The University of Delaware Library is a Federal Depository Library (Depository number 0087), one of more than 1,350 depository libraries in the country. The Federal Depository Library Program is a national resource network for providing public access to government produced information. The United States government is one of the largest publishers in the world, producing thousands of publications each year. Government information is a rich source of statistics on almost every imaginable topic, as well as information on many topics, ranging from gardening to economics to highly technical scientific research. Government documents are the primary source material for the history and activities of the United States government.

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The University of Delaware Library was designated as a depository in 1897 and has a rich historical collection. The Library currently receives most of the publications distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program (about 70%).

The U.S. Documents Reference collection contains current and historical Census and legal reference materials. The U.S. Documents-Microfiche collection contains microfiched publications, from approximately 1980 to the mid-1990s. Both of these collections are located on the Lower Level of the Morris Library.

The government documents available from the Library are not all listed in DELCAT (or WorldCat Local). If you do not find what you are looking for, ask for assistance at the Reference Desk. Information for documents received since June 1994 will be in DELCAT; information for documents received from 1976 to 1994 is likely to be in DELCAT. Prior to 1976, information on documents was selectively added to DELCAT. To locate these materials, consult the research guide “Historical Indexes for U.S. Government Publications (Prior to 1976)” or Ask a Librarian.

Government publications in the U.S. Documents collection (both paper and microfiche) use a special call number system specifically designed for federal documents, called the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) call number system. These call numbers indicate the agency which released the document, unlike other call number systems, such as the Library of Congress system which indicate the subject.

For example, publications from the Department of Agriculture have call numbers beginning with “A”, such as “A 1.114:92” and those from the Department of Labor have call numbers beginning with “L”, such as L 2.70: C 4.

Agencies or bureaus under Departments have the letter or letters for that department (the “parent agency”) and a number unique to the sub-agency or bureau. For example, “A 13” is the Forest Service and “A 93” is the Economic Research Service, both of which are agencies under the Department of Agriculture.

For more information, see the guide SuDocs Call Numbers.

The University of Delaware Library is a depository for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Contact the Reference Desk on the main floor of the Morris Library for general questions involving government information. Call (302) 831-2965 or go to Ask a Librarian.

More specialized questions should go to: