Guide to Government Documents
Documents Dept.* Mary & John
Gray Library * Lamar University * 880-8261 * http://library.lamar.edu/
Gray Library is a selective
Federal Depository Library for the Texas 2nd U.S. Congressional
District and a full depository for Texas State documents. When doing your research don’t forget to
check with the Government Documents department, we may have something you can
use.
The Government Documents
Department is staffed from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8 a.m. - 6
p.m. on Fridays. At other times
please ask at the Reference Desk for assistance.
In person: Ask either the Government Documents Librarian or the
library associate for help during regular department hours; at other times ask
at the Reference Desk.
By phone:
call either 880-2135 or 880-8261
Email: use the Ask A Librarian form on the
Library's home page; your question will be forwarded to the Government Documents
Librarian.
According to Title 44
United States Code, the Government Documents collection is available to
anyone who wants to use the materials.
Primary users include members of the Lamar University community and
residents of the Texas 2nd U.S. Congressional
district.
Unless a title is marked
non-circulating all paper items may be checked out for the standard 3-week
period. If an item does not have a
barcode it is still available for check out. The only exceptions to this rule are
DVD, CD-ROM, and video products.
DVD and CD-ROM titles circulate for one week; videos circulate for 3
days. When returning these items
please turn them in at the Circulation Desk to a staff member, do not put them
in the book drop.
What
is a Federal Depository Library?
A federal depository library
is a library designated by Congress to receive federal documents free of
charge. In exchange, the library
agrees to keep the materials a minimum of five years and make them available to
the public with no restrictions.
Gray Library is a selective depository; currently we receive 59% of the
titles available from the government.
What
are Government Documents?
Government documents are
materials published by a government agency. Today these items are available in many
formats including paper, microform, maps, posters, pictures, CD-ROM, DVD, and
Internet web sites and databases.
Increasingly government agencies are putting more information on their
web sites in full text PDF documents.
Locating
Government Documents
Superintendent
of Documents Classification
Government documents are arranged using the
Superintendent of Documents Classification System or “SuDoc”. This system is alphanumeric meaning that
the first letter of the agency name represents the government agency. The next part of the number signifies
the bureau, administration, or office that published the title followed by a
period. After the period are the
series designations followed by a colon.
The commonly used “SuDoc” classes are:
|
A |
Agriculture |
L |
Labor |
|
AE |
National
Archives |
LC |
Library of
Congress |
|
C |
Commerce |
NAS |
NASA |
|
D |
Defense |
PR |
President |
|
E |
Energy |
PREX |
Executive Office of
the President |
|
ED |
Education |
S |
State |
|
HE |
Health and Human
Services |
SSA |
Social Security
Administration |
|
I |
Interior |
T |
Treasury |
|
J |
Justice |
TD |
Transportation |
|
JU |
Courts |
X,
Y |
Congress |
To locate publications published before 1976 you will
need to use the paper indexes and catalogs. These indexes are arranged by subject
and are located in the Documents Reference area. If you need assistance please
ask.
Andriot, Guide to U.S. Government
Publications. DOCS REF Z 1223 .Z7 A574
date
Descriptive Catalogue of
the Government Publications of the United States, Sept. 5, 1774-March 4,
1881 (Poore)
DOCS REF Z 1223 .A1885d
pt.1-2
Checklist of United
States Public Documents, 1789-1909
(1909 Checklist)
DOCS REF Z 1223 .A18
1789-1909
Comprehensive Index to
the Publications of the United States Government (Ames)
DOCS REF Z 1223 .A18 1881-
(Jan.-Feb. 1893)
Catalogue of the Public
Documents of the 53rd-76th Congress and of all Departments
of the Government of the United States for the Period from Mar 4, 1893 to Dec.
31, 1940
DOCS REF Z 1223 .A18
1893-1940
Monthly Catalog of
United States Government Publications (1941 to current)
Paper version covering
1941-1995 is located in DOCS REF Z 1223 .A18
GPO Monthly Catalog via First Search
(1976-CURRENT)
U.S. government
information resources published from 1976 to present in virtually all subject
areas, but especially strong in social issues, the environment, congressional
hearings, and scientific issues.
To
access go to the library home page http://library.lamar.edu/.
Click Find Journal Articles and More with Online
Indexes and Databases
Enter your Lamar ID or library patron ID
number
Select Option 2: Article indexes and
databases: A-Z list
Click on GPO Monthly
Catalog.
Catalog of U.S. Government
Publications (1994- CURRENT) via GPO
Access [http://www.gpo.gov/default.html]
The Catalog of U.S.
Government Publications provides an index to print and electronic publications
created by Federal agencies. When available, links are provided to the full-text
of these publications. Additionally, the locate libraries feature enables users
to find libraries by state or area code that can make print publications
available for their use. Coverage begins with January 1994. New records are
added daily.
Government document CD-ROM
titles are located on the second floor in the Government Documents
Collection.
Government document DVD
titles are located on the second floor in the Government Documents Collection;
selected titles are library use only and kept in the Government Documents
Librarian’s office.
The Government Documents
Department maintains a web page offering a number of Internet resources. The site offers access to government web
sites by subject, links to guides, email reference, and department
information.
To access the Government
Documents web page click on Government Documents on the library home page
http://library.lamar.edu/
[http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en]
This web site provided by
the U. S. Census Bureau is a good source of current statistical information from
the census. It only provides data
from the 1990 Census forward; historical data must be located in other sources.
For 1990 Census click on the Basic Facts link on the American
Factfinder site.
This web site offers links
to the searchable ERIC database which indexes education related documents and
journals. The site also offers
Lesson Plans for a wide variety of subjects and education
levels.
[http://www.gpo.gov/default.html]
This site provides access to
electronic federal publications such as the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Congressional Record, congressional
bills and hearings and the Monthly
Catalog of Government Publications. It also contains links to government
agency web sites.
[http://www.loc.gov/index.html]
This web site offers links
to the Library of Congress catalog, the Copyright and Trademark Office,
THOMAS, and the American Memory Collection.
[http://medlineplus.gov]
This web site is provided by
the National Library of Medicine and is a good starting place for research on
medical topics. Among its resources
are links to abstracts of articles, web sites of government agencies, and
private organizations.
National Archives and Records
Administration
This web site offers links
to the National Archives collections, research tools for genealogy, the
Presidential Libraries, and the Archival Research Catalog. This is a good source for historical
information.
This site sponsored by the
Library of Congress provides access to current legislative information. The information available includes
Senate and House bills and committee hearings from the 93rd session
forward, historical information and links to House and Senate offices.
USA.gov The U.S. Government’s Official Web
Portal
[http://www.usa.gov/]
The official gateway to all
U.S. Government information available on the web.
[http://www.capitol.state.tx.us]
This site includes
information on bills, legislation, committees, and members of the Texas State
legislature.
[http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/trail/
]
This site provided by the
Texas State Library and Archives Commission allows you to search over 150 State
agency web servers to locate information on the Internet. This site is a good starting point if
you want to search all of the state pages at the same
time.
[http://www.texasonline.state.tx.us]
This site is a portal for
Texas state government information.
It offers online services like renewal of driver licenses and provides
links to state agencies by subject area.
Documents found on
microfiche and microfilm on the second floor include:
House, Senate, Joint Committee hearings and
reports
House and Senate bills
ERIC documents
Federal
Register (1976 –
current)
Census Schedules (1860 - 1930)
Congressional Globe and Congressional
Record
Presidential Papers
NCJRS microfiche
American Statistical Institute
microfiche
The Government Documents
Department also has a map collection. Maps are located in the filing cabinets
and the map cabinets in the Documents area. Some useful online map collections
include:
[http://www.glo.state.tx.us/archives/mapscol.html]
Library of Congress Map
Collection
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html]
Perry Castaneda Library Map
Collection (UT Austin)
[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html]
The Government Documents
Department also has a collection of posters and pictures on various subjects
available for use as visual aids for speech presentations. The collection also includes pamphlets
on a number of different topics that make good visual aids as well. Posters are
located in the map cases in the Documents area.
Pamphlets are located in
filing cabinets in classification number order. Please ask if you need assistance
locating these items.
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Created by Theresa L.
Storey
Docguiderev05