Documents reflect the time in which they were published, and the position of the government during that time. Whether they meant to or not, they contribute to the historical record.
The Department of Defense (known as the Department of War from 1789-1947) had a budget of $842 billion for FY2024, and across active duty/reservist/National Guard/civilian personnel had nearly 3 million employees, so the publications produced under the W and D SuDoc call numbers are varied and vast. Here are some examples:
Through agencies at the Department of Commerce like NOAA and the National Weather Service, as well as NASA, the USGS, and many others, the government has conducted countless hours of research on climate and the weather, and published troves of documents and data.
All levels of government collect and publish numerous documents chock full of interesting statistics:
As the ideological conflict with the Soviet Union and its allies was the primary framework for the actions of the U.S. federal government for decades, documents published about it by the U.S. government, and documents published about the U.S. by the U.S.S.R., offer a kaleidoscope of information about the moment in history when they were produced.
Exploration of outer space has long been a government activity, and led to the publication of many interesting documents:
The actions of all the nations of the world have repercussions far beyond their borders (directly and indirectly, for good and for ill). Sometimes government publications engage with this simple truth sincerely, and other times, they obfuscate. Here are some examples:
