U.S. Documents are shelved according to the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Classification system, which files publications according to the issuing agency. Meriam Library houses U.S. Documents in paper (4th floor), microfiche, CD-ROM's & DVD-ROMs (2nd floor Media & Microforms Collection).
Some common
agency prefixes in Superintendent of Documents classification
numbers include:
| A |
Agriculture Department |
| AE |
National Archives & Records Administration |
| C |
Commerce Department |
| C 3. |
Census Bureau |
| CC |
Federal Communications Commission |
| CR |
Civil Rights Commission |
| D |
Defense Department |
| E |
Energy Department |
| ED |
Education Department |
| EP |
Environmental Protection Agency |
| FEM |
Federal Emergency Management Agency |
| FR |
Federal Reserve System |
| FTC |
Federal Trade Commission |
| GA |
General Accounting Office |
| GP |
Government Printing Office |
| GS |
General Services Administration |
| HE |
Health and Human Services Department |
| HH |
Housing and Urban Development Department |
| HS |
Homeland Security |
| I |
Interior Department |
| I 19. |
U.S. Geological Survey |
| J |
Justice Department |
| JU |
Judiciary (Courts) |
| L |
Labor Department |
| LC |
Library of Congress |
| LR |
National Labor Relations Board |
| NAS |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NS |
National Science Foundation |
| P |
Postal Service |
| PE |
Peace Corps |
| PREX |
Executive Office of the President |
| PREX 3. |
Central Intelligence Agency |
| PRVP |
Vice President of the United States |
| S |
State Department |
| SBA |
Small Business Administration |
| SE |
Securities and Exchange Commission |
| SI |
Smithsonian Institution |
| SSA |
Social Security Administraiton |
| T |
Treasury Department |
| T 22. |
Internal Revenue Service |
| TD |
Transportation Department |
| VA |
Veterans Affairs Department |
| X,Y |
Congress |
| Y 1. |
Bills, Resolutions, House & Senate Reports, etc. |
| Y 3. |
Congressional Commissions and other agencies not specifically
designated in the Executive Branch |
| Y 4. |
Congressional Committees, Hearings |
SuDocs
Shelving TIPS:
1. Letters before Numbers:
If both letters and numbers are used for the same class
number, shelve letters before numbers.
Here is the shelving sequence:
Y 4.J 89/1:AD 65
Y 4.J 89/1:104/23
Y 4.J 89/2:C 55/2
Y 4.J 89/2:S.HRG.104-374
Y 4.J 89/2:98/52
2. Whole numbers not decimals:
Sudocs
is not a decimal system, it's a whole number system.
Here is the shelving sequence:
HE 20.40:
HE 20.108:
HE 20.3016:
3. Stem numbers first:
Look at stem number first (before colon), then proceed
with remainder of SuDoc No.
Here is the shelving sequence:
HE 20.3612/3:
HE 20.3612/3-2:
HE 20.3612/4:
4. Treat all numbers numerically:
This includes numbers and years (Chico differs from
GPO HERE)
This means numbers and years are filed numerically dependidng how they appear in the call number. In the past, the GPO dropped the "1" in the year (eg 952, or 998 instead of 1952 or 1998). Since the year 2000, they began assigning the entire year in the SuDoc number (eg. 2003 or 2005).
Here is the shelving sequence:
ED 1.2:In 8/2
ED 1.2:In 8/965
Read More About
SuDocs
Brief:
An
Explanation of the Superintendent of Documents Classification
System (GPO Access - FDLP) (7 pages)
Finding a Document on the Shelf--SuDocs Classification (Colorado State University Libraries)
Detailed:
GPO
Classification Manual (Revised January 1993) (91 pages)
Shelving
Exercises Remember: Chico treats all numbers numerically
(including years)
Learning
SuDoc Call numbers (Becky Fox, Michigan State Univ.)
SuDocs Number Exercise (Colorado State University Libraries)
