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Locating U.S. Government Publications

Trexler Library has U.S Government Publications in electronic and physical formats.

Our catalog, Encompass Search will help you find what is available.

Physical items may be in paper, microform, CD-ROM, or various other formats and are shelved in the first section of tall shelves on Level A.  These shelves are indicated by having the FDLP "Eagle" logo on each end.

The publications shelved in this section are grouped and numbered using the Superintendent of Documents numbering system (SuDocs Numbers). In Encompass Search, information about a document shows the SuDocs number labeled as the "Call Number" with a location beginning with "U.S. Government Publications." For help with how to read a SuDocs Call Number, please refer to the tipsheet below or ask at the Lending Services desk.

How to Read a SuDocs Number

Locating U.S. Government Publications using a SuDocs Call Number

U.S. Government Publications are organized using the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Classification System.

***SuDocs Call Numbers are read and ordered differently than Dewey Decimal Call Numbers and other collections at Trexler Library.***

Here's how to read and locate a Document with a SuDocs Call Number in the collection:

1.  Documents are shelved first by letters that represent the authoring agency (or "provenance") of the document. (See the "list of Major Classes" for a list of the departments held by Trexler.)  

SuDocs classes file alphabetically no matter how many letters are used (ex. L comes before LC;  NAS comes before NF). 

For example, the following SuDocs class prefixes are shown in order:

L       (Labor)
LC    (Library of Congress
LR    (Labor Relations Board)
MS   (Merit System Protection)
NAS (NASA)
NC   (National Capital Planning)
NCU (National Credit Union)
NF    (National Foundation Arts and Humanities)

The number after the agency designation represents subordinate offices within the agency or department.

For example, within the Agriculture department:

            A 1.   = Agriculture Department (USDA; including Secretary's Office)

            A 13. = Forest Service

            A 57. = Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

            A 77. = Agricultural Research Service (ARS, USDA)

2.  When reading a SuDocs number it is important to read the number after the period and before the colon as a whole number, not as a decimal.

For example, the following SuDocs numbers are shown in order. In the series, 40 is less than 108 and therefore the first document in this group of SuDocs numbers is 20.40 and the second document is 20.108.  3016 is largest whole number, and therefore last.

SuDocs sorting after period Dewey Sorting after period (decimal)
HE 20.40: 020.108
HE 20.108: 020.3016
HE 20.3016: 020.   (there wouldn't be a zero at the end)

3.  The letters and numbers listed before the colon are the stem number. Stem numbers will all be on the shelf together, so look at the stem number first.

4.  After the stem number, the order is: Years, Letters, Numbers.

NOTES:

  • Until the year 2000, the first number was dropped from years, so those years have 3 digits. Beginning with the year 2000, years will be 4 digits.  For example, 1987 will be represented by 987 while 2019 will use all four digits.
  • Congressional Documents are shelved slightly differently; see further instructions on Locating Congressional Publications.
Years, Letters, Numbers order
Example 1 Example 2
A 1.35:993 EP 1.23:998
A 1.35:R 42 EP 1.23:A 62
A 1.35:R 42/995 EP 1.23:91-44
A 1.35:R 42/2 EP 1.23:600/998-103
A 1.35:321 EP 1.23:600/R-98-23

4. Both before and after the colon, an empty space will file before a space that has a letter or number (i.e. “nothing” before “something”). If there are letters or numbers added after a slash or a dash (/ or -) the base number comes first (nothing before something) then a slash, then a dash.

Congressional Documents

Congressional Hearings

Published Congressional Hearings (for both the Senate and the House) follow their own order. 

The SuDocs numbers for Congressional materials begin with the letters X or Y. 

X     Senate and House Journals & Congressional Record
Y 1  other publications of the Congress, House, and Senate as a whole

  • Y 1.1:  Congress as a whole, and conference committee publications without the names of specific established committees.
  • Y 1.2:  House of Representatives publications
  • Y 1.3:  Senate publications

Y 3  publications of boards, commissions, and other independent or temporary committees
Y 4  publications of House and Senate committees

Y 4 Congressional committee publications

The working committees of Congress such as Appropriations, Judiciary, etc., are grouped under Y 4.

An author designation based on the name of the Committee follows the period and is followed by the colon.

Thus the House Committee on Judiciary is Y 4.J 89/1 and the Senate Committee on Judiciary is Y 4.J 89/2 (the slash and the numbers 1 and 2 being used to distinguish between two committees.)

  • These documents are shelved by House or Senate Committee within the Congress and Session in which the hearing occurred. 
  • Note: Encompass Search records will indicate the SuDocs number and the Congress and Session in which the hearing occurred. You will need both pieces of information to find the document.

Paper reports are on the shelf in metal boxes with labels. The labels indicate the House or Senate committee SuDocs number stem and specific Congresses and Sessions.

  • Each Congress (listed by number on the label) is shelved successively with all committee documents for that Congress shelved thereunder in SuDocs order.

For example the hearings , 

                   Y 4.J 89/1:

                                U.S. Congress. House.

                                Committee on the Judiciary.

                                Hearings, etc.

                   113th Congress,  2nd Session

Microfiche reports are in microfiche cabinets located to the side of the stacks towards the elevator. Microfiche divider tabs show the House or Senate committee SuDocs number and specific Congresses and Sessions.

Get Help

Need more help finding a Government Document in Trexler Library?

Stop by the Lending Services Desk for help with locating materials.

Not sure what government information is available?

Try the Find Government Information page

Help with FDLP info

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Tom Christie
(he/him)
Contact:
Tom Christie
Cataloging and Metadata Librarian; Government Documents Coordinator
484-664-3575