Dartmouth College Library
Collection Management & Development Program
Collection Development Policy
UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
|
- COLLECTION AREA
- HISTORY
- GENERAL PURPOSE
- DARTMOUTH COLLEGE PROGRAM AND NON-DARTMOUTH USERS
- GENERAL SUBJECT BOUNDARIES
- LANGUAGES
- GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
- TYPES OF MATERIALS COLLECTED
- FORMAT OF MATERIALS COLLECTED
- OTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE
- CREATION DATE
- REVISION DATES
- LC CLASS
- BIBLIOGRAPHER
- COLLECTING INTENSITY CHART
is located on a separate page.
U.S. Government Documents
The Dartmouth College Library began collecting United States government documents
from the beginning of the republic. Two good examples still in the library
collection are the American State
Papers containing legislative and executive documents from 1789-1823, and the
first decennial census reports from 1790.
1884 -- In 1884 over 45,000 federal government documents were distributed in the
following manner: "To the several institutions in each State and Territory which
have been designated as depositories of public documents, in accordance with the
provisions of section 501 of the Revised Statutes, one set each." Among the list
of 324 depositories receiving government publications was Dartmouth College,
Hanover, New Hampshire. House Executive Document no. 93 contained the first
official listing of the Dartmouth College Library as a federal depository
library.
1930's -- Reference Librarian Paul Allen began using a color band system for
organizing and finding congressional hearings. This system was used for many
years and drew attention from several libraries (Harvard 1946, Wellesley 1949,
Elizabethtown College 1958).
1979 -- A separate documents collection arranged by Superintendent of Documents
classification was placed on Baker Library's serials reading room mezzanine.
1981-1982 -- A central public service point for government information called
the Government Documents Center was fashioned from a temporary makeshift area
in the "old Serials lobby."
1984 -- A symposium entitled "The Centennial Collection" was held at the Rockefeller
Center honoring the 100th anniversary of Dartmouth College Library's designation
as a federal depository. Speakers include author Joe Morehead and U.S.
Superintendent of Documents Michael DiMario.
Top of Page
U.S. government documents, as described in this policy, are defined as and primarily
limited to informational materials that are published at government expense, or
as required by law and distributed free of charge to libraries through the U.S.
Government Printing Office's [GPO] Federal Depository Library Program. The Dartmouth
College Library, a Federal Depository Library since 1884, is required by Federal
statute to make U.S. government publications "available for the free use of the
general public" and to abide by the rules and regulations of the Federal Depository
Library Program as outlined in the Instructions to Depository Libraries.
["Depository Library Program," U.S. Code Title 44, Pts. 1901, 1911. 1988 ed.]
The collection is inspected by the Government Printing Office approximately
once every four years. It is the only externally audited collection in the library
system.
As a selective Federal Depository Library, the Dartmouth College Library selects
approximately 70% of all U.S. government documents that are made available through
the depository program. The documents collection supports the instructional,
research, and personal needs of Dartmouth undergraduates, graduate students, and
faculty, and is a source of information for many other library users within and
beyond the College. Materials from the collection are housed at Baker, Kresge, Dana,
Feldberg, Sherman, and Storage libraries.
Over the past 10 years, the collection was reduced from a 90% federal depository
item selection rate to a 70% selection rate. This was accomplished through the
de-selection of posters, bibliographies, forms, and directories. Agencies
use the Internet for timely telephone and address dissemination reducing the need
for print directories. Electronic databases such as the Monthly Catalog, National
Technical Information Service, and Scientific and Technical Information Network
reduced the need for bibliographies.
Some discussions were recently held concerning further reduction of the selection rate.
Discussions will continue. The factors that prevent a drastic reduction of the
selection rate include:
- Government Printing Office compliance.
- Archiving.
- Long distances to other depository libraries.
- High use of the collection (by faculty, students, and the general public).
Weeding of the collection has and is being done regularly, and follows
federal law and Government Printing Office regulations. All weeding is
coordinated through the Government Documents Center at Baker Library.
Depository materials
must be kept for 5 years. After 5 years, a list of materials considered for weeding must
be sent to the University of Maine at Orono Regional Depository for review. If
the item is not claimed by the University of Maine, it may then be discarded.
Feldberg and Dana have begun weeding the federal depository materials
in their libraries.
When the SUDOC collection was moved to its current location in 1979, it had a growth
space allowance of 0%. Weeding has been a continual process at Baker Library since.
Lists are produced for the University of Maine at least once a month.
Top of Page
Because of the diverse nature of government publications and because of the substantial
interest in current government information, the collection attracts faculty and students
in a wide range of programs. U.S. government publications support faculty interests
and student demands in the departments of Government, Economics, Geography, Environmental
Studies, Native American Studies, History, Sociology, Earth Sciences, the wide
variety of Freshman Seminars that are offered each term, as well as a number of
special institutes that are offered during the summer [notable among these is the
Dartmouth Debate Institute for high school debaters]. The collection also supports
the teaching and research interests of faculty and graduate students in the Amos
Tuck School of Business Administration, Thayer School of Engineering, the Dartmouth
Medical School, Computer Science, and the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
[M.A.L.S.] program. In addition, the collection supports the needs of the staffs
associated with such administrative offices as the President's Office, Legal Affairs,
Forensic Union, Rockefeller Center, Dickey Endowment, World Affairs Council,
Career and Employment Services, Affirmative Action, Project Cork Institute,
News Service, and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
The U.S. government documents collection also attracts library users from beyond
the Dartmouth College community. As mandated by Federal law, the Library is required
to meet the informational needs of users from the 2nd Congressional District of New
Hampshire, and due to Dartmouth's close proximity to Vermont the collection also
attracts many patrons from the Green Mountain State. Among the wide variety of users
are academic, public, school, and special librarians; professors from other academic
institutions; medical professionals; social workers; business entrepreneurs;
scientific researchers from an assortment of research institutions in the area
(notably the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research Laboratory and Verax Corporation);
elementary and secondary school teachers; newspaper reporters; local authors;
Vermont Law School students; and library school students from Simmons College in
Boston and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany.
Top of Page
U.S. government documents are selected by series or groups of publications [items
selected] issued by the various departments and agencies of the Federal government
rather than by subject categories. Examples are: general publications of the
Department of State, handbooks of the National Cancer Institute, reports of the
Bureau of the Census, circulars of the Geological Survey, maps of the Forest Service,
decisions of the Supreme Court, or committee hearings of Congress). All three
branches of the Federal government are represented in the collection.
Unlike other Dartmouth College Library collections, most government publications
received since 1978 [the date when a separate government documents collection was
established] are housed at the Government Documents Center or at the Jones Microtext
Center of Baker Library and are arranged by the Superintendent of Documents
classification. Major exceptions are many government serials which are classed
by the Library of Congress classification and located in Baker Stacks or at
another Dartmouth library and the publications of the National Institutes of
Health [NIH] which are housed at the Dana Biomedical Library.
Top of Page
The U.S. Government publishes primarily in English. A small amount of
materials are published in Spanish.
Top of Page
All states and other geographical areas [e.g., counties, cities, census tracts, etc.]
are represented in the collection. Over the past 20 years, the U.S. Government
expanded publication of materials relating to other countries. The CIA's World
Factbook, and electronic products such as the Census Bureau's International Data Base
are representative of these publications.
Top of Page
Monographs, serials, and maps are routinely selected as depository publications and
are also received as non-depository documents from the Library of Congress's Documents
Expediting Project or from individual government agencies. Non-depository scientific
and technical reports are purchased selectively from the U.S. National Technical
Information Service [NTIS]. Commercial retrieval software products, for use with
government CD-ROMs that contain no software programs, are acquired on a selective
basis. The Library also subscribes to a number of commercial microform collections
[e.g., the CIS Microfiche Library and the ASI Microfiche Library] and to
commercial campus-wide electronic services
[e.g., Statistical Universe and Congressional Universe].
In addition, a variety of commercial reference aids are acquired to complement the
collection.
Top of Page
In addition to hard copies, U.S. government documents are received in microfiche
[approximately 40% are distributed in this format], computer laser optical disks
[CD-ROMs], and videotapes. Commercial online computer databases are also available.
Though Dartmouth does not technically "collect" materials published for free
by the U.S. Government on the
Internet, Dartmouth does work to provide access to these materials. For example,
the CIA's World Factbook is available through the DCIS Navigator. Federal Internet
URL's (with hotlinking capability) began to be added to Dartmouth's public catalog
in November 1996. The Government Documents Center Internet site provides a Links
section organized to provide subject access to selected Federal Internet sites.
Top of Page
Requests for government information, not available in the Library's collection,
are directed to the U.S. Government Printing Office, the U.S. National Technical
Information Service, other government agencies, or the Documents Expediting Project
of the Library of Congress. For census information, inquiries are often made to
the U.S. Bureau of Census offices in Washington and Boston or to the New Hampshire
State Data Center in Concord. Map inquiries are routinely made to the U.S.
Geological Survey and to the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (formerly the
Defense Mapping Agency). The resources of the Regional Federal Depository Library
at the University of Maine (Orono) are used as well as the resources of other
selective depositories in the Tri-State Region [New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine].
Prominent among these depositories are the New Hampshire State Library, the
University of New Hampshire, and Middlebury College. Occasionally, interlibrary
loan requests are sent to other depository libraries beyond the Tri-State Region.
GOVDOC-L, an E-Mail service for government documents librarians, is used daily to
obtain information concerning government documents issues.
January 1984
April 1993, January 1999
The majority of serial government documents are cataloged in various
LC classes depending on their subject.
John Cocklin
Top of Page
Collection Development
Policy Table of Contents
CMDC Home Page
Last updated February 10,1999 by: (z)