Tutt Library

U.S. Government Document Collection Development Policy

• The focus of this collection continues to be consistent with the emphasis of the historical holdings including: Political Science, Public Policy, U.S. History, Economics and Business, Anthropology, Education, Sociology, General Science, Geology, and Environmental Science.

• Depository items numbers are selected in departmental series based upon the above areas of interest.
  - Annual reports and most of the statistical series from all of the departments are selected to give an overview of departmental activities.
  - Congressional series publications have been selected in the past and much of the current publications are available through online resources.

• Item numbers may be dropped at any time, but additions are possible only once a year. The Documents Librarian in consultation with the departmental liaison librarians (Science, Social Science, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary) does item selection. Faculty members are consulted when appropriate.

• Titles not generally selected for our library are highly technical reports, rules and regulations, handbooks, manuals and guides (except when deemed necessary), posters, ephemeral material, and titles where frequency or size cannot be determined.

• The choice of format of a title available in paper, microfiche, or digital (CD-ROM, DVD, floppy disc, or on-line) will be determined by the nature of the publication, the amount of space it will need (on the shelf or cabinet or in the on-line system), and its expected use. Increasingly, the online version is all that is available.

• Withdrawal of documents older than the current five years (allowable under GPO rules) will be considered on the basis of this collection development policy and will be carried out in accordance with the policy outlined in the Instruction to Depository Libraries.