'Government documents'

Tucked away within the pristine, well stacked shelves of the Kansas Government Information Online Library (Who wouldn't love a library with tidy shelves that never have to be dusted?) is a small, digitized booklet published in 1915 by the Kansas State Printer, "The Kansas Printing Plant, 1915."

This booklet is 22 pages of photographs, history and statistics on the plant where thousands of Kansas state government publications were produced for distribution by executive, legislative and judicial agencies. This 1915 publication, a promotional booklet, describes the modern set up of the plant and its service in providing state government material to the public.  Also touted within the booklet is the publication of Kansas school books, an innovation state government had just recently passed.  As stated on page 16:

"Kansas began printing its text books a year ago, in the face of most bitter opposition from the eastern book concerns, who have used every weapon at their command to defeat the project. Despite all this, the work has gone steadily on, and the great decrease in the price of books, sold by the State to retailers at cost, is proof enough that the proposition has been a paying investment to the taxpayers of Kansas."

Located at the corner of 10th and Jackson Streets in Topeka the building was heavily damaged by the 1966 tornado.  A new printing facility was built in the mid 1970s in Topeka at 201 NW MacVicar Ave when the elected office of Kansas State Printer was abolished and the Division of Printing was created under the Kansas Department of Administration.

You can view this booklet at:

The Kansas State Printing Plant, Topeka, 1915

Other material in the State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library can be viewed here:

Printer, State ... of Kansas

• Biennial Report
• General Publications

You can view a few other photos of the Kansas State Printing Plant provided by the Kansas Historical Society's KANSAS MEMORY website here:

Employees of the Kansas State Printing Plant (1922)

Tornado damage to the Printing Plant (1966)

The Making of a Textbook, Kansas State Printer
(Silent film produced in the 1930s or 40s showing the production of a geography textbook)

Our thanks to the Kansas Historical Society for the loan of the book for digitization featured in this blog article

This spring marks The Kansas Government Information (KGI) Online Library's second "birthday."  Two years ago State Librarian, Jo Budler and SLK Director of Reference, Cindy Roupe approached SLK Technical Services staff with the opportunity of establishing a digital Kansas state government publications library using OCLC's CONTENTdm digital media management software.  The online library would continue the work begun by the Kansas Historical Society's and State Library of Kansas' "KSPACe" Digital Library.  State Library Technical Services staff leaped into this project working to provide an online library of Kansas government information to the public. 

During the past two years KGI has grown into a collection of over 10,000 titles/collections.  Within some of the collections are hundreds of individual titles bringing up the total count in KGI to somewhere between 40 and 50 thousand.  Titles and collections are cataloged with metadata allowing access via OCLC's WorldCat, the Kansas Library Catalog, the State Library of Kansas' Online Catalog, the Topeka Libraries' ATLAS Catalog and the KGI website.

Over 180 Kansas state agencies' publications can now be found in in the KGI Library.  This number includes publications by both current and past state departments, boards, commissions, offices and institutions stretching back to 1861.  The former KSPACe collections, archived by the Kansas Historical Society and provided to the State Library, have been incorporated into KGI.  Born digital documents have been harvested from the Internet.  Paper documents from both the State Library and the Kansas Historical Society have been scanned and added to KGI as well.

Among the staff involved with the development of the KGI Online Library is Jason Ackermann.  We have all been blessed to have Jason here at the State Library.  He first showed up as a volunteer about two years ago.  He took on the difficult task of setting up a clearer, easier to use presentation of KGI within CONTENTdm.  Eventually he was added on as full time staff at the library giving him more time to work on better ways to build, display and access our collections.  He is leaving Kansas with his wife, Dezeree, this month and we will miss him, but wish both Dez and him all the best.



Starting with this issue of the KGI Blog we will be featuring a different agency or division of a large agency and its publications within the Kansas Government Information (KGI) Online Library:

The Kansas Abstractors' Board of Examiners is a three-member board appointed by the Governor to license all individuals or firms selling abstracts of title to Kansas real estate. In order to obtain a license a person, firm, or corporation must pass an examination conducted by the Board and file a bond and a policy of insurance with the Board. In the case of a firm or corporation, the examination needs to be taken by an active manager of the firm. The Abstractors' Board of Examiners also regulates the individuals and firms that compile and sell abstracts of Kansas real estate in a fair and equitable manner. In addition, the Board strives to protect the citizens of the State of Kansas against fraudulent and improper land title transfers. Operations.

Satirical songwriter, Tom Lehrer released an album many years ago called, "That Was The Year That Was," full of songs giving social commentary on the issues of the day in the mid 1960s.  The KGI Online Library Blog offers here our own rendition of, "The Year That Was" with a collection of almost 200 online Kansas documents published in 2015, giving readers a look at the previous year as seen through state government publications. 

OK... witty we are not... but informative we are!  We came up with the idea of a list like this just to show readers the scope of state government agencies in providing information to the citizens of our state within one year.  Just browse down, click on the link and see the range of topics covered by these publications:

Here are some examples of what you'll find:

Insurance Department brochures, cosmetology brochures, agricultural reports, KPERS information, services of the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services, outdoor recreation planning in Kansas, fishing regulations, the future of water supply in Kansas, annual report of vital statistics, The ABCs of Insurance, Child and Family Wellbeing Indicators, Kansas Economic Report.... The list goes on and on.

So open up the virtual doors to the State Library of Kansas' KGI Online Library... sit back and browse our collection of publications issued in 2015:

Kansas Government Publications Issued in 2015 held at KGI Online Library