"A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedgy; or, perhaps, both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

--James Madison, 1822

Past

The rudiments of the federal depository library system began in 1813 when Congress authorized the distribution of the journals of the Senate and House to various academic libraries.
In 1858 Congress passed a law authorizing each representative to designate libraries in their district to receive government publications and each Senator gained the authority to designate one depository each in his state.
The Printing Act of 1860 centralized all Federal printing in the new Government Printing Office.
The Superintendent of Documents classification system was developed 1895-1903 andorganizes government documents by publishing agency
In 1923 the option of selecting categories of government publications was introduced.
The Depository Library Act of 1962 allowed depository libraries to weed their collections.
In 1979 our government documents collection was the first collection to be shelved on compact shelving that was installed in the Meredith Wing of Starr Library.
The 1993 Government Printing Office Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act enhanced public access to a wide range of federal electronic information.
In 1995 a retrospective cataloging project was completed, resulting in the addition of 28,000 bibliographic records to MIDCAT for government documents. Since then new bibliographic records are added regularly through monthly tape loads.
In recent years some government agencies have privatized information resources that had previously been available free to Federal depository libraries and we now pay to receive them. Examples: Business Statistics of the United States, Historical Statistics of the United States and Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Present

Middlebury College is one of seven federal depository libraries in Vermont. The others are:
Castleton State College
Johnson State College
Norwich University
University of Vermont
(UVM is also a Patent & Trademark Office depository)
Vermont Department of Libraries
Vermont Law School
Publications from federal agencies that operate on a cost recovery basis, such as the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), are not included in the Federal Depository Library Program.
Documents Collection Holdings, as of June 30, 2008

Paper 159,000 Microfiches 109,000 CDs 1,200 Videotapes 24

Location

Most government documents are housed in the Government Documents collection on compact shelving on the main floor of the main library. However, government documents can be found in several other locations in the library: Reference. Examples:

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Congressional Directory
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
County and City Data Book
Crime in the United States (Uniform Crime Reports)
Guide to the United States Treaties in Force
Occupational Outlook Handbook
State and Metropolitan Area Data Book
Statistical Abstract of the United States
United States Government Manual
World Factbook
Stacks. Examples:
Foreign Relations of the United States
Handbook of North American Indians
Investigation of the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy: Hearings
Papers of the Presidents
Pearl Harbor Attack: Hearings
United States Code
United States Statutes at Large
United States Supreme Court Reports
Periodicals. Examples:
Economic Indicators
FDA Consumer
Federal Reserve Bulletin
Monthly Labor Review
Survey of Current Business
Treasury Bulletin
Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
Microfiche. Examples:
Congressional hearings
Foreign Broadcast Information Service. Daily Reports.
Joint Publications Research Service. Reports.
U. S. Congressional Serial Set
Armstrong Library. Examples:
U. S. Geological Survey. Bulletins.
U. S. Geological Survey. Professional Papers.
U. S. Geological Survey. Topographic maps.
U. S. Geological Survey. Water Supply Papers.

Cataloging

Most government documents received since 1976 have been cataloged and may be found in MidCat. However, most documents received before 1976 are not cataloged, but can be identified through various bibliographic tools, such as the Monthly Catalog of United State Government Publications.

Collection Development
Government Documents Collection Development Policy Statement
Core Periodicals:
Administrative Notes
DttP (Available online to GODORT members at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/godort/dttp/dttponline/)
Core List Serves:

[listserv.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe GPOLISTSERV] GovDoc-L GPLNE-L GovDocs@Oberlingroup.org

Core Subject Guides and Web pages (internal)

Census of Manufactures Resources at the Main Library Census of Population and Housing Statistics in the Main Library to GovtStats.doc Gateways to Government Statistics Government Information Resources linked from the Guides by Subject in the Research Guides section of the LIS home page Government Documents Linked under the Specialty Resources section of the LIS home page Government Information A few ready-reference resources, linked under the E-Reference by Category section of the Online Reference Sources section of the LIS home page Government Documents Department Not publicly menued; intended for staff use only. Newsbank Indexes to the Foreign Broadcast Information Services Daily Report Joint Publications Research Service. Reports

Core Web pages (external)

Catalog of U. S. Government Publications Finding tool for federal publications, with links to online resources. Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909 Documents Data Miner2 A library management system for U. S. government documents FDLP Desktop A centralized resource for the Federal Depository Library System. FDLP Handbook Handbook of regulations and guidelines for Federal depository libraries. Federal Citizen Information Center Gateway for ordering government publications. Federal Depository Library PURL Referrals Statistics on government websites accessed by Middlebury IP addresses. Federal Digital System (FDSys) Federal Web Locator FedWorld.gov Site is by the National Technical Information Center Google Uncle Sam Searches websites with .gov and .mil domains GPO Access Official information from all three branches of the Federal government. LexisNexis Congressional Universe LexisNexis Statistical Universe Thomas Database of federal legislative information. USA.gov The Federal government's official web portal U. S. Congressional Serial Set shortcut at Middlebury = go/usss

Staff

Hans Raum, Government Documents Librarian (4-6 hrs./week) Job description Reference questions, bibliographic instruction, pathfinders, reports Ginny Faust, Government Documents Associate (15 hrs./week) Job description Cataloging, assisting patrons, managing day-to-day operation, serial records, statistics, preservation

Library & ITS Wiki

U. S. Federal Government Information Resources at Middlebury College: Past, Present and Future

Past

Present

Core Web pages (external)

Future

Some great websites

Foreign Counties

General Interest

Just for Kids

Maps

Statistics

Thematic Sites

Non-governmental Websites for Government Information:

Categories