The Government Documents Collection, located in the basement of the USF Tampa Library, is a depository for a wide range of federal (U.S.) and state (Florida) government publications. The United States federal government is one of the largest publishers in the world. Federal departments or agencies publish on an exceptionally wide and sophisticated range of topics. This information is disseminated free of charge to the public through the federal depository library system. The library was designated as a federal depository in 1962. As a depository library, the USF Tampa Library selects, acquires, and organizes approximately 75 percent of the government publications that are issued by the US Government Printing Office. Publications can be issued by the executive, congressional,or judicial branches of the government. Items are distributed in the form of books, pamphlets, magazines, report monographs, CD-ROMs, online electronic resources, or microforms. Most materials are available for checkout with a valid USF ID card or a Special Borrower's card. The USF library is also a state depository and receives publications through the State Library of Florida that are published by state department and agencies. The Documents Department is accessible during regular library hours. Reference services for the Documents collection is provided by the Reference Desk, located on the first floor of the Tampa Library.
Contact Information:
Cheryl McCoy
Government Documents Librarian
(813) 974-3530 cmccoy@lib.usf.edu
This is your official resource for government information
U.S. Government information by topic for citizens and visitors, for businesses and nonprofits, and for government employees.
The U.S. Government Printing Office disseminates official information from all three branches of the Federal Government;
The Federal Depository Library Program Desktop.
"Google U.S. Government Search offers a single location for searching across U.S. government information, and for keeping up to date on government news. You can choose to search for content located on either U.S. federal, state and local government websites or the entire Web -- from the same search box. Below the search box, the homepage includes government-specific news content from both government agencies and press outlets. You can personalize the page by adding content feeds on government or other topics that you're interested in."
The United States Congressional Serial Set, commonly referred to as the Serial Set, began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 may be found in the American State Papers.The Serial Set contains the House and Senate Documents and the House and Senate Reports. The reports are usually from congressional committees dealing with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. The documents include all other papers ordered printed by the House or Senate. Documents cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, executive-branch materials were also published in the Serial Set.
"Free Government Information (FGI) is a place for initiating dialogue and building consensus among the various players (libraries, government agencies, non-profit organizations, researchers, journalists, etc.) who have a stake in the preservation of and perpetual free access to government information. FGI promotes free government information through collaboration, education, advocacy and research."
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