PAPPAS LAW LIBRARY UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS POLICY STATEMENT Introduction Pappas Law Library became a selective federal depository library with Law School designation in 1979. Because U.S. documents are an important part of the library's collection, they are selected, processed, housed, and made available with the same care that is accorded to material acquired from other sources. Ninety percent of depository documents received are integrated into the general collections, fully accessible through the online catalog. All documents, whether or not individually cataloged, are represented by records in the online system. Reference service for documents is provided by all members of the Reference Department, and material is circulated according to the same policies applied to all other library material. All members of the Boston University community and the general public may use documents at all times the library is open. Pappas Law Library is one of several federal depositories in Boston, including Harvard University (main library and law library), Boston College (main library and law library), Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts State Library. Our Regional Depository, Boston Public Library, is minutes away by public transportation. The staff coordinates its activities with these libraries and keeps abreast of documents issues through regular participation in the Boston Library Consortium Government Documents Interest Group, the New England Law Library Consortium, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the GOVDOC-L and LAWLIB electronic discussion groups. The Law and Instructions It is the policy of Pappas Law Library to comply with Title 44, Chapter 19 of the United States Code by conforming to the policies and procedures in the Instructions to Depository Libraries and the Guidelines for the Depository Library System. The purpose of this document, to be used in conjunction with the Pappas Law Library Collection Policy and the U.S. Documents Procedures Manual, is to specify the application of the Instructions and Guidelines within this library. When the law, Instructions, or Guidelines are changed, this document will be reviewed and updated. Collection Development Pappas Law Library is the library of the Boston University School of Law. Its primary function is to support research, teaching, and study by the law school faculty and students. The library also serves the entire Boston University community and the academic needs of members of the many neighboring universities who join us in the Boston Library Consortium and the New England Law Library Consortium. The library is open to the general public, who may use its collections at all hours the library is open and receive professional reference assistance 74.5 hours per week. Pappas Law Library currently selects 8.13% (598 items) of the 7352 item numbers available to depository libraries. Documents are collected in print, microfiche, and electronic formats. We have 16 of 18 titles on the Basic Collection list. Those not selected are inconsistent with our collection policy. Our collection policy is designed to meet research and curriculum needs primarily in the law school, but also considered are undergraduate, paralegal, and business courses and material of general importance such as zip code directories, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, and Statistics of Income. Documents are selected on the same basis as all other material. Our collection concentrates on legal resources including tax, international trade, banking, environmental issues, and specific acts such as ERISA which are of interest to the general public. We rely on Boston Public Library, our Regional Depository, and the collections of large general depositories in the 8th and neighboring Congressional districts to support needs which are tangential to our mission. The Head of Public Services, Collection Development Librarian, and Head of Technical Services select new depository item numbers from periodical special surveys and annually during the Item Selection Update Cycle. Deselection, though infrequent, is done as soon as unnecessary items are identified. Care is taken to collect annual reports and reports to Congress by administrative agencies, legislative history materials, administrative rulings, court decisions, regulations, and substantive periodicals. Issuing bodies of primary interest are the Congress; the Executive Office of the President; the Judiciary; the Justice, State, Commerce, and Treasury Departments; and agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board, the International Trade Commission, and the Civil Rights Commission. Because our patrons prefer paper to microfiche, we select and retain paper format whenever possible. We acquire some extensive series such as GAO documents in microfiche and supplement paper depository Congressional material with commercially produced CIS microfiche. We select electronic products in cases where they provide improved access to information. Recognizing the potential of electronic dissemination of information, we have selected several preassigned blanket item numbers in anticipation of useful products. We increasingly rely on GPO Access for government information available on the World Wide Web. The library maintains deposit accounts with the Government Printing Office and with Bernan Associates to purchase individual titles not selected on depository, such as Office of Technology Assessment reports, as well as replacement and fill-in copies. Additional subscriptions to heavily used titles such as the Code of Federal Regulations are purchased through these accounts. Public Access United States Government documents are physically accessible at all hours the library is open. During the academic year, hours are 8:00 am - 11:30 pm. Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am - 10:00 pm (8:00am- 9:00 pm for Annex) Friday, 9:00 am-9:00 pm Saturday, and 10:00 am -11:30 am (12:00-11:30 pm for Annex) Sunday. During the academic recess, hours are 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. The Reference and Circulation Desks and much primary material, e.g., Statutes at Large, are accessible to the handicapped. Because one floor of general stacks is accessible only by stairs, a staff member is always available to retrieve material upon request. Documents are bibliographically accessible through our online INNOPAC catalog. Searches may be performed by author, title, call number, Superintendent of Documents number, item number, and subject. All documents are recorded at the piece level upon receipt. A decision on whether to retain permanently, if not already in place, is made within 10 working days. Records for documents which will be retained for five years only are kept until the piece is weeded. Records for documents which will be retained permanently appear in the local system within two weeks of the retention decision. Records appear in RLIN within one week of cataloging. Any materials in the cataloging backlog can be found on INNOPAC and rush-processed upon request. Reference assistance by librarians who possess both the M.L.S. and J.D. degrees is available 8:30 am - 9:00 pm Monday through Thursday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Saturday, and 12:00- 8:00 pm Sunday. Reference librarians help patrons identify documents through a multitude of resources including CIS indexes. If Pappas does not have a particular needed document, the staff will phone to identify a library in town which does have it, or will borrow the document through interlibrary loan. Cataloging Pappas Law Library fully catalogs approximately 90% of the documents it receives on depository. They are classified using the Library of Congress Classification System and integrated in the online catalog and on the shelf. Cataloging is done by the same professional staff that catalogs material received from other sources. The remaining approximately 10% of documents are judged to be ephemeral (having no historic interest in this library, e.g., some tax forms), inferior duplicates of material already available (e.g., some compilations of laws) or beyond the mission of this library so that cataloging and retention cannot be justified (e.g., some public relations brochures). These materials are received on item numbers which also include important, substantive publications and hence cannot be deselected. They are shelved by Superintendent of Documents number in a designated area of the stacks. Tables, chairs, and good lighting are adjacent to this area. Binding Federal documents which are added permanently to the collection are bound using the same criteria used for all other material. Most are bound in library buckram; those which have particularly attractive soft covers are bound with boards and a clear coating over the original cover. Bindery shipments are returned two weeks after leaving the building; 24-hour service is available in appropriate circumstances. Binding is handled by the Binding Assistant who handles all library binding, and records are integrated into the ABLE automated bindery system. Weeding Because Pappas Law Library is a research collection, cataloged titles are rarely weeded. We routinely discard material that is superseded, such as advance sheets and replaced loose-leaf pages, according to Chapter 10, section G of the Instructions to Depository Libraries. Serials records contain a code that identifies titles on the Superseded List so they can be periodically checked for correct retention and marking. Material designated upon receipt to be retained for five years is identified for weeding by searching in INNOPAC for appropriate receipt date and depository code. A list is then generated which is used to pull material from the stacks. All pieces are reviewed by the Head of Public Services, who identifies additional titles to be fully cataloged and added to the permanent collection. The remaining material is then offered to our Regional Depository Library and to other libraries as the Regional recommends. Replacement and Fill In Missing documents are identified by patrons and library staff using the collection or reviewing holdings in INNOPAC. If the item is known to have been received at another library, it is given a "missing" status and searched three times at four-week intervals. If it is not located and a decision is made to replace it, the item is ordered from the Government Printing Office (if listed in the Publications Reference File) or the issuing agency. If it is out of print, we try to acquire a reprint. If none is available, the item is searched in the "Needs and Offers" list and out-of-print dealers' lists, from which the library actively buys. If an item is essential and a paper copy cannot be found, we will acquire a duplicate of a microfiche from a library which owns it. The same sources are used to fill gaps caused by material never received. Circulation No distinction in circulation policy is made between federal documents and other material in the permanent collection. Newly cataloged titles are loaded into the online catalog daily. All material can be checked out to faculty offices and student study areas; only treatises may leave the building. Members of the general public may borrow treatises through interlibrary loan. Promotion Pappas Law Library promotes use of depository materials by making their availability as widely known as possible. Depository stickers are displayed on doors to both buildings as well as on doors to the library. Documents are cataloged on RLIN, a bibliographic utility used for interlibrary loan by major research libraries nation-wide. Cataloging records are entered into INNOPAC, the online catalog shared by all libraries at Boston University, which is available not only in the libraries but also through the Internet and dial-up access. Our RLIN tapes are used to produce a monthly list, Pappas Law Library Recent Acquisitions, which is distributed to faculty and students. The commercial firm which produces this list also incorporates our document records into an important bibliography, Lawyers Monthly Catalog. Pappas Law Library is a member of the Boston Library Consortium Government Documents Interest Group. Our policies and chief collection areas are listed in the GoDIG Library Directory as well as in the Directory of Government Document Collections. Because our holdings are readily accessible in a variety of ways, we are active in lending on interlibrary loan, and there is walk-in patronage from Boston Library Consortium and New England Law Library Consortium members. Treatises may be lent on interlibrary loan; photocopying of up to 50 pages from volumes such as loose-leaf binders, which may not leave the building, is standard practice. There is no charge for interlibrary photocopying to members of the New England Law Library Consortium, the Boston Library Consortium, and the Research Libraries Group. Continuing Education The Head of Technical Services represents the library at meetings of the Boston Library Consortium Government Documents Interest Group and subscribes to the GoDIG electronic discussion group. She and a reference librarian are members of the American Association of Law Libraries Government Documents Special Interest Section and receive and share the Section's newsletter, Jurisdocs. The library receives and routes DTTP; Administrative Notes and its Technical Supplement are routed to technical services staff, and items of interest are copied for reference staff. Library support is available for attending documents meetings. Three technical services staff members follow the GOVDOC-L electronic discussion group and route printouts of interest to public services staff. The Head of Technical Services and the reference librarians follow the LAWLIB electronic discussion group.