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Government Information: Federal, State & Local: About Federal Publications

A guide to finding federal, state and foreign government information.

Collection Tools

Federal Depository Library Program

 The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to government  information created at taxpayers' expense.The authority for the FDLP is found in 44 United States Code §§1901‐1616.

UT Libraries was designated a land-grant selective depository library for U.S. Government Documents publications in 1907.The current selection rate is approximately 24 percent of the publications in the List of Classes that are made available to participating depository libraries. UT selections are primarily digital format.

Other Knoxville depositories are:

The regional depository library for the state of Tennessee is located at the The University of Memphis.

Finding Government Documents

The UT Libraries' Online Catalog is the place to begin a search for government publications held by or made accessible by the library. As with other library materials, the catalog shows specific formats and locations for government publications. Search by title, author, subject. SuDocs classification searching is available on the ONESEARCH Browse page.  You can use the pull down menu and choose SUDOC Call Number.

Print and cd/dvd, government documents shelved by SuDocs number are located in the Storage collection in the Hoskins Library. These materials may be borrowed for regular loan periods. Some Pre-1976 government documents held in the Libraries' collection may not accessible in the online catalog. The shelf list card file in Research Services, is used to verify holdings for uncataloged documents held in Hoskins Storage. Please contact the Map & Government Information Librarian with any shelf list card file questions.  It may also be necessary to check print indexes or databases to locate the correct citation in order to find documents published before July 1976. 

Microfiche, and pamphlets (20 pages or under) shelved by SuDocs  number  - are located in Hoskins Library Storage Reading Room area. 

Print documents with Library of Congress classification are located in the Hodges Library general collection on the stacks floors, in Reference, or in Hoskins Library Storage.

Department of Agriculture publications (except for Food & Nutrition Service publications) are  located in the Hoskins Library Storage Reading Room area.

Maps/cartographic materials are located in the Storage Reading Room.  To learn about the UT Map Collections and more, please visit the Map Collection and Online Resources guide.

The UT Law Library - As a Law Library, selections feature primarily legal materials as well as items of particular interest to citizens of the state.

Librarians are available at the Research Assistance Desk, Rm. 209 to assist with identifying government materials in collections at all locations.

Map & Government Information Librarian

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Greg March
Contact:
Room 152
John C. Hodges Library
1015 Volunteer Blvd
Knoxville, TN 37996