In an attempt to clarify the indexing and announcing controls for government documents, this issue of the Drexel Library Quarterly presents background information on several of the information controlling and access agencies, describes their operations, and points out their inherent problems and weaknesses. The agencies covered are the Government Printing Office, printer, publisher, and sales agent; the Defense Documentation Center, a source of documents and a provider of direct service to defense contractors and indirect service to the public; the National Technical Information Service, the announcer and sales agent serving business and technological users; the National Archives; and the Educational Resources Information Center. The roles and the effectiveness of the "Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications," the federal depository library system, and the overall federal system of bibliographic control are analyzed. (Author/SL)