Retrospective development includes the checking of offers lists from other depositories in order to fill gaps or replace missing issues. Gifts are added to the collection, redirected to another collection, or discarded at the discretion of the Government Publications Coordinator. Smaller core collections of reference and historical materials are collected from the departments of Defense, Interior, State, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution. Hearings from selected Congressional committees are selected, and selected reports from the General Accounting Office are ordered. Acqui sitions from other departments and agencies are minimal or nonexistent.
Paper is the format of choice for frequently consulted materials.
The Government Publications Coordinator and the Reference staff acknowledge the move to electronic forms of distribution and will try to keep abreast of these changes. Lesser important types are posters, geological maps, and pamphlets. The collection is arranged primarily by Superintendent of Documents numbers. Some materials are processed minimally and sent to other locations, notably the Health Sciences Library, to which we send many health and medical materials in all formats. Selected materials are also directed to the Klutznick Law Library, Grants Administration, and to the library's Periodicals and Technical Services Departments.