[Libs-Or] Reference Services and U.S. Government Website Content

[Robin Doughty]

Sharing as the newest member of the OLA Legislative Committee:
Political statements on U.S. Government websites have created challenges for library service to the community this week, specifically usda.gov and hud.gov. It is unusual to see subjective content about political parties and discriminatory language on these agency-managed sites. For library informational purposes, clear bias degrades the credibility of a resource. I have cautioned our North Plains library staff about using and recommending usda.gov<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__usda.gov&d=DwMFAg&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=1fMWZ6QrGh_2XBkOc_-s5lfxPI0qBvd0jIfFzV_8Yh0&m=kKiFYynufWLp1PNoNhcAEAhZhXH62sAsKiONWtnhLwnJHX0cB2HCZxo1zQPfoDOy&s=l30IkdWAj00MEUcXgB2SBSCbDMoHfiH6lbqEMVOJVkM&e=> and hud.gov<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__hud.gov&d=DwMFAg&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=1fMWZ6QrGh_2XBkOc_-s5lfxPI0qBvd0jIfFzV_8Yh0&m=kKiFYynufWLp1PNoNhcAEAhZhXH62sAsKiONWtnhLwnJHX0cB2HCZxo1zQPfoDOy&s=-h24Iv6rr4iAOddFezAtW7fyr_fexNRhFAfjNYRVciw&e=> to answer questions while this content is present. It is a good time for a refresher on evaluating sources for credible content. Criteria is summarized well on the Kansas State University "Writing A Research Paper" online guide -  Evaluate Sources - Writing a Research Paper - Research Guides at Kansas State University<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__guides.lib.k-2Dstate.edu_c.php-3Fg-3D181829-26p-3D1195993&d=DwMFAg&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=1fMWZ6QrGh_2XBkOc_-s5lfxPI0qBvd0jIfFzV_8Yh0&m=kKiFYynufWLp1PNoNhcAEAhZhXH62sAsKiONWtnhLwnJHX0cB2HCZxo1zQPfoDOy&s=5nrQgeZF4DOi0ebjD6H3zH3_mwmN9DxgwA5D0ELc7CU&e=>. If community members ask how to file a complaint, you can direct them to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel for an online complaint form here https://osc.gov/.  They may also wish to inform local and congressional legislators about the impacts they observe and action they have taken. State Legislator Lookup<https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/FindYourLegislator/districts-initial.html> and Find Your Members in the U.S. Congress | Congress.gov | Library of Congress<https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member>

Warm regards,

Robin Doughty, Member OLA Legislative Committee
Library Director| North Plains, Oregon
503.647.5051   | www.northplains.gov/library
Proud member of Washington County Cooperative Services<http://www.wccls.org>
[cid:image001.png at 01DC4A50.88A5F950]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20251031/a10bf151/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 13641 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20251031/a10bf151/attachment.png>