University Library > Collections > Government Documents

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

Photograph of Federal Documents Collection signage

The University Library is a selective depository for U.S. and Wisconsin government documents. The library also has small collections of titles from international organizations, such as the UN, and from foreign governments' embassies. Documents provide information useful in many fields, including business, economics, education, health & medicine, history, law, science, and social policy. They come in many formats, including paper, microfiche, maps, videos, CD-ROMs/DVDs and Internet files. Most of the library's 323,000 documents are on the main/second level.

More detail on: Federal | Wisconsin | International/Foreign documents
Also see the library user guide: How to Find Government Documents

Assistance: Reference Service staff provide assistance with identifying, locating, and using documents housed in the University Library, available from other libraries, or provided on the Internet. The library has an official policy statement on public service provided for depository materials in electronic formats, including Internet resources.

Copying, Printing, & Circulation: Photocopiers and microfiche readers and printers are available; copies cost 10 cents per page. Printing (black & white) from computer workstations is free for University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students and staff, but non-University patrons must pay 10 cents per page. Color printing costs 50 cents per page for all patrons. Many of the library's computers require a campus login, but a guest login is available from the Reference Desk. Most documents may be checked out by campus and community borrowers, except periodicals, reference materials, and titles that are rare or especially fragile. University of Wisconsin-Whitewater students and staff may be able to request that documents held by other libraries be sent to the University Library through the Universal Borrowing service (if owned at another UW library) or through the ILLiad Interlibrary Loan Service. Non-campus patrons must request such service through their home academic institution's library, or through their local public library.

US depository logo

FEDERAL DOCUMENTS

The University Library has been a Congressionally-designated participant in the Federal Depository Library Program since 1963. Through this program, federal government agency publications are distributed to nearly 1,400 depository libraries across the U.S. to ensure free public access to government information. The University Library is a medium-sized depository, selecting more than 45% of the classes of documents available to federal depository libraries. Holdings are especially strong in Congressional materials and publications from the departments of Commerce, Education, and Labor, and from the U.S. Geological Survey. The library also provides public access to federal government resources and law resources on the Internet at library computer workstations with downloading and printing capabilities.

The east half of the library's main/second floor houses most of its federal documents, including microfiche documents in the Reference Microforms Room and large posters and maps in the Map Room. Maps received include: 7.5-minute topographic quadrangles for Wisconsin and its neighboring states (IL, IN, IA, MI, MN), CIA maps covering the entire world, and maps for national forests and parks. Federal documents in CD-ROM format that are not available from a designated workstations near the Reference Desk may be installed upon request. Back-up copies of floppy disk documents not installed on library workstations may be checked out.

The online catalog lists most federal documents in the University Library published since 1976, and some older titles as well. A government-produced listing, the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications may be used to identify U.S. government agencies' publications, including those the University Library does not receive:

  • GDCS CD-ROM on the library's Government Documents workstation (#S5) lists publications since 1976
  • The Catalog on the Internet lists publications since 1976 (earlier records to be added over time)
  • paper Monthly Catalog (and preceding titles) located near the University Library's Reference Desk list documents published before 1976

Most federal documents are arranged by the Superintendent of Documents ("SuDocs") classification system, which groups documents by authoring agency. For example, all publications from the Dept. of Commerce have classification numbers that begin with C (for Commerce). However, Internal Revenue Service materials' classification begins with T because the IRS is an agency within the Treasury Dept. Congressional materials have classification numbers that begin with X or Y (C being in use for Commerce). A detailed Explanation of the SuDocs classification system is available on the Internet.

Documents not available in the University Library may be available in other libraries, including other selective federal depositories in the Second Congressional District such as Beloit College (designated 1888). Wisconsin's two comprehensive federal depository libraries are nearby as well: UW-Madison Memorial Library (designated 1939) and Milwaukee Public Library (designated 1861).

WI depository logo

WISCONSIN DOCUMENTS

The University Library is one of more than 40 libraries participating in the Wisconsin Document Depository Program, the purpose of which is to ensure free public access to state agency documents. The University Library is a partial depository, with an emphasis on education, labor, economic, and legislative materials. The library also provides public access to state government resources and law resources on the Internet at library computer workstations with downloading and printing capabilities.

Wisconsin government documents in the University Library are located on the east end of the main/second floor (near the Reference Desk). The online catalog lists all Wisconsin documents available in the collection.

Most of the library's Wisconsin documents are arranged by the Wisconsin State Document Classification System (Widocs), which groups publications by authoring government agency. Each number begins with an abbreviation for an authoring agency, e.g., publications from the Wisconsin Dept. of Administration have classification numbers that begin with A and materials from the Legislative Reference Bureau have classification numbers that begin with LEG. Publications of the State Legislature, such as the Wisconsin Statutes, have classification numbers that begin with Z. A guide to the Widocs classification system is available in the Wisconsin Document Depository Program Manual for Depository Libraries (Wisconsin documents collection LIB 6/2:D 4/4/1994).

Wisconsin documents that are not available in the University Library may be available from other libraries. The most comprehensive collection of Wisconsin documents is at the State Historical Society Library on the UW-Madison campus.

Spinning globe

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTS AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

All intergovernmental organization publications and foreign government documents held by the University Library are listed in the online catalog. Most of these publications are located on the east end of the University Library's main/second floor (near the Reference Desk). The library also provides public access to international government resources and law resources on the Internet at library computer workstations with downloading and printing capabilities.

OECD

Until the early 1990's the University Library received all English-language publications of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Since then only a few titles have been received automatically, such as the economic surveys of member counties, and additional titles have been acquired very selectively. OECD documents are arranged into broad subject categories by their call numbers, e.g., 97- is the beginning of call numbers for environmental titles. The online catalog lists "International Documents, OECD" as the location for these documents.

UNITED NATIONS and its SUBSIDIARY AGENCIES

The University Library's collections of documents from the UN and its subsidiary agencies (Food and Agriculture Organization, International Labour Office, UNESCO, World Health Organization, and World Meteorological Organization) are extremely selective and small. The major UN yearbooks are received automatically: Statistical Yearbook, International Trade Statistics Yearbook, Demographic Yearbook, and the Yearbook of the United Nations. WHO technical reports also are received automatically. The online catalog lists the location of these materials as "International Documents, UN" and within that location publications of UN subsidiary organs are grouped together by call numbers that start with an appropriate acronym: UN, FAO, ILO, UNESCO, WHO, WMO.

"Foreign Publications"

Publications with the location "International Documents, Misc." in the online catalog are on the east end of the library's main/second floor (near the Reference Desk). This very limited collection consists mostly of periodicals received from foreign government embassies. Some of the periodicals are received sporadically, such as China's Sinorama and Japan Pictorial, while others arrive regularly, such as This Week in Germany. They are arranged by country. Intermingled with these documents are titles from two intergovernmental organizations, the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments and IMF Survey, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's NATO Handbook and NATO Review.

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