Miller Library has been a selective depository for United States government official documents since 1884 and has an extensive collection from the Continental Congress to date. As a selective depository, Colby selects between 9-15% of the items available from the Federal Library Depository Program (FDLP), aiming to serve the needs of the College and the surrounding community. The document collection and assistance in using the collection are made available free of charge to Colby patrons as well as the general public.

Collection Development Policy

Material is selected under the Federal Depository Library Program to support the curricular and research needs of Colby faculty and students and the general surrounding population. Reference and Branch Librarians extensively review Item selections every two years in light of these needs. Librarians strive to balance the need for a physical in-house collection with Internet availability, duplication among the CBB consortium libraries, and the existence of the Regional Depository at Fogler library, University of Maine.

Congressional Documents available at Colby

Many congressional documents can be found in Miller Library, either in our print collection, in microform, or online. The following guide, Congressional Documents available at Colby, provides a detailed listing of congressional documents and their location within the library, or a link to access them online.

Access

Access to the Documents collection is facilitated in a number of ways. Major series and sets are cataloged, while the documents in the collection that do not receive individual cataloging are accessed through the use of specialized indexes. Colby provides a number of government finding tools as well as products from private sector publishers in order to provide access to the Federal Depository Library Program's Collection. For example:

• GPO Access 
  Provides free public access to full text, official Federal information and finding aids.     

• Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications
  REF Z1223 .A18 1960

• LexisNexis Congressional Universe (1789 - current)
  Presents indexing of historic (1789+) and current congressional information.  This collection includes the full text of congressional publications, finding aids, a bill tracking service, and the full text of public laws and other research materials, in addition to research related to specific legislative proposals and laws.
  
  
• Archive of Americana
  American State Papers (1789-1838)
  Legislative and executive documents from the beginnings of Congress to the beginning of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set in 1817.
  
  U.S. Congressional Serial Set (1817-1980)
  When completed, this collection will include digitized reports, documents, and journals submitted to the House and Senate from the 15th though the 96th Congresses. Digital images include maps and color plates.  Bound volumes comprising the Serial Set are also available at Colby, Bowdoin and Bates.
  
  House and Senate Journals (1789-1813)
  Recorded minutes of House and Senate floor action, chronicling matters considered on the floor, votes and other actions taken, as well as excerpts from executive department communications and member responses.
  
  Senate Executive Journals (1789-1866)
  Proceedings of the Senate executive session, separate from its legislative journal.  Material here includes matters relating to the confirmation of presidential nominees and consent to making of treaties.
  

Core documents of the FDLP's Electronic Collection as well as Internet links to other documents the library selects are maintained in the Colby Web Catalog. The Colby, Bates, Bowdoin Consortium (CBB) works to provide broader access to the document collections at all three Depositories through the joint search feature of the web catalog, joint guides, cataloging, and collaborative collection development. Access to federal documents not available within CBB is made available through the MaineCat and Interlibrary Loan (ILL) system available to Colby students and faculty.

General Public's Access to the Depository Collection

All Depository materials including those in paper, film, fiche, CD-ROM, and on the Internet, are available to members of the general public at no charge. Photocopy charges are the same as those charged Colby users. Circulating documents may be borrowed by the general public in accordance with the Libraries' Courtesy Borrowers policy. Computer workstations provide access to the Library Web Page, the Internet and are available to the general public at no charge. Reference assistance is made freely available to the general public during normal Reference hours. Non-Colby users of the Depository receive assistance in identifying documents not held by Colby and are directed to their local library's interlibrary loan service.

United Nations

Miller Library has a partial set of United Nations documents from 1947-1980 in microprint or paper. From 1981 to 2000 we purchased the entire depository set of microfiche. Electronic access to UN documents is provided by:

• Access UN (1945 - current)
  Access to current and retrospective United Nations documents and publications. Included are Official Records, masthead documents, draft resolutions, meeting records, UN Sales Publications and the UN Treaty Series citations. Some documents given in full text.

The United Nations Official Website makes available current information about their activities and conferences. Recent UN resolutions and other important recent documents are posted here as well.

Maine

Colby is a depository for Maine state documents. These are housed in the documents area, ground floor of Miller Library. The Maine documents are included in the library catalog. Please ask at the reference desk for help.