2025 Presidential Transition

Following the Presidential transition in January 2025, large amounts of government information faced removal, modification, or redaction. I volunteered to contribute to the Tracking Gov Info project, which systematically documents these changes. I am responsible for monitoring several key agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While some alterations receive significant media attention, many involve subtle wording changes that could otherwise go unnoticed. To ensure the project maintains a comprehensive and accurate record, I perform detailed side-by-side comparisons of agency webpages as they appear today versus their archived versions from early January 2025 (pre-inauguration).

I also made a libguide to help researchers locate sources for removed government datasets.

Catalog Records

At the end of 2024, Marcive, the primary vendor of government documents MARC records, announced it was going out of business due to retirements. This sudden closure created a significant challenge for MSU and many other depository libraries that relied heavily on Marcive’s records. I actively monitored discussions on relevant listservs, attended an OCLC session on their government documents record service, and participated in GODORT sessions focused on alternatives. After evaluating the options, we selected OCLC’s Collection Manager for these records. I then collaborated with Lisa English to implement the new service, establish workflows, and develop procedures for handling erroneous or problematic record loads.