. This site
includes information about FSU guidelines for
student workers, an overview of the Government Documents collection,
information about the training you will receive and the kinds
of jobs you will be expected to do.
Lastly, we have included a glossary of commonly
used gov doc terms and a training checklist. Please click here
and print out a copy of the training checklist and mark it off
as training exercises are completed.
FSU Gov Doc and Maps Department
The Library serves as a depository for both the
State of Maryland and the Federal Government. The purpose of these
depository programs is to provide government information to the
public by distributing government documents to libraries across
the state and country.
The Ort Library collects approximately 32% of all
federal documents produced and 100% of state documents. The documents
come in a variety of formats including print, online or electronic,
microfiche, CD-ROM, and DVD. The Library also
maintains a large collection of government issued maps. Increasingly
government information is being distributed in electronic format
only.
The Federal documents are arranged using a unique
classification system called SuDoc numbers and are housed on Floor
2 in the Government Documents area. This numbering system is basedon
the issuing agency of the publication (e.g. A = Department of
Agriculture). You will learn more about the SuDoc system later.
The Maryland documents are mostly cataloged using
the Library of Congress system and are housed in the Stacks (Floors
4 and 5). However, some Maryland documents are housed in cabinets
along the back wall of the Government Documents area.
The maps use Library of Congress numbers and are
housed in map cases in the Government Documents area.
To get started, please read the next section about
employment guidelines.
Job Description
As a student worker in the Government Documents
Department, your duties will primarily consistof clerical type
activities. Basic duties include shelving and filing, typing,
making photocopies, shelf reading, and miscellaneous tasks as
assigned by the Government Documents Librarian. Skills needed
include basic computer and filing skills and attention to detail.
Expectations
We expect you to treat your employment at the Library
as you would a regular full-time professional job. This means
we expect you to show up to work on time, notify us if you cannot
come to work,treat others with courtesy and respect, etc. We expect
you to be attentive to your job so we do not allow any eating
or drinking in the Library, listening to music, or excessive socializing.
Scheduling
Your classes and college work have priority. Each
semester you must meet with the Government Documents Librarian
to determine your best working schedule. Please bring a copy of
your class schedule.
Timesheets
Timesheets must be filled in every two weeks. New
timesheet forms are put in your student mailbox every other Tuesday.
Your student mailbox is located in the bottom drawer of the Reference
Department File Cabinet. Please note that the total hours that
you are still able towork are circled on the top of your timesheet.
Timesheets are to be filled out using a decimal
system (e.g. 90 minutes of work is recorded as1.5 hours). FSU
payroll policy requires rounding down to the nearest tenth. If
you work 15 minutes, record your time as .2. Please use the following
chart to convert minutes to tenths:
|
Minutes
|
Tenths
|
|
6
|
.1
|
|
12
|
.2
|
|
18
|
.3
|
|
24
|
.4
|
|
30
|
.5
|
|
36
|
.6
|
|
42
|
.7
|
|
48
|
.8
|
|
54
|
.9
|
NOTE: It is important that
you sign your timesheet immediately as not doing so may delay
yourpaycheck if you do not work on the day they are turned in.
Absences
We expect you to treat your employment in the
Government Documents Department as you would any regular job.
Hence we expect you to show up to work and on time. Legitimate
absences are permitted. We ask that you call 687-4426 or 687-4887
to let us know if you are not coming to work. Two unexcused absences
may result in your dismissal.
Pay Periods
Employees are paid every two weeks on a Wednesday.
The pay period begins on a Wednesday and ends on a Tuesday two
weeks later. Direct Deposit is available for students with a local
direct deposit account. Paychecks are deposited the following
Wednesday. Checks may be picked up at the Payroll window (3rd
Floor, Hitchins Building).
Dismissal
Dismissal may result from one or more of the following:
1. Unsatisfactory job performance
2. Repeated tardiness
3. Two unexcused absences in one term.
Training
Our motto is "accuracy
is more important than speed."
The Library serves as both a Federal and MD
State Depository Library.
The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)
was established by Congress to ensure that the American public
has access to its Government's information. For over 130 years,
depository libraries have safeguarded the public's right to know
by collecting, organizing, maintaining, preserving, and assisting
users with information from the Federal Government. The Government
Printing Office provides Government information at no cost to
designated depository libraries throughout the country. These
depository libraries, in turn, provide local, no-fee access to
government information in all formats in an impartial environment
with professional assistance.
Click here
for more information on the FDLP.
Likewise, the MD Depository Program
was created by the Maryland State Legislature in 1982 with the
purpose of "ensuring that all Maryland residents would have
relatively easy access to state government information."
The State Library Resource Center located at the Pratt Library
in Baltimore was charged with administering the program and distributing
state documents to depositories across the state of Maryland.
Frostburg State University serves as western Maryland's state
depository. In 2002, the State Library Resource Center notified
the state's depositories that it was no longer able to fulfill
this function because of lack of funding from the legislature
and that state agencies were encouraged to mail documents directly
to the depositories.
All of the Federal Documents and Maps are located
on Floor 2 in the Government Documents area. Most MD
documents are located in the Stacks on Floors 4 and 5. Most documents
can be found using catalogUSMAI, our online catalog. Federal documents
are arranged using SuDoc numbers (see below).
SuDoc Numbers
One of your primary responsibilities as a government
documents student worker will be shelving and maintaining the
collection, it is important for you to understand how the SuDoc
numbering system works.
It is of critical importance
that you master how to shelve documents. A library is only useful
if someone can find what they are looking for. Government documents
come in all shapes and sizes and can be particularly challenging
to shelve and locate!
The SuDoc system can be a challenge to learn. The
following web sites were developed to help student workers learn
the SuDoc system. Please do the exercises at both sites then return
to this manual.
Practice Site # 1: Michigan
State University Learning SuDoc Call Numbers
Practice Site #2: University
of Miami SuDoc Exercise
For a more detailed overview of how the SuDoc numbering
system works click here.
Cart Exercise
Of course, the best way to learn anything is to
actually do it. To this end, we have arranged to have you practice
on a couple of carts of un-shelved documents. Please see either
Kate or Jennifer for your practice carts. As you go along please
don't hesitate to ask for assistance, we still get confused when
shelving documents!
A couple of hints to remember when in doubt are:
- Organize documents using the stem number first.
- Remember this order after the colon: Year,
Letter, Number.
- Refer to the List of Classes booklet gov doc collection floor
2: GP 3.24:
- Once you have finished practicing please have Pam review your
work.
- Do not shelve your materials.
Microfiche
Microfiche ( mf) items are another
challenge to file. They are uniform in size and come in white
envelopes with the SuDoc number written in the upper left hand
corner. New and returned mf are located in a box on top of the
mf cabinets. The most effective way to file
mf is to arrange them in piles by SuDoc number then file them
in the cabinets. Please see either Kate or Jennifer for a practice
set.
Maryland Documents
Most MD documents are shelved in the Stacks on floors
4 and 5; however, all of them come to the government documents
department first for evaluation. Certain ephemeral type information
such as annual reports, brochures, and catalogs are housed in
the cabinets along the back wall of the government documents area.
The following procedure is to be used with all MD
documents:
- Check title against catalogUSMAI
holdings and do one of the following:
- If found = print out record, put in title and give to Jennifer.
- If not found = put in pile on top of cabinet to be reviewed
by Pam.
Documents that stay in the government documents
area are housed in the file cabinets along the back wall. They
are filed using a numbering system based on the issuing agency
(see MD State Documents Catalog-white
binder located in MD state documents area).
One of your jobs will be to
type labels and file these documents. See Pam or Jennifer for
further instruction.
Maps
Most of the Library's maps are shelved using the
Library of Congress numbering system. A few folded maps are housed
in the tall file cabinets near the Office of Information Services
which are filed using the SuDoc stem PREX.
When shelving maps, use the Map Case Label Key (white binder located
on top of map cases) as a starting point. This key outlines what
maps go in which cases. Please do not shelve maps without additional
instruction.
Collection Maintenance
Each student worker is assigned an area of the
shelves to manage. This includes straightening out the shelves,
shelf-reading (making sure the documents are in the proper SuDoc
order), and shifting documents as needed.
Jobs
Below is a partial list of jobs that you may be
asked to do in the government documents department:
- Shelving federal paper documents - check carts
in front of the document shelves.
- Filing microfiche - check boxes on top of mf cabinets.
- Shelving maps - look for maps on top of map cases.
- Labeling and filing MD state documents -
look for documents on work table
- Collection maintenance - ask Pam for your assignment
- Miscellaneous projects as assigned such as shifting, weeding,
labeling documents
Glossary of Terms
Click here
for a list of frequently used terms that are unique to the government
documents department
Questions
The purpose of this training manual is to give you
a brief overview of working in the government documents and maps
department. We believe hands-on learning works best. See Pam to
get started. Also, don't be afraid to ask questions, gov docs
can be very confusing, take it from us,
we know!
Kate Jenkins, Government Documents Librarian, Ort
Library 318-1, 4734, kjenkins2@frostburg.edu
Jennifer Price, Acting Documents Technician, Media Desk, 4426,
jprice@frostburg.edu
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