How to Access Government Documents

Government publications range from official documents such as statutes, laws, court decisions, and records of congressional activity to scientific and technical studies. Current topics like child care, water treatment, or solar heat can also be found in Government Documents.

Bierce Library has been a selective depository of government publications since 1963. In other words, the Library receives about 61% of the government publications that are distributed by the Government Printing Office. The Government Printing Office is the largest publisher in the world, and it is the federal government's primary information producer and distributor.

Documents are distributed to Depository Libraries at no charge. In return, these libraries make the documents available to the public. Bierce Library shares this charge with other Federal Depository Libraries in the 17th Congressional District. Other sources of government documents are the Educational Resources and Information Center (ERIC), National Technical Information Service (NTIS), and agency documents.

If you have questions about accessing Government Documents, please contact the Government Documents Librarian.

Finding and Using Government Documents

The Documents Collection is located on the First Floor of Bierce Library. The emphasis of the collection is on statistics, business, education, applied science, social and political science, and history. International, state, or local government publications are not included, but are cataloged in the general collection.

Superintendent of Documents Call Numbers

Government Documents are not organized under the same classification scheme as the general collection. The documents are organized and shelved according to the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) numbers.

The SuDocs number is unique in that it always has a colon. For example, A 1.1: is an annual report from the Agriculture Department. The letter in the SuDocs number refers to the publishing agency such as:

• A Agriculture Dept.
• C Census
• D Defense
• E Energy
• HE Health and Human Services
• X-Y Congress

The documents are arranged alphabetically by the government agency. The numbers are whole numbers, not decimals. Therefore, E 1.9: comes before E 1.12:.

Next