Start With These Databases
- BGSU Libraries CatalogStart by searching this catalog to see if BGSU owns the document. All of the documents in our Canadian, Ohio, and Bowling Green documents collections have been cataloged. However, not all U.S. government documents have been cataloged. You will also find links to online government information in the catalog.
- OhioLINK Central CatalogIf BGSU doesn't own the document, try the OhioLINK Central Catalog. It contains the holdings of the libraries at more than 80 colleges and universities throughout Ohio, many of which have government documents collections. You will also find links to online government information in the catalog.
Finding Documents in the Library
With the exception of some periodical titles, federal publications are arranged on the shelf by an alphanumeric system called the Superintendent of Documents Classification Scheme (SuDocs).
Letters stand for the publishing agency, for instance
A for Agriculture
C for Commerce
L for Labor
Pr for President
and so forth
The numbers on the top line of the call number file differently than the Dewey or LC collections. The number following the period is a whole number NOT A DECIMAL.
C 3.9 .nine files before
C 3.44 .forty-four, which files before
C 3.223 .two hundred-twenty-three
Useful Databases & Internet Sites
- American State Papers, 1789-1838Important executive and legislative documents issued between 1789 and 1838, including every legislative and executive document of the first fourteen U.S. Congresses.
- Catalog of U.S. Government PublicationsDescriptions of publications issued by the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government and links to those that are available online.
- Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909Checklist is arranged by classification number and is useful for examining the scope of a particular agency's publishing from the time it was established through 1909.
- govinfogovinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government, with comprehensive advanced search and browse options. Some things you can find in govinfo include: Budget of the United States, Commerce Business Daily, Congressional Directory, Congressional Record, Economic Indicators, Economic Report of the President, Government Accountability Office Reports, U.S. Government Manual, and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. govinfo replaced FDsys in 2018.
- ProQuest CongressionalProQuest Congressional is a comprehensive database that searches across current and historical documents of the United States Congress, many of which are included in full text. It includes the U.S. Serial Set (the published working papers of Congress), Congressional Hearings, the Congressional Record (through 1997) and hundreds of thousands of House and Senate reports, State of the Union messages, Congressional journals, hearings, high-resolution maps, and more.
Useful Print Indexes
Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publicationis 1900-1971
MAIN GOV DOCS INDEXES Z 1223 .A 1973x v.1-15
Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents 1789-1976
MAIN GOV DOCS INDEXES Z 1223 .Z7L47J83 v.1-16
Index to U.S. Government Periodicals, 1975 - 1987
GOV DOCS REF Z 1233 .Z915
Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, 1895 - 1976
MAIN GOV DOCS INDEXES GP 3.8: