As an officially designated federal depository library, the department receives over 800 publications weekly. The collection includes the official documents of the U.S. Government from 1789 to the present. This area is a library in itself, with a unique method of acquiring, cataloging, shelving, and circulating materials. Patrons are asked to seek assistance from the staff at the Documents Reference desk. The arrangement of the Government Publications Collection is quite different from the rest of the library since publications are filed on the shelves according to the Government Agency and not by subject.
Many publications are in microfiche format and are filed in fiche cabinets in call number order.
If you cannot locate materials, please ask for assistance. Most government publications can be checked out at the documents desk. The circulation policy for most materials is one week. Patrons are asked to seek assistance from the staff in locating, retrieving, and checking out materials in this area. The library's catalog provides access to many of the U.S. and Wisconsin Government Publications from 1976 to the present.