Greenley Library Federal Government Documents Depository
Finding Government Documents in the Library

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(see also our page Finding Government Information on the Internet)

Finding Documents Using our Online Catalog
Government documents can be searched in our online catalog, FOCUS, which is freely avaiable on the Internet. Simply choose a language, and do a keyword search. This will find non-government documents as well. To limit your search to just government documents (govdocs), try adding "and dt gov*". For instance, searching for "education and dt gov*" will find only government documents about education.

The web version of FOCUS does not display the SuDoc number, which is the call number used for finding government documents. Ask a librarian to access these numbers.

Using Pring Indexes to Documents
The following is a list of print indexes that can be used for finding government information. Please note that there are now electronic equivalents for most of these titles. Please see our page on Finding Government Information on the Web.

• Cumulated Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog, print, (1893-1993)
  This subject index cites Monthly Catalog year and entry number. It is located on the shelves facing the elevator.
• Publications Reference File (PRF) ceases 1998
  This file is on microfiche and is kept in a file box next to the microfiche reader behind the documents charge desk. It is published every two months with a supplement for the off month. It consists of a list of GPO publications in print, and includes the status, cost and ordering information. Publications can be found by subject, SuDoc number, title, author or order number.
• CIS Annual (1974- )
  The Congressional Information Service collects all publications of the Congress and provides abstracts and indexes to the abstracts by subject, names of witnesses, organizations, corporate authors, and the popular names of bills and reports. The current year's volumes are at the documents charge desk, and previous years' volumes are in the index section on the second floor.
• ASI (1977- )
  The American Statistical Index is an index plus abstract of statistical information in Federal documents. The current year's volumes are at the documents charge desk, and past years' volumes are on the shelves facing the elevator.
• Calendars of the United States House of Representatives and History of Legislation
  For each bill reported to either house of the Congress, this publication gives a cumulative history. Arranged by bill number, a subject index is published every Monday. The final edition is the only place where you can find a list of bills that failed to become laws. The current issue, subject index, and final editions of closed Congresses are kept at the documents charge desk.
• Index to Government Periodicals (1974-1987)
  This index of periodicals, produced by over one hundred government agencies, was discontinued after 1987. They are found in the index section on the second floor.
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service-Documents Retrieval Index (NCJRS-DRI)
  This is an index, on microfiche, with abstracts to information about criminal justice, not necessarily government documents. The index is located at the documents charge desk, and the microfiche is in the Hearings Room. Read the instructions for full information. C. W. Post is the local depository for all articles cited.
• Monthly Checklist of State Publications (1954-1994)
  State publications received at the Library of Congress are listed by State and issuing agency with an annual subject index. It is located on shelves by the elevator.
• Subject Bibliographies: These are issued by the GPO and are kept in pamphlet boxes at the documents charge desk. They are arranged alphabetically by subject, and contain listings of documents that can be ordered from the GPO on each subject.

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  Last Updated 12/00
  Comments, questions to James Macinick, Head of Government Documents, macinijw@farmingdale.edu,
  or Karen Gelles, gelleska@farmingdale.edu
  http://www.farmingdale.edu/CampusPages/ComputingAndLibrary/Library/govhelp.html