U.S. State Documents in Academic Libraries

• Published in: Journal of government information Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 263 - 276
• Main Authors: Yang, Zheng Ye, da Conturbia, Sandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elmsford, N.Y Elsevier Ltd 1998; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Academic Libraries; Access to Information; Electronic Libraries; Government Publications; Higher Education; Libraries in higher education; Library Administration; Library Automation; Library Collection Development; Library Materials; Library Surveys; Management of state government information resources; Online Catalogs; Questionnaires; State Government; State government information (U.S.); Libraries in higher education; State government information (U.S.); Management of state government information resources
• ISSN: 1352-0237
• DOI: 10.1016/S1352-0237(98)00007-0

This article presents the results from a survey intended to determine how academic libraries in the United States manage and promote their state document collections. In November 1996, a six-part questionnaire (including general information; coordination of state documents; selection and acquisition of state documents; location of and access to state documents; use of state documents; and electronic access to state documents) was distributed to 350 academic libraries including one flagship institution in each state and 300 institutions randomly selected from the
Higher Education Directory, 1996. Two hundred seventy-seven libraries responded to the questionnaire, for a return rate of 79.1 percent. The answers to the survey indicate that about 54 percent of the respondents participate in a state document depository program, and less than 50 percent have a designated librarian coordinating state documents. State documents are acquired either through purchases or through the depository program, are circulated and integrated with the general collections, classified in accordance with the Library of Congress classification system, and accessed through the library Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC). The librarians responding to the questionnaire perceived the use of state documents as limited.