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Regulation #13: Libraries must catalog current tangible receipts or publications that meet the library’s collection needs.
Why did we include this requirement?
As a Federal depository library coordinator, you have devoted time and energy in deciding what to select for your library’s collection. You may have taken multiple factors into consideration: the government information needs of your users; the curriculum of your academic institution; the economic, social, educational, or legal needs of your community; or the general information interests of your geographic area. FDLP libraries agree to make these government publications available for the free use of the general public. But how will a researcher find the document that he or she needs? Like other tangible items in your institution, the most basic and direct method is to create a record in the catalog. The ultimate intent of this requirement is to make FDLP publications more visible and accessible to the general public, which ties in with the core mission of the FDLP.
It should be noted that depository libraries have always been required to provide piece-level accounting, or an account of individual depository holdings held in their library. This new regulation is intended to make it easier for the public to access this information. The regulation only applies to the new, incoming, tangible material.
How can my library comply with this requirement?
All depository materials that you select are deemed to be a valuable part of your library collection and worthy of cataloging. How you catalog the FDLP tangible materials is an individual decision, however, the conventional option is to add MARC records to your library’s online catalog. This method of bibliographic access is one of the best ways for your community to find the information that you have specifically selected to meet their needs.
Depository coordinators can log into GPO’s Catalog of Government Publications (CGP) and download multiple MARC records using Z39.50. You can search for and obtain individual MARC records through the CGP’s email function and also from other non-GPO resources such as Documents Data Miner 2 (DDM2). Some libraries have signed on to GPO’s Cataloging Record Distribution Project, wherein libraries receive MARC records based on their item selection profile. These resources provide records at no cost to your library.
In order to streamline cataloging through batch record loads or to acquire records that are tailored to match a selection profile, some libraries may choose to purchase bibliographic records from a third-party vendor.
What if cataloging delays getting the material onto the shelves?
Over the years libraries may have established a processing or cataloging workflow whose goal was to get the depository materials out on the shelves as soon as possible. Because of a delay in full cataloging record availability, or because of the nature of how your institution’s cataloging is managed, it may take your library longer to get cataloged depository materials onto the shelves.
Due to these circumstances, GPO no longer requires a 10-day turnaround time for the processing of depository shipments. What GPO does require is that materials be made available in a timely manner, which can vary according to your local conditions (Regulation 11). Also note that if material cannot be cataloged quickly, libraries should organize the depository materials in a way that facilitates access to the material upon request (Regulation 14).
Are there other options for compliance with this requirement?
Regulation 13 has some flexibility built into it for libraries to adapt to their local circumstances. The goal of this regulation can be understood as an opportunity to make depository material more visible and accessible to the public.
How you catalog your collection is an individual determination. Your library may have developed a publicly accessible alternative to standard MARC records in an online catalog, such as a database of your FDLP publications or an electronic version of your shelflist. If you have any questions about your specific situation, please contact GPO here.
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