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2001 Best Minnesota Documents

These notable documents were produced in 2000-2001 and represent just a small selection of the fine work being done each year by Minnesota state agencies. This bibliography is compiled annually by members and supporters of the Minnesota Library Association Government Documents Roundtable. Documents should be obtained from the publishing agencies.


  • Chronic Offenders: Program Evaluation Report. John Yunker, Valerie Bombach, and Carrie Meyerhoff. Office of the Legislative Auditor, State of Minnesota, 2001. (MD 01-0224)

    In response to the Legislative Audit Commission's concern about costs and strategies for reducing the impact of chronic criminal offenders in Minnesota, this report presents statistical information on such offenders, including data on sentencing practices and the costs and benefits of incarcerating repeat offenders. Includes bibliographic references for further reading. The Legislative Auditor's Office publishes many topical program evaluations of interest; see the list at: http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/stud-sub.htm.


  • Commuter Rail System Plan: Moving Minnesota, Part of the Moving Minnesota Strategy. Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2000. Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2000. (MD 00-0125)

    This document details the Rail System Plan, with chapters on guidelines for plan administration, and funding and financing for project development. An appendix includes a section on relevant legislation and background material.


  • Go Places: Minnesota State Colleges & Universities. Minnesota State Colleges & Universities, 2000. (MD 01-0314)

    A guide for students and parents, this publication provides facts on the state college and university system as a whole, with additional details about each school. Also offered are facts on selecting a school, tuition, fees, and financial aid. Handy course information at each institution for undergraduates and grads is included as well.


  • Minnesota Careers: Minnesota's Career and Education Planning and Exploration Guide. Minnesota Department of Economic Security, 2001. (MD 00-0557)

    A useful preliminary section helps students assess their interests and skills and apply them to the job market. In other sections, occupations are discussed in detail. These include necessary job skills/outlooks and statistics in various economic sectors such as agriculture and natural resources. A final section walks students through their options, aids in decision making, and provides contact information.


  • Minnesota's DWI Law and Practices. Jim Cleary and Emily Shapiro. House of Representatives Research Dept., 2001. (MD 00-0182)

    This publication details the laws governing DWI (driving while intoxicated) in Minnesota, providing definitions of the laws, descriptions of the associated penalties and sanctions, and describing other practices. See also many other topical reports from the House Research Office at: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/hrd.htm.


  • Minnesota Environment 2000. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2000. (MD 00-0508)

    Is our environment getting better? The Pollution Control Agency looks at this question by profiling air, land, and water issues, and then looking at regions of the states. The report includes many references to additional information on the PCA website, and has a useful list of additional resources on the environment.


  • Minnesota Non-Native Terrestial Plants: An Identification Guide for Resource Managers. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Trails and Waterways Division, 2001.

    This small glossy field guide (4 ¼ x 5 ½) is intended to help identify the most invasive non-native terrestrial plants known to date in Minnesota. Entries include a description of each species, an outline of the ecological threat, control methods, and color photos.


  • Minnesota Place Names: A Geographical Encyclopedia. Minnesota Historical Society.

    A terrific new online interface to a popular reference book. Look up the origin of your township's name or a stream or lake name.


  • Minnesota State Budget Documents. Minnesota Department of Finance. 2000.

    Access to Minnesota's biennial operating budgets and capital budgets used to be limited to just a few large libraries in the state. Now those budgets and a wealth of accompanying budget documents are available online. The Department of Finance includes primers on important policy aspects of the budget and useful breakdowns by section.


  • Moving Minnesota From 2000 to 2020: Minnesota Statewide Transportation Plan, 2000. Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2000. Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2000. (MD  00-0401)

    This volume discusses transportation trends for Minnesota (for example, demographic and economic); interregional corridors; plans for MNDOT districts; transportation options; transportation and the environment and financial resources.


  • Natural Resources Stewardship 2001: Key Indicators of Progress. Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 2001. (MD 01-0366)

    This report uses approximately 120 measurable indicators to paint a picture of the condition of natural resources in our state. It describes DNR activities and progress toward achieving healthy water resources, forest resources, agricultural areas, urban areas, and recreation areas. Generous use of color, graphs, maps, and sidebars make the report lively and interesting.


  • Perspectives. Minnesota Planning. Irregular.

    Minnesota Planning's Critical Issues Team examines emerging issues that could have a significant effect on Minnesota's governments, its people, economy and natural resources. Recent topics include "Digital Divide: Beyond the Infrastructure," "Growing Rural Economic Success," and "Click and Vote: Citizenship on the Internet." Each issue is a short report with a bibliography.


  • Preserving and Disposing of Government Records. Minnesota Dept. of Administration, Information Policy Analysis Division, in cooperation with the Minnesota Historical Society, State Archives Department Division, 2000. (MD 00-0607)

    This comprehensive guidebook covers Minnesota's basic legal framework for records management and data practices-including access and privacy-and principles of records management. It also describes official records, including electronic records, and includes sections on preserving and protecting these records.


  • Race and Ethnicity of Juveniles in Minnesota's Justice System. Deborah Hagel. Minnesota Planning, 2001.

    This pithy report examines data on minorities in Minnesota's juvenile justice system. It focuses on state and county information. "Making this data available to policy makers and citizens gives everybody a chance to assess what's happening with Minnesota's juveniles and develop more responsive public policy and make more informed decisions," says Dean Barkley, director of Minnesota Planning. Additional statistics are found on the Criminal Justice Statistics Center Web page at: http://www.mnplan.state.mn.us/cj/index.html.


  • Teens and Tobacco in Minnesota: Results from the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey. Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Center for Health Statistics, 2000. (MD 01-0320)

    In 1999 the Legislature created a law targeted at reducing tobacco use among Minnesota citizens and specifically to reduce tobacco use among youth by 30 percent by 2005. This survey provides baseline data on the prevalence of such use by adolescents and information on sources of tobacco products, attitudes and beliefs about tobacco, and other topics of interest to tobacco prevention efforts.