Government Information: Collection Development Policy
Purpose
To collect, manage and provide access to government information in all formats (paper, electronic and microtext) to support the curriculum and research needs of all departments of the University, as well as the outreach information needs of the community, the 4th US Congressional District and the state of Colorado.
Curriculum and research emphasis includes the following disciplines: agriculture; biotechnology and biosciences; civil and electrical engineering; ecological and environmental sciences; forestry; human and animal health interdisciplinary studies; natural resources and water management sciences. Government documents relevant to specific departments are also referred to in the relevant collection development statements (by issuing agencies).
Scope of coverage
Language: English with few exceptions
Geographic: United State with emphasis on the Western United States
Chronological: Federal from 1789 to date (designated as a federal depository in 1903); State of Colorado: Territorial period to date (designated as a Colorado state depository library)
Publication types and levels
Current and retrospective publications from Federal and Colorado state agencies are collected on a comprehensive/research level for the subject disciplines described above.
Agencies collected on a comprehensive level: Agriculture; Census; Congress; Interior; Library of Congress; and Smithsonian.
Draft and final environmental impact statements and records of decision are collected in paper format whenever possible and within these guidelines: EISs collected will normally be those for federal agencies administering public lands. These include the US Forest Service, The National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Fish & Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Collection emphasis will be on the Western United States from the 100th meridian westward and including Alaska. Selected EISs for public lands east of the 100th meridian will be collected on an as needed basis. EISs dealing with forest harvesting, natural resource extraction, wildlife, wildfire suppression, and ski areas represent general types collected. Normally not collected are EISs dealing with subjects such as interstate highway construction, harbors, offshore drilling, pipelines exclusive to public lands, and nuclear power plants. Exceptions can be made for EISs dealing with activities within the state of Colorado.
National Park documents: non-depository publications associated with historic preservation and similar cultural and architectural studies are collected as discards from specialized National Park Service offices in Denver.
Agencies collected on a research level: Commerce; NIST; NOAA; Defense Mapping Agency; Corps of Engineers; Engineers; Education; DOE; EPA; GAO; Health and Human Services; HUD; NARA; NASA; NSF; Office of the President; SEC and the State Department.
All other federal agency collection levels will be on an instructional support level. Colorado state publications will be collected on a research level (exception: Colorado State University publications will be collected on a comprehensive level)
Whenever federal information migrates to an online format, we will automatically add the titles in this format to our depository item selection file
International (UN, FAO, NATO, etc.) and foreign governmental publications are selected for addition to the collection by selectors for the various subject disciplines
Other Resources
For a more detailed list of major print and electronic resources in government information available at or through CSUL, please go to: http://lib.colostate.edu/research/docs/
Contact Information
Subject specialist:
Doug Ernest
491-1861
Email: Doug Ernest
Revised 07/08
