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Collection Development Manual > Libraries & Collections > Central Library > Government Documents

Government Documents

The Government Documents collection consists of materials that are grouped together because of their source, rather than their subject matter or use. Materials in the Government Documents collection are received from the federal and state governments, and from local governments such as the city of Portland, Multnomah County, and Metro. Items in this collection are in many formats (books, pamphlets, periodicals, microforms, DVDs, CD-ROMs, online electronic, etc.), and may be on any subject - careers, consumer information, health & nutrition, legal and regulatory information, demographics, gardening and agricultural information, and more.

Multnomah County Library is a depository for both United States and Oregon documents. This means that the state and federal governments deposit items with the library for public use (depository items are still owned by the government). Federal documents are distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program, and the library complies with depository requirements and uses the guidelines, selection tools, bibliographies and other resources provided through the program. Federal documents selections are made by the documents librarian, who consults with other staff as needed. Most Oregon documents are automatically deposited by the state government; other local, state, and federal documents are selected by the library's government documents staff. In addition, other government publications are purchased or acquired as gifts. Gifts may be unsolicited, or may be obtained through specific requests by library staff. Commercially published materials that support and compliment the Government Documents collection are purchased as well.

One important element of the Government Documents collection is that it now contains many items which are only produced in electronic formats. Government agencies are now producing documents in CD, DVD, and other electronic storage formats, and many resources are available only in Web-based versions. Multnomah County Library includes these Web resources in its library catalog so that they will continue to be accessible to library patrons. Federal documents in CD and DVD form circulate to library patrons, and computer access is provided in the library for those who need it.

Multnomah County Library has been a depository library for United States documents since 1884, and the collection contains many important historical series including the Congressional Record and other records of the business of the U.S. Congress, reports of patents and trademarks filed, and records of cases decided in the United States Supreme Court. Because of the near proximity of a regional depository (at Portland State University Library), the library acquires only select series and items. Titles of lasting interest are maintained; they are mended and bound as needed. Weeding is ongoing and it is done according to depository requirements. Age, use and format are major considerations.

The library has been a depository for Oregon state documents since 1907, and the Government Documents collection includes state documents from the 19th century through the present, including records of cases decided in the state Supreme Court, the laws and regulations, and records of various state agencies.

Some examples of other materials in the collection are: audit reports from the City of Portland and Multnomah County, governing documents of Tri-Met (the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon), income tax information for individuals and businesses from the Internal Revenue Service and the Oregon Department of Revenue, statistical information from federal censuses, and consumer-oriented publications on cooking and nutrition from the Department of Agriculture.

A large portion of the Government Documents collection is limited to in-library use (including the entire collection of Oregon documents), but there is a significant collection of federal and local materials that circulate to the public. The circulating collection covers a wide variety of topics.

The collection is used by students of all ages, business and law professionals, researchers, and by the general public. Many patrons use the collection to do their own legal research.

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Since the Government Documents collection's scope is not limited to a particular subject or set of subjects, patrons will find related materials throughout the library's collections. However, the Law, Political Science, and Business and Economics collections may be of particular interest to users of the Government Documents collection, as many of the subjects covered in them overlap significantly. At Central Library, these collections are kept in the Science & Business room. Maps, including maps that are depository items, are kept with the Geography collection. At Central Library, this collection is kept in the Humanities rooms.

Many other materials relating to Oregon are part of the Oregon Collection, which is a reference collection and does not circulate to the public. Most of the materials in the Oregon Collection are at Central Library, where they are kept in the closed stacks.

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* The Oregon Collection is made up of materials that relate to some aspect of Oregon life - it covers many subjects. Only Oregon Collection items that are publications of local government entities are part of the Government Documents collection.