The University of Nebraska - Lincoln Libraries are a Congressionally designated depository for U.S. Government documents. Public access to Government documents is guaranteed by public law (Title 44 U.S.C.).
The principal responsibility of a Regional depository library is to ensure the comprehensiveness and integrity of the government information resources in the state or region. Regionals generally accomplish this by selecting items from exchange lists and incorporating them into their own collections rather than requiring Selectives to retain the material. Selective depositories may suggest proposals for the transfer of their depository publications to other FDLP libraries and to libraries outside the program.
Although Selective depositories must keep materials selected for the minimum five years after the date of receipt, librarians should regularly evaluate and weed their collections to keep pace with the variety and volume of materials currently available from the GPO. The weeding of depository materials is optional and different criteria apply to libraries based on their designation or library type, and the availability of a regional depository library.
Depository libraries must provide access to FDLP content. Although you select and collect the content for your library’s collection that best meets your patrons’ needs, you should be familiar with U.S. Government content in the FDLP in order to provide the best assistance with access to U.S. Government information.
From Legal Requirements and Program Regulations of the Federal Depository Library Program, page 4:
Publications selected, distributed, and received through the Federal Depository Library Program.
The FDLP Basic Collection,
Publications available through official FDLP partnerships,
Online publications cataloged in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP), including publications found in the Federal Digital System (FDsys) [GovInfo]; demonstrated through a combination of cataloging, creation of Web pages, or integration of online material into traditional library finding aids such as subject guides.
See Legal Requirements and Program Regulations of the Federal Depository Library Program, page 4 for additional regulations related to depository collection development.
302 Love Library South
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Lincoln, NE 68588-4100
Linda Novotny
Documents Specialist
Ana Gomez
Documents Associate
Michael Straatmann
Associate Director
Collection Management