You are here:

Guidelines for Government Documents: Federal Documents

1. Purpose
2. General collection guidelines
    A. Language
    B. Chronology
    C.Geographical Areas
    D. Publication Date
    E. Treatment of Subject
    F. Types of Materials, Formats Collected
   G. Classification and Organization of the Collection
   H. Accessibility to Collection
3. Area resources
4. Agencies and collecting levels
5. Methodology
6. Collection Maintenance

1. Purpose.

VCU Libraries at Virginia Commonwealth University was designated a selective Federal Depository Library in 1971. The Library is committed to providing access to depository materials that support the research, instructional, and curricular needs of the University as well as the information needs of the 3rd Congressional District.

The depository collection is selected, maintained, and serviced by the Government Documents Office in accordance with the requirements of Title 44, Chapter 19, of the United States Code (44 USC 19), which provides for the establishment and maintenance of depository libraries and the distribution of Government documents to those libraries for use by the public and according to the guidelines in the Instructions to Depository Libraries. The administration and development of the documents collection require cooperation from the following departments in the Library: Acquisition Services, Cataloging Services, Collection Management Services, and Information Services. The collection includes depository and non-depository materials issued by government agencies, private organizations, and commercial businesses.

The majority of the federal documents collection is housed at the James Branch Cabell Library. Materials relevant to health sciences are housed at the Tompkins-McCaw Library.

2. General Collection Guidelines.

A. Language.
English is preferred. Foreign language titles are added only when issued under the same item numbers as English materials.

B. Chronology.
Primary emphasis is given to the acquisition of current and historical federal documents that are relevant to the needs and interests of the University community and the citizens of the 3rd Congressional District.

C. Geographical Areas.
Geographic coverage reflects the publication interest of the federal government, which is the United States. Materials about foreign governments and nations are collected when they are issued by such agencies as the State Department, the Department of Defense, and the International Trade Commission.

D. Publication Date.
Both current and retrospective federal documents are acquired for the collection, however, the document collecting emphasis is on current materials.

E. Treatment of Subject.
Government publications can be identified according to six types of documents, based on their functions. Materials providing the following functions are selected: legislative documents published on the legislative process of a government; administrative documents which are compilations of rules and regulations needed to carry out the intent of the law; reportorial documents that are reports issued by government agencies or commissions or court decisions; service publications which provide beneficial information to individuals or or groups; research documents that cover the results of research projects by government agencies or technical reports; and informational documents that are issued to inform the public about government activities or services.

F. Types of Materials, Formats Collected.
Government information comes in a variety of generic information packages. The range of government information genres include: annual reports; bills and resolutions; judificial decisions and opinions; audiovisual materials; hearings; laws and statutes; newsletters; scholarly journals; research/investigation reports; statistical reports/compilations; books/monographs; bibliographies and lists; committee and commission reports; directories; general information pamphlets; journals and proceedings; maps; magazines; press releases; rules and regulations; and executive communications.

With each of these generic information packages must be considered possibilities of format: sewn binding, perfect binding, staple binding, maps, pamphlets, microfiche, microfilm, videotape, film, audiotape, floppy diskettes, computer tape, and CD-ROM are all available via deposit and commercial sources.

Major emphasis is also placed on current series maps and the maps reflecting historical value for the 20th century. All formats of maps are collected, including general or base maps, topographical maps, state map series, and geological maps.

As a general rule, posters are not selected for most agencies because of difficulty in storage and limited research value.

G. Classification and Organization of the Collection.
The collection is arranged by Superintendent of Documents classification system. When an alternative classification system is chosen such as the Library of Congress, an entry will remain in the Government Documents shelflist under the appropriate Superintendent of Documents classification system with a notation to that call number.

H. Accessibility to Collection.
The documents collection is arranged by Superintendent of Documents classification number and is separated from the library's general circulating collection, except for a few titles that are more useful in the Documents Reference collection. An open stack policy to government documents materials provides access to all patrons when the Library is open. All non-reference federal documents circulate to any patron with Library privileges. Microfiche reader/printers and photocopiers are available near the documents collection for all patrons.

The Library subscribes to the Marcives Shipping List Service (SLS). The weekly service provides electronic bibliographic records for government publications which are loaded onto the VCU Library Catalog (DCAT). Library users retrieve current federal government publication titles when they conduct keyword, title, or subject searches on the VCU Library Catalog (DCAT). An index to government documents from 1976 to the present, the GPO Monthly Catalog on CD-ROM, is also available to the public through the Library's local area computer network.

3. Area Resources.

VCU Libraries participates in the interliary loan networks with other libraries in the region, state, and nation. There is unrestricted interlibrary loan of cirulating documents to any requesting academic or public library. This service is free.

Federal publications not selected by the VCU Libraries can be obtained from other selective depository libraries in the Richmond-Petersburg metropolitan area which include the: United States Court of Appeals, University of Richmond-Boatwright Memorial Library, University of Richmond Law School Library, Virginia State Law Library, Virginia State Library & Archives, Virginia State University-Johnston Memorial Library or the University of Virginia Alderman Library, which is the regional depository for the state of Virginia.

4. Agencies and Collecting Levels.

The Government Documents collection is arranged by the Superintendent of Documents classification system and selected by item numbers. Exceptions are possible in response to library patron requests or evidence of high value or use of a particular title. The collection levels referred to in this policy are a part of the VCU Library's collection management policy. The collections are listed in alphabetical order, according to SuDoc number.

Comprehensive Level. The collection in the library will include significant works of recorded knowledge (publications, manuscripts, other forms) for a necessarily defined field. This level of collecting will aim to achieve a level of exhaustiveness.

Y1.2:

Y1.3:

Y4.

Y10.

Research Level. The collection will include the major published source materials required for dissertations and independent research, including materials containing research reporting, new findings, scientific experimental results, and other information useful to researchers. It also will include all important reference works and a wide selection of specialized monographs, as well as an extensive collection of journals and major indexing and abstracting services in the field.

FHL

PrEx

Y3.

Study Level. The collection will support the undergraduate or graduate course work, or sustained independent study; that is, which is adequate to maintain knowledge of a subject required for limited or generalized purposes, of less than research intensity.

CSA

FEM

FTZ

ITC

NAS

NCU

NMB

SBA

Basic Level. A highly selective collection which will serve to introduce and define the subject and to indicate the varieties of information available elsewhere. It includes major dictionaries and encyclopedias, selected editions of important works, historical surveys, important bibliographies, and a few major periodicals in the field.

CAB

FCA

FMC

5. Methodology.

The List of Classes of the United States Government Publications Available for Selection by Depository Libraries and the GPO newsletter, Administrative Notes are used to update item files for inactive or discontinued selections.

The selection of federal publications is based on item numbers designated by the Government Printing Office. Once a year, GPO sends out a printout of current selections and at this time depository libraries are allowed to add item selections. The printout is compared to the item cards and any errors are adjusted and additions are made. GPO accepts deletions of item selections at any time during the year. Other assessment tools or resources for the collection include the following:

Federal Depository Library Manual (revised November 1993).

2. Guide to U.S. Government Publications. John L. Andriot, ed. McLean, Va.: Documents Index, 1990.

3. U.S. Government Periodicals Index on CD-ROM. Bethesda, MD.: Congressional Information Service, 1994-
An attempt has been made to select all periodical titles indexed in this publication.

4. List of Classes of the United States Government Publications Available for Selection by Depository Libraries. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1960-

5. Management of Government Information Resources in Libraries. Diane H. Smith, ed. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1993.

6. Monthly Catalog of the United States Government Publications. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951-

7. GPO Sales Publications Reference File (PRF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

8. Virginia Commonwealth University Library Collection Management Policy. The collection management librarians will provide sections from subject related selection tools covering government documents.

VCU Libraries also acquires materials published by commercial and quasi-commercial sources which specialize in government information. Examples include, the National Technical Information Center (NTIS), a quasi-commercial source of important government information, and Congressional Information Services (CIS), a private-sector vendor which supplies U.S. government titles in a variety of formats.

6. Collection Maintenance.

The collection is maintained in accordance with the guidelines stated in the Instructions to Depository Libraries. An accurate shelflist for all depository publications is maintained and all documents are clearly marked with the depository property stamp and the Superintendent of Documents number.

Titles of depository documents which should be discarded as they are superseded or revised in the Superseded List are withdrawn from the collection. All other documents in the collection are reviewed on an annual basis for retention or withdrawal. Those titles no longer needed in the collection are offered to other libraries with the permission of the regional depository in accordance to Chapter 4 of the Instructions to Depository Libraries. Damaged or worn documents are evaluated for replacement or withdrawal.

The Collection Development Policy for Government Documents and Item selections for the collection are reviewed annually by the Team Leader of the Government Documents Office in cooperation with the Collection Management Services unit of the Library.