In terms of tips, this one is more a love letter.  And while I have focused my first three “tools” posts on web-based resources, this one is about a book.  But not just any book. 

I was first introduced to Tapping the Government Grapevine  by its author, Judith Schiek Robinson, my Government Documents professor in library school.  Since then, it has been a go-to resource for everything from tracking down government produced statistics to being used as a teaching aid in legal research classes.  Despite a publication date of 1998, Tapping has aged well with the introduction of many new government e-resources.  This book can ground any student in the basis of government publications.