The NOAA Central Library (NCL) has been a selective depository library for U.S. government publications distributed through the U.S. Federal Depository Library Program since 1993 (About the FDLP). The NCL depository selects federal publications in a variety of formats about NOAA-related subjects to support the library's mission of providing scientific, technical, and legislative information services to NOAA employees and the general public. More specifically, the depository collects publications about oceanography, atmospheric sciences, meteorology, coastal zone management, fisheries, satellites, minerals management, and environmental sciences, as well as congressional documents covering these subjects. Cartographic materials such as NOAA nautical charts, U.S. Geological Survey maps and Federal Aviation Administration aeronautical charts are also received through the FDLP program. The depository materials are available to other federal, industry, and academic users, as well as the general public.

The regional federal depository is located at McKeldin Library of the University of Maryland in College Park. It has been serving selective depositories in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Delaware since 1965. The regional depository contains a very rich collection of over 2 million government publications in various formats and makes its resources and services available to the public.

How to locate government publications at NOAA Central Library

• Government publications are generally housed in the northeast corner of the library with the following exceptions:
• NOAA publications are shelved in the library's general stacks, cataloged under Library of Congress classification
• Legal materials are shelved in the Legal Collection
• Serials are in the located in the periodical or reference areas
• Micro-image materials are stored in cabinets located in the reference area
• CD-ROMs can be found at the reference desk and in the government documents stacks
• Maps are in the flat file cabinets and shelf files located in the southeast corner of the library.
• NOAALINC is the name of the NOAA library catalog. Use it to search for government publications at NCL. Use the location drop down list to limit your search to a specific location: e.g."Government documents", "Maps", or "Legal materials".
• Visit Government Maps and Charts for a detailed description of the NCL map collection.
• The Marcive Shipping List (.xls), is a list of all government publications that NCL has received through the depository program since September 2005.
• Open the Microfiche Collection (.xls) spreadsheet for a complete inventory of documents in microfiche owned by the NCL.
• Use the Vertical Files(.xls) spreadsheet for a complete inventory of government documents kept in the library's vertical files. A list of USGS Fact Sheets is on a separate worksheet of the same spreadsheet.

NOTE: These spreadsheets are updated on a monthly basis. The above files are downloadable Read-Only Excel spreadsheets. You will need Microsoft Excel to view them. A free Excel viewer is available for download from Microsoft.

Government Resources on the Web

• Catalogs and Databases
• Directories and Search Engines
• Federal Government: General Information
• Federal Government: Legislative and Regulatory Information
• State Information
• International and Foreign Information
• Statistical Resources
• Additional Resources

Catalogs and Databases

• Catalog of U.S. Government Publications - Find electronic and print publications of the U.S. government published since 1976. (U.S. Government Printing Office)
• Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) - Provides centralized access to all of Department of Defense's scientific and technical information on DoD's multidisciplinary research, development, engineering, and studies programs.
• Homeland Security Digital Library (Available only at public workstations of NCL)- A database of over 57,000 non-classified Presidential directives, policy and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources related to Homeland Security.
• NTIS/DARTS (Available for the NCL users only. Ask librarian for assistance with login information) - The NTIS/GPO Document Access & Retrieval Test (DART) System makes approximately 240,000 documents dating from 1964 to 2000 available free for viewing and provide the full text of these reports as free downloadable PDF files. For information on NTIS publications available in print or microfiche only, search the main NTIS site instead of NTIS/DARTS.
• STAT-USA (Available for the NCL users only. Ask librarian for assistance with login information) - A single point of access to authoritative business, trade, and economic information from across the Federal Government.
• USA Trade Online (Available for the NCL users only. Ask librarian for assistance with login information) - A STAT-USA service for researching U.S. imports and exports.

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Directories and Search Engines

• FDsys GPO's Federal Digital System (FDsys) provides public access to Government information submitted by Congress and Federal agencies and preserved as technology changes. Collections currently available on FDsys include:
  • Budget of the United States Government (Fiscal Year 2010)
  • Compilation of Presidential Documents (1992-Present) The official publication of presidential statements, messages, remarks, and other materials released by the White House Press Secretary (Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration)
  • Congressional Bills (102nd Congress-Present)
  • Congressional Calendars (104th Congress-Present)
  • Congressional Committee Prints (100th, 101st, and 104th Congress-Present)
  • Congressional Directory (105th Congress-Present)
  • Congressional Documents (103rd Congress-Present)
  • Congressional Hearings (102nd, and 104th Congress-Present)
  • Congressional Record (Bound Edition) (1998-2002)
  • Congressional Record (1994-Present)
  • Congressional Record Index (1983-1997, 1999-Present)
  • Congressional Reports (104th Congress-Present)
  • Economic Indicators (1995-Present)
  • Economic Report of the President (1996-Present)
  • Federal Register (1994-Present) The official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents
  • GAO Reports and Comptroller General Decisions (1993-2008)
  • United States Government Manual (1995/96-Present)
  • History of Bills (98th Congress-Present)
  • List of CFR Sections Affected (1997-Present)
  • Public and Private Laws (104th Congress-Present)
  • United States Statutes at Large (117-120 / 2003-2006)
• Google U.S. Government Search* - Search across content on official federal, state and local government sites from a single search box.
• GPO Access - One stop access to thousands of publications from the Government Printing Office
• Federal Agencies Directory* - Search federal agencies by keyword or browse the list in an alphabetical or hierarchical arrangement. (Louisiana State University)
• Science.gov - Authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies including research and development results
• Science Accelerator - Searches, via a single query, important scientific and technical information resources of the U.S. Department of Energy containing R&D results, project descriptions, accomplishments, and more. (Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy)
• USA.gov - Official web portal for government information, including links to jobs and education, science and technology, consumer guides, and other services and resources (Formerly known as FirstGov.gov)
• USGS Science Topics - Provides an alternate way to browse USGS science programs and activities.

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Federal Government: General Information

• Federal Government Resources on the Web * - A comprehensive compilation of government resources on the web arranged by subject (University of Michigan)
• Frequently Used Sites Related to U.S. Federal Government Information* - Lists government online resources organized by level of government and subject. (ALA GODORT)
• Federal Citizen Information Center - Provides the answers to questions about the Federal Government and everyday consumer issues.
• Supreme Court of the United States - Everything you need to know about the Supreme Court
• U.S. Government Manual - Provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.
• United States House of Representatives - Schedule and legislative information, links to committee and representative websites, educational links and more
• United States Senate - Offers everything from links to senators and committees websites to art and history of the U.S. Senate.
• White House - The official web site for the White House and the President

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Federal Government: Legislative and Regulatory Information

• Code of Federal Regulations - The codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government (GPO Access)
• Congress.org* - Identify your Congressional representatives; research Congressional voting records; learn about the issues of the day; and send e-mail directly to Congress. (a free public service of Capitol Advantage and Knowlegis, LLC)
• The Federal Register Tutorial - What It Is and How to Use It Online Tutorial is available in PDF and HTML formats (The National Archives)
• Thomas - A service of the Library of Congress that offers free access to legislative and other information.
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports:
• CRS reports* posted on the National Library of Environment website
• CRS reports* posted on Open CRS, providing citizens access to CRS reports already in the public domain
• Selected Congressional Research Service Reports on Congress and its Procedures* posted on the LLSDC (Law Librarians' Society of D.C.) website
• CRS Reports* compiled in a searchable database by the University of North Texas
• CRS reports* in Homeland Security/Terrorism and Health Law & Policy posted on Thurgood Marshall Law Library website

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State Information

• American Law Sources On-Line* - Provides a comprehensive, uniform, and useful compilation of links to freely accessible on-line sources of law. (ALSO!)
• FindLaw*- U.S. State Laws: Cases, Codes, Statutes and Regulations
• Google Government: State Search* - This page allows you to search Google's government search engine and narrow your results by a state.
• State and Local Government on the Net* - A directory of official state, county, and city government websites
• State Constitutions, Statutes and Related Legislative Information* - Links to state legislative information (Cornell University)
• StateList* - Electronic Source for State Publications (University of Illinois - Urbana/Champaign)
• State and Territorial Governments - State and local resources from USA.gov

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International and Foreign Government Information

• CIA World Factbook - Provides comprehensive country profiles including geographic, economic, governmental, and other information. (Central Intelligence Agency)
• Country Studies - Presents a description and analysis of the historical setting and the social, economic, political, and national security systems and institutions of countries throughout the world. (Library of Congress)
• Foreign National Governments, International Governmental Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations* - Links from ALA GODORT International Documents Task Force website
• InfoNation* - Select and compare country data. (United Nations)
• United Nations* - A portal for online resources of the United Nations including news, press releases, publications, and more in several languages
• US State Department - A portal for information from the U.S. State Department
• America.gov - Delivers information about current U.S. foreign policy and about American life and culture. (U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs)

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Statistical Resources

• Bureau of Labor Statistics - The principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics
• FedStats - The gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. Federal agencies
• National Center for Education Statistics - The primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education
• National Center for Health Statistics - A rich source of information about America's health
• Statistical Abstract of the U.S. - A collection of statistics on social and economic conditions in the United States and selected international data
• Statistics and Demographics*- Offers links to the federal, state, local, and foreign statistical resources. (University of Texas Libraries)
• Statistical Resources on the Web* - Arranged by subject (University of Michigan Library Documents Center)
• U.S. Census Bureau - The leading source of quality data about the nation's people and economy
• U.S. Government Ready Reference Collection* - A subject arrangement of the most frequently used depository document titles at Columbia University Libraries(Columbia University Libraries)

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Additional Resources

• Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids - Provides resources for teachers, students, and parents to learn how the U.S. government works. (Government Printing Office)
• Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications* - Provides examples of the most common types of government document citations. (University of Memphis Libraries)
• Citing Government Information Sources Using MLA (Modern Language Association) Style* - Provides sample citations to government information sources with some legal information sources citations presented in the "Uniform System" and "Garner" citation styles. (University of Nevada, The Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center)
• Copyright - from the Library of Congress United States Copyright Office
• Government Information Online: Ask a Librarian* - A free online information service supported by nearly twenty public, state and academic libraries throughout the United States. All participants are designated Federal depository libraries in the U.S. Government Printing Office's Federal Depository Library Program. Many are also official depository libraries for other types of governments and public agencies.

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Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)

• Easy As FDL: Free Information, Dedicated Service, and Limitless Possibilities * This promotional video demonstrates what makes Federal depository libraries so unique and essential to the American public (YouTube video from FDLP Desktop)
• About the Federal Depository Library Program (from GPO Access)
• FDLP Desktop(from GPO)
• Federal Depository Library Handbook (on FDLP Desktop)
• Locate a Federal Depository Library (from GPO Access)
• Regional Federal Depository Library * - McKeldin Library of the University of Maryland in College Park (UMD)
• Maryland State Plan for Federal Depository Libraries* (from UMD)
• FDLP Designation Handbook for Federal Depository Libraries (.pdf) (from FDsys)
• Government Documents Roundtable (GODORT)* (American Library Association)
• The Federal Documents Task Force (FDTF)*(GODORT, American Library Association)
• GODORT Handout Exchange and Clearinghouse*(GODORT, American Library Association)
• Needs and Offers List (from GPO)

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