Government Documents: processing and overviewKimberly Brown-HardenProfessional Development OfficeIndiana State Library

SuDoc and the structure of federal documents:•Superintendent of Documents = SuDoc•Based on the agency of publication

▫A = Agriculture▫NAS = NASA

•Changing agency means changing SuDoc number

•Print, microform, electronic

Collection Development:

•Development involves identifying needs of library users and selecting materials appropriately. Tangible and online (EL) selections, the Basic Collection, official partnerships, the CGP, FDsys, and other U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) resources comprise the collection.

Collection Development

•Select materials to meet your library users needs.▫ up to your discretion

•No set percentage you have to select. You can be almost completely electronic!

• As of August 2014, libraries no longer have to select item numbers 0556-C and 1004-E.

Collection Lists

•List is in partnership between GPO and depository libraries; these lists help identify publications that are of interest to the general public and particular library types. Each list contains core U.S. government publications/resources identified by the depository community at large. Each list has a different focus…

•Three types of collection lists: basic, essential, suggested core collections by type of library

Basic Collection:

•These are the most basic Federal publications that must be accessible by title, in any format, in each Federal depository library. ▫All libraries must select or provide

access to all titles in the FDLP Basic Collection. These documents are vital sources of information that support the public's right to know about the workings and essential activities of their Federal Government.

Example of basic collection item numbers:

Essential Titles:

•Titles contain critical information about the U.S. government or serve as important reference publications.

•GPO ensures that these publications are available for selection in tangible format as long as the publishing agency continues to produce them.

Example of Essential titles:

Suggested Core Collection List by Library:• The Suggested Core Collection List is a list of

publication titles suggested for selection by academic, public, and law libraries. Large depository libraries (over 600,000 volumes) would select most of the titles indicated for their type of library as a matter of course. Smaller depository libraries (up to 150,000 volumes) and medium depository libraries (150,000 - 600,000 volumes) should review the list, and select any titles that seem pertinent to the institution mission and the information needs of the community.

Suggested Core Collection for Public Libraries:

Collection Development Policies

•Knowing the community you serve is key to creating a collection development policy for your library.

•The collection development policies of neighboring or similar depositories can be good sources for ideas.

Collection Development, cond’t:• Consider including the following information in your

policy:• A community analysis of the Federal Government

information needs of your library’s users. The analysis may include: ▫ A library mission statement ▫ A brief history of the service area, the Congressional

district and the depository designation date ▫ Demographic statistics ▫ An economic profile of the area’s industries, business

opportunities, and growth ▫ A description of the physical growth, transportation

patterns, and population distribution of the geographic area ▫ Consortial arrangements with other area libraries

Some ways to document and identify federal government information needs• Analyze demographic and socio-economic data about the community served. • Review publication purchase requests. • Gain knowledge from subject matter expertise of library colleagues. • Review reference questions. • Track depository resources used in answering questions. • Review daily news sources. • Review other library Web pages or guides. • Employ library user surveys that include questions about Federal government

information needs. • Review user comments submitted electronically via email, Web forms, chat, or other

communication tools. • Contact government agency personnel. • Gain knowledge from participation in library associations or other library networks. • Review data about patron collection use within the library building (e.g., in-house

use or circulation). • Review data about remote patron collection use (e.g., OPAC usage, Web counters

and site usage, virtual reference questions that include U.S. Government information in the question or answer, or interlibrary loan).

• Review use of PURLs from your catalog and library Web pages.

Item numbers:• The item number system is how GPO groups

materials together that are published by a government agency or sub-agency. Specific item numbers are assigned to Federal government publications that are distributed through the FDLP, and oftentimes, varying unique item numbers are assigned for specific publishing formats. An item number may be associated with a specific title and Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) classification number or may encompass more than one publication title and classification number.

Collection Development Tools:

•List of Classes•Documents Data Miner 2 (DDM2)•Federal Agency Publication Lists •Depository Selection Information

Management System (DSIMS)•WEBTech Notes•Monthly Catalog of United States

Government Publications (Mocat)• Item lister •Shelf lists

List of classes:• The List of Classes is the official listing of publications

available for selection by depository libraries participating in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

• The list is arranged by the Superintendent of Documents classification numbering system and is designed to group together publications by the same Government author. Use the List of Classes to work with and identify item numbers that your depository may want to select or deselect from your item selection profile. The List of Classes is usually published semi-annually in paper and a copy is sent to each depository library. Additional copies are available for sale from the U.S. Government Bookstore.

Documents Data Miner 2 (DDM2):•Developed and maintained by Wichita

State University Libraries•Data is from GPO. •This is helpful in reviewing your item

selection profile.

DDM2Example of item selection profile

Depository information

Depository Selection Information Management System (DSIMS)•Works similar to DDM2•GPO product•Helpful in reviewing your library’s

selection profile.•Can drop items any time and they will be

dropped immediately.•Can add items anytime, but they will be

added only on Oct. 1st of each year.

ISL’S Profile:

WEBTech Notes:

•Documents any SuDocs class change, format change, new item numbers and discontinuance of titles.

•This is very helpful when making changes to your selection profile.

•Helps learn the history of an item number

Item Lister

•Reflects each depository library's current item selection profile.

•Updated weekly•Dropped items are effective immediately;

added items effective October 1.

Shelf list

•The shelf list is a record or database of items/titles held by the library and are arranged in classification order (by whatever system of classification is used in the library).

•The shelf list record is invaluable for taking inventory at stated intervals.

•GPO considers your online catalog your shelf list

Card-based shelf list:

Shelf list example:

Shelf list example (database/spreadsheet):

Processing government documents

Receiving and processing shipments:

• Before opening the shipment, verify the mailing address and verify depository number.

• Open the box and remove the shipping list• Stamp the documents with the depository

stamp; stamp the current date on each shipping list.

• Check the documents against the shipping list. • Enter the items in the shipping list log.• Claim any missing documents, if applicable.• Cataloging

▫MARCIVE/OCLC

Weeding documents:

•The weeding of depository materials is optional and different criteria apply to libraries based on their designation or library type, and the availability of a regional depository library.

•Weeding requires depository library staff to be familiar with some criteria.

•Remember to keep information needs of your users in mind when weeding.

What qualifies to be weeded?

•Superseded publications▫Use the 2002 superseded list as a reference

•Substituted publications▫Substitution involves replacing one format

of a publication with the same content in another format

▫Two kinds of substitution: Tangible and online.

•Five year rule.

Disposal of documents:

•Materials distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program remain Federal property and must be disposed of according to specific rules and state/regional instruction.

•Five-year rule applies▫Exceptions: supersession, substitution, and

duplicates. •Review by the Regional•1976 Rule

Information for selectives:

Disposal Guidelines

Disposal, continued:•Procedure

▫Create the disposal list using the template▫Send list to Michele Fenton and or

depository coordinator to review and upload to the database

•Options after approval▫National needs and offers▫Give them away▫destroy

Needs and Offers homepage:

Needs and Offers Database

Disposal list template:

Questions??