Fast Facts
- Access to the collection is free.
- Materials are for reference use in the library
and do not circulate.
- Located on the 2nd floor of the Central Brevard
Library.
- Open all regularly scheduled library hours.
- Reference assistance is available at the service
desk.
- Documents Librarian: Carol Ruger
- Phone: 321 - 633 - 1794
- Fax: 321 - 633 - 1807
What Are Government Publications?
- Any information produced by a government agency:
city, county, state, federal or international level.
- Issued in paper, microfiche, video, CD-ROM, floppy
disk, or the Internet.
What Are Government Publications Good For?
- Academic Research - Governments support and publish
research and statistics on aeronautics, business,
the economy, diseases, energy, engineering, human
relations, nutrition, space, weather, and most other
subjects.
- Informing Yourself as a Responsible Citizen -
Governments publish the laws and regulations we
live by, the activities of the President, Congress,
Governors and Legislatures, the decisions of the
Courts, and the activities of departments and agencies
of government.
- Informing Yourself as a Consumer - Governments
inform and protect consumers with publications on
financial aid to students, national and state parks,
health, personal finance and credit, the cost of
living, marketing scams, Social Security and Medicare
rights, employee rights, veterans benefits, grant
programs, patent and trademark registrations, and
many other areas.
Where to Find Government Information on the Web
- GPO
Access- The Government Printing Office's official
site for access to government information on the
Web. Contains official versions of the most important
government publications, links to the publications
of many agencies, finding aids and information on
purchasing government documents.
- FirstGov -
While any of the standard Internet search engines
may be used to retrieve government information,
FirstGov is designed to search only government
and military pages on the Web, not all Web pages.
How to Find Government Information at Central Brevard
Library
- Online Catalog - Approximately 70% of the documents
available at Central Brevard Library may be found
in the same way as books, by searching keyword,
author, title or subject.
- Paper Indexes - Citations to all documents offered
to depository libraries, whether in Central Brevard
Library's collection or not, may be found in the
Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications
.
Online indexes: Citations to depository documents
from 1976 to present may be found in the online
version of the Monthly Catalog (Databases/Other
Indexes and Databases) section.
- Second Floor Organization - Depository documents
in all formats are located on the second floor of
Central Brevard Library. Paper documents occupy
the four center stacks. Microfiche documents are
in the microfiche cabinets in the reader printer
area where copies can be made. CD-ROMs are in the
Government Documents Office Selected documents are
shelved in Ready Reference section of the Federal
Documents shelves.
- Call Number Organization - Government publications
are arranged by their own unique system of call
numbering, the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs)
system. The beginning letter in each call number
stands for the federal issuing agency such as D
for Defense Department and J for Justice Department.
Consequently the documents are arranged on the floor
by agency rather than by subject. The numbers which
follow the letters are all whole numbers, not decimals
as in the rest of the library. Thus D 1.2: would
shelve before D 1.10: because 2 is a smaller whole
number than 10. Document call numbers may be distinguished
from books in the general collection by the colon
( : ) located in each.
About the Federal Depository Library Program
- The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)
was established by Congress to ensure that the American
public has access to its government's information.
For more than 130 years, depository libraries have
safeguarded the public's right to know by collecting,
organizing, maintaining, preserving, and assisting
users with information from the federal government.
The Government Printing Office (GPO) provides government
information at no cost to designated depository
libraries throughout the country. These depository
libraries, in turn, provide local, no-fee access
to government information in all formats in an impartial
environment with professional assistance. As institutions
committed to equity of access and dedicated to free
and unrestricted public use, the nation's nearly
1,400 depository libraries serve as one of the vital
links between "We the people" and our
government. Any member of the public can visit these
depository libraries and use the federal depository
collections.
- Central Brevard Library was appointed as a depository
in 1996 and has received documents almost daily
since then, housing approximately 12,000 (in print
and Microfiche) on the second floor of the library.
- As a relatively new selective depository, Central
Brevard Library chooses to receive approximately
12% of all government publications available, concentrating
on those supporting the interests of the general
public with an emphasis on business data.
- The University of Florida serves as Florida's
regional depository which receives all documents
and retains them permanently as an archive for the
state's citizens. These documents are available
through interlibrary loan to patrons of other libraries.
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