Government Documents

The UT Law Library is a participant in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) and receives publications from the Government Printing Office (GPO). At the UT Law Library we strive to provide free access to government documents for our students and the public. Documents are kept in open stacks and most are circulating. Under the terms of the Depository Library Program these materials are available for use by the public during all the hours the library is in operation. There is a public access computer for government documents located in the Microforms Room to provide access to online documents. Reference assistance with government information is available from the librarians at the Reference Desk.

In the FDLP, the library is a selective library and currently selects about 23% of the total number of publications available from the GPO. As a Law Library, selections feature primarily legal materials as well as items of particular interest to citizens of the state. Tthese documents are labeled with call numbers for the Library of Congress Classification System (LC) and are inter-shelved as part of the library’s main collection. Records with locations for these are in the Library’s online catalog. If the document is available online it can be accessed directly from the catalog record by clicking on the “View online” link on the screen.

Pamphlets are kept in the vertical file in the Microforms Room and are arranged according to agency. CDs and DVDs are in the stacks or in storage. Assistance from a reference librarian is necessary to obtain access to items in storage.

Government documents on microfiche are kept in the Microforms Room and are classified and filed by either Library of Congress call numbers or by SuDoc numbers. There are drawers for each type of classified microfiche in Cabinet #43 in the Microforms Room. Large sets of microfiche are kept in other cabinets and their locations may be found by consulting the blue Microforms Collection Guide located on top of the shelves in the Microforms Room.