Federal Depository Library Program
About the Federal Depository Program
The California State Library has been a federal depository since 1895, although its collection of United States documents reaches back over 100 years before that. The Section has been a Regional depository, the only one in California, since the Regional Depository System was established by Congress in 1962. As the Regional library the State Library oversees nearly 77 selective libraries which carry out the federal depository library program in California, and it maintains the only complete collection of federal documents in the state. This comprehensive collection is cataloged and made permanently accessible to the public by the Government Publications Section staff. United States documents issued from July 1976 forward, and an increasing number of pre-1976 documents, are represented in the State Library’s online catalog, and all titles can be found in the various card files and printed indexes available in the Section.
All federal publications in the Section are available for the public to view, scan and save, and/or borrow on interlibrary loan. If you are planning to scan many pages, it is advisable to bring a portable drive to save your files.
In addition to the documents distributed by the Government Printing Office, the Section collects and catalogs materials from local federal agencies (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, etc.). It is also an official depository for maps produced by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (formerly the Defense Mapping Agency). In addition, the Section is a depository for the U.S. Dept. of Energy, having a complete collection of DOE microfiche through 1996, when this technical material became available electronically.
Special Collections
The California State Library purchases major microfiche collections and indexes to supplement the federal collections:
- American Statistics Index (ASI) is a comprehensive guide and index to the statistical publications of the U.S. government (complete microfiche collection and indexes, 1970–2015 )
- Congressional Information Service (CIS) (complete microfiche collection and indexes, 1970–2015, plus earlier hearings, committee prints, Serial Set, 1909 Checklist documents and indexes, 1910–1932 executive documents and indexes, cartobibliography of maps in the Serial Set)
- Statistical Reference Index (SRI) provides statistical information from state government agencies, private organizations consumer and trade publications, business organizations, independent research organizations, and university research centers (complete microfiche collection and indexes, 1970– 2015)
- National Technical Information Service (NTIS) collection of technical, defense and other reports (PB’s, AD’s, etc.)
- Education Resources Information Center (ED reports) is a collection of education research reports and information (complete microfiche collection)
- Major Studies and Issue Briefs from the Congressional Research Service
- Environmental Impacts Statements (EIS) Digests of environmental impact statements in energy, manufacturing, parks, forests, urban programs, water and waste management filed with the United States government (microfiche collection from 1977 – 2009)
- United States Government publications Readex microprint – includes many publications not sent to depository libraries but were printed by the Government Publishing Office and produced by the issuing agency (non-depository 1953-1972)
- Bureau of Indian Affairs documents from the National Archives. Includes various microfilm collections from Record Group Number 75 from the National Archives collections.
- Index to Current Urban Documents contains reports and research generated by local government agencies, civic organizations, and more., 1972-2006
- National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) a federally funded resource offering justice and drug-related information to research, policy, and program developments worldwide. (Microfiche collection from 1970-1993)