Cataloging Kansas Government Analytics
By Bill Sowers, Kansas Documents and Cataloging Librarian
A library’s mission is to serve the needs of its primary communities of service. That was one of the messages I remember from library school.
At the State Library of Kansas one of our primary communities is state government, notably the Executive and Legislative Branches. We go the extra mile in providing information and paths to information for individuals within state government on topics varying from agricultural statistics to zero-based budgets. These paths and services often serve the general public as well in providing a clearer picture of our system of government within Kansas.
At the core of the structure that forms the government of Kansas are its laws. The State Constitution, Statutes and Regulations are living documents constantly in a process of change reflecting the needs of current generations of Kansans.
Within our catalog (which is also a “living document” of sorts!) we’ve made an effort to provide added access paths to resources on laws and the legislative process through the cataloging of analytics. Below are some of the collections that we’ve added to our catalog which benefit not only our primary users, but can be of assistance to researchers around the state.
Kansas Legislative Interim Reports
Between legislative sessions committees meet to consider legislation for the next legislative session based on predetermined topics of interest. The State Library has cataloged about 1300 of these individual reports back through to the 1960′s from the annual volumes.
Kansas Legislator Briefing Book
The Library has about 140 articles cataloged out of this annual resource, a guide to basic information on important issues during each legislative session.
University of Kansas Law Review
Journal of the Kansas Bar Association
A growing number of periodical articles, many of which cover Kansas laws and legal issues.
All of the above analytics are available in the Kansas Library Catalog and can be loaded into local online catalogs.