This paper identifies the major problems encountered by an agency such as CIDA in accessing official documents and proposes ways of improving their bibliographic control. In order to discuss the established bibliographic practices of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), it is necessary to briefly describe CIDA, its programs, the role of the Development Information Centre (DIC) and the methodology currently used to access official documents.
The proliferation of government publications about American Indians has continued at a steady pace since World War II, but the 1970s marked a minor watershed. Not only did the numbers of publications increase, but also a high percentage of these were directed at mass audiences, and many reports candidly investigated the problems caused by government policies. Although few items were written by Indians, some of the more important ones were based upon Indian testimony taken at the grassroots level. The person truly interested in learning about today's Indian concerns can therefore begin with readily available government documents, and from these move into Indian writings and direct interviews. To dismiss all government documents as mere justifications of federal policy would be a serious mistake for any scholar, and this article attempts to alert readers to the most important types of government-sponsored studies.
Commonly used techniques of evaluating library collections are identified, considered, and related to the government publication collection. The environment of collection evaluation is considered. The major techniques used to evaluate collection adequacy include: reference queries, circulation queries, questionnaires administered to library users, size of collection, list checking, consultation with subject specialists, and observation. The need for continuous evaluation is emphasized as is evaluation which will be used to improve the ability of the collection to meet local needs.
