The single best current source of LIS professional information is the discussion list GOVDOC-L. Anyone interested in U.S. Federal government information should be a subscriber.
A growing number of federal agencies now provide RSS feeds for easy subscription and reading in your favorite news reader. Examples include:
Free Government Information deals with a variety of issues important to government information professionals.
Since government information is full of initialisms, you may need to bookmark an abbreviations and acronyms of the U.S. government site.
The FDLP Desktop includes a website for the National Bibliography Program which provides updates on work done by the Office of National Bibliography Program Planning and the Office of Bibliographic services. Look for "latest National Bibliography news."
The eGov Monitor does a good job of providing you with information aimed at the "information needs of eGovernment professionals. Probably too narrowly focused for most government information folks.
Closer to home, Free Government Information collects websites showing creative uses of existing, publicly accessible government information. Gallerywatch is also useful here.
Govengine.com is easily used for federal or state government information. Requires little searching skill.
Govspot.com is a reasonably useful directory of government agencies and content.
Searchgov.com is another useful way to find agencies and government content.
Documents to the People is the publication of the ALA Government Documents Round Table [Z 688 .G6D6]. Other useful periodicals include:
The last two titles above are quite expensive and are found in relatively few libraries. Both cover government information broadly defined. None of these titles are really useful for current awareness, but they do offer thoughtful comment and analysis.
Library Journal, usually in May of each year, provides a summary, annotated list of the most notable government documents of the year with some comment on the state of government information. Good selection resource for libraries looking for a few notable items.
Of the several guides to U.S. government federal information, these are the older standards:
Just a few years ago, government information work involved working with hard copy reference materials in the reference and government information units. Today, government information is increasingly digital and found on websites. Consumers may find an overwhelming amount of government information without mediation or visiting the government information unit in library. Disintermediation is a very real problem. "Bibliographical control" is easier because of Google and others, but also more difficult because government content may be here today and gone tomorrow. Government information work is very different today from the past.
Most libraries do not catalog and classify [other than that provided by GPO] hard copy government documents and publications. When users search for material by subject in the OPAC, government information often remains invisible. Libraries may decide to include "important" items in the catalog, but that may confuse users who assume that if it isn't in the catalog it is not held.
Physical access has been a problem because government information is usually segregated in a separate location and usually with a different classification scheme. Physical access is dramatically improved with the WWW since items are easily downloadable. PDF files, the format of choice for U.S. federal government items, can be troublesome to download and print and may not be viewed from the browser.
Although the GPO has done a reasonably good job of bibliographic control for those items that it prints, many government documents and publications have been printed elsewhere and escape bibliographic control. The ease of printing with photo duplication equipment encouraged government agencies to move to in-house printing.
While some progress has been made, publications issued on the WWW may also be fugitives because they are difficult to find or are removed from the WWW after a time. Of course, some items of interest are never put on the WWW. Bibliographic control is substantially threatened as hard copy documents and publications are eliminated. The GPO uses web crawlers to find fugitive federal government content so that it can be identified, cataloged, and preserved.
In some cases, the WWW version of an item may be incomplete or dated. Text may be in one place and supplementary tables and data elsewhere.
As directed by Congress and budgetary reductions, several notable publications, including well-known series and serials, have been discontinued. A few are now issued by commercial publishers, but some just disappeared. For other titles, frequency has changed so that an annual may be issued every few years instead of each year.
We have moved from bibliographic control of hard copy items via the Monthly Catalog to the online public access catalog which will become the digital National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications. Subject access to government information may be problematic, although FirstGov, Google's U.S. Government Search, Yahoo!, and other standards are often useful.
You can search on Google using the SuDoc number, but results may be mixed. Title searching works best, especially for finding items on agency websites not yet identified by the GPO. Note that not all federal government agencies use the .gov and .mil domains and that .gov includes other levels of government.
FirstGov <http://www.firstgov.gov> is the best search engine for the federal government, but it also includes state, local, tribal, and territorial government websites. While focusing on directories, the search engine is quite good and the clustered results [Vivisimo] are easy to work with and an advantage over Goggle. Under home -- citizens -- topics -- is a list of cross agency portals that is very useful. For example, you have a link of clinical trials or jobs. The Reference Center has a library page with good links both to government libraries and other information agencies.
Because of its reputation and visibility, Google is the most used search engine with both the regular Google and its rebranded Uncle Sam engine which is now Google U.S. Government Search. The new website includes a new personalization feature with DC weather, and news [strong on executive branch] from RSS feeds. A major advantage of using Google Government is that it includes government agencies that do not use .gov domain. Smithsonian is a good example with its .edu.
Besides the general search engines there are a variety of specialized ones. For example, GovBenefits.gov is "your benefits connection." SearchSystems.net provides access to a large number of searchable public record databases by category, by state, and nation-wide by topic such as bankruptcies. PubSub Government is a matching service that allows you create a standing search for a particular topic. There are also ready-made searches on news and blogging about five federal government categories, including cabinet members. Good job of keeping up with political bloggers. Elegus Select and Search searches its own index of websites. You may search a particular site or a related group. Requires pop-up blockers to be turned off. Clusty Gov+ Search includes a variety of news and policy sites beyond the .gov domain to the usual .gov search. Good for policy analysis.
We are in the midst of a transition from hard copy collections that stay put [retrospective collections] to collections that are much less stable. Bibliographic control was formerly linked to printing and control of distribution. Now it is based upon moral suasion, good will, and web crawling. Your favorite finding tools will depend upon the degree to which you need to find older or relatively new content. Older content will still require the traditional resources.
There are many helpful websites for those interested in finding federal government information. A few that I have found useful appear below. It is important than you become comfortable with each and then select/bookmark those that you find most useful.
Begin with "How to Effectively Locate Federal Government Information on the World Wide Web" by Patricia Cruse at UCSD.
The Government Documents Round Table Education Committee. GODORT Handout Exchange contains useful handouts on a wide variety of government information with an emphasis on user guides. Absolutely essential.
Google's Government searches U.S. federal, state and local government WWW pages , including those beyond .mil and .gov. Google searches PDF files which is the de facto file format for many federal government publications.
GovEngine.com is well-organized and browsable directory. Covers federal, state and local government websites.
Government Guide is a searchable, browsable guide to government information by zip code or address.
GPO Access was the first major provider of control of digital government information. It provides individual search pages for nearly 50 individual data bases including many for Congress. The Monthly Catalog and the Sales Product Catalog are both easily searched from the GPO Access home page. GPO New Electronic Titles lists new U.S. government information items added to the FDLP Electronic Collection. GPO's multi-database search engine allows simultaneously searching of several different federal government databases. GPO Access "What's New." is a RSS feed.
The library at the Illinois Institute of Technology has created a list of on line items arranged by SuDocs number.
INFOMINE at the University of California, Riverside provides access to a selective list of government and non-government information sources arranged by subject or topic.
Louisiana State University has maintains an excellent government agencies directory.
The Meta - Subject Index to Government Information organizes content by subject as found in more than forty library websites. Most useful for topical information. Some links can be confusing without context.
Subject Indexes to Government Information on the Internet identifies institutions that have created subject indexes. Kathy Amen has produced a meta-index to over 20 subject index pages.
Thomas is the main gateway related to federal legislation [by the Library of Congress].
U.S. Blue Pages by the General Services Administration is a good place to find phone listings and employees although other topics are featured.Vivisimo's search interface for FirstGov allows the use of a better, more sophisticated search engine. Results are batched into useful groups by topic.
The Washburn University School of Law maintains an excellent agency index.
What's New -- Government Resources on the Web is helpful for keeping up with new content on the web. The University of Louisville Government Publications Department also provides a new additions service. The latest addition to the Federal Web Locater is also useful.
Health Finder is a gateway to health information at federal government agencies. Emphasis on consumer content.
USA Jobs is a gateway to employment with many federal government agencies.SearchMil.com indexes about 800,000 pages in the .mil domain. Contains more .mil pages than Uncle Sam.
The Uncle Sam Migrating Government Publications WWW site at the University of Memphis lists hard copy serial sources (periodicals and annuals) now available on the WWW.Uncle Sam's Biographical Resources of the U.S. Government provides links to biographies of leaders. Includes who was who.
Where to find military information is compiled by the Dudley Knox Library of the Naval Postgraduate School. The The Defense Technical Information Center has a wide variety of useful items.
Unless you are in a unusual situation, you will not need to be familiar with the earlier bibliographies. The affluent research library may have access to Paratext's Public Documents Masterfile, containing over three million records, including many from the bibliographies mentioned below. This appears to be an excellent database combining current and retrospective bibliographic records.
Poore's (Benjamin Perley Poore) Descriptive Catalog of the Government Publications of the United States, September 5,1774 - March 4, 1881.Called "Poore." This two volume set is the first cumulated catalog for U.S. government publications. It is a chronological list. He missed many items, especially from the executive branch. The subject and and name indexes are poor and there are many errors in the text. The Catalog is a chronological list without a meaningful index. Reprint editions available.
Greely, Adolphus W. Public Documents of the First Fourteen Congresses, 1789-1817; Papers Relating to Early Congressional Documents. A chronological list with many omissions. Name index.
Lester, Daniel W. Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1970. Index to the 1909 Checklist. A five volume finding aid to a micro-reel collection of 118 volumes. Volume 1 is a Superintendent of Documents class number index. Volume 2 is an author and organization index. Volume 3 is a departmental keyword index. Volume 4 is a list of serial titles. Volume 5 is a keyword index to publication-issuing offices.
Ames's (John G. Ames) Comprehensive Index, 1881 - 1893, a two volume set, comes next and the Document Catalog follows. Index by key word in title. SuDocs numbers not included. Good, but not comprehensive coverage. Index is alphabetical by subject. Also an index of personal names. Serial Set volume numbers in the "Congressional Documents" section.
Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909: Congressional to Close of Sixtieth Congress, Departmental to End of Calendar year 1909. Entries include issuing agency, SuDocs number, title, and publication date. Good, but not comprehensive coverage. No subject or title index. Organized by agency. Does include access to Serial Set volume numbers.
Hickcox, John H. Hickcox's Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications with Superintendent of Documents Classification Numbers Added covers the period from 1885 to 1894. A 10 volume reprint edition with supplementary material. An irregular, private publication. Not comprehensive, but contains items not found elsewhere. An alphabetical cumulative subject index with some author entries was issued in 1981 ( Cumulative Index to Hickcox's Monthly Catalog....
Document Catalog {Catalogue of the Public Documents of the ... Congress and of all Departments of the Government of the United States...} was issued between 1896 and 1945 by the Superintendent of Documents. This dictionary catalog covers the period from 4 March 1893 through 31 December 1940. Better coverage and citations than the Monthly Catalog since this was the authoritative and comprehensive catalog while MOCAT was a current awareness listing. Document Catalog included Presidential proclamations and executive orders and articles in regularly issued periodicals. From the 56th Congress, includes references to Serial Set volume numbers for Congressional reports and documents, but no SuDocs numbers. Subject, author, and sometimes title indexes. Each volume covers a single two year Congressional session. Congress decided in 1947 to eliminate this expensive title by adding an annual index to the Monthly Catalog.
The Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications 1895 - 1899. The following volume is The Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1900 - 1971.
Daniel Lester et al compiled the Cumulative Title Index to U.S. Government Publications, 1789 - 1975 in 16 volumes. An alphabetical list of titles include all items classified and cataloged under the SuDocs scheme since 1895 through June 1976. Excludes Serial Set publications. Many titles here did not appear in the Monthly Catalog.
One of the difficulties in retrieving government reports is that they are often known by their popular rather than their official name. The Library of Congress has compiled Popular Names of U.S. Government Reports: A Catalog. The most recent edition, the 4th covers 1808 through 1983.
The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications began in January 1895. Supplements with annual indexes were issued for 1941-2, 1943-4, and 1945-7 to cover the gap following the end of the Document Catalog. The title has changed six times. Now it is The Catalog of United States Government Publications. Until 1947, arrangement was hierarchical. From 1947 until 1976 it was alphabetical by issuing office. After 1976, the arrangement was in SuDocs order. Since 1974, separate author, subject, and title indexes have been issued. Cumulative indexes cover 1941 through 1980. The Catalog stopped adding entries in May 2005. Franklin will be the new national catalog when it becomes available.
Mary Poole's The Monthly Catalog of Government Publications with Superintendent of Documents Classification Numbers Added, 1895-1924 is a useful reprint addition because of the value added by the SuDocs numbers.
Edna Kanely's Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1895-1900 fills a gap since there was no subject index at this time. William Buchanan and Edna Kanely compiled a following volume Cumulative Subject index to the Monthly Catalog... for the 1900 through 1971 period. Eighty-one sources were merged into one.
MARC formatted MOCAT information was provided to OCLC from July, 1976 and since then the Catalog has been generated from OCLC tapes. Since then, cataloging has been based upon AACR and Library of Congress Subject Headings.
The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications [now the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications] has undergone many changes over the years. Note that it will continue to remain useful for older items and retrospective searching. One major change was in July 1976 when keyword subject access was replaced by LC subject headings and AA Cataloging Rules were followed. More recently, the hard copy version was available only in an abridged version. From the beginning, MOCAT was not as accurate nor as comprehensive as the Document Catalog. The CIS Annual Index [easier in Lexis-Nexis Congressional] is easier to track legislation after 1980. Use the CIS Serial Set Index before that time. However, MOCAT remains helpful for committee prints and hearings.
Includes both depository and non-depository items. Depository items are marked with a black dot. However, not all marked items will be found in the typical depository library depending on the number of copies available for distribution and the library's selections.
MOCAT cumulated with monthly, annual indexes cumulating into 5 and 10 year indexes. There was a considerable time lag and the several cumulations hinder searching. An advantage of the digital version is that the database cumulated automatically.
With cataloging output moved to tape, a variety of good things happened. Tape made it easy to share bibliographic records with OCLC (and RLG too) and allowed adaptive cataloging for most libraries and easy integration of MOCAT records into on line catalogs. In addition, the tape allows vendors to create a variety of value added editions of MOCAT.
Since 1981, the GPO has participated in the Name Authority Cooperative Project (NACO) to insure that name headings in SuDoc records are consistent with those of LC. However, this is not necessarily true of earlier records.
Publishing a hard copy Monthly Catalog was expensive (even though only an abridged version was produced since 1999). The CD-ROM edition has been discontinued. Budgetary pressures eliminated this edition.
The GPO Classification Manual is available on-line. It began in 1891 at Los Angeles Public Library with a Collection of USDA material. It more fully developed in the GPO between 1895 and 1903. Adelaide R. Hasse is recognized as the major author (She was Assistant Librarian at LAPL and the scheme was first published by the Department of Agriculture in 1896. Provenance (issuing agency) is the organizing principle because it is the one common element in all government publications. This can be a problem because the classification scheme will need to change as government organization changes.
The GPO, normally called the SuDocs, classification scheme is an alphanumeric one with all publications of an agency grouped together. The first element comes from the first letter of the agency name. A one letter agency files before a two letter one. Letters file before numbers. The letter Z is not used. For example, C = Commerce Department
The second element is a number indicating the level within the major agency or sub agency within the major agency:
The third element (.) separates the agency from the publication type, often a series. Any number found after a period is read and filed as a WHOLE number.
The fourth element is publication type:
The fifth element is a : to separate the call number into a series volume number or a Cutter number.
The sixth element is a sort of Cutter number for the monographic piece drawn from a key word in title (C56) or number for numbered series ( the / is used to relate series. A stem number identifies the agency and series plus an extension to distinguish the particular item. A Cutter number (from the 2 figure table) is used for monographic items. The number is used for a series. The last three digits of a year are used for an annual. The volume and issue number are used for a periodical. Volume and issue number for a periodical.
T 1.2:M 58 is a typical SuDoc number
Congressional hearings and committee prints in the Y.4s are done differently as is the Serial Set.
Some items will also include a depository item number to identify publication category. A sample depository item number would be 1008-D. Parentheses after a number indicate format where MF = micro format, P = paper, and E = electronic.
The GPO stock number is a unique 12 digit number given to items for sale by the Superintendent of Documents. A sample stock number would be 030-001-00168-7.
The Monthly Catalog was only somewhat comprehensive. Audio-visual material was not considered to be a publication. The National Audiovisual Center (NAC) is responsible for these. "NAC is a unique centralized resource for federally developed training and education materials. This collection contains over 10,000 audiovisual and media productions. The range of subject areas includes training in occupational safety and health, fire services, law enforcement, and foreign languages. Information and educational materials include areas such as history, health, agriculture, and natural resources." Since Congress would like to eliminate NTIS, the parent agency for NAC, the Center's future is uncertain.
Even when the GPO controlled much document and publication printing, fugitive material was a problem. Items created and distributed by agencies were often unknown to the GPO and thus escaped the bibliographic control provided by MOCAT. Similarly, items issued by government contractors or sub-contractors may be considered to belong to that firm and not to the government [and thus not in public domain]. Many technical reports or technical report series have been excluded from MOCAT because they are supposed to be controlled by bibliographies issued by the appropriate Department, i.e. the Departments of Energy or Defense.
The digital Catalog of U.S. Government Publications covered the period from January, 1994 to May, 2005 and is much easier to use than the print edition. The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications was the print counterpart. However, only the print version included the black dot indicating that an item was actually distributed to depository libraries. The Catalog is a search and retrieval service that provides bibliographic records for U.S. Government information print and digital products. Use it to link directly to Federal agency on line resources or identify materials distributed to Federal Depository Libraries. New records are added daily. New Electronic Titles contained online titles that were the latest entries in the Catalog or were in the queue to be added to it. The user may go from an entry to find a nearby depository library that holds that item or to an agency website. Links may be a problem if an item is not longer available or if the URL has changed even though the GPO uses permanent URLs. Some improvement is also needed to direct users from ceased print titles to their digital equivalent.
Time lag remains a problem. It may take four to six months after receipt before an item appears in MOCAT or Franklin. Few of the items in MOCAT are sold through the GPO sales program and few of these items with GPO stock numbers are listed in MOCAT.
WorldCat may be used as an alternative finding tool. Another alternative was the GPO Sales Product Catalog (SPC), formerly the Publication ReferenceFile (PRF). The Sales Product Catalog (SPC) contained citations and annotations to United States Federal publications, subscriptions, posters, maps, and electronic products offered for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. Included forthcoming and out-of-print titles as well as items currently in stock and available for sale. A typical entry included the title, issuing agency, price, and availability of the publication. It is available via the World Wide Web. It is also available as a subscription service.
The Monthly Catalog has been made available in a variety of formats:
GPO has issued:
Commercial services do not correct errors in GPO cataloging. Marcive has the cleanest version of the SuDocs files and their MarciveWEb Docs Express Search Page is useful. Marcive has good networking ability and it is easy to link your current item selection profile to the document records for your library. Records may be down loaded in MARC format and merged into an OPAC. While available on Dialog (file 66) and other bibliographic utilities, the GPO WWW version is the most frequently used version.
Mandated by the Paperwork Reduction Act. OMB is responsible for compliance, but has shown relatively little interest.
GILS is designed to identify, locate, and describe PUBLICLY available Federal government information resources, now linked especially to digital publications. GILS is decentralized and compliance varies notably from agency to agency. GPO attempts to provide one comprehensive source of GILS information by encouraging agencies to mount GILS records on the GPO Access server. These agency items may be searched via the GPO Access GILS Search Page. GPO also provides some links to cabinet level and major independent agencies, called Pathway Records, that are available via the Browse Pathway GILS Records page. Agencies with records on other servers are asked to provide a "pointer record" and these are available via the Browse Pointer GILS records.
Browse Topical Pathfinders or Browse Topics are developed by volunteer government information librarians and provides topical access to U.S. Government information on the WWW. This service is made possible by the University of Central Oklahoma Chambers Library, in partnership with the Federal Depository Library Program. Each path finder has been developed and is maintained by a volunteer expert. This list of topics is derived from the approximately 150 subject bibliographies that are used to categorize the publications, subscriptions, and electronic products for sale by the Superintendent of Documents. Browse topic are selective and not comprehensive, but may be useful for beginners. Google's Uncle Sam might be a better choice.
There is a new LC subclass, ZA 5050 for government information resources not on a particular subject. After a few general classes, it is arranged by region or country beginning with the ZA 5070s. Government information resources on the Internet are in ZA 4201s.
Historically, most libraries with extensive collections of government documents and publications have segregated them into a separate collection. These items have not usually been integrated into the main catalog, except for a few popular items.
Today, it is relatively easy to load bibliographic records into the local OPAC, but some editing is usually needed. Government documents and publications found in the OPAC are much more likely to be used. Greatest use comes when these items are interfiled into the regular collection.
The Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications covers the period from 1900 through 1971. The 15 volume set was published by Carrollton Press and fills a gap in the subject access provided by MOCAT. This index provides a single alphabetical sequence of subject entries from 1900 through 1971. Citations refer to the year of the MOCAT in which the full bibliographic reference appeared and gives the exact page or entry number of the document. This index MUST be used with MOCAT.
The Cumulative Personal Author Indexes fill another gap. Individual author entries were not included in the MOCAT cumulations until the early 1960's. Edward Przebienda has edited a series of indexes that cover the period between 1941 and 1975.
The Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents, 1789-1976 was issued by the United States Historical Documents Institute [not a U.S. government agency] between 1979 and 1982. This is a 16-volume cumulative index to titles once contained in the GPO Public Documents Library.[Z 1223 .Z7L47]
Periodical Supplement [GP 3.8/5:] is a list of periodicals issued by the federal government. It is useful for title changes and deaths and is issued annually as part of MOCAT.
Mocat tapes have been loaded onto the OCLC database since September 1976 and have become part of WorldCat. These entries are helpful for librarians to verify titles and gain information for acquisition, cataloging, and ILL, especially when there is doubt about whether or not an item is a government document or publication. You can search on the SuDocs number which will be found in field 086.
The Sales Products Catalog was formerly the Publications Reference File It serves as a BIP for GPO sales items and is arranged by GPO stock number. SPC includes some items not distributed to depository libraries. Includes some cites to forthcoming items.
The Subject Bibliography Index matches general topics with the approximately 150 subject bibliographies that are used to categorize the publications, subscriptions, and electronic products for sale by the Superintendent of Documents. The subject bibliography listings are paired with numbers, which may be used to order free print copies of subject bibliography catalogs. Clicking on a subject bibliography link will take you to the current list of sales products for that topic. The bibliographies can be helpful in working with less experienced users.
Although rather reduced in number from previous years, the U.S. Government issues a variety of periodicals and many are not indexed in the standard sources. An example would be the Journal of the National Cancer Institute [now privately published] or Park Science. An official U.S. government index, Index to U.S. Government Periodicals, which covered 170 titles began in 1970 and ceased in 1987. CIS [now part of LexisNexis] publishes a similar index to continue this service. USGPI indexes 170 periodicals by subject and author from 1988 to present. A list of periodicals indexed and their SuDocs number appears in the front. The index is issued quarterly and includes about 125,500 articles. An annual cumulation is issued in March. Periodicals indexed are found in American Statistics Index, documentary serials like the Congressional Record, and periodicals that are directories, calendars, bibliographies, or not truly periodicals in the conventional sense. Articles focus on history, science/technology, and public policy. Document delivery is available for each article. The digital version is Lexis-Nexis Government Periodicals.
Federal government statistics are created in a wide variety of departments and agencies, plus regulatory agencies, Congressional committees, judicial offices, councils, commissions, and boards. The American Statistics Index [ASI] includes statistics found in periodicals, annuals, series, and special reports in hard copy or in a digital format. Since 1994, CIS has down loaded and printed statistical reports available only on the Internet or via electronic bulletin boards (in the early days of digital networking). ASI appears in two parts: an index and a separate abstracts volume. Index points include subject, issuing agency, name, type of data breakdown, title and agency report number. The accession number is then used to locate the abstract. Abstracts are reasonably detailed and, in some cases, may substitute for the document itself.
A subscription includes monthly issues, quarterly cumulations, and the previous year's cumulation. Annual cumulations are available form 1974. Multi year cumulations are also available, with the last being for 1993-1996. The indexes and abstracts, with links to full text of documents, are also available via Lexis-Nexis [CIS] Statistical with the Federal Service option. Retrieving statistical data is much easier in this version.
Statistics themselves are made available via the companion ASI microfiche Library. Many non-depository items are included in both the index and the Library. Fiche are shipped monthly. Comprehensive collections, non-depository collections and collections by agency or department are available. Individual documents are also available via a documents on demand service.
ASI may also be used as a defacto periodical index since statistics normally appear as part of a document or article. The FedStats website may be a reasonable alternative for many libraries needing current content.
The Public Affairs Information Service has a long association with information by and about government. While less useful than ASI, it does provide access to some hearings, committee prints, agency reports and studies, especially those that deal with business/economics, and public policy issues. Time lag is sometimes a problem.
PAIS is available in several formats, including CD-ROM, WWW based, print, and tape. Vendors include Dialog, FirstSearch, SilverPlatter, InfoTrac, and Ovid and coverage is from 1972. More than 5,600 books, hearings, reports, pamphlets, more than 900 periodicals and 900 or more Internet documents are indexed each year. Policy researchers, news bureaus, and government officials are a major part of the PAIS audience. Emphasis is on practical rather than "theoretical" information. Public affairs is interpreted broadly.
Each year Library Journal has an annotated list of 60 - 70 state, local, national, and international publications chosen for their relevance, clarity and popular appeal. Selections are made by the Notable Documents Panel of the GODORT. Includes good descriptive annotations. This is a good selection tool for smaller libraries.
GPO has issued a list of Core Documents of U.S. Democracy available via their website.
Congressional Quarterly
CQ has an excellent reputation for thoughtful, objective analysis and description. The CQ Electronic Library contains periodically updated content from CQ Researcher, CQ weekly, CQ's Electronic Encyclopedia of American Government, CQ's Public Affairs Collection, CQ Insider, and the CQ Supreme Court Collection. The CQ Weekly is essential for keeping up with Congress and coverage goes back to 1983.
Acquire federal government information, provide intellectual access, and sell both access and the documents themselves in a complete package. This is what CIS has done. CIS began with an Index to Publications of the United States Congress which previously lacked reasonable bibliographic control [it is still a problem]. Over the years, coverage expanded from Congressional information to cover the judicial and executive branches as well as state, local, foreign, and international government. Intellectual access is generally excellent, but the service is expensive. The fiche sets are often the only comprehensive collection, but large collections of fiche are difficult to handle and it is easy to "misplace" individual fiche. Too, going from index to abstract to full text in another source is costly in time. This has been overcome in the digital versions of CIS publications which will eventually replace all of fiche collections [although they may not be as stable].
The thoughtful reference librarian will spend some time on the CIS website becoming familiar with their current and forthcoming product line.
CIS judicial publications include U.S. Supreme Court Records & Briefs, U.S. Reports, Oral Arguments of the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, Records and Briefs, and The Records of the U.S. Judicial Conference: Committees on Rules of Practice.
The CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789 - 1909 and companion microfiche library is a most substantial undertaking. It includes about 500,000 documents on 47,000 archival-quality fiche with 24 volumes of finding aids. The Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1910 - 1932 follows. Indexes include personal author, subject, issuing agency, SuDoc number, title, and agency report number. A reference bibliography brings together the series of departments and agencies. Documents include annual reports, general publications, serials, instructions, rules, circulars and decisions, and registers. Items included in the Serial Set will be referenced as part of the CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, but will not be reindexed or included in the fiche collection. IS also issues Reports Required by Congress: CIS Guide to Executive Communications.
The CIS Guide to Executive Communications (1994-) indexes the thousands of reports filed with Congress to comply with statutory requirements. Few of these reports are published by the GPO. The Congressional Record does list reports, but not by title. A companion fiche set of the reports is also available. The index appears quarterly and there is an annual cumulation. Fiche are also shipped quarterly. There are about 1200 reports per year. Coverage for 1994-1998 is also available on Congressional Masterfile 2.
The CIS Index to Presidential Executive Orders and Proclamations in 22 volumes covers more than 75,00 presidential documents issued between 1789 and 1983. The CIS Federal Register Index provides access to documents after 1983. There is an index by subjects and organizations, a personal names index of those affected by or named, a chronological list of all numbered and unnumbered executive orders and proclamations, an index of interrelated orders and proclamations, and an index by site an d document number. There is also a reference bibliography with brief descriptive annotations. The companion fiche collections contains 72,526 orders and proclamations plus 3441 over sized maps and descriptive attachments on 9,117 archival quality silver-halide microfiche.
CIS Index to U.S. Senate Executive Documents and Reports includes treaties, nominations and other items submitted by the President for advice and consent from 1817 through 1969. From 1970, included in the CIS Index. Serial Set includes these from 1980, but earlier executive documents have been irregularly numbered and were not cataloged or indexed until 1970. The usual CIS indexes (subjects, names, and places) and a reference bibliography with summary annotations. The companion fiche collection contains 4,100 publications. Also available in Congressional Masterfile 1.
The CIS Federal Register Index covers the more than 35,000 entries published in a typical year. CIS provides a detailed index with controlled vocabulary and complete cross-referencing. Indexes provide access by subjects and names, by CFR section number, and by agency docket number. Available by subscription (weekly issues) plus cumulations every 5 and 26 weeks (clothbound). There is a companion fiche collection includes full text, plus lists and indexes published by the Federal Register. The complete collection includes more than 18,000 fiche.
The CIS Index to the Code of Federal Regulations also uses a controlled vocabulary and complete cross-referencing so you may search on concepts and terms that are not in the text. Search by subject, by CFR section number, or via a geographic index. Annual indexes are issued each spring and then 4 quarterly supplements with two months of the announcement of a regulation in the Federal Register. About 4 times as much indexing as in the GPO edition. Contrast CIS indexing vocabulary of 26,000 terms to the 1,500 used by the GPO. There is a companion fiche collection. The complete collection includes more than 36,000 fiche.
Lexis-Nexis Congressional is a WWW service (site licensed) based upon the indexing and abstracting of the CIS Index to Publications of the U.S. Congress from 1970. It includes the following:
Intellectual access includes subject, source committee, bill number, session of Congress, SuDoc number, publication number, MoCat entry number, title, witness name and affiliation, PL number, date, item number, and LC card number. Full-text search is also possible. Legislative tracking features include:
The CIS Index to Publications of the United States Congress identifies, collects, indexes, analyzes, and preserves the publications of about 300 active House, Senate, and joint committees and subcommittees (hearings, prints, reports, documents, and special publications. It is issued monthly with an abstracts volume and a separate index. Cumulates into a 3 volume annual volume that also includes legislative histories of public laws enacted during the year. This is probably the single best hard copy source for legislative history research. Multi-year cumulations are also available. Indexing is by subject, name, title, bill number, and publication number. Abstracts indicate the format and scope of each publication as well as sources. Hearings include witness names and affiliations. This is included in Lexis-Nexis Congressional. The legislative histories from 1970 are also available via LN. Note that there is a companion fiche collection of all items indexed or of subsets of the collection, for example just committee hearings.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings Index provides detailed access to about 40,000 hearings from 1833 through 1969. From 1970, these are included in the Index described above. Full bibliographic citations, descriptive annotations, b ills considered and notable supplementary materials. Entries also include witness names and affiliations, page locations of testimony and assigned subjects. There is a subjects and organizations index as well as indexes by personal names, bill numbers, ti titles, report and document numbers, and SuDoc numbers. There is a companion fiche collection of about 40,000 hearings. This index also appears in Congressional Masterfile 1.
The CIS Index to Unpublished U.S. Senate Committee Hearings covers the period from 1823 - 1972. It is indexed by subjects and organizations, by personal names, by bill numbers and titles. There is an annotated entry for each item with date, issuing committee, witnesses, affiliations, page location of testimony, subjects, and bill numbers. Available in a multi-volume hard copy edition and, as is the case with the previous index, as part of Congressional Masterfile 1 (CD-ROM). The companion fiche collection (8672 hearings) is unique and contains many difficult to locate items in Senate offices, and repositories of papers of U.S. Senators.
The CIS Guide to Publications & Policy Materials (1991-) provides intellectual access materials issued by Congressional Member Organizations such as study groups, conferences, coalitions, and caucuses focused on policy issues. Examples might include: the Democratic Policy Committee, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the House Republican Conference, and the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Materials might include newsletters, research reports, monographs, and fact sheets. There is an annual print index and a companion fiche collection. There are about 1400 documents per year. Also available for the period from 1991 - 1998 on Congressional Masterfile 2.
The CIS Index to Unpublished U.S. House of Representatives Committee Hearings provides access to 12,727 hearings from 1833 - 1954. There is a companion fiche collection. The usual CIS indexes are available. The Index is available in cloth or as part of Congressional Masterfile 1. The fiche collection contains about 18,679 transcripts and is based on the holdings of the National Archives. This index is also available via Congressional Masterfile 1.
The CIS U.S. Serial Set Index indexes congressional publications (committee reports, House and Senate journals, directories, rule manuals, and histories; executive branch publications including agency and department annual reports and serial publications, and non-governmental publications introduced into Congress. Provides comprehensive access to more than 11 million pages issued between 1789 and 1969. From 1970, the Serial Set is included in the CIS Index. There is a companion fiche collection which also includes 50,000 maps. Indexes include subjects and keywords (private relief actions excluded), proper names of individuals and organizations, numerical list of reports and documents, a list by serial number of all publications in each Serial Set volume. There is also an index by reported bill number in chronological order. There is a separate index and carto-bibliography of maps for the more than 50,000 maps in the Serial Set. There is a print edition and this index is also available as part of Congressional Masterfile 1. The companion fiche collection contains about 116,000 fiche. This index is also available in Congressional Masterfile 1 in the CD-ROM format.
CIS U.S. Congressional Committee Prints Index includes studies on topical issues, investigative reports that supplement information developed in hearings, section by section analysis of bills, recurring statistical reports, confidential staff reports and memos, reports on committee activities, directories, bibliographies, and other reference materials, and hearings excerpts and digests. Committee prints are often elusive and are published in limited editions. Covers 13,946 prints from 1830 through 1969. After then, committee prints are included in the CIS Index. Indexes include subjects, names, publication title, bill number, and SuDocs number. Available in cloth or as part of Congressional Masterfile 1. The companion fiche set includes about 14,000 publications.
The Congressional Masterfile 1 is a CD-ROM product that includes all of CIS's major historical Congressional indexes:
Congressional Masterfile 2 covers the period from 1970 through 1988. It is no longer published, but is available via Lexis-Nexis Congressional .
