Government publications in secondary school libraries in Minnesota

A survey of a random sample of librarians was used to determine the variables affecting the acquisition of government publications in Minnesota secondary school library and media centers. The dependent variable was the number of government publications acquired during the preceding school year. The independent variables included: (1) number of pupils; (2) librarians' formal education relating to government publications; (3) the librarian's broad knowledge of government publications; (4) availability and suitability of reviews and selection tools; (5) purchasing problems; (6) use by students; (7) use by teachers; and (8) methods of shelving or storage.

A descriptive analysis of the data was made in addition to the applications of multiple regression to the dependent and selected independent variables. Thirteen of the variables accounted for 39% of the variance. Those accounting for the greatest variance in the independent variable included: familiarity with a list of government publications, familiarity with government publication bibliographies, availability of reviews and number of hours in formal class work on government publications.