Government Publications Collections
WashU Libraries and the Law Library are two of several depository libraries that are part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) in the St. Louis metro area. The FDLP is a congressionally appointed partnership that allows libraries to receive free government publications from the Government Publishing Office (GPO), both physical and web-based, in exchange for easy, public access.
Government Documents are cataloged using the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) Classification System, where items are classified by their federal department or agency instead of subject matter.
Related Research Materials
- GovInfo | GovInfo provides free access to government publications from the three branches of government, which include Congressional Hearings, Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, United States Courts Opinions, Public Laws, and more.
- Congress.gov | The official website for U.S. federal legislative information, where one may find bills, laws, information about members of Congress, and view session meetings.
- DiscoverGov | If you are searching for a specific government document or subject matter, this is the one-stop search that will encompass multiple U.S. Federal Government databases, including GPO’s Catalog of Government Publications and GovInfo. DiscoverGov includes citation and export options, email, and easy print options.
Featured Collections
Atomic Energy Technical Reports
This collection of approximately 18,000 documents from 1945-1970 is a declassified collection of engineering and scientific reports on atomic energy manufacture, experimentation, and usage. The reports were produced at numerous universities, corporations, and government agencies, including several in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Although not published by the US Atomic Energy Commission (USAEC), the USAEC collected and distributed these reports.
Justice and Civil Rights Collection
The Library maintains a Justice and Civil Rights collection that includes documents from the Commission on Civil Rights, the Department of Education, Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Justice, the Judiciary Committees, as well as the Presidential Documents of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon.
Congressional Documents
The West Campus Library holds multiple congressional documents, including Statutes at Large, House and Senate Documents, Congressional Debates, and Congressional Globe, with some dating back to the 18th century.
Contact Us
Interested parties can reach out to Whitney Gerwitz for more information on the WashU Libraries Government Documents Collection.
For information on the Law Library’s Government Documents holdings, please contact Tove Klovning.
Access these Materials
The West Campus Library Collection includes the majority of the System’s U.S. documents in print. The West Campus Library is currently closed to visitors.
Please contact Federal Documents Specialist Whitney Gerwitz for information on the Government Publications Collections.
Contact
- Department
- Access Services, Collections, Access, and Scholarly Communications, Offsite Collections Access
- Name
- Whitney Gerwitz
- Job Title
- Federal Documents Specialist
- Email Address
- gerwitz@wustl.edu