THE IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS IN REFERENCE SERVICES IN THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NIGERIA

Abstract

Government documents, like all other information sources, are important tools for reference services. They are indispensable reference materials for library users; unlike the monographs and some other library documents, they can only be consulted in the library. This paper expounds what Government documents are; how theyare acquired and processed in the National Library of Nigeria;the significance of catalog cards vis-a-vis information retrieval from Government Documents in a library system and their usefulness to the clientele in reference services.