About the Government Publications Library

1. The Government Publications Library (GPL) is a Regional Depository for United States publications serving Minnesota and South Dakota. We have been a depository since 1907 and have a vast collection of publications that cover many areas of interest.
   
   GPL is also a depository for Minnesota, the United Nations, the European Union, and Canadian publications. We also actively collect publications of many intergovernmental organizations for which we are not a depository.
   
   Reference assistance is available in person during reference hours, by phone, or through e-mail. Our publications are available for use in the library by the general public. Most government publications can be checked out, including CD and DVD publications.
2. A government publication is informational matter published, issued or financed by a government (like the United States government or the Minnesota state government) or governmental organization (like the United Nations or the Metropolitan Council). Publications appear in a variety of formats inlcuding:  books, journals, maps, microfiche, and CD-ROMs, web pages and web-based databases. Because governments have a hand in every part of life, they publish information on almost every subject, ranging from current popular topics to highly technical and scientific studies.
3. Start your search in MNCAT, the Library Catalog. See http://govpubs.lib.umn.edu/guides/newmncat.phtml for information on how to search the catalog.
   • Government Publications can be found throughout the University Libraries - always read the location information carefully.
   • When searching MNCAT, bear in mind that the author of a government publication is generally considered to be the agency that's responsible for it.
   • You can specify on the Advanced Search screen which library you want to search, but remember that if you get zero results it doesn't mean that publication isn't here on campus somewhere.
   • The Government Publications Library has the largest collection of government publications in the University system. The University of Minnesota system has a single catalog now. However, each campus (Duluth, Twin Cities, Morris and Crookston) has had different cataloging practices in the past. As a result, it might seem like another campus has a publication that we don't. Barring cases in which our copies have been lost, this is not true. So, should you run into cases like this, contact us and we'll help you find our copy.
4. Not everything is cataloged. If you don't find what you're looking for in MNCAT, contact the Government Publications Library and we'll direct you to the appropriate specialized indexes.
5. There's plenty of real, official government information online that is not captured in MNCAT.
   • You can use search engines like Google to get good research information, but only if you construct your search well and critically analyze the results you get.
   • You can also refer to the United States Government Internet Manual - see the MNCAT record for locations.
6. Governments often have their own classification systems - when they do, we use them.
   • Make sure to copy down the whole location! Then, read the shelves or check out our page: http://govpubs.lib.umn.edu/guides/gpl_loc.phtml
   • Use LuminaToU - https://www.lib.umn.edu/ordering/lumina.phtml - to have books delivered from libraries on other parts of campus.
7. Not everything is in print anymore - sometimes the only version of an official publication is electronic - follow the links in the catalog record to get to the publication - see MNCAT search results.
8. Lots of publications are only in microfiche or microfilm. Be prepared to either pay for printing, email images of the microfiche pages - http://wilson.lib.umn.edu/photocopy.phtml - or copy the information longhand. For example, the General Accounting Office's publications are usually microfiche.
9. If you're looking for U.S. government information that isn't part of the depository program and isn't online anywhere, you can make a Freedom of Information Act Request.
   • This is not simple and the procedures change for every agency. However, each agency does publish its rules in some form.
   • A good general guide to the Freedom of Information Act can be found at the National Security Archive - http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/foia.html.