How to Find Government Information

Arrangement | On the Web | By Subject | By Agency | Other Depositories

At Samford

Many of our documents are located on the 2nd floor of the University Library. Some older documents are located in the Annex, located on the Lower Level. Most government documents can be checked out. If you have questions please ask at the Government Documents service desk.

The majority of our government documents published after 1976 can be located by searching the library's catalog. For documents published before 1976, there are several paper indexes located in the Government Documents Reference section. Some of these are also online:

Checklist of United States Public Documents -- 1789-1909
GovDocs Ref Z 1223 .A113 1953x or online
Catalogue of the Public Documents of the Congress -- 1893-1940
Gov Docs Ref Z 1223 .A13
[Monthly] Catalog of Government Publications -- 1895-present
GovDocs Ref Z 1223 .A18 or online -- 1994-present
CIS Annual -- Congressional publications from 1970-1999
GovDocs Ref KF 49 .C62
CIS U.S. Serial Set Index -- Congressional publications from 1789-1969
GovDocs Ref Z1223 Z9 C65 1975
Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1900-1971
GovDocs Ref Z 1223 .A182
Cumulative Title Index to U.S. Public Documents, 1789-1976
GovDocs Ref Z 1223 .Z7 L47
A Descriptive Catalog of the Government Publications of the United States, 1774-1881
GovDocs Ref Z 1223 .A 1885
U.S. Congressional Serial Set Finding List
links agency copies of documents to Serial Set equivalents
U.S. Congressional Serial Set Inventories (University of North Texas Libraries)

Government documents that pertain to the law, its statutory interpretation and related publications, though received at Davis Library, are housed in the Beeson Law Library. Some key titles include the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register and the U.S. Code.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged by Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) numbers. This system is designed to group together publications by the same government author. Within an agency or department, publications are grouped according to the subordinate organization. Each executive department and agency, the Judiciary, Congress, and other major independent establishments are assigned a unique alphabetical identifier, based on the name of the organization, e.g., "A" for Agriculture Department and "NS" for National Science Foundation. The letters "X" and "Y" are reserved for Congress. For more information, see this explanation of the Superintendent of Documents Classification System

The documents are shelved alphabetically by the first letters in the class number, then numerically. Treat numbers on either side of the decimal "point" as WHOLE numbers when searching for federal documents. After the colon, letters come before numbers: Y 4.W 36:99-6 then Y 4.3:T 22. After the colon, years come before numbers. When new editions are created, a slash and a three digit number are added to signify the print year. The new edition is shelved immediately after the previous edition: Y 3.T 22/2:2 IN 3 then Y 3.T 22/2:2 IN 3/995 Nothing come before something: Y 4.SCI 2:EU 7 then Y 4.SCI 2: EU 7/2 Dashes come before slashes: L 2.3-2:96-4 then L2.3/2:B 42.

On the Web

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (Not all of these will be in our collection.) -- 1994-present
GPO Access -- access to over 1500 government databases, including the Congressional Record, the Federal Register, General Accounting Office Reports and Supreme Court Decisions.
Citizens' Handbook (White House Web Server) -- allows searching of government web sites by subject or by agency
FedWorld Information Network (NTIS)
USA.gov -- portal to government information organized by subject
Google's Uncle Sam Search -- searches federal and state government sites

By Subject

Samford University Library Guide to Government Information by Subject Selected links to federal government information on various topics.
Congressional Universe congressional publications, reports, documents, prints, bills, laws, the US Code, the Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations
Frequently Used Sites Related to U.S. Government Information (Government Documents Round Table)
Browse Topics (Government Printing Office)
Government Databases by Subject (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)
Meta Subject Index to Government Information (Idaho State University)

By Agency

Federal Agencies Directory (Louisiana State University) -- arranged by branch of government, then alphabetically; keyword searching available.
Federal Web Locator (Center for Information Law & Policy)

Birmingham Area Depositories

Birmingham Public Library
Birmingham-Southern College
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is not a federal depository, but they do have an extensive collection of purchased documents.

Regional Depositories

Regional Depositories receive all documents that are available through the Federal Depository Library Program.

The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa is the closest Regional depository.
Auburn University Montgomery is the other Regional depository in Alabama.