Government Documents

 

 

The Colgate University Libraries receive publications issued by:

United Nations

U.S. Federal Government

State of New York

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United Nations Documents

 

Colgate purchases selected series of documents from the United Nations. Official records from the General Assembly, Economic & Social Council, Security Council, and Trusteeship Council have been acquired since 1946. Most are located at the beginning of the periodicals collection (Case Library, fourth floor). The United Nation Treaty Series (volumes 1--1503, 1946 - 1988) is shelved following the official records.

 

The Library also purchases individual titles about social questions, disarmament, demography, human rights, and international statistics. These materials are shelved as part of the book collections (Case Library, second floor). To locate these titles, search online catalog.

 

To identify UN documents that are not in our collections or to identify specific documents in the official records, search:

• UNDOC: United Nations Documents Index
  Case Indexes Z6481.U19

 

Online UN Information

 

 

 

United States Federal Government Documents

 

The Federal Depository Library Program originated in the early 1800's to distribute information collected and published by the U.S. government. Colgate University has been a depository of U.S. documents since 1902. We currently receive approximately 47 percent of the publications distributed by the government. We have a particularly strong collection of documents from Congress and the Agriculture, Commerce, Interior, and Health and Human Services Departments. Our collection contains documents in paper copy, on microfiche, compact disc, and resources available over the Internet. Documents of interest in our collection include the decennial censuses (dating from 1790), hearings and reports from congressional committees, laws, regulations, and the opinions of the Supreme Court. We also receive a wide range of consumer pamphlets, including many about health.

 

Documents have their own call number system, the Superintendent of Documents Classification System, which was developed between 1895 and 1903. The system groups together publications of departments, bureaus, and agencies.

 

To locate U.S. documents in our collections published after June 1976 (and some older documents), search online catalog.  Many documents series are split between paper and microfiche. Click here to see a brief guide to these splits.

 

To locate other federal documents, use the finding tools in the Index and Abstract Room in Case Library. The following titles may be particularly useful:

Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications.
Case Indexes Z1223.A18

CIS Index to Publications of the United States Congress.
Case Indexes Z1223.Z7 C62

CIS Serial Set Index
Case Indexes Z12293.Z9 C65 1975

CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909
Case Indexes Z1223 .A1134 1990

CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1911-1932
Case Indexes Z1223 .A11346 1995

 

Online U.S. Government Information

 

Collection Management

Materials distributed through the federal depository library program are U.S. government property. Colgate University is required by law to retain federal documents for five years. After that time, if deemed appropriate for our collection, we may weed materials. Weeded materials must be made available to other depository libraries, public libraries, and other educational institutions. The list of documents that we currently are offering is at: Colgate University Offers List of Federal Documents

 

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New York State Documents

 

Colgate University is a depository of New York State documents. As a Document Reference Center, we receive documents on the Core List of Titles (the most frequently requested New York State publications). In addition, we purchase other selected titles.

 

All New York State documents are catalogued and shelved as books or periodicals as appropriate. To locate New York State documents in our collections, search online catalog.

 

To locate New York State documents that are not in our collection, search:

The New York State Library catalog

Includes links to full text of documents from 1996-- .
Read more about scanned documents, including exceptions

Checklist of Official Publications of the State of New York.
Online (June 1989-- )
Case Reference (1947-52, 1962-- ) J87.N7 C44

Dictionary Catalog of Official Publications of the State of New York.
Case Reference J87.N7 D53

 

Online New York State Information