Government Resources

The Ohio Wesleyan University Library has been a federal depository for government publications since 1845, and is one of the oldest continuous federal depository libraries in the United States.  We are a selective depository, receiving approximately 29.9% of all publications available for selection through the Federal Depository Library Program.  Our selection profile is based on the needs of the university community and local patrons.

Government publications are classified using the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification system and are shelved on the main floor of L. A. Beeghly Library.  These government publications come in a variety of formats, including paper, microfiche, CD-ROM, and diskette.  They can be accessed through CONSORT, the online public library catalog shared by members of the Five Colleges of Ohio consortium, and by Marcive, an index to government documents from 1976 to the present.  These collections are available during library business hours, and assistance with these materials is provided at the Reference Desk at Beeghly Library.

The Government Publications Department maintains a rich historical collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century documents, varied in subject matter with concentration in documents from the following agencies:

• Bureau of the Census (Commerce Department
• Bureau of Labor Statistics (Labor Department)
• Congress and Congressional committees
• Education Department
• Internal Revenue Service (Treasury Department)
• Judiciary
• U. S. Geological Survey (Interior Department)

These reflect the university's strengths in economics, history, political science, education, and geology.

The Government Publications Department also provides access to demographic and statistical as well as federal legislative and regulatory materials, including Statistical Abstract of the United States, Census of Population (from 1950 to 1990), U. S. Code, and Code of Federal Regulations .  Approximately eighteen periodical titles, including Alcohol Health and Research, American Rehabilitation , Business America, Monthly Labor Review, Occupational Outlook Handbook, and Survey of Current Business are in the CONSORT system.  They are shelved in the Periodicals area in the lower level of Beeghly Library.