GODORT (Government Documents Round Table)

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The mission of the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) is to (1) To provide a forum for discussion of problems, concerns, and for exchange of ideas by librarians working with government documents; (2) to provide a force for initiating and supporting programs to increase availability, use, and bibliographic control of documents; (3) to increase communication between documents librarians and other librarians; (4) to contribute to the extension and improvement of education and training of documents librarians.

Learn more about GODORT on the ALA website.

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URGENT: Call for Volunteers: Notable Documents Panel

  • 1.  URGENT: Call for Volunteers: Notable Documents Panel

    Posted May 08, 2025 09:43 AM

    The GODORT Publications Committee seeks volunteers to serve as judges, selectors, and annotators for the annual Notable Documents Panel.

    For your information, we have limited turnaround time for 2024 nominations. Everything must be judged, selected, and annotated by THURSDAY, MAY 29.

    Volunteers do not need to be members of GODORT; government information specialists outside of librarianship are also encouraged to volunteer.

    Interested parties should contact Jennifer Castle, jennifer.castle@vanderbilt.edu

    What is the NDP?

    Every year since 1982, the NDP has asked the community to nominate recent government documents (state, national, international) that are particularly important, useful, and notable.  Judges evaluate each submission using a standardized rubric, and documents with the highest scores are listed on the annual Notable Documents List published by Library Journal (2023 is here: https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/population-prosperity-and-parks-notable-government-documents-of-2023  )  Library Journal is an excellent venue for the Notable Documents list because it is an opportunity to promote government publications to a broad audience.

    What do volunteers do?

    Judges     review and score nominated documents using a standardized rubric. The criteria used include lasting value, reference/bibliography value, contribution to existing knowledge, contribution to understanding government processes, appeal to a broad audience, writing style, and physical appearance. There are nine grading criteria in total.
    We need at least six judges: two federal documents, two state & local documents, and two international documents.

    Selectors review the judges' scores, tabulate the results, and determine which documents scored the highest. Selectors also ensure citations of the winning documents are correct before they're listed in LJ.

    Annotators write short (~100wrd) summaries of winning documents.

    All volunteers are listed as contributors in the published Library Journal piece.

    If you are interested or have questions, please get in touch with the chair of the Notable Documents Panel, Jennifer Castle, at jennifer.castle@vanderbilt.edu



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    Jennifer Castle
    Librarian for Human and Organizational Development
    Vanderbilt University
    She/Her/Hers
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