How to Find Government Information

What is a Federal Depository?

  • The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its government’s information.

  • The mission of the FDLP is to disseminate information products from all three branches of the federal government to more than 1,200 libraries nationwide.

  • The University of Arizona became a Federal Depository in 1907. In 2003, it also became the nation’s first virtual depository. As a virtual depository, UA Libraries receives the majority of its materials in electronic format.

Finding Documents

Where are the tangible documents housed in UA Libraries?

Most can be found in three locations on campus:

  • Main Library. Subjects related to social sciences, law, and humanities can be found on the third floor in the compact shelving area. Available formats include paper copies (books and pamphlets), electronic copies, microfiche, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and posters.

  • Science-Engineering Library. Materials are located in the compact shelving area on the south side section of the fifth floor. Subjects include energy, transportation, aerospace, engineering, the environment, and technical reports.

  • Special Collections. Materials that cannot be checked out of the library are housed here. They can be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Area. Materials include federal documents dating back to 1790, American state papers, Treasury Department annual reports, Congressional delegate papers, and U.S. Serial Sets.

 

What are SuDoc numbers and how do they work?

Government documents in UA Libraries are organized by SuDoc numbers (which stands for the Superintendent of Documents classification system), so they have different call numbers than the rest of the libraries’ collection.

Government documents are arranged according to the agency that produced them. For a detailed explanation of SuDoc numbers, see http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/ explain.html.

Electronic Resources

How can I access electronic documents?

  • The GPO Access website, at http://www.gpoaccess.gov, provides free electronic access to information produced by the federal government. From the GPO website, you also can access the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (under the Federal-wide Resources banner), at http://catalog.gpo.gov/F. This catalog allows you to search for government publications by authoring agency, title, subject, general keyword, and more. The catalog provides direct links to publications that are available online and also helps you find the publications in a nearby federal depository library.

  • Search the UA Libraries catalog, at http://sabio.library.arizona.edu/search~S0/X. Following a FIND on the Web link will take you to an outside webpage or to a downloadable PDF file.

Where can I find links to other federal websites?

Topics 

What kind of information is available from the federal government?

There are free resources on:

  • Agriculture

  • Business and economics

  • Careers

  • Congress

  • Consumer information

  • Crime and identity theft

  • Demographics

  • Elections

  • Energy

  • Environment and climate

  • Financial aid for students

  • Foreign relations and policies

  • Health and safety

  • Legal and regulatory information

  • Maps and atlases

  • Military and defense

  • Science and technology

  • Statistics

  • U.S. history and treaties

  • … and more

Help 

Who can help me find government documents?