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The I. D. Weeks Library is a selective depository library for U.S. Government document publications. The Library selects approximately 35 percent of the publications made available to participating depository libraries. The Documents Collection is arranged by the Superintendent of Documents Classification System (SuDocs), which arranges publications by their issuing agency (note outline below). Documents are located on the 2nd floor of the Library. The Collection is especially strong in areas of law, health sciences, earth sciences, education, business, history, and political science. One of the features of the documents collection is its nearly complete coverage of Congressional materials dating from the Continental Congress the present.
Government documents can help you in a number of ways:
*Issued by agencies, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Often the statistics you find in commercially printed sources are derived from U.S. Government sources.
U.S. Government publications are arranged alphabetically by the Superintendent of Documents Classification System. This is a system which classifies a document with an initial letter (s) representing the agency originating the document. The major agencies are listed in the table below:
| A | Agricultural Department | J | Justice Department |
| C | Commerce Department | JU | Judiciary |
| CR | Civil Rights Commission | L | Labor Department |
| CS | Civil Service Commission | LC | Library of Congress |
| D | Defense Department | NAS | NASA |
| E | Energy Department | P | Postal Service |
| ED | Education Department | PR | President of U.S.A. |
| EP | Environmental Protection | PrEx | Executive Office |
| GA | General Accounting Office | S | State Department |
| GS | General Services Admin. | SBA | Small Business Administration |
| HE | Health & Human Services | T | Treasury Department |
| HH | Housing & Urban Dev. Dep. | TD | Transportation Department |
| I | Interior Department | VA | Veterans Administration |
| IC | Interstate Commerce Comm. | Y3 | Congress - Commissions |
| ITC | International Trade Comm. | Y4 | Congress - Congressional Hearings |
Many government publications are available on the Internet. Often significant publications that are of interest to the public are first issued via the Web prior to being issued in paper format.
Basic access to Documents available in the I.D. Weeks Library is through the Online Catalog (PALS). Materials acquired from 1976 to the present appear in the Online Catalog. You can search for government documents by subject, title, author and Superintendent of Documents number.
Access to U.S. Government information is becoming increasingly streamlined. The U.S. Government is making available a wide variety of information resources via the Web. Many of the Government documents available through the Online Catalog are hot-linked to PURL's that provide access to full text/image data accessible through your computer.
The U.S. Government has made available specialized databases that will assist you in locating publications, some of the more common ones are listed below.
FirstGov
http://www.firstgov.gov/
The official U.S. Government portal to government information, services, and online transactions. Features a topical index, links to state and local governments and options to contact your government.
The Federal Web
Locator
http://infoctr.edu/fwl/
The Federal Web Locator is intended to assist you in locating federal agencies. This site is hosted by the Information Center at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology.
GPO
Access
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/
GPO Access provides access to over 1,500 databases of Federal information. A general search page provides the opportunity for searching on multiple GPO Access databases from a single page, while specialized search pages allow you to perform more detailed searches. Some of the databases included:
Federal Register (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html)
Congressional Record (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces150.html)
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/locators/cgp/index.html)
U.S Code (http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/cong013.html)
GPO Access also hosts web pages and publications for Congress and other government agencies
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/locators/cgp/index.html)
The Catalog is a search and retrieval service that provides bibliographic records of U.S. Government information products and is the most comprehensive listing of federal information products. Use it to link to federal agency online resources or identify materials distributed to Federal Depository Libraries. Coverage begins with January 1994. Check with a librarian for assistance in finding older materials or use the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications for documents issued prior to 1994. This resource is available in the Government Documents collection, 2nd floor.
Thomas
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Provides access to legislative information from the 104th Congress to present. The Thomas databases include the following:
FedStats
http://www.fedstats.gov/
FedStats serves as a portal to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies, providing links to statistics and links to statistical agencies.
FedWorld
http://www.fedworld.gov/
FedWorld offers a comprehensive central access point for searching, locating, ordering and acquiring government and business information. FedWorld links to the Federal Job Announcement Database the U.S. Business Advisor and the NTIS Electronic Catalog.
GODORT
http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/romans/fdtf.html
A comprehensive site with active web links that organizes federal information resources by level of government and by subject.
The White
House
http://www.whitehouse.gov/
The official web site of the White House, includes messages and speeches from the President, budget information, and press releases.
American FactFinder
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet
One of the U.S. Census Bureau's portals for accessing recent (2000) population, housing, economic and geographic data.
American Statistics Index (Ref HA 17.Z9x A43)
A comprehensive guide to the statistical publications of the U.S. Government.
Statistical Reference Index (Ref HA 203 .S7)
A selective index to American statistical publications from private organizations and state government sources.
CIS/Index (main floor reference index tables)
Abstracts and indexes hearings, reports, committee prints, and other congressional papers.
Compiled by
John Van Balen
Send comments to vanbalen@usd.edu
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No Frames Version Send Comments to weeksref@usd.edu |