Iowa State Plan for the Federal Documents Depository Program 6 March 1984
Dan MacGilvray, Administrative Librarian
GPO
Library Division
5236 Eisenhower Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22304
Dear Mr. MacGilvray,
Enclosed please find a copy of the Iowa State Plan for the Federal Documents Depository Program.
The plan was developed by a committee of the Iowa Library Association Government Documents Round Table, with input and endorsement of Round Table members.
The plan has received unanimous approval of 16 of the 20 Iowa depositories (the remaining four have yet to return their mail ballots).
Sincerely,
(Mrs.) Carolyn W. Kohler, DR189A
Chair, State Plan Committee
Chair, ILA Government Documents Round Table
CWK!mb
Encl.
A democracy such as ours can only flourish if its citizens are aware of the actions being planned or carried out by its central government. For over a hundred years this theory has been supported by the existence of a network of libraries linked to the Government Printing Office for the purpose of receiving, at minimal cost to themselves, publications of the Federal government to be made available for the use of the general public. Stated another way: "To help fulfill its responsibility to inform the public on the policies and programs of the Federal government, Congress established the Depository Library Program. This program is based upon three principles: 1) with certain specified exceptions, all government publications shall be made available to depository libraries; 2) depository libraries shall be located in each state and Congressional district in order to make government publications widely available; and 3) these government publications shall be available for the free use of the general public.
Chapter 19 of Title 44 of the U.S. Code is the authority for the establishment and operation of the depository program." (1)
In order to ensure that the goals of the Depository Program are being met, the Public Printer requested that depository librarians in each state prepare a State Plan outlining the operations of the Depository Program in their state. This document was prepared in response to that request.
Iowa has twenty federal depository libraries, including one regional and nineteen selective libraries. The regional library, The University of Iowa Libraries, coordinates the administration of the Depository Program in accordance with the statutory provisions in Title 44 of the U.S. Code and the guidelines set forth in Instructions to Depository Libraries (GP3.26:D44/yr) and Guidelines for the Depository Library System (GP1.23/4:D44).
In order to further the goals of the Depository Program and to upgrade documents delivery, documents librarians in Iowa have established a chapter of GODORT (Government Documents Round Table) as a unit within the Iowa Library Association. It meets at least once a year to discuss concerns of documents librarians and is responsible for the publication of a quarterly newsletter, Documents Round Table News.
The Government Publications Department of The University of Iowa Libraries was designated a Federal documents depository in 1884, and a regional depository in 1963. As detailed in Instructions to Depository Libraries, the regional coordinates the depository program for the selective libraries within Iowa. It will cooperate in advising, interpretation of depository rules and regulations, evaluating, selection, reference, and interlibrary loan activities relating to the depository program as well as disposal of unneeded documents. It will maintain a complete collection of all documents provided through the depository library program, excepting certain superseded documents authorized by the Superintendent of Documents to be discarded. The collection will be supplemented from other sources to provide the citizens of Iowa with a comprehensive collection of federal documents.
The nineteen selective depositories in Iowa include 5 public libraries, two university law libraries, ten other academic libraries, and the Iowa State Library. Responsibilities of the selective depositories are described in the Instructions to Depository Libraries and in the Guidelines for the Depository Library System. They include choosing documents needed by their clientele, maintaining this material for ease of use by any citizen of the locale, requesting on ILL for their patrons any document not in their collection (an aid to ILL is the Union List of Item Selections (GP3.32/2:yr)), assisting other libraries in the area with documents reference questions, and withdrawing materials no longer needed according to regional guidelines.
Interlibrary Loan: The majority of interlibrary loan requests for documents are handled through the current State interlibrary loan network. In some cases, calling a depository library in advance for holdings information and complete citation, including Sudocs number, will facilitate the ILL process. Occasionally, when time is a factor, ILL can be arranged informally by direct contact with the regional.
Reference: Reference and other depository questions are accepted in person, by telephone, and by mail, as well as through the University of Iowa School of Library and Information Science. The regional library works not only with selectives, but also with other libraries, as well as directly with any citizen of Iowa (and frequently with individuals from other states).
Special Collections: Many depository libraries subscribe to commercial U.S. document indexes, such as CIS, ASI, Serial Set, Declassified Documents Index, and Index to U.S. Government Periodicals. Microfiche collections corresponding to the first three indexes are also available.
Periodic review of the Iowa State Plan will be initiated by the ILA Documents Round Table with input from all depositories.
1. U.S. Congress. Joint Committee on Printing. Government Depository Libraries: the Present Law Governing Designated Depository Libraries (Y4.P93/1:D44/981), G.P.O., 1981.