History
The James E. Morrow Library at Marshall University has been part of the federal depository library program since 1925. The second largest federal depository in the state of West Virginia, the library has acquired a wide range of United States government documents that are essential in supporting teaching and research in many academic departments, schools and programs.
Who We Serve & Our Resources
As a selective depository, Marshall University receives only publications it has designated as appropriate to its collections, approximately 80 percent of the total range of publications offered to depository libraries. This department selects, processes, organizes, and provides free access to a wide variety of U.S. government publications -- print and non-print items that serves the educational and informational needs of Marshall University Students and the citizens of the 3rd Congressional District. Our holdings include paper documents, microforms, maps, atlases, video tapes, kits, and CDs. The Government Documents department also provides fast and easy access to a plethora of online resources. Online resources include a large number of government information sources, federal agency websites, and other useful databases & web accessible resources tools.
Search
Not all of the government publications housed in the Morrow Library can be found in the Catalog, so be sure to check the MarchiveWeb DOCS database or a paper copy of the monthly catalog as well.
FDsys (now known as GovInfo) is an online portal for government information resources pertaining to the legislative, the judicial, and the executive branches of the federal government.
The FDLP website is a source of information for librarians who manage U. S. government documents collections.
The general public is welcome to use depository materials free of charge.
PLEASE NOTE: While the general public is welcome to use depository materials free of charge, many of our U.S. Government resources, including many of the resources listed in this research guide, are not depository materials and may only be used by Marshall University students, faculty, and staff. This includes most of the electronic resources such as our EBSCO databases and JSTOR.
Marshall University's Morrow Library adheres to the Federal Depository Library policies set by the Goverment Printing Office. A detailed handbook serves as Marshall's guide to the Morrow Library Government Document's Policies, Procedures, and Instructions.
The SuDocs (Superintendent of Documents) system organizes publications based upon issuing agency. The SuDoc number or call number is based on this issuing agency.
A = publications of the Department of Agriculture,
C = publications of the Department of Commerce,
D = publications of the Department of Defense,
HS = publications of the Department of Homeland Security, and so on.
There are exceptions:
Y 1 call numbers are general publications of Congress such as House and Senate Documents and Reports
Y 3 call numbers are publications of independent boards and commissions of Congress
Y 4 call numbers are House and Senate Committee hearings and publications.
The SuDoc system is not a decimal system.The number after the point is a whole number.
i.e. - in order --- A 1.2, A 1.23, A 1.256
If the call number is the same to a certain point, then varies, the order is: Years, Letters, Numbers. Until the year 2000, the first number was dropped from years, so those years have 3 digits. Beginning with the year 2000, years will be 4 digits.
i.e. - in order --- A 1.2:999 A 1.2:D 600,
A 1.2:90-2
The call number stem is the numbers before the colon. If this stem has numbers slashed onto the base number, the base number comes first, followed by the slashed numbers in order. (A 1.23: is the base number)
i.e. - in order --- A 1.23: A 1.23/D:
A 1.23/D-2: A 1.23/2
An Explanation of the Superintendent of Documents Classification System (This guide has been provided by the Angelo State University Library)