Print Indexes for Historical
U.S. Government Publications
Memorial Library does not have many historical U.S. government publications. The historical publications Memorial does have date back to the 1930s at the earliest. The Wisconsin State Historical Society Library has an extensive collection historical U.S. government publications. For a description of its collection, see http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/library/govpub/index.html).
Memorial Library does have some indexes that can help identify historical U.S. government publications. These indexes provide bibliographic information that can be used to find older publications at the State Historical Society, or other U.S. depositories. Finding bibliographic information like the title, issuing agency, and SuDocs number for a particular publication is the first step in finding that publication.
No one print index covers all older U.S. publications; you may need to consult several to identify a publication.
The publications listed below (and many others) are also held by the Wisconsin State Historical Society Library:
This list of indexes is arranged by the date each index's coverage starts, beginning with the earliest date.
1789-1909
Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909: Congressional to Close of Sixtieth Congress, Departmental to End of Calendar Year 1909
- Location: Memorial Reference Stacks, Call Number: Z1223 A113 1
- Content: Lists publications of the U. S. Federal Government printed between 1789 and 1909. Entries include issuing agency, SuDocs number, title, and publication date. Not comprehensive, but covers many documents.
- Coverage: 1789-1909
- Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
- Type/format: Print
- Special Information:
- Organized by issuing agency/SuDocs number.
- Does not contain subject or title indexes. You must have a general idea of which agencies may have issued your publication in order to use this publication effectively.
|
Return to top of page
1789-present
Guide to U.S. Government Publications, edited by Donna Andriot
- Location: Latest edition in the Memorial Reference Stacks, Call Number: Z1223 Z7 G79; older editions in Regular Stacks, same call number (Z1223 Z7 G79)
- Content: Lists the titles, SuDocs number stems, and ISSN for agency series (not monographs). Not the place to go if looking for individual Congressional documents, reports, etc. Useful for tracing the history of a particular series, and for identifying title and SuDocs number changes.
- Coverage: 1789 to present
- Publisher: Documents Index, Inc.
- Special Information:
- Organized by agency, then sub-agency, then SuDocs stem.
- Indexed by:
- Agency
- Title [of series]
- Keyword in [series] title
|
Return to top of page
1881-1893
Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893, by John G. Ames (2 volumes)
- Location: Memorial Reference Stacks, Call Number: Z1223 A 1905
- Content: Indexes publications of the U. S. Federal Government printed between 1881 and 1893 by key word in title. Entries include title/subject, author, issuing agency, date issued, number of pages. Numbers of Senate and House documents and reports also included. SuDocs numbers not included. Not comprehensive, but covers many documents.
- Coverage: 1881-1893
- Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
- Special Information:
- Index is alphabetical by subject; there is an alphabetical index of authors at the end of volume 2.
- Index laid out in three columns:
| Issuing agency (and sometimes author) |
Title (listed by key word), publication date, number of pages |
Congressional document classification and number (if applicable) |
|
Return to top of page
1893-1940
Catalogue of the Public Documents of the ... Congress and of all Departments of the Government of the United States for the Period from ... to ...
- Location: Memorial Reference Stacks, Call Number: Z1223 A13
- Content: Index covering publications of the U. S. Federal Government printed between 1893 and 1940. Some reports and articles within publications are indexed also. Entries include title, author, publication date, number of pages, and, if appropriate, source of article/report. Numbers of Senate and House documents and reports also included. SuDocs numbers not included. Not comprehensive, but covers many documents.
- Coverage: Mar. 4, 1893 - Dec. 31, 1940
- Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
- Special Information:
- Indexes publications and reports by subject, author, and sometimes title.
- Each volume covers a single 2-year session of Congress.
|
Return to top of page
Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (MOCAT)
- Location: Memorial Reference Stacks, Call Number: Z1223 A18
- Content: Indexes publications of the U. S. Federal Government and covers a broad range of subjects, and selected records have short abstracts.
- Coverage: 1933 to 2006
- Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
- Special Information:
- Organized by month, then by issuing agency/SuDocs #.
- Each bound volume contains:
- All the monthly issues for a given year; and
- A cumulative index for the whole year.
- Numbers in the alphabetical indexes refer to entry numbers, not page numbers.
|
Return to top of page
Tools for Finding U.S. Government Publications | U.S. Government Publications at Memorial Library |
Government Documents at Memorial Library | Memorial Library Home Page | UW-Madison Libraries
Page created 9/18/00; last updated 10/31/08.
Created & maintained by:
Beth Harper
Government Documents Reference Librarian
276 Memorial Library
728 State St, Madison, WI 53706
(608) 262-9852