Library Research 101Government InformationRead Chapter 7 in your text for information about federal and North Carolina government information. Everything important is in the textbook. This page is still here because there are several links in it that you may want to visit. The Ramsey Library Web page about Government Information will give you an overview of Ramsey Library's role as a selective depository, serving the UNCA community and the North Carolina 11th Congressional district, and a way to access government agencies and publications on the Internet. It is getting easier for citizens to find information about their state and federal governments because many publications formerly available only in print or microfiche are now freely available to anyone with an Internet connection and a Web browser. The major trend in government publishing is to issue documents (publications) and data directly as HTML files on the World Wide Web or as PDF files that can be read and printed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free utility. There are several concepts relating to government documents at Ramsey Library that you should understand and remember. Details are in Chapter 7. Depository LibrariesDepository libraries agree to house and make government publications available without restriction to the citizens of their Congressional district as well as their immediate constituency of users, which is, in our case, UNCA and the surrounding Asheville community. In return, the library receives free-of-charge its selection of titles from the vast number available. The library absorbs the cost of housing, processing, and providing research support.
Government publications are sometimes overlooked by students, but they provide a wealth of statistical data, educational research, environmental studies, wellness and health information, Congressional documents, consumer information, educational pamphlets, Supreme Court decisions, and much more. Don't forget that the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, and the National Gallery of Art are government publishers, too! CatalogingFederal publications have their own classification scheme, called the Superintendent of Documents classification. Each document is assigned a "SuDocs" number by the Government Printing Office, which is responsible for coordinating the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). The SuDocs number is based upon the issuing agency, not the subject of the document. Therefore, federal documents are shelved by agency, not by subject. As you remember, call numbers for most library materials begin with a Library of Congress classification number that indicates the major subject of the item. This is not true of government publications shelved by SuDocs classification, which arrange items according to government issuing agency. For example, all Agriculture Department publications are shelved together, all Labor Department publications are found in one section, and all Congressional publications occupy one large section of shelves. Of course, documents on similar subjects may be found together because a given government agency tends to publish in one general subject area. For example, you will find titles about aerospace in the NASA section. However, a hearing about space missions will have a SuDocs numbers reflecting its origin as a publication of the Congressional Committee that conducted the hearing. SuDocs call numbers are explained in the text. Locating federal publications in Ramsey LibrarySearch the online library catalog for federal documents issued after mid-1992. The catalog also contains catalog records for serial publications issued before that date. To find earlier publications, get the SuDocs number from the Marcive CAT/PAC CD-ROM index to government publications and check the federal documents card catalog by that number. Documents issued prior to 1976 must be researched in the printed Monthly Catalog to Government Publications, the official index to federal documents. Please ask for help at the Research Services Desk. MarciveWeb DOCS is an index to all federal publications in the depository library program, not just the documents held by Ramsey Library. This index includes current depository selection information for UNCA, ASU, and WCU. Documents not held in WNCLN can be requested on Interlibrary Loan from the regional depository at Chapel Hill. North Carolina PublicationsThe State of North Carolina has a depository library program similar to that of the federal government. Ramsey Library is a selective depository, along WCU. ASU has elected to become a complete depository, collecting all available documents in microfiche format. Search for North Carolina state publications in the online library catalog. They are shelved as a separate collection in the government documents area on the main floor of the library. The classification scheme for North Carolina publications is similar to the SuDocs system, arranging items by issuing state agency, not by subject. Many North Carolina state publications and other government data are available on the World Wide Web. Go to the government information Internet page to access state agencies. |
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