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The article considers the sheer volume and multiplicity of information published by national governments, intergovernmental and the full range of international organizations on the web as a challenge to librarians who are working to connect content and users. It estimates that 80 percent of web sites are providing databases in addition to audio clips and video clips. It mentions that information users have no possibility to contextualize, contribute or respond to information as they are browsing a bibliographic tool or benefit from insights of other users of that tool.

The article discusses the four ideas framed as speaking notes for government information librarianship. The ideas that are suggested to resonate with library professionals in all democratic countries include access to government information as the foundation of a functioning democracy, the enduring value of government information and government information requiring stewardship.

The article presents the humanities librarian's perspective regarding the government documents in the U.S. She says that the arrangement of government documents is troublesome and humanities scholarship is often multidisciplinary and becoming increasingly so. She observes that humanities scholars have adapted by learning how to search in subject areas outside their area of expertise. She emphasizes that as a beginning librarian, she knows that she has time to continue to grow in her knowledge and experience with documents, however, she wishes that a documents class had been required in library school as documents are important to every discipline and a must for serious research.

The article provides information regarding Google Earth. Google Earth offers several advantages to government document librarians. It contains census data, postal code boundaries, city boundaries, Congressional districts in the U.S. and crime statistics. It is stated that to find some more of the detailed data and projects that have used Google Earth to display data, a search was performed in the Google Earth Blog archives and a wealth of datasets created by people and agencies all over the world. Some of the examples on how government agencies are using Google Earth are presented.