Library Policy Statements
Government Documents Collection
I. PROGRAM INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION
Two major separate collections, each with its own classification system, are housed within the Government Documents Collection. They comprise materials from: 1) United States Government agencies and 2) United Nations and its affiliated agencies.
The Collection supports undergraduate and graduate coursework and research in all academic fields, with particular strengths in the fields of agriculture, agricultural economics, military science, natural science and marine biology, urban planning, transportation administration, astronomy, education, medicine and public health, history and political science, and statistics. United States statute and administrative laws and decisions and rules of the U.S. regulatory agencies are also strong. Documents are acquired through official deposit, purchase, or gift.
The Collection is heavily used by University of Hawaii at Manoa graduate and undergraduate students, Manoa campus faculty and researchers, East-West Center researchers and staff, the general public, Hawaii state government agencies, local federal agency offices, off-campus libraries and researchers, business and legal firms, and students at all academic levels. The department strives to ensure free public access to these documents and their continued availability according to the guidelines set by the issuing bodies.
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS COLLECTION
I. PROGRAM INFORMATION
The United States government documents collection includes federal government information products distributed by the Government Printing Office (GPO) through its Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and non-depository federal publications.
The University of Hawaii became a selective depository in 1907, when the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts was established. During World War II, the collection was organized as a separate collection, utilizing the Superintendent of Documents classification scheme. The collection became the Regional Depository Library for the State of Hawaii in 1977. As a Regional, the library receives and retains at least one copy of all new and revised FDLP tangible publications. Regional status, at first, did not change collection activities, as the policy had been, since the early 1960's, to accept all items offered by GPO. Older depository periodical and monographic series runs are well represented due to collection efforts of previous documents librarians. Non-serial titles, however, were not retrospectively obtainable and coverage before World War II is weak.
Non-depository federal publications are added selectively to the collection. These publications are obtained through the Library of Congress Documents Expediting Program, by direct contact with federal agencies, by gift or by purchase. These documents are reviewed for inclusion if they support the current curriculum and research needs, user interest, geographic area covered (i.e., Hawaii and the Pacific), or fill gaps in the collection at the discretion of the government documents librarian staff.
GPO's transition to a more electronic Federal Depository Library Program has resulted in the migration of many former tangible products to online access. The Government Documents Web page provides links to GPO Access and the FDLP Electronic Collection and as well as other federal government information.
II. COORDINATION OF COLLECTING RESPONSIBILITIES
The collection serves as the Regional Depository Library for ten other selective depositories in the state and four selective depositories in the South Pacific. Duties and obligations are defined by GPO in their Instructions to Depository Libraries(Revised 2000). http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fdlp/pubs/instructions/index.html
There are no formal cooperative collecting agreements within the region. Because the selective depository libraries lack the funding, space, or historical focus of this collection, it is assumed by all Hawaii depositories that the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) will acquire and retain permanently large retrospective collections, whether paper, microfiche, or electronic. By mutual agreement, the Federal Documents Section of the Hawaii State Library purchased on microfiche the deposit and non-deposit entries indexed in the Congressional Information Service's American Statistical Index for the period 1977 through 1996. The subscription has been cancelled since then due to budget cuts. The William S. Richardson School of Law Library continues to purchase on microfiche the Congressional documents in CIS Index to Congressional Publications.
All incoming receipts are examined by the documents librarians. Documents covering Hawaii or the Pacific are routed to the appropriate area collections for current awareness; selections are purchased by, and housed in, the area collections.
A 1984 policy on non-duplication of government documents materials limits holdings in other collections.
III. GUIDELINES TO MATERIALS COLLECTED OR EXCLUDED
In the past, microfilms were not collected. Microfilms of government documents have been acquired for other collections and housed in the Hamilton Library periodical room. However, as space and preservation needs become more pronounced, purchase of microfilm to replace deteriorated volumes such as the early twentieth century census reports are being planned.
Reports written in fulfillment of federal contract requirements by individuals, universities, or corporations are not considered to be federal publications and are not usually added to the collection. The collection does not acquire commercial directories, political analysis studies, reporter services, current awareness services, etc., except for those finding aids that index and interpret documents material directly. These include the Congressional Information Service American Statistical Index and Congressional Information Index.
Trade or university press imprints "sponsored by" an agency are not added to the collection unless there is a statement that it is "published for" or "on behalf of" the agency.
Sea-grant publications are not included in the federal depository, nor are they included in the Government Documents Collection by other means.
Local United States government imprints are not collected; the Hawaiian Collection adds this material when it is related to Hawaii.
The FDLP provides a password for selected fee-based online government titles, however, the Library also has paid subscriptions to make these services as well as selected non-government online services more widely available to our clientele. These include Stat-USA, World News Connection, and the commercial service MarciveWeb Docs.
UNITED NATIONS AND ITS AFFILIATED AGENCIES COLLECTION
I. PROGRAM INFORMATION
Materials acquired on deposit from the United Nations and its affiliated agencies are largely official deposits, with some exceptions, as noted. The United Nations deposit began around 1950. The collection receives Official Records of the main organs of the United Nations, masthead documents (formerly "mimeographed documents"), sale number publications, periodicals, and documents in English from the major United Nations agencies located in New York, Geneva, and Vienna. However, there are many limitations and exceptions to this deposit. (See Instructions for Depository Librarians Receiving United Nations Material, ST/LIB/13/Rev.5 March 1995 http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/deplib/topics/claiming.htm)
Other than sales number publications, the collection does not receive documents from the regional economic commissions (i.e., Economic Commission for Europe, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, and Economic Commission for Africa). The exception is the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), because the United States government is a member of the commission. ESCAP provides four titles automatically and others can be acquired for the cost of postage.
Specialized United Nations agencies that report to the General Assembly but are generally not part of the United Nations depository system are acquired via purchase or direct request. These agencies include the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament (UNIDIR), the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), the United Nations University (UNU), and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).
United Nations agency publications "published for" or "on behalf of" by trade and university presses are acquired on the library's gathering plans.
II. COORDINATION OF COLLECTING RESPONSIBILITIES
There is no other United Nations collection available within the state of Hawaii. The William S. Richardson School of Law Library purchased a collection of United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) materials; ICJ documents are not deposited, except at the national supreme court levels.
All incoming receipts are examined by the documents librarians. Materials covering Oceania are routed to the Pacific Collection librarians for current awareness; selected items are acquired by and housed in the collection.
The 1984 policy against duplication of government documents in other collections included United Nations materials.
III. GUIDELINES TO MATERIALS COLLECTED OR EXCLUDED
Microfilms are not collected. Trade or university press publications "sponsored by" and agency are not added to the collection unless there is a statement that the title is "published for" or "on behalf of" the agency.
AFFILIATED UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES
The independently structured intergovernmental organizations (IGO's) affiliated with the United Nations and their methods of acquisition are noted below. Unless otherwise noted, the collecting and housing unit is the Government Documents Collection.
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Between 1977 and 1995, the Collection subscribed to microfiche to the entries indexed in FAO Documentation, the official bibliography of FAO publications and documents. The subscription was cancelled during 1995 library-wide serials cancellation project. There are no immediate plans to resume this series. Since 1979, major publications have been received in paper on subscription via Bernan (formerly UNIPUB) subscription agency. Backfiles of nearly all major periodical and monograph series have been completed.
- World Trade Organization (WTO) (formerly General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)). WTO publications are received on deposit.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Standing orders to its proceedings have been cancelled in 1992 due to budget cuts.
- International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). The IBRD (also known as the World Bank) does not have depository libraries in the United States. All documents are acquired by purchase or direct request. Those IBRD imprints published by the Johns Hopkins University Press or Oxford University Press are acquired by the library's gathering plan. The collection seeks to maintain a complete collection of IBRD publications.
- International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). ICAO does not have depository libraries in the United States. They have, however, provided the collection without charge, approximately ten statistical series since 1980, and the ICAO Bulletin, their official periodical.
- International Development Association (IDA) and International Finance Corporation (IFC). These two agencies are part of the World Bank group and their publications are also acquired by purchase, direct request, or via the gathering plan.
- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). IFAD publications are not deposited, but are generally free, on request.
- International Labour Organization (ILO). The collection is not a depository for ILO publications from Geneva, but they have been acquired selectively over the years for the general collection through purchase. Beginning in late 1989, Government Documents has been responsible for the selection, funding, and housing of these materials; some of the backfile holdings were reclassified and transferred to the collection; others have remained in the Library of Congress classification. ILO publications from Islamabad and Manila have been acquired directly and housed in the collection since the mid-1980's.
- International Maritime Organization (IMO). IMO publications are infrequent. They are acquired on purchase.
- International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF publications are acquired via subscription directly from the agency.
- International Telecommunications Union (ITU). ITU publications and documents are not received on deposit. Selective purchase of development plans, directories, and other non-technical documents are made either directly or through a subscription service.
- United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO publications have been deposited in the collection since the early 1950's through 1993. The United States withdrew its membership from UNESCO in 1993 and one of consequences of the withdrawal was the end of depositories for the United States. Selected titles are acquired through purchase.
- World Health Organization (WHO). WHO publications from Geneva have been deposited in the collection since the early 1950's. WHO deposits only its publications (i.e., sales-type imprints); documents are not supplied, but are sometimes available upon request to Geneva. WHO imprints from regional offices are acquired through purchase or gift.
- World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO publications are published infrequently. Non-serial titles are purchased selectively. WIPO serials are expensive and it was decided around 1980 not to acquire them.
- World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO documents are selected and funded by the Science and Technology unit. To preserve the principle of the Government Documents collection as the housing site for United Nations affiliated agencies, these materials may eventually be transferred to the collection.
Date revised: 6/01 Compiler: Mabel Suzuki