PUBLIC DOCUMENTS

U.S. Government

Printing Office June 1977

Number 22 GP 3.27:22

Assistant Public Printer (Superintendent of Documents)

Western Council Meeting

Very Well Attended

Converging on Boulder, Colorado,

for the April 25-26, 1977, meeting

of the Depository Library Council to the Public Printer, were documents

librarians from as far distant as Oregon and Rhode Island. Particularly at home in the Western setting was GPO's Superintendent of Documents, Carl A. LaBarre,

Montana native. Accompanying

^m was the Public Printer, Thomas

F. McCormick.

Updating Council members on GPO microform progress was LSDS

Director, Jim Livsey, who stated that

projected distribution of non-GPO

material on microfiche is targeted

for the summer of 1977.

With him was Library Division

Administrator, Norman N. Barbee,

who told of progress with the new

Monthly Catalog, which will have as

separate pieces a serials listing, a six-month index, and a twelve-month

cumulative index. Depository Li- brary Inspector, Helen Holt, spoke

on interpreting the "Draft Instruc- tions to Depository Libraries."

One of the many high points of the meeting was the receipt by the

Council from the Committee handling "Standards & Guidelines" of a

draft reflecting changes requested

at the previous meeting. Council

authorized that this text be circuited in the near future among depository librarians for any additional comments.

Council took a favorable stand on

the move underway in Congress to make all accredited law libraries eli- gible for depository status. They in- sisted, however, that the public ac- cess feature of the present system

be retained, and that present dis- card procedures be followed. They

also urged that law libraries now

holding Congressional designations

come under the new legislation, and

relinquish their former designations

for possible use by other libraries in the district. Council announced its intention

to prepare a detailed report on all facets of the meeting for distribution

to depository libraries. The dates of October 16-18,

1977, were chosen for the next Council meeting to be held in the

greater Washington, D.C., area.

Don't Forget To Use

Those Yellow Pages!

The Oklahoma Department of Li- braries takes full advantage of the

telephone directory as a means of publicizing its regional depository

status. By way of example for other

depositories which might like to emulate, we provide the text used

(thanks to regional documents li- brarian Maryellen Trautman).

The first listing is the regular one

in the white pages under the heading:

OKLAHOMA—STATE OF—

LIBRARIES-DEPARTMENT OF

200 NE 18—521-2502

Regional DepositoryU.S. Government Documents 200 NE 18—521-2502

The second listing is in the yellow pages under the heading in bold type:

Government—state— LIBRARIES-DEPARTMENT OF

200 NE 18—521-2502

Regional DepositoryU.S. Government Documents 200 NE 18—521-2502

The third listing is in the yellow

pages under the heading in bold

type:

Government—United States

U.S. GOVERNMENTGOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS—REGIONAL

DEPOSITORY-UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTSSEE OKLAHOMA STATE OF

LIBRARIES DEPT. OF

REGIONAL DEPOSITORY

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS The final listing is in the yellow

pages under the heading in bold

type:

Libraries—Institutional

Oklahoma State Of

Libraries Dept Of Government Printing Office Superintendent Of Documents

Regional Depository-U.S. Government Documents 200 NE 18—521-2502
Special Needs Questions And Answers

If your depository library has some special needs of a general or

specific nature, let us know. Below

are some recent requests. If you can

offer discards, write the requesting

depository a letter (sending a copy

to your regional). The library ac- cepting the material agrees to pay

any postage and packing costs that

may be necessary.

Monthly Catalog, 1954, all; 1955,

all; 1956, July.

Statutes at Large, vols. 1-17; 18,

pts. 1, 2; 72, pt. 2; 79; 80, pt. 2.

Mr. Louis R. Coatney

Documents Librarian State of Alaska

Department of Education

Division of State Libraries and

Museums

Library, Pouch G

Juneau, Alaska 99811

Customs Bulletin, vol. 9

Federal Home Loan Bank Board

Journal, FHL 1.27:8/8.

Resources in Education, 1976, May,

June. Ms. Patricia A. Hammond

Head, Government Documents

Depository

Georgetown University Library

37th and 0 Streets, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20057

Congressional Record, vol. 94, pt. 2.

Mrs. Louise W. Lemmons

Porter Library

Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg, Kansas 66762

U.S. Congress, Joint Economic Committee, Economic Report of the

President, 1970, pts. 1-3; 1971,

pts. 1-3; 1972, pts. 1-5.

To be continued on page 4

Q. Jeannette Cook, Documents

Library Assistant with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, inquires:

"A list of publications which were

sent on automatic distribution as of

July 1, 1975, was published in PUBLIC DOCUMENTS HIGHLIGHTS,

Number 11. However, it seems to have changed much since that time.

In order to enable documents per- sonnel to properly claim automatic

distribution publications, could an updated list be issued?"

A. As you no doubt recall, we are reducingthe items on automatic dis- tribution. At the present time, the

list is as follows: Average Monthly Weather Outlook

(semimonthly) - Item 275-F - C 55.109:

Business Service Check List (biweekly) - Item 127 - C 1.24:

Calendar of Business (Senatedaily) - Item 998-B - Y 1.3/3:

Calendars of the U.S. House of Representatives and History of Legislation (weekly) - Item 998-

A-Y 1.2/2:

Commerce America (biweekly) -

Item 127-A-C 1.58/2:

Commerce Business Daily (daily) -

Item 231-G-3-C 57.20:

Congressional Record (daily) - Item 994 - X/a:

Daily Statement of the U.S. Treasury

(daily) - Item 923-A-2 - T 1.5:

Daily Weather Maps, Weekly Series

(weekly) - Item 273-D-4 -

C 55.213:

Federal Register (daily) - Item 573 -

GS 4.107:

Federal Register Index (monthly) -

Item 573 - GS 4.107: (v.no./ind.)

HUD Newsletter (weekly) - \\i

582-L-HH 1.15/4:

Internal Revenue Bulletin (weekly) -

Item 957 - T 22.23:

Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Patents

(weekly) - Item 260 - C 21.5:

SEC Docket (weekly) - Item 998-

B-Y 1.3/3:

Weekly Compilation of Presidential

Documents (weekly) - Item 577-

A-GS4.114:

Claims Reduced! From a high of August 1975, the number of claims

made by depository librarians has

been brought to a record low as of

April 1977. Claims processed at their highest point were 23,000 +

and have now been reduced to a low

of 6,000 + . With continued pro- jected improvements in distributir"^ procedures, 1977-78 will seecla\

drop even further. Ever better service is the goal of GPO!
)

Documents Are Coming

Out Of The Closet!

[At an April documents workshop,

the following remarks were made by

the Dean of Libraries of the University of Rhode Island, Dr. George R. Parks. The Editor of Highlights

thought you might enjoy them.]

You know, it used to be that documents people knew their place—in the basement, in the attic, the back- room. Now look what's happening!

Why, I've even seen some of those

subversive buttons that say: "Documents to the People!"

Something has been happening

in the 17 or so years since I first became aware that such things as Government documents existed. The

Jrst documents collection I knew

as hidden away in the closed

stacks. The documents catalog, even

shelf list, was tucked away in a half- hidden room presided over by a lit- tle old lady from whom the public was carefully kept. Only a couple of

the old library hands even tried to get documents and people together.

To me and many of my peers, documents librarianship was considered more dismal and impenetrable than

the Amazonian hinterland, and, if the truth were told, more frightening. Library schools did nothing to dispel this image; rather, the diffi- culties of finding your way through

the Serial Set were emphasized; and

the whole matter was presented as one of those necessary evils of the

profession. Oh, you did have to know

something about documents; but

knowing too much about them was

sure to cause hardening of the arteries and softening of the brain.

The Superintendent of Documents

)assification was considered nothing short of an alpha-numeric form

of glossolalia (or would have been

if the term had been better known in

those days), so that even if you did

find a citation to a document and

you had the courage to pursue it, you felt that you needed an inter- preter.

What a disservice we were doing

the people! The wealth of information we kept buried in the depths,

the barriers we erected between the user and that wealth! I wonder if the

documents user felt that he was

risking the "Mummy's curse" by

breaking through into the treasure

trove?

Well, things have changed; and

this gathering symbolizes that

change. Documents librarianship is an active profession. Documents

collections are out where they can

be seen and used—admittedly, they

are still not the easiest of materials

to access—but the material is no

longer hidden and the process is no

longer "mumbo-jumbo" in a dark

recess of the library. Even the li- brarians servicing documents have

changed: no longer votaries reluc- tantly breaking vows of silence to

Anyone For Census?

Many depository libraries have

difficulty hanging on to their census

materials, especially block statistics, maps of census tracts, as well as local and state census information generally. This material is heavily used and sometimes stolen. The Kansas City Public Library re- cently told a visiting Inspector they were rebinding their 1970 census

material for the third time!

As it happens, two little-known

services of the Bureau of the Census

address directly the problem of missing material. They will provide

photocopies at very reasonable cost.

serve the wandering Pilgrim, but

exited, outgoing, P-R conscious in- formaniacs!

You've come a long way. Baby,

but there's still a long way to go. The

distribution and indexing of many

classes of documents is still inadequate; there are still too few librar- ians who know documents well; there are still too many libraries where documents are hidden away;

and, worst of all, the ratio of document users to document resources

is still woefully low; and many of those most unaware of the resources

are those who most need the

information.

We hope that this program, and

others like it, will encourage further

improvement in all those areas.

Let me address one final word to any of you who may be administrators—who have to deal with the new

breed of document librarians—give

'em an inch arid they'll take a stack

level and half the reference department! And it just may be worth the

investment!

But first it is necessary to precisely

identify the material and to get a quote on the cost. Second it is necessary to send a check in ad- vance made out to: "CommerceCensus."

For maps of census tracts contact: Data User Services Division

Bureau of the Census

Washington, D.C. 20233

PHONE: (301)-763-5511

For text of block statistics and

census tracts contact: Bureau of the Census Library

Federal Building Number 3

Room 2442

Washington, D.C. 20233

PHONE: (301)-763-2400
Specific needs

Mr. Edward P. Wass

Librarian, Documents Section

University of Rochester Library

River Campus Station

Rochester, New York 14627

Environmental Health Perspectives,

1973, June.

Federal Reserve Bulletin, 1974,

August.

Library of Congress, Monthly Checklist of State Publications, 1975,

May.

Problems of Communism, 1974,

Sept. /Oct.

Survey of Current Business, 1975,

Jan., Feb., Nov.

Mrs. Mary E. Kling

Documents Librarian

Reed College Library

Portland, Oregon 97202

Cumulated Index Medicus, vols. 13,

pts. 1-4; 15, pts. 1-4; 16, pts. 1-4.

Mrs. Mary A. Duffy

Documents Librarian

Francis Harvey Green Library

West Chester State College

West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380

Commerce America, vol. 1.

Commerce Today, vols. 1-5.

Mental Retardation Abstracts,

vols. 10, nos. 1, 3; 11, nos. 1, 2.

Mrs. Bang Kim

Documents Librarian

Lincoln Memorial Library

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota 57006

Congressional Record, vol. 93,

pt. 14.

Mr. Daniel F. Harrison

Documents Division

Texas A & M University Library

College Station, Texas 77843

Geological material of all kinds.

Monthly Catalog, all pre-1936,

1938, 1939, 1954-60; 1961, Jan.,

Aug.-Dec; 1964, Jan., Feb., Dec;

1965, Jan.-April, June.

Ms. JoW.Wilbert

Documents Librarian

Natrona County Public Library

307 East Second Street Casper, Wyoming 82601

Specific offers

Statutes at Large, vols. 62, pt. 1; 63, pt. 1; 64, pt. 1; 65; 66; 69; 83.

Mr. Louis R. Coatney

Documents Librarian State of Alaska

Department of Education

Division of State Libraries and

Museums

Library, Pouch G

Juneau, Alaska 99811

Public Documents Highlights is circulated bi-monthly by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. 20402, and is mailed at

first class postage rates. Public

Documents Highlights is intended

primarily for librarians of the Federal Depository Library Program.

Material proposed of circulation

may be submitted to the Editor,

Specifications and Drawings of Pat- ents, 1898-1911 (approximately

400 volumes).

Mr. Bruce Brigell

Documents Librarian Free Public Library

P. 0. Box C-902

New Bedford, Massachusetts

02741

Congressional Record, 1915-55

(some vols, missing).

Serial Set, 1915-55 (some vols,

missing).

(

Mr. A. J. LaRose

Readers Services Librarian

Concord College

Athens, West Virginia 24712

Discard & Gift lists wanted

Ms. Dawn Hubbs

Documents Librarian

Atkins Library

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

UNCC Station

Charlotte, North Carolina 28223

Public Documents Highlights, Li- brary and Statutory Distribution

Service, Government Printing Office,

Washington, D.C. 20401. The Super

intendent of Documents, however,

retains the right to accept such material, to edit it, and to assign priori ties of circulation. v

91 7-799

US GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1977—0-24 0-569 #13