How do I find U.S. documents?

The most important documents will be found in the Library Catalog which can be accessed through the Consortium Library’s webpage. Most all of the documents received in the past 10 years can be found in this way. Before that, we estimate that half of the older documents are listed in the catalog.

If you do not find an older document in the catalog, please discuss the matter with staff. Using the Joint Library Catalog will satisfy most student research needs. A classic index of enduring value is the Catalog of U. S. Government Publications (CGP), first published in 1895, and now in electronic format via GPO Access (http://catalog.gpo.gov/F). This index will identify many thousands of documents not in our local catalog, and nearly anything you find in this index can be borrowed from another library for your use.

Beyond the Library Catalog and the CGP, there are many specialized government-sponsored and privately published indexes that can help, and we have many of them either in paper or online. When you encounter difficulties, your best finding tool is the library’s reference and documents staff. We can help sort through the obstacles until you reach your goal.