133 12.2 Public-Sector Institutions
Government agencies generate huge amounts of information and much of it gets issued in the form of publications that are usually public. We will discuss specific types of public records and methods of locating those in Lesson 13. Here we are talking about the types of publications issued by public-sector institutions.
Let’s say that you are working as a PR specialist for the National Football League’s Players Association (the union for football players) You need to find information to answer the question your information strategy has posed about the long-term health effects of head injuries on professional football players in order to understand one of the issues facing members of the union. One of the types of information that can be useful is likely to be accessible in publications produced by relevant government agencies.
For example, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has produced a publication about how to avoid concussions in football and how to recognize their symptoms, especially in young athletes. They have also produced a publication for coaches. Those resources could prove useful for your work as a PR specialist for the professional players association. You also might need to examine publications produced by state government agencies (e.g. the State Department of Education may have publications regarding athletic injury prevention for schools in the state). Local government publications might detail the Parks and Rec summer leagues and the types of injury prevention activities they are supporting. Because there appears to be a strong connection between repeated head injuries in youth sports and long-term damage among professional athletes, all of these types of public-sector publications could inform your work.
Federal Government Publications
The federal government of the United States has no close competitor as a generator of information. Its information production takes place not only in the nation’s capital, but also in federal offices in all 50 states and at diplomatic posts and military installations around the globe.
In fact, the federal government produces so much information that it is impractical to try to enumerate all the types of public record materials that their activities generate. It is easier to discuss the types of “information functions” the government fulfills. The federal government serves five major information functions:
Collecting and producing statistics
Some of the publications from the federal government are collections of of statistical information that the government routinely collects. We’ll discuss some of these kinds of statistics produced by government agencies in Lesson 14.
Keeping a record of government activity
Whenever Congress holds hearings, passes legislation or conducts its business, publications are generated. The executive branch agencies, including the Office of the President and all cabinet offices, are obligated by law to document their activi