This report offers a case study in the advantages and disadvantages of depository libraries, their economics, and the practical and political issues associated with their creation. As director of the library at Amherst College, the author played a key role in establishing the initial off-site storage facility, as well as in broadening its service…

Discusses requirements of an electronic file for exchanging information about availability of materials withdrawn from selective depository libraries. A prototype network in New Jersey is described, and results of a survey of 57 depository libraries in Pennsylvania regarding electronic access are reported. The survey questions and a brief glossary…

Noting that the purpose and intent of the Federal Depository Library Program, as administered by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), is to make government information available to the general public, this report presents the fundamental characteristics of the program as it is implemented in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Descriptions of the…

Discusses the special needs of the depository library poster collection in academic libraries, especially with regard to improving public awareness and access. Suggestions for creating a bibliographic database are offered and a database at the University of Miami is briefly described. Appendices list poster items by issuing agency and subject…

Reports results of a questionnaire sent to depository libraries in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. Survey collected demographic information on documents librarians and information on library cooperation, including relationships with regional depository libraries. Some reasons for slow growth of consortia…

Provides an annotated bibliography of 63 state, local, national, and international government publications chosen as 1993 notable government documents. Issues relating to government documents are discussed, including electronic products, the future of the Depository Library Program, government information dissemination, current pertinent federal…

Discusses problems in the U.S. depository library system and offers suggestions for improvement, including cutting the List of Classes so libraries have more control over material selection; adding more public libraries as depositories; and restructuring regional depository library responsibilities so they do not have to keep all publications.…

Reports on an analysis of the availability of publications contained in the 1991 "Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications" through depository libraries, the Government Printing Office (GPO) Sales Program and its Publications Reference File (PRF), and federal agency distribution centers. Implications for collection…

Promotes the use of an automated item file by selective depository libraries for collection management and cooperative collection development. Ways to implement such a device and useful data that it can generate are described. A case study of the implementation of the GOVDOX software by three libraries in Richmond, Virginia, is presented. (Three…

This report discusses the government documents policies and procedures of Illinois State University's Milner Library, a federal depository library. The following aspects of the documents collection are outlined: federal depository status; bibliographic control; maintenance; human resources; physical facilities; public service; and cooperative…

Discusses the Government Printing Office (GPO) Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act of 1993, which shifted the Federal Depository Library Program's emphasis from local collections building to the Superintendent of Documents and the GPO, and outlines implications of this shift from collection building to citizen information service.…

Analyzes aspects of proposed federal legislation which is attempting to reform portions of Title 44, "United States Code". Senate bill S.2288 charges the Government Printing Office (GPO) with responsibility for government printing, procurement, and dissemination. Includes a definition of government publication, GPO's depository-library…

Reports the results of a survey of Arizona libraries that gathered information on the collection development policies for state and local government publications. Problems that result from not having a depository system for state publications are discussed, cataloging and classification practices are examined, and use of bibliographic utilities…

This report, written for a National Archives Staff training program, presents the results of a survey which sought information about the administration of the government documents sections of the National Library of Canada, the National Archives of the United States, and 12 selected American state archives and state libraries. The survey gathered…

This paper reports the results of a circulation study in the government documents departments of a public library and an academic library. Based on a systematic random sample of the records of materials returned in 1981, the study had two purposes: to seek evidence to support the assumption that current documents circulate more than older ones;…