Providing access to online government documents in an academic research library collection: A case study in the geosciences

This article provides an overview of the move to online federal government documents and the problems associated with maintaining access to government documents in the online environment. In addition, the impact of the shift to online government documents on an academic research library collection in the geosciences is examined by assessing whether or not items from one publication series of the U.S. Geological Survey are included in several traditional library research tools. The results of this analysis and some recommendations for dealing with hidden online government documents are also discussed.

<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> Also appears in Electronic Resources and Services in Sci-Tech Libraries.  Ed. Mary C. Schlembach and William H. Mischo, Haworth Information Press: NY, 2001.