HSU Library
Communication 280: Introduction to Information Research Skills
Using Indexes to Government Documents

  1. Finding Federal Documents. The US Government Publications Monthly Catalog (Marcive version) indexes government publications from 1976 to the present.

    Do a search on a topic of current interest to you.

    Name of document found:

    US Documents (SuDocs) call number:

    Does the Library have the document in its collection? (Note: check the "Holdings" button on the citation for the document you found)

    In what format is the document available-paper, microfiche, cd-rom, Internet?

  2. Finding California Documents. The "Main Catalog" of the California State Library includes more than just California state documents but it is the best catalog to these publications. The California State Library uses the same California documents classification/call numbers that used in the HSU Library for shelving California documents.

    Do a search on a topic of current interest to you that is also likely to be of interest in the state of California. You may have to look through several entries to find a California state document. Look for one produced by a California state agency.

    Name of document found:

    California Documents call number:

    Does the HSU Library have the document in its collection? (For California documents since 1999 you can check Catalyst. For older publications you will need to check the "California Documents Shelflist" that is near the entrance to the Humboldt Room. It lists documents in call number order.)

  3. Using the American Statistics Index (located on shelving outside the Humboldt Room to the right of the entrance - it is on the far end; each year is a different color). This annual index is an in-depth index to federally produced statistics.

    Use one of the annual indexes to locate statistics of interest to you. You will need to use the "index" volume in conjunction with the "abstracts" volume.

    Type of statistic located:

    Title of document in which the statistic is located:

    Documents (SuDocs) Number for the publication (it is the number with the little circle in front of it):

    Does the Library have the document in its collection? (You will need to check either Catalyst for documents published since 1998 or the US Documents Shelflist (located opposite the Humboldt Room) to see if the Library has it.

Send comments and suggestions about this page to: Robert Sathrum
Last Updated: November 1, 2000