I believe this used to be the main collection room of the old Jersey City Museum," said Eleanor O’Hara, public relations person for the Jersey City Public Library. The storage space on the third floor, which had been unused since the library’s main branch took up residence at its present home of 472 Jersey Ave., is now the home of the Government Documents depository for Hudson County.
"Congress designated the Jersey City Public Library as a depository for federal documents in 1879," said Sharon Tucker, head of the Government Documents Department at the library. "A lot of our stuff was originally on paper and microfiche, but now a lot of government publications are available online."
And making those publications accessible to library patrons is what Tucker hopes to do with the newly relocated and refurbished department.
"We want to encourage people to go online to get statistical and other information from the government online," explained Tucker.
To that end, the main branch library has installed six new computers, which are Internet accessible, that patrons can use to get information from the federal government. The computers were unveiled last week at the official reopening of the Government Documents Department last week.
According to O’Hara, the department is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.
"When people want to use the computers to look up information," said O’Hara. "They can come in and make a reservation for a 30-minute period."
O’Hara added that patrons can go to the desk of the department to make the reservations to use the computers.
"This allows people to go if they want and come back to get their information," said O’Hara.
O’Hara stated that if there is an increased use of the online capabilities of the Documents Department, the library will consider extending the department’s operations to the evening.
Before moving to the new space on the third floor, the Government Documents building was located behind the Children’s Room on the second floor of the main branch, Tucker said.
"Things were a little crowded back there," said Tucker.
Tucker explained that the Documents Department is selective about the documents it takes from the Government Printing Office, taking in approximately 29 percent of all publications from the Federal Government.
"We try to tailor what we have to the needs of the community," Tucker stated.
Popular site
One of the more popular sites visited by people visiting the department is the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, located at www.cfda.gov, Tucker commented.
The database is a listing of all federal programs available to state and local governments; domestic public, nonprofit organizations and individuals.
"We had a grandfather come in yesterday looking for grants for his daughter," Tucker said, adding the site provides information to both individuals and organizations looking for grants.
Another frequently used government information source is Defend America, which provides updates on the war on terrorism since Sept. 11 along with regular press releases from the Defense Department.
Among the other information provided by the Defense Department is a series of hardcover publications profiling nearly 100 nations worldwide. According to Tucker, the books describe a country’s form of government, major industries and cultural background.
"A lot of students come in looking for research information on ‘the hot places,’ " said Tucker, adding that the current "hot places" are Iraq, Israel, and Iran.
"It is an ongoing series that is updated periodically," explained Tucker. "The publication is a collaboration of the Defense Department and the Library of Congress."
Tucker noted the series got started during the 1980s, after the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. "The Defense Department wanted to get a profile of countries it thought it might have to deploy troops to someday," Tucker said.
Tucker stressed that many of the Government Documents Department’s publications are still available in print form.
"Out of the 125 periodicals printed by the government, we have about 20," said Tucker. "They include statistical abstract tables and the data book for the city and county."
Renovations to the documents facility have been going on since the beginning of the year and have included a new paint job and carpeting. A collection of patriotic art and designs also cover the walls of the facility.
"We have probably the best looking Documents Department in the area," O’Hara commented.
One final piece of the puzzle, O’Hara added, needs to be fitted into place.
"We don’t have climate control for some of our older documents," O’Hara stated.
Tucker said the department has bound federal documents dating back to 1789. Recently, the department moved out some of its older publications, for which there was not a very large demand. Tucker said the majority of those papers were donated to the Newark Public library, which has much larger storage capabilities. Still, the library would like to save what it has retained, Tucker stated.
O’Hara said the installation of a climate control system in the Documents Department is in the library’s capital budget, but that the library would welcome any donation people wanted to make to help with the installation.
For more information on the department, call (201) 547-4500.