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Government Documents


Collection Development Policy

Robert Lopresti, Librarian

  1. Applicable LC Classes:

    2. There are no applicable LC classes; the library uses the special documents classification particular to each collection.

    Approximate collection size:

    U.S. documents: 598,600
    Washington documents: 37,300
    Canadian documents: 34,000
    Other documents: 3,000
    Total: 672,900

  2. Academic Departments, Programs, etc.:

    3. Among the major users of the collection are Huxley College of the Environment, including both the Departmentsof Environmental Sciences and of Environmental Studies, the Law and Diversity Program of Fairhaven College, the History Department and the Political Science Department. There is also use by the Woodring College of Education, and the College of Business and Economics, among others.

  3. Collection Levels:

    4. It is expected that present collecting levels will continue to be the desired levels.

    U.S. Documents: Generally, 3B. For material closely related to WWU's curriculum or geographical location, 3C.

    Washington documents: We have no control over what is sent. In terms of weeding and of acquiring non-depository material, our aim is 3C.

    Canadian documents: 2A.

    Other documents: 1A.

  4. Scope:

    5. PresentDesired
    Geographic: U.S., Washington and Canada U.S., Washington and Canada
    Language: English English
    Chronological limitations: Doesn't apply

  5. Formats collected/Non-Subject Parameters:

    6. We accept publications in whatever format the government sends them. Proper storage facilities for all these media are available in the libraries. The library maintains equipment capable of accessing government information in all formats that it currently selects. The Map Library, which has a selective housing agreement, has the equipment for cartographic and GIS computer files.

  6. System Coordination and Resource Sharing:

    7. Western Libraries has two selective housing agreements with offices in Arntzen Hall at the other end of campus. Most maps and atlases are sent to the Huxly Map Library. Many census-related CD-ROMs are sent to the Sociology Department's Demographic Research Lab, which is also a Census Data Center Affiliate. Written housing agreements have been signed and filed with the Government Printing Office and the Washington State Library (Regional Depository).

    Title 44 U.S.C. established a network of depository collections with selective depositories (including WWU) reporting to regional depositories (in our case, Washington State Library in Olympia). Regionals receive all publications distributed to depositories. Materials that Western does not select, or does not retain beyond the five years requirement, may be borrowed from the regional depository.

    Western also cooperates with Washington's other depositories through deposlib, the state depository listserv, which is used for discarding documents as well as sharing information, and by sending Government Documents personnel to state meetings.

  7. Electronic Databases:

    • Canadian Depository Services Program Catalogue
    • GPO Monthly Catalog (Government Printing Office)
    • Stat-USA / NTDB
    • Find-it! Washington, FedStats

  8. Notable Features:

    9. Western Libraries has been a depository for U.S. documents for more than forty years, and has been a depository for Washington and Canadian documents for decades. We are particularly strong in environmental materials from the Pacific Northwest.

  9. Narrative Statement:

    10. The Government Documents Collection encompasses federal, Washington state and local government publications, and Canadian federal and provincial documents. The collection is interdisciplinary in scope, supports advanced study, and is particularly strong in primary data and statistical information published by the various government agencies and departments. Each government collection is described separately.

    The library selects publications which support the curriculum and other purposes of the University, as well as those which support service to the residents of the 2nd Congressional District.

    By law, all government documents are available for use by the general public as well as by members of the University community. By university policy, unlike other material in the library, government publications can generally be checked out by people who are not connected to Western, as long as they can show some valid identification.

    Community (non-Western) users may access web- or computer disc-based government publications on any of the public computers. Information can be printed for a modest fee or downloaded to discs. Users of government documents on the Internet or in other computer formats are expected to adhere to the university's policy on responsible computing, and Western Library's policy on Internet viewing, both of which are posted in the library.

    There are no specific chronologic or geographic exclusions, but the collection concentrates on materials covering the United States as a whole, Washington in particular, and to a lesser extent, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and California. The Canadian collection favors British Columbia.

    Government documents will be bound if they are considered candidates for a long term holding and they are either 1) fragile, or 2) more useful if bound together (such as issues of some periodicals).

    If government documents are lost or damaged, the library will try to replace them if they are 1) timely, 2) in demand, and 3) available.

    While Western is not a law library, research publications of the U.S. documents collection include an extensive array of legal reference materials, such as the Congressional Record and its predecessors, Statutes at Large, the United States Code Annotated, U.S. Reports, approximately 1,500 volumes of the Serial Set, Congressional Information Service, American Statistics Index, etc. Many of these publications are not depository, meaning that they were purchased with university funds. In addition, the collection includes all the documents that make up the GPO's ``Basic Collection.''

    Some major periodicals and series (Foreign Relations of the United States, U.S. Treaties, USGS Professional Papers, etc.) are sent to the main collection. A few rarities (such as the 19th century railroad surveys of Washington Territory) are in the Special Collections Room.

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