POINTER vs.Using Government Publications:
Karen F. Smith · The Reference Librarian · 1989
POINTER is a microcomputer program that simulates the advice of a government documents librarian by suggesting the use of particular reference books. Using Government Publications is a two volume work which identifies search strategies and sources of information for handling many specific topics and types of questions associated with federal documents. A comparison of these two reference aids reveals advantages and disadvantages of each as well as the difficulty of developing a conceptual framework for federal document research.