Schurz Library Government Publications Collection Development Policy

The purpose of the government publications department of the Schurz Library is to provide access to, and to promote the usage of, the government information required by IU South Bend community and all inhabitants of the Second United States Congressional District of Indiana. Toward this purpose, the Schurz Library is a selective depository for United States Federal Documents. The Government Publications collection development policy statement is a guideline for the acquisition, maintenance, and evaluation of the materials in the Schurz Library government publications collection.

As a department of the Schurz Library, the government publications department shares the library’s mission to support the academic curriculum research needs of the IU South Bend community. As a Depository for United States Government publications, it is obliged to select materials responsive to the needs of users in the Third Congressional District of Indiana. In support of these purposes, within the context of user demand and constraints of budget, staffing, space and technical support, the government publications department will acquire, organize, preserve and make available to the university and civic communities publications of the United States Government in various formats, both through the depository program and by purchase, reference materials which give both bibliographic and content access to those publications and the equipment necessary to give optimum access to materials in the collections. Government publications collections and government publications reference service are available to all the patrons of the Schurz library.

The goal of the government publications collection management and development activities is to acquire and maintain, in various formats, resources necessary to support the information needs of the campus and the Third Congressional District population as outlined above.  

In selecting government publications the Head of Government Publications adheres to the principles of intellectual freedom. Censorship is avoided in the collections. The government publications are not copyrighted and may be used as such.

1.History: The Schurz Library has been a Federal Depository Library since 1967.

2.Broad Subject Areas: Census, Congress, Health, Education, History and the core Documents of United States Government.

3.Collection locations: The Schurz Library government publications main collection is housed on the ground floor of the Schurz Library. Some primarily statistical sources, indexes and finding aids are housed in the Reference collection on the first floor.

1.Staffing and responsibilities: Collection Development decisions are made by the Head of government publications.

2.Liaison with user groups: The recommendations of faculty including the librarians and the collection coordinators are given serious consideration.

The government publications collections selected as part of the Federal Depository Library Program are free from the Government Printing Office. Additional materials such as non-depository items and second copies of highly used works are purchased from the library materials budget. Binding costs are part of the library bindery budget. Major equipment purchases to maintain access to the government publications collections are taken from the library or campus budget.

1.Preservation and Replacement: Decisions on preservation of damaged materials and replacement of lost, stolen or damaged materials are based on availability and use and condition of the materials. Because government publications become out of print quickly, many are not available for replacement. Every effort will be made to replace critical portions of the collection through the Depository Library Needs and Offers Service or to locate another format for the materials. Paper documents which are heavily used or significant to the collection are commercially bound.

2. Deselection: The guidelines for weeding are set forth in Instructions to Depository Libraries and the Federal Depository Library manual. Superseded documents are discarded at the appropriate time. This is done by following the guidelines found in the Superseded List and with additional information from the Administrative Notes Technical supplements. All depository publications may be examined as to their usefulness after five years and if not needed may be withdrawn via the proper process outlined by Government Printing Office. Decisions concerning the retention of depository publications will be made by the Head of government publications.  

3.Access: There is access to the government publications collection at all times the library is open. The government publications collection is primarily circulating with all exceptions clearly labeled.  The main exceptions are: maps, posters, microfiche, government publications reference collection, serial sets, periodicals and indices, which do not circulate without an exception made by the Head of government publications.

Government publications can be found by searching:

1. IUCAT, the online catalog for Indiana University
2. Google.com
3. GPO Access
4. Hathitrust.org
5. Government publications subject guide

4.Documents governing Depository Programs: The Federal Depository Library Program is governed by Title 44, United States Code, Section 19. Depository library compliance with this law is effected by means of instruction in several official publications of the United States Government Printing Office: Instructions to depository libraries; Federal Depository Library manual; Guidelines for the depository library system with Minimum standards for the depository library system and Administrative Notes.

5.Cooperation with other depository libraries: The Schurz Library cooperates with the Notre Dame Hesburgh and Law libraries to provide as complete access as possible to 100% of the depository program materials. Access to the online catalogs of these institutions is available for reference as well as listings of their selection choices. Patrons are referred to these libraries when necessary.

6.Light archive: The ALF (Auxiliary library facility) at IU Bloomington retains 100% of paper items received through the depository system. These are available through IUCAT and may be borrowed through Interlibrary Loan.

1.Content: Forms, Rules & Regulations, and Directories are generally not selected from any issuing agencies.

2.Format: Primary emphasis is given to the content of government publications resources rather than the format. Printed, electronic and microform materials are included. Government publications that are available electronically are always selected.  In cases of duplicate formats availability, the ease of use and access methods are used to select a format. The government publications department maintains a libguide which serves as a guide for popular government publications.

1. General Criteria: Schurz Library currently selects 37% of the materials distributed through the Federal Depository Library program. Schurz Library select all of the core collection of United States documents recommended by Government Printing Office for all depositories and will give strong consideration to items in the suggested core collection small academic library (manual, section 4). The format (paper, electronic or microfiche) of a government publications is determined on the basis on its potential use, the type of publications and content.

2.Subject criteria: Because government publications are identified primarily by their publishing agencies, selection of depository documents series by subject matter is approached only indirectly, by inference from the mission of the issuing agency. In that context, document series will be selected whose subject matter is expected to correspond to subjects covered in the IU South Bend curriculum, or to be of particular interest to the public. Unless there is a clear need, depository series with highly technical content will not be selected.

1. Specific subject guidelines: All census materials including all states, regions and national level data

2. For most other series broken down geographically, select Indiana and neighboring states except if information is of substantial economic relevance, e.g., series such as CPI detailed report.

3. Series featuring historical treatment of any subject are usually selected.

4. Subjects and their related departments selected most comprehensively are:

Agriculture (economics related only): Agriculture

Business/industry: Commerce, Census

Criminal justice: Justice

Economics: Commerce and Labor

Education: Education

Foreign relations: Defense and State

General statistics: Census and others

Government: Congress and Executive

History: State and others

Labor: Labor

Medicine: Health and Human Services

5. Subjects selected most sparingly:

Agriculture (non-economic)

Engineering (technical)

Geology (non-Indiana)

Science (technical)

6. Maps are selected in these areas only:

U.S.G.S. topographic maps (7.5' and 1:50,000 series) for Indiana (electronic)

Census maps and mapping products (print and electronic)

C.I.A. maps and Atlases (electronic)

US.G.S. county maps for Indiana (electronic)

U.S. summary maps (planimetric, topographic and shaded relief series (print)

3. The following criteria in order of priority are used to select materials:

1. Necessary for support of IU South Bend curricula and Third Congressional District population

2. Quality of materials

3. Support for historical research

4. Geographic area covered

5. Level of technical material
6. General user interest