Reference Book of the Week: The United States Government Manual
www.ustr.gov. The book also includes some appendices that may be helpful. One of these appendices is a list of common abbreviations. So, if you know the initials of an agency, but you are not sure what the initials actually stand for, you can look it up here. For example the difference between DOD (Department of Defense) and DOE (Department of Energy). There are also two indexes: one for names and one for agencies and subjects. This is helpful if you know someone's name, and want to find where they work. Or, what many people want to know: what agency does what. For example, use the agencies and subject index to find the entry for AMTRAK. Did you know that AMTRAK's official name is National Railroad Passenger Corporation? The agency was created in 1970 by the Rail Passenger Service Act. I found it on starting on page 472. The library has the 2007-2008 edition in the Ready Reference shelf (that's the shelf behind the reference desk). It is under the call number JK 421 .A3 2007-2008. Note: You can also access this publication online via GPO Access. Here is the direct link to the Manual's page. GPO stands for the Government Printing Office. The Manual tells me that "the mission of the Government Printing Office is to inform the Nation by producing, procuring, and disseminating printed and electronic publications of the Congress as well as the executive departments and establishments of the Federal Government" (51; italics in the original). Basically, GPO makes a lot of government documents available to the public. It is one of the ways in which the government makes information available to the people, and the Manual is one example of government information. On the GPO link, you can look at the 2007-2008 edition as well as editions back to 1995.