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Federal Publications
Federal publications are printed by the authority of Congress or by executive
or judicial agencies at taxpayer expense and are distributed to federal
agencies, their clientele and to depository libraries which serve the
public. The Law and Research Library is the Regional Federal
Depository Library for Arizona designated to receive U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO) publications distributed through
the Federal
Depository Library Program in a variety of formats: print, microfiche, floppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD and via the Internet through Federal Digital System (FDsys). This is the largest collection in Arizona and one of the most significant
in the Southwest. Collections of federal publications are
often referred to as “Federal Documents” but include only
published items rather than individual records and manuscripts. Fourteen other Federal Depository Libraries
in Arizona obtain a selection of these publications and also provide
public access to their collections. For more information,
please select one of the following:
- Law and Research Library's Federal Publications Collection:
- Resources for:
Organization of federal publications
Federal publications are arranged according to the Superintendent
of Documents (SuDocs) Classification System which organizes materials
by issuing agency. For example:
| SuDocs Class |
Federal Agency |
| C |
Dept. of Commerce |
| CS |
Civil Service Commission |
| D |
Dept. of Defense |
| I |
Dept. of the Interior |
| LC |
Library of Congress |
| M |
National Military Establishment |
| S |
Dept. of State |
| W |
Dept. of War |
| Y |
Congress |
As the government is periodically reorganized, agency names change and responsibilities
are transferred to new agencies. As a result, it is possible for reports to change,
be discontinued or receive a different classification over time.
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Identifying and accessing a federal publication
Records for federal publications received since 1976 can be searched in
the Library and Archives' online catalog.
If a version of the publication is also available on the Internet, the
“Electronic Access” field at the bottom of the record in the
online catalog will include information about accessing the publication
online. For example, see the catalog record for:
Access to archival databases (AAD) system (Washington, D.C.:
National Archives & Records Administration) (SuDocs No.:
AE 1.130).
SuDocs numbers for many federal publications received before 1976 must
be identified with a combination of paper indexes and the Law and Research
Library's Federal Publications shelf list. Please see:
Identifying and accessing pre-1976 federal publications
for more information.
Most of the materials in the collection are in closed stacks and must
be retrieved by Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Number and year at
the Law and Research Library's Reference Desk (see Contact
Information below). If time is a factor, call
ahead to the Reference Desk and have specific items pulled and put on
hold.
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U.S. government periodicals
The Law and Research Library receives periodicals published by the U.S.
Government and shipped out from the U.S.
Government Printing Office or directly from a federal agency.
You may search for a bibliographic record for a periodical in the Library
and Archives' online catalog either
by entering a specific title or by entering a keyword with the subject
"periodicals." You may also search by title, agency or subject
in the U.S. Government Printing Office's U.S.
Government Subscriptions Catalog. You may then use that
information to see if the title is in the Law and Research Library's collection
or if it is online.
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Contact Information
The Federal Publications Collection is located in the Law and Research
Library in the 1938 Addition to Arizona's
Capitol and is available during the Library's business hours. The Reference Desk is located on the third
floor in Suite 300. The mailing address is:
Federal Publications Collection
Law and Research Library Division
Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records
1700 W Washington Street, Suite 300
Phoenix, AZ 85007-2812
Phone: (602) 926-3870 or (800) 228-4710 (Arizona only)
E-mail: research@lib.az.us
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Updated: 10/01/2009
