Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (Web DOCS)

What is theCatalog of U.S. Government Publications ?


Catalog of U.S. Government Publications is an index to the publications of the United States Government and includes Government Printing Office records from 1976 to the present. Because the US Government publishes in almost every conceivable field, Catalog of U.S. Government Publications can be used to locate information on Congress, the environment, crime, law, transportation, demography, energy, education, and medicine, among others.

 

 

How do I access the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications?
The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications is accessible to anyone in the University community accessing the Internet via the University's modem pool.

The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications is available from any networked library device, as well as from the Library System's World Wide Web Homepage.

To begin searching:

1. Select search type:
browse: locates term(s) entered, or closest match(es), in the index specified. Browse searches for the term(s) you enter, IN ORDER, and if no exact match is found locates the NEXT CLOSEST MATCH.
keyword: locates term(s) anywhere in the index specified. Keyword searching searches for the term(s) you enter, in any order, and will not attempt to locate a close match if no exact match is found.

2. Select search index: Choose ONE field to search
author (or agency name)
title
subject
or the numeric indexes:
SuDoc No.
Technical Report No.
Stock Number
GPO Item No.
Monthly Catalog entry No.
OCLC No.

Note: if you do not want to specify a single index to search, or would like to search for a term or terms ANYWHERE in a record, use the Combined Search option, detailed below.

3. Enter search term(s) and click "Search".

Truncation:
Search terms can be truncated using the asterisk *.
Government* searches for government, governmental, government's, etc.

Other search options:
Combined searches:
To search across multiple fields and type of terms, click on "Combined Search." The resulting screen has text boxes for each of the available indexes. You may enter appropriate terms in whichever boxes you need and click "Search."
For example, you may enter "environmental protection" under Author and "ozone" under Subject to find just records with "ozone" in the subject term and "environmental protection" in the author term.
To search for a term or terms ANYWHERE in a record, enter the term or terms in the ANYWORD dialog box.

Help
Online help is available at all times. Simply click the Help button to access a list of help topics.

Viewing results
From the list of results, click on desired title to see full record. If the item is available on the Internet, a clickable URL will appear also. Click on the URL to leave Catalog of U.S. Government Publications and visit the site containing the information.

Library Holdings
To see if the library might have a title you are interested in, click on the "Holdings" button. A new screen appears with one of the following messages at the top:

"This item IS SELECTED by your library."
"This item IS NOT SELECTED by your library."
"This item is no longer distributed - ask your librarian for assistance."
"This item is not a depository item - ask your librarian for assistance."

In addition, other libraries which might have selected the title in your immediate area are listed below. Finally, a list of all of the libraries nationwide which select the title is available by selecting the highlighted phrase in the last line.

Printing and Downloading results

Marking/Unmarking records (for printing/downloading multiple records)

  • To select particular records from your results for downloading or printing, click on the "Save Record" button. You will be returned to the list of titles and the saved title will have a ">" character to the left of it.
  • To deselect a saved record, click on the record's title. Once the record is displayed, click on the "Unsave Record" button. You will be returned to the list of titles and the unsaved title will no longer have a ">" character to the left of it.
  • When you have selected all of the records you are interested in, click on "Express Search." From this screen click on "Saved Records." You will be presented with the number of titles you have selected and options to view them. Note: for your records to download properly, you must choose one of the display options and display the records first!
  • Once the records are displayed, choose Save As from the File menu. Insert your floppy disk into the A:\ drive. Path to the A:\ drive, select .txt under "Save As Type", name the file and click Save.
  • To print the marked records: with the records displayed, choose Print from the File menu.

To download without marking (one record at a time)

  • Be sure the record you wish to save is displayed on the screen.
  • Choose Save from the file menu.
  • Path to the A:\ drive. Do not save to the C:\ drive, you will not be able to retrieve your work!
  • Choose .txt as filetype, name the file, click Save.
  • To print without marking (one record at a time)
  • Be sure the record you wish to print is displayed on the screen.
  • Choose Print fro the File menu.
  • Click OK.