MONTHLY CATALOG FAMILY OF PUBLICATIONS There have been a number of different indexes to government publications over the years. The major basic indexes (current and retrospective) are covered in this discussion. The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications is the standard current government produced index to all government publications. It is available from the government in paper and microfiche editions. Electronic formats on CD-ROM or machine readable magnetic tape are available from several vendors. CURRENT INDEX SOURCE Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1895- (SuDocs GS 3.8:) This is the most comprehensive index to U.S. government publications issued by all government departments and from the Congress. (Before Sept. 1947 entries were to page numbers; afterwards to entry numbers. Supplements were issued during 1941-1946.) Until July 1976, issues were arranged by issuing government department, witn an annual index at the back of each bound volume. Each citation included titles, date of publication, paging, price, SuDocs classification numbers, ordering information, etc. Beginning in 1974, three separate indexes for author, title and subject were begun. A semi-annual index was issued for January-June 1976. Beginning with the July 1976 issue, the style was changed to a MARC format using AACR and Library of Congress main entries. The citations were arranged by SuDocs classification numbers and complete information given for each entry including OCLC numbers. References were numbered serially throughout the year, but with a prefix indicating the year. Currently there are seven indexes: author (including personal and corporate authors), subject (using Library of Congress subject headings), title, title key word, series/report numbers, contract number, and stock number. This index can also be searched online through BRS and DIALOG. CUMULATIVE INDEXES TO THE MONTHLY CATALOG (GOVERNMENTAL & COMMERCIAL) Subject Only Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1900-1971. Washington: Carrollton Press, 1973-75. 15 vols. This index provides a single alphabetical sequence of subject entries from 1900 through 1971. The citations refer to the year of the Monthly Catalog in which the full bibliographic reference appeared and gives the exact page or entry number of the document. This index MUST be used with the Monthly Catalog. Subject & Title (Personal Authors After 1961) U.S. Government Publications Monthly Catalog. Decennial Cumulative Index, 1941-1950. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1953. (SuDocs GP 3.8:941- 50) ________. Decennial Cumulative Index, 1951-1960. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1968. 2 vols (SuDocs GP 3.8:951-60) ________. Cumulative Index, 1961-1965. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1976. 2 vols. (SuDocs GP 3.8:961-65) ________. Cumulative Index, 1966-1970. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1978. 2 vols. (SuDocs GP 3.8:966-70) ________. Cumulative Index, 1971-1976. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1978. 2 vols. (SuDocs GP 3.8:971-76) ________. Cumulative Index, July 1976-1980. Washington: Government Printing Office. [Only MICROFICHE format] (SuDocs GP 3.8:976-80) Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, Cumulative Index, July 1976-1980. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1987. 6 vols. ________. Cumulative Index, 1981-1985. Washington: Government Printing Office. [Only MICROFICHE format] (SuDocs GP 3.8:981-85) Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, Cumulative Index, 1981-1985. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1987. 6 vols. Personal Authors ONLY (Individual author entries were not included in the GPO Monthly Catalog cumulations until the early 1960's. The first two indexes listed below provide the only access by personal name.) U.S. Government Publications Monthly Catalog. Decennial Cumulative Personal Author Index, 1941-1950. Edited by Edward Przebienda. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1971. ________. Decennial Cumulative Personal Author Index, 1951-1960. Edited by Edward Przebienda. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1971. ________. Quinquennial Cumulative Personal Author Index, 1961-1965. Edited by Edward Przebienda. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1971. ________. Quinquennial Cumulative Personal Author Index, 1966-1970. Edited by Edward Przebienda. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1972. ________. Quinquennial Cumulative Personal Author Index, 1971-1975. Edited by Edward Przebienda. Ann Arbor: Pierian Press, 1979. ELECTONIC FORMATS FOR THE MONTHLY CATALOG CD-ROM Vendors & Products Auto-Graphics, Inc., 3201 Temple Ave, Pomona, CA 91768-3200 1-800-776-6939. FAX 714/395-3506 (Government Documents Catalog Service) Brodart Co., 500 Arch St., Williamsport, PA 17705 1-800-233-8467 Information Access Co., 362 Lakeside Dr., Foster City, CA 94404 (415) 378-5000 Marcive, Inc., P.O. Box 47508, San Antonio, TX 78265 1-800-531-7678. FAX 512/646-0167 (GPO CAT/PAC, the Monthly Catalog on CD-ROM) SilverPlatter Information, Inc., 1 Newton Executive Park, Newton Lower Falls, MA 02162. 1-800-343-0065. (617) 969-2332. FAX 617/969-5554 (GPO on SilverPlatter) GPO Monthly Machine-Readable Tapes Marcive, Inc. (See address above) OCLC Inc., 6565 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017 1-800-848-5878. (614) 764-6000 (OCLC GOVDOC Service) RELATED SOURCES -CURRENT Consumer Information Catalog. Washington: Government Printing Office. (SuDocs GS 11.9:) Quarterly catalog of free and low-priced consumer publications. About 40% of listed publications are free. Government Periodicals and Subscription Services (Price List 36). Washington: Government Printing Office. (SuDocs GP 3.9:36/) Quarterly catalog of all Superintendent of Documents subscription services with full ordering information. GPO Sales Publications Reference File (PRF). Washington: Government Printing Office. [Only MICROFICHE format] (SuDocs GP 3.22/3:) Microfiche catalog of all publications for sale by the Superintendent of Documents. New edition every two months. Provides access by stock number, catalog number (SuDocs), alphabetical by authors, titles, series, key word, and subject headings. Available only on 48x microfiche or machine-readable magnetic tape. Can be searched online through DIALOG. Also available on CD-ROM from Readex. New Books. Washington: Government Printing Office. (SuDocs GP 3.17/6:) An unannotated bimonthly listing of all new titles entering the sales program in the two months preceeding each issue. Subject Bibliographies. Washington: Government Printing Office. (SuDocs GP 3.22/2:) These are government prepared bibliographies on over 230 different topics. Each entry includes the title,paging, price, GPO stock number, SuDocs number and some times a brief description. These are mini sales catalogs, but also serve as selected in-print subject bibliograpies for documents. U.S. Government Books. Washington: Government Printing Office. (SuDocs GP 3.17/5:) Annotated and illustrated catalog of nearly 1000 new and popular government documents with complete ordering information. Single issues are free. RETROSPECTIVE INDEX SOURCES 1774-1881 Poore, Benjamin P. A Descriptive Catalogue of the Government Publications of the United States, September 5, 1774-March 4, 1881. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1885. (48th Cong, 2nd Sess, Sen. Misc. Doc. 67. Serial Set 2268) Known as POORES. This is a difficult source to use because of an inadequate index. The material is arranged in a chronological format and includes mainly Congressional works. (Begin research with the index, but the chronological listings must also be checked). 1817-1893 Tables of and Annotated Index to the Congressional Series of United States Public Documents. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. (SuDocs GP 3.2:P96) Known as TABLES AND INDEX. This is a very selective index to 50,000 publications issued by the 15th to 51nd Congress. It covers less than 50 percent of the publications issued during these years. The "tables" are similar to those in the Checklist and give information about the Serial Set. The "index" is by subjects and names in the bound edition of the Serial Set. References are given to the series and Serial Set numbers. 1881-1893 Ames, John G. Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government, 1881-1893. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1905. (SuDocs I 15.2:In2/2-3) Known as AMES. This arrangement is primarily alphabetical by subject with a personal name index. The subject is from a keyword in the document title. It includes mainly Congressional works. 1893-1940 Catalog of the Public Documents of the [53rd - 76th] Congress and of all Departments of the Government of the United States for the Period from March 4, 1893 - December 31, 1940. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896- 1945. 25 vols. (SuDocs GP 3.6:) Known as DOCUMENT CATALOG. This is a dictionary catalog and includes both departmental and Congressional publications. The materials are listed under both personal and governmental authors, subjects, and often under titles. References are given to the Serial Set numbers, but the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) classification numbers were not provided. 1789-1909 Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1911. (SuDocs GP 3.2:C 41/2) Known as the 1909 CHECKLIST. This is the most useful retrospective bibliography for departmental publications. Documents are arranged by department (by the SuDocs numbers), but with no subject index. In addition to the departmental coverage, there are sections on the American State Papers and Congressional documents from the 15th to the 60th Congress. There is no subject index, so users must be relatively familiar with the agencies and departments in order to use this index. [Before the Document Catalog of 1893, it is necessary often to employ all of the catalogs and the Checklist to locate a specific publications.] 1789-1909 CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909. Bethesda, MD: Congressional Information Service, 1990. 6 vols. This new compilation provides greater access to these years. It contains detailed indexing by subject, author, title, departments and agencies. It can be used with existing hard copy collections or with the CIS microfiche collection, which is available separately. The Serial Set Listings have not been duplicated in this set. RELATED SOURCES - RETROSPECTIVE Cumulative Subject Guide to U.S. Government Bibliographies, 1924-1973. Arlington, VA: Carrollton Press, 1976. 6 vols. This is a subject index to 40,000 bibliographies which have appeared as separate government publications or those which were parts of others. The complete citation has been reprinted in this source including the SuDocs number. Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents, 1789-1976, comp. by Daniel W. Lester, Sandra K. Faull, & Lorraine E. Lester. Arlington, VA: United States Historical Documents Institute, 1979-1982. 16 vols. This title index is based on an index to the GPO shelflist and not from the publications themselves. (The actual publications were contained in the former Public Documents Library of the Government Printing Office, but now known as the Printed Archives Branch of the National Archives and Records Service). The titles covered include all government publications assigned a SuDoc number from the noted shelflist. There is no standard way in which the titles are listed. Both titles and serial titles are entered in varous ways and some more than once. References include title, publication, approximate publication date, SuDoc number and references to changes in SuDoc numbers. [Out-of-Print GPO Sales Publications Reference Files] Provide access to historical records for publications once available through the GPO Sales Program. There are two six year cummulations plus continuing cumulations. 1st--Exhausted GPO Sales Publication Reference File (EPRF) [Only MICROFICHE format] Includes 25,000 publications going out-of-print between 1972-1978. 2nd--Out-of-Print GPO Sales Publications Reference File (OPRF). [Only MICROFICHE format] (SuDocs GP 3.22/3-3:) Includes 35,000 publications out-of-print between 1979-1984. 3rd--[Supplemental catalogs] Out-of-Print PRF, 1985-87. [Only MICROFHCIE format] Poole, Mary Elizabeth and Smith, Ella F. Documents Office Classification Numbers for Cuttered Documents, 1910-1924. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, Inc., 1960 2 vols. This source provides SuDocs call numbers for individual publications between the 1909 Checklist and the time that numbers began to be listed in the Monthly Catalog. The arrangement is in numerical order and there is no index. U.S. Government Serial Titles, 1789-1976, Vol. IV, in the Five Volume Set ofIndexes to Checklist of U.S. Public Documents, 1789-1976. Arlington, VA: U.S. Historical Documents Institute, 1978. Alphabetical list of titles with SuDoc numbers and issuing agency. Changes of class numbers are indicated. Also includes a supplemental title list for 1971-1976 in a separate alphabetical listing. Questions: 1. In 1969 a government document bibliography was issued relating to poor people at work. Can you find its citation in the Monthly Catalog? 2. Locate in the Monthly Catalog a reference to the Cook Book of the Navy, which was revised in 1945 and had 456 pages? 3. Locate in the 1989 Monthly Catalog a list of titles with the key word lead? 4. Using a personal author index (1941-50), locate a July 1949 document written by John R. Neetzel titled "Farm-woods management in Southern Minnesota." 5. What is the current subscription price for the bimonthly: Earthquakes and Volcanoes? (I 19.65:) 6. In Poores, find a reference to a report of a survey on Lake Erie harbors issued early in 1834. 7. In Ames, find a recommendation for the creation of the North Dakota Territory. 8. In the Document Catalog (1931-33) locate a report on the Big and Little Sioux Rivers of Iowa and South Dakota covering navigation and flood control. What is the Serial Set number? 9. In the Document Catalog (1939-40) find a reference to sunlight and cancer of the skin. (Note that no SuDoc number is given, but only a reference to the series.) 10. Is the following 1988 report still available for purchase from the GPO: How Effective is AIDS Education? Prepared by J. Larry Murdock, Purdue University, March 1991