Collection development and state publications

Government Publications Review, Vol. 8A. pp. 47-58, 1981 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

COLLECTION

DEVELOPMENT

TERRY Associate

Professor.

Graduate

School of Library

(Received

June

0l96-335X/8l/010047-l2$02.00/0 Copyright 0 1981 Pergamon Press Ltd

AND STATE PUBLICATIONS

L. WEECH

Science,

University

10, 1980; accepted

of Illinois,

Urbana,

Illinois 61801, U.S.A.

July 1, 1980)

Abstract-Selection and acquisition processes relating to state government publications are discussed. The literature on collection development and written library collection development policies are examined to determine the extent to which state documents are included. Specific selection and acquisition aids, as well as patterns of bibliographic control are noted. Data on state publication depository programs are summarized. Major library resources of state publications are reviewed and the future direction of state publication collection development is commented on.

Collection development of government publications is a difficult task for every level of government, but it is especially challenging for state government publications. Because of the patterns of bibliographic control and distribution of state publications, special problems in building state publication collections are understandable. Unlike federal publications, there is no uniform nationwide depository system for state publications. Most states have some form of depository distribution, but many are limited in the extent of distribution when compared to the federal system. Although there are attempts at comprehensive bibliographic control of state publications, the task is extremely complex and the goal of complete coverage remains an elusive one. The collection development of state publications does have some problems that deserve discussion. It is the intent of this article to explore some of these special problems. Collection development is often discussed in terms of two elements, selection and acquisition. Although many of the procedures and tools used in one element are also used in the other, there are enough unique problems and procedures to warrant a separate discussion of each. With the possible exception of “complete” depository libraries which receive everything made available, selection should be the first step in collection development of state publications.

SELECTION

PROCESS

Little attention has been paid in the literature of collection development to the selection of state government publications. Even in the literature of government publications most of the attention has been paid to acquisitions rather than selection. An examination of three of the basic library science texts on collection development yields few references to state government publications. Evans’ Developing Library Collections has a brief discussion of government presses, but does not specifically discuss state publications [I]. Bonk and Magrill in Building Library Collections list a number of selection tools for government publications, but provide no discussion of the collection development of state government publications [Z].Broadus’ Selecting Library Material does devote about 100 words to state publications and cites the 47

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Monthly Checklist of State Publications and Peter Hernon’s “State Publications: A Bibliographic Guide for Academic (and other) Reference Collections” as aids in selection [ 31. But on the whole, there is little attention paid to the special problems of collection development of state publications in basic library science texts. Within the more specialized literature on government publications, most sources relating to collection development are concerned with acquisition problems. Two sources that have paid some attention to selection of state government publications are Reece’s State Documents for Libraries [4] and Wilcox’s Manual on the Use of State Publications [5]. Ernest J. Reece’s work, which was published in 1915, provides a very brief section on “Selection of State Documents for Librarians” [6]. It refers readers to the basic principles of book selection, suggesting that these principles should also be applied to the selection of state publications [7]. Reece does recognize the special problems involved in identifying state publications relevant to the library’s general collection development policy and provides a list of major state departments and their publications to assist in the selection of state publications [8]. The distribution patterns of state publications are discussed state by state in Reece‘s manual, along with a model law for printing and distribution of state publications [9]. The Manualon the Use of State Publications, edited by Jerome K. Wilcox and published in 1940, is a more substantial effort than Reece’s volume. Many chapters in the manual have relevance to collection development, but most center on bibliographic control and distribution of state publications. Chapters 10 through 18 are concerned with “Basic State Publications” and provide detailed discussions of specific types of publications libraries might consider for selection. Both of these manuals, of course, are primarily of historical interest today and have little relevance to the current state of the art of state government publications collection development. But they might serve as models for future manuals on the subject and do provide an important indication of the status of state government publications collection development when they were written [lo]. Two aspects of the selection process will be examined in detail: (1) the extent to which state government publications are included in written selection policies, and (2) the availability of selection aids relevant to the development of state publication collections. A third area which will be discussed, the bibliographic control of state publications, actually serves as a transition between the selection process and the acquisition process, since bibliographic control is crucial to both. Collection development policies The selection of specific forms of- materials is often tied to the selection or collection development policy of the library. It is recognized that not all libraries have formal written selection policies, but among those that do, the extent of inclusion of state government publications might be an indication of the attention given to the selection process for state publications. Ideally, a national survey of libraries would be the appropriate methodology to determine the extent of inclusion of government publications in written policies. Such an undertaking was not within the scope of this investigation. Two published compilations of selection policies from a variety of libraries were available, however, and these compilations were examined in an attempt to determine the extent of inclusion of state government publications in the collection policies. Although we are not able to generalize from the findings based on these published compilations, we might assume that the compilers chose their selection policies for inclusion either because they were representative of policies in general or were models that others might follow when drafting such policies. The two compilations examined are Boyer and Eaton’s Book Selection Policies in American Libraries [ I 1] and Futas’

Collection development and state publications

49

Library Acquisition Policies and Procedures [ 121. .Boyer and Eaton contain 31 selection policies from school, public and academic libraries. Thirteen (42%) of the selection policies mentioned government publications and seven (23%) specifically mentioned state government publications. Five of the seven that included state publications in their policies were public libraries. Futas’ compilation published 82 selection policies, but only 26 policies from public and academic libraries were published in full. Of the 26 complete selection policies, 14 (54%) mentioned government publications and nine (35%) specifically mentioned state government publications. Five of the nine mentioning state publications were public libraries. If the seven school library selection policies are excluded from the Boyer and Eaton total, the proportion of selection policies from both published compilations that includeieferences to state government publications is approximately a third of the total. It is, of course, possible that libraries may have separate policies covering state government publications. But if comprehensive written policies are considered central to the selection process, the policies that appear in the examined compilations would suggest that collection development of state government publications has little role in the formal selection process. Selection Aids Use of selection aids are an important part of the selection process. In a sense, any listing of state government publications could be considered a potential selection aid, but at this point the focus will be on tools that recommend or review state publications rather than those that attempt to compile comprehensive bibliographies of state publications. Reviewing sources for state publications are few. Government Publications Review has had a department entitled “Selection Guide to High Interest Government Publications” which contained an annotated list of selected state publications as a regular feature. Beginning in 1980, Government Publications Review, Part B: Acquisition Guide to Significant Government Publications at all Levels is a quartertly publication that serves much the same function as the earlier feature. The Serials Review since Volume 4, Number 2, 1978, has had a column entitled “Government Publications” which reviews periodicals issued by all levels of government, including state government. Coverage of state government periodicals in The Serials Review is highly selective, with some issues containing no reviews of state periodicals. Some state periodicals have lists of selected state publications at regular intervals. These include “Documenting Missouri” which reviews Missouri state publications in Show-Me Libraries; “N.J. Bibliographer” which lists state publications in New Jersey Libraries; and “Documents News” which lists and reviews “noteworthy state documents” in Indiana’s Library Occurent. The New Mexico State Library publishes the “New Mexico Selected List of Federal and State Publications” bimonthly which provides descriptive annotations of about a dozen New Mexico state publications and as many federal publications. Acquisition information is given for each publication in the New Mexico list, which describes itself as an effort to provide school and public librarians and the general public with an awareness of popular government publications Several states have “core lists” of publications they either recommend or require of all selective depositories as part of their state depository system. Although primarily intended for state depository libraries, they could be used as selection guides for non-depository libraries. California, Connecticut, Iowa, Missouri, and Pennsylvania have such lists. Probably the most widely known and most comprehensive selected list of state publications is David Parish’s State Government Reference Publications [ 131. Parish has selected approximately 800 state publications and has provided annotations to assist in selection. Appendix II, “A Subject Core of State Publications,” provides a list of subjects followed by the typical state agency issuing publications on that subject and types of publications likely to be issued by the

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agency. Parish’s list thus serves as a selection aid based on some 32 subject areas. A directory of state agencies is provided in Appendix III. Parish’s work is nearly seven years old and one hopes it will be revised and updated soon. Peter Hernon’s “State Reference Sources” provides an update to some of the items listed in Parish, but the Hernon article, although an excellent review of key reference sources, is of more limited scope than the Parish work[ 141. Current selection aids for development of state government publication collections are limited to a few review services in specialized journals such as Government Publications Review and The Serial Review and a limited number of state periodicals. Hernon’s article on “State Reference Sources” provides information on key reference materials and Parish’s work provides even more extensive coverage of reference related materials, but neither source is intended to be a “current awareness” review tool. Perhaps because there are comparatively few selection aids for state publications, the focus for the selection process, as well as the acquisition process, is usually on bibliographic control. Bibliographic

control

Bibliographic control is, of course, central to collection development. Without access to the knowledge of what is published and who does the publishing, there would be little opportunity to develop collections of state publications. The comments in the literature on the bibliographic control of state publications are not encouraging. In 1935, A.F. Kuhlman observed that, “Research libraries that desire to build up competent collections of American state publications for either a given area or a subject field find it wasteful of time and frequently impossible to use its available tools in an effort to determine what is extant . . . ” [IS]. The bibliographic control of state publications may have improved somewhat since 1935, but much of Kuhlman’s assessment is still appropriate. Retrospectively, there are a limited number of sources for comprehensive state publication bibliography. One of the best efforts was probably R.R. Bowker’s State Publications . . . published in 1908 [ 16). Bowker used the resources of the state library agencies and other libraries in the various states to compile the listings from the establishment of the state to approximately 1900. For the 13 states covered, Adelaide Hasse’s Index of Economic Material in the Documents of the States of the United States is also an excellent effort at retrospective coverage, documenting state publications to the early 1900s [ 171. Although there are other regional and specialized bibliographies and efforts at compilations of bibliographies of specific types of state publications, these two titles are the primary contributions to comprehensive retrospective state bibliography. Perhaps the most significant attempt at comprehensive bibliographic control of state publications on a current basis began in 1910, when the Library of Congress started publishing the Monthly Checklist of State. Publications [ 181. The Monthly Checklist includes publications issued by the states within the last five years. The Library of Congress depends on various sources in each state for bibliographic information on the publications. Some states have passed legislation designating the Library of Congress as an official depository for their state publications. Other states have established statutory distribution to the Library of Congress through special state legislation, but an active acquisitions effort is still required by the Library of Congress to acquire the publications from the 50 states. Over the years the Monthly Checklist has grown from less than 6000 publications in 1910 to nearly 30,000 in 1979. In 1961 it was thought that the Monthly Checklist covered about 60% of the state publications issued [ 191. Although the number of publications listed in the Monrhly Checklist has nearly doubled since 196 1, it is still far from providing complete coverage of all state publications. In the 1977 annual report of the Library of Congress, it was noted that 127,800 state publications were

Collectiondevelopmentand statepublications

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processed, but only about 26,000 were selected for inclusion in the Monthly Checklist [20]. Many of these items received by the Library of Congress were probably ephemeral or duplicate copies, but the difference between the two figures does suggest a large number of items are not included in the bibliography. It is likely that many other state publications never reach the Library of Congress for processing. Valuable though the Monthly Checklist is, much remains to be done to establish the comprehensive control of state government publication bibliography. A recent effort toward bibliographic control of state publications is the Information Handling Services’ Checklist of State Publications (211. The IHS Checklist has received some critical comments in the literature and the publisher admits that “comprehensive coverage and full bibliographic control of state publications will remain an elusive goal for some time to come [22]. One recent re-examination of the IHS Checklist of State Publications has characterized the latest changes in its format as resulting in “probably the best comprehensive state document acquisition tool available” since it now includes the addresses of issuing agencies of publications [23]. But it, like the Monthly Checklist, still falls short of comprehensiveness in coverage. As ambitious and as well motivated as the attempts at national bibliographic control of state publications are, the major responsibility for bibliographic control seems to rest at the state issued level. Nearly all states publish a checklist of their publications. In a 1974 survey, Barbara Nelson reported that all but four states had checklists [24]. Nelson indicated that Alabama, Colorado, South Dakota, and Wyoming did not have state checklists. Using the results of a more recent survey done by Peter Hernon in 1979, all four of the states listed by Nelson have established checklists of state publications [25]. Hernon reported, however, that Montana discontinued its checklist in 1975 and now publishes a weekly list of documents received which is sent only to Montana depository libraries [26]. Although it would appear that some form of bibliographic control exists for state publications in 49 of the 50 states, the state checklists vary considerably from state to state in terms of frequency and comprehensiveness. Some are published as part of a state periodical and others are separately. Some checklists provide complete bibliographic and acquisition information and others do not. In an effort to provide some standardization for state checklists, the State and Local Documents Task Force of GODORT approved “Guidelines for State Document Checklists” in 1977 [27]. The guidelines recommend that state checklists should appear at least quarterly, with a cumulative index at least annually. A standard form of entry is also suggested. Each state is to assume the primary responsibility for the bibliographic control of its publications, according to the guidelines. It is perhaps to early to tell the impact the guidelines have had on checklists, but new technological developments, such as OCLC and the impact of networking on state publication bibliography will undoubtedly be great. At least one source has suggested that the OCLC bibliographic network may be a more appropriate means of maintaining bibliographic control over state publications than printed checklists [28]. Although n.one of the above sources are truly comprehensive, most have comprehensive coverage as their goal. There are, however, many tools which are not intended to be comprehensive. Some of the state checklists recognize their limitations and carry the term “selective” in their titles. Some states have issued bibliographies of their publications on specific topics. Other organizations are also publishing bibliographic tools to assist in identifying and retrieving state government publications on topics of special interest. One such organization is the Council on State Government, which publishes the State Government Research Checklist (291. The State Government Research Checklist is an example of an attempt to control a specialized group of state government publications. Research reports issued by legislative service agencies and other state study committees and commissions are listed under broad

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subject headings in the Council of State Government Checklist. These reports are often not distributed through the regular state distribution systems and may escape inclusion in other checklists and bibliographies. Falls City Microfilm issues microfiche of most of the reports included in the State Government Research Checklist and the Council also provides copies on inter-library loan to members. The American Association of Law Libraries has published some valuable tools to assist in the bibliographic control of state government publications. One such tool is the Guide to State Legislative Materials, edited by Mary Fisher [30]. Presented in loose-leaf format, the Guide is a compilation of sources for legislative publications from each of the 50 states. The status of availability of bills, hearings, debates, laws, administrative regulations and several other categories of publications are given. The Guide is especially useful as an acquisition tool because it indicates where the publication can be obtained and its price and format. With timely revision, this tool could prove to be of great value to all libraries collecting state legislative publications. Although state publication bibliography has a long way to go before it approaches the elusive goal of complete and comprehensive coverage, new technological and networking developments seem to promise continued progress toward the goal. Whether we will ever obtain a truly national bibliography of state publications may still be an open question, but bibliographic control in most states seems to be improving and with the continued dedication of those involved at both the state and national level, we have reason to be optimistic about the future. ACQUISITION PROCESS Just as the selection process and the bibliographic control of state publications present special problems, so too does the acquisition process. One key to acquiring state publications is determining where the publications are produced. If all state publications in a given state were produced by a central state printing establishment the task of identifying and acquiring state publications might be greatly simplified. Those familiar with the efforts at centralization of printing at the federal level can appreciate the difficulties of maintaining centralized printing at the state level. The United States Government Printing Office, despite the best efforts of the people involved, has never been able to obtain complete centralization of the printing of U.S. government publications. Departmental and regional printing facilities and contract printing still exist at the federal level. The same situation exists in most of the 50 states. Contract printing and office production is widespread, even in states with official state printing facilities. Since there is little hope of identifying all state publications from the output of official state printers, the burden of identifying and distributing state publications has often been accepted by the state library agency. ‘There are notable exceptions to this pattern, however. In some states it is the responsibility of the state archives or a shared responsibility among one or more agencies in the state. For the librarian building a collection of state documents, the acquisition procedure is often determined by the extent of the bibliographic control of the state publications for the state and the distribution system established in the state. If an effective state depository program exists for the state, acquisition procedures may be greatly simplified for those libraries designated as depositories. For non-depository libraries or for publications not available through the depository system, a much different and more challenging acquisition procedure awaits the library and its staff. Because of the distinct differences in procedures depending on depository status, the acquisition process will be discussed in terms of depository and non-depository status.

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State depository systems In 1915, two states, Connecticut

and Oregon, might be considered as having a form of a depository system for their state publications [3 I]. A third state, New Jersey, was described by Reece as providing a copy of every state publication free to each public library in the state, but this appears to be more of a distribution rather than a depository system (321. By 1970, between 20 and 25 states were estimated to have depository systems for state publications [33]. In 1978, 32 states were reported as having formal depository systems and seven additional states maintained “limited depositories" for a total of 39 states with some form of depository distribution system for their state publications (341. The most recent data available suggests that all but four states have some form of depository distribution for their publications [35]. Although some of the states may have very limited depository distribution systems, with some confined to distributing only to the state library or state archives, the number of states making an effort to establish formal depository sysems has certainly been on the increase. The 1979 Government Document Round Table (GODORT) survey received responses from 33 states regarding their state depository programs [36]. The number of depositories ranged from four each in Tennessee and Vermont to 186 in New York. The mean number of depositories for states responding was 36. The median number of depositories per state was 19. The difference between the mean and median suggests the effect on the mean of a few states, such as New York and California, which have a large number of depositories. The GODORT survey also gathered data on the number of titles and the total number of or selective publications distributed to depositories. It must be recognized depository will not receive that the states may be using different criteria for determining the number of titles or may and the number of publications distributed, so the results may not be truly comparable. Twenty-seven states in the GODORT survey reported the number of titles distributed in the prior year. The number of titles ranged from 79 in Vermont to 3,000 in Oklahoma, with a mean of 867 per state. Twenty-four states indicated the number of documents distributed to depositories, ranging from 259 in Indiana to 107,005 in Texas with a mean of 24,135 per state [37]. Fourteen states reported having selective or partial depositories in the GODORT survey. A partial or selective depository will not or may choose not to receive all state publications that are available for distribution. It is assumed that the rest of the responding states have complete depositories only. Although the above data is limited to the states responding to the GODORT survey and we cannot assume that the responding states are representative of the states that did not respond, the survey data does provide one of the few indications we have of the extent of distribution of state publications through state depository systems. It should be noted that the mean of 36 depositories suggests that for many libraries the opportunity to be a depository may be limited. When compared to the over 1,300 federal depositories, the number of depositories for state publications available for the libraries in a specific state is certainly limited. For many libraries, alternatives to depository status, especially for state publications from outside their state, are necessary for collection development of state publications. Commercial

sources

Commercial sources do provide some access to state government publications on a limited basis. As noted earlier, IHS provides microfiche copies of selected state publications as part of its Checklist of State Publications service. Falls City Microcard in Louisville, Kentucky provides microfiche of most of the publications listed in the State Government Research Checklist. CIS provides microfiche of state statistical publications listed in Statistical Refer-

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ence Index. In addition to these sources for selected publications of all the states, Research Publications Inc. provides microfilm copies of Massachusetts publications listed in the Massachusetts monthly checklist. Selected publications are available from some other states, but Massachusetts appears to be the most comprehensive attempt by a commercial supplier to provide current publications from a specific state. Beyond these, there are few other commercial sources for state government publications [ 381. Dealers and jobbers Although some of the major library material wholesalers promote extensive acquisition service programs for state publications. Since most state publications are not priced and since there is comparatively little central distribution of state publications, the costs involved in vending state documents would be high. A recent listing of dealers and jobbers of government publications in Documents to the People notes only four that deal with state publications [ 39). Note of the four deal with current state publications in general. One deals only in state periodicals, another in geological publications; and the third and fourth deal only with out of print, used, and rare state publications. Clearly among this specialized listing of dealers and jobbers, there is little indication of a willingness to provide access on a broad basis to state government publications. Exchange The exchange of documents is a means of acquisition that lends itself to acquisition from other states. Two conditions are usually necessary for exchange to be a successful method of acquisition: (1) the exchanger must have access to sufficient copies of the state’s publications in which others are interested, and (2) other libraries and/ or agencies in other states will have sufficient copies of their publications which are of interest to you to make the exchange useful to both parties. Because depository library distribution usually limits distribution of publications to one copy per depository, exchange is often limited to the state library or state law library or other official library agency that is designated in legislation to receive multiple copies of specified state publications for exchange purposes. Such statutory exchange arrangements still exist, especially for state legal material, but the exchange of state publications in general was often unsatisfactory as a method of acquisition of out of state publications. Often the exchange became a one way distribution with little reciprocity. Some libraries have continued to use the term “exchange” to refer to what is essentially a distribution system to libraries out of state. If a library is fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of such an exchange, it does indeed benefit. But as an efficient means of acquiring state government publications, with the possible exception of legal materials, exchanges have always had serious limitations. It should also be noted that many of the legal materials that are successfully exchanged are in fact not state publications, but are commercially printed state law materials that are purchased by the state for purposes of exchange. Directly from the issuing agency Probably the most widespread method of acquiring state publications not available on deposit is by going directly to the issuing agency. In many states where formal depository systems have been established, non-depository libraries as well as depositories that may wish additional copies of a title are instructed to contact the issuing agency directly. With many agencies the distribution is done effectively, but often an insufficient number of copies are printed or staff support for the distribution process is lacking. State publications quickly become out of print or unavailable. Even with established procedures and use of form letters,

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acquisition directly from the issuing agency is a very time consuming task for all parties involved. The state checklists can be of assistance; especially when the checklists indicate acquisition information. But as of 1975, only 52% of the checklists gave information on where to obtain specific publications [40]. So acquisition from issuing agencies remains a challenging task in most states.

MAJOR

RESOURCES

OF STATE PUBLICATIONS

Selection and acquisition processes are often influenced by the availability of materials in other collections. Thus an important aspect of collection development is the knowledge of significant collections that can be turned to as resources when the local collection does not provide the materials necessary to meet the needs of the local clientele.Since most state publication depository programs are fairly new, the designated depository libraries in each state may not have an in-depth collection necessary to serve as a sufficient backup resource. Nearly 50 years ago a State Document Center plan was suggested by the Social Science Research Council. It was a plan to establish one or more libraries in each state which would have the responsibility for collecting government publications in that state. The plan seems to have lost its momentum before it was fully developed, may have the most complete collection available participants in the plan have become important resources for documents in their state [41]. Today the major collections of state publications for each state probably exist in the state libraries, university libraries, historical societies, archives, and major public libraries in the state. In a 1966 article on the subject of government publication resources in American libraries, Robert Downs surveyed the states to determine the strongest collections in state publications and noted 27 state libraries, 25 university libraries, 10 historical societies, 7 archives and 4 public libraries as having the strongest collections of state publications of their respective states [42]. The pattern probably has not changed much since Downs’ survey. It is likely that those libraries with strong retrospective collections have maintained their current collections in state publications and have become depositories under new state depository programs. Comprehensive collections of state publications from all 50 states are another matter. Some libraries have collected from states contiguous to their state and from two or three of the major publication producing states, such as New York and California, but few have attempted to collect comprehensively from all 50 states. Downs noted that three libraries did maintain comprehensive collections from all or nearly all the states. They were the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the Center for Research Libraries [43]. Although Downs cited the Library of Congress as probably being the most complete collection [44], the Library of Congress is said to retain fewer than 50% of the for inter-library loan, especially for state publications issued since 1952 [46]. The Center for Research Libraries has attempted to build its collection retrospectively, by the Library of Congress are implemented, what may be one but it is most complete of the nation’s most complete collections still has many gaps. The New York Public Library collection may provide access to some retrospective state government publications that the Library of Congress chose not to add to its collections. The New York Public Library may thus serve to supplement the Library of Congress collection. But the Center for Research Libraries in terms of state publications with 1952 and later imprints. The Center attempts to collect current state government publications from all 50 states. Five categories of the publications are excepted from active acquisition effort. These are: (1) session laws and compiled statutes, (2) state college and university publications, (3) state horticultural, his-

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torical and other such societies that are only in part tax supported, (4) agricultural experiment station publications, and (5) expensive occasional publications known to be widely available in member libraries [47]. As microform availability of state publications expands, libraries may be able to depend more on microform sources for backup collections. But until such time, the Library of Congress, the New York Public Library, and the Center for Research Libraries will remain as primary sources for comprehensive collections of state publications from all 50 states.

FUTURE

OF STATE

PUBLICATION

COLLECTION

DEVELOPMENT

Most of the problems in collection development noted above have been recognized in Government Publications: Their Role in the National Program for Library and Information Services, a report published by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) in 1978. One solution suggested by the NCLIS report was the full implementation of the ALA GODORT “Guides for Servicing State Publications” with special attention to establishment of effective state depository laws in each state and comprehensive and uniform bibliographic control of state publications to assure access at the state and national levels. The NCLIS report suggests that the proposed National Center for Government Publications would be the primary planning and coordinating agency for this effort to improve the distribution and bibliographic control of state publications [48]. A similar plan appears to have been suggested by the National Association of State Libraries nearly 50 years ago, but along with the State Document Center Plan which was proposed during the same period, it was not realized [49]. It is hoped that such a national center will become a reality before another 50 years pass. Certainly such a National Center could be of great assistance in supporting the collection development of state publications at all levels, but until that is accomplished, much can be done at the state and regional level. As suggested above, standardization of bibliographic records and improved depository laws are necessary, but the element that will make or break the program will undoubtedly be the people working to develop and improve state publication collections in libraries at the state and local level. The activities of the GODORT members and of librarians working with state publications suggest that we have reason to be optimistic. Many advances have been made in the last ten years and the decade of the 1980s promises to be an exciting one for further developments in state government publication collection building.

REFERENCES I. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. IO.

Evans. G. Edward. Developing Library Coflecrions. Littleton. Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1979. Bonk. Wallace J.. and Magrill, Rose Mary. Building Library CoNection.7. (5th ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. 1979. Broadus, Robert N. Se/erring materialsfor libraries. New York: H.W. Wilson. 1973, p. 99. Reece, Ernest J. Srore Documenrsfor Librories. Urbana, III.: University of Illinois, 1915. Wilcox, Jerome K.. ed. Mom&on the Use of State Publications. Chicago: American Library Association. 1940. Reece, op. cit., p. IO. Ibid. Ibid., pp. I f-69. Ibid., pp. 76-102. Although not exclusively on state publications. the July 1966. Librar.v Trends, edited by Thomas S. Shaw, did contain many relevant articles on the use and bibliographic control of government publications. most of which included sections on state publications.

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l 1. Bayer, Calvin J., and Eaton, Nancy L. Book Selection Policies in American Libraries: An Anrhology 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

IS. 19. 20. 21. 22.

23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. ::: 33. 34. 35.

36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.

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from College, Public, and School Libraries. Austin. Tex.: Armadillo Press. 1971. Futas, Elizabeth, ed. Library Acquisition Policies and Procedures. Phoenix. Ariz.: Oryx Press, 1977. Parish, David W. Stare Government Reference Publications; An Annotated Bibliography. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1974. Hernon, Peter. “State Reference Sources,” Governmenr Publications Review, 7A (1980). 47-83. Kuhlman, A.F. “The Need for a Checklist Bibliography of State Publications,” Library Quar/er[v, 5 (January 1935). 32. Bowker, Richard R., ed. Slate Publicarions: A List oFthe Ojjicial Publications ofthe Several Stares ofthe Unired Statesfrom Their Organization. New York: The Publishers Weekly, 1908. Has%, Adelaide R. Index of Economic Material in Documenrs ojthe Stares ofthe Unifed Stares. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1907-22. The thirteen states covered are California, Delaware, Illinois. Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. U.S. Library of Congress. Exchange and Gift Division. Monrhly Checklist ofStare Publications. Washington. D.C., Government Printing Office, l910Paulson, Peter J. “Government Documents and Other Non-Trade Publications,” Library Trends, 18 (January 1970). 369. U.S. Library of Congress. Annual Report of the Librarian of Congress For the Fiscal Year Ending September 30. 1977. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1978, p. 20. Checklist ofStare Publications. Englewood. Colo.: Information Handling Services, l977Russell, Judith C. “Information Handling Services’ Checklisr of Stare Publications and State Publications Microfiche Program: Two Viewpoints, The Publisher Responds,” Documents to rhe People, 6 (November 1978). 234. Herman, Ed. “Information Handling Services’ Checklist oJSlare Publicarions and State Publications Microfiche Program: Another Look,” Documents ro rhe People, 8 (March 1980). 58. Governmenr Publicalions Review, 2 Nelson, Barbara W., camp. “Current Checklists of State Publications,” (1975). 83-90. Hernon, op. cit., pp. 48, 51, 76, 82. Ibid., p. 67. “Guidelines for State Document Checklists,” Documents ro the People, 5 (March 1977). 66-67. Woolley, Robert D. “State Documents Checklists: Implications for Future Development,” Documents IO the People, 5 (November 1977). 236-237. State Government Research Checklist (Formerly known as Legislative Research Checklisr) Lexington, Ky.: Council of State Governments, l959- . Fisher, Mary L., ed. Guide to State Legishrive Materials. Littleton. Colo.: F.B. Rothman, 1979. Reece, op. cit., pp. 82, 94. Ibid., p. 91. Gaines, Robert F. “Recent Developments in Depository Systems for State Government Documents, Documenrs lo rhe People, 6 (November 1978), 229. Ibid. American Library Association. Government Round Table. State and Local Documents Task Force. “State Publications, Depository Distribution, and Bibliographical Programs,” November 1979. (An unpublished manuscript provided by Margaret Lane. Scheduled to be published in 1980.) Peter Hernon’s’State Reference Sources,” Government Publications Review, 7A (1980). 47-83, was also helpful in determining current state depository systems. American Library Association. Government Documents Round Table. State and Local Task Force, lot. cit. States reporting partial data for a year were assumed to have a similar pattern of distribution for the entire year. A recent review of commercial and non-commercial suppliers of microform is provided by Joan G. Kerschner’s Microform Review, 8 (Fall 1979). 272-274. article: “State and Local Publications in Microform,” Herman, Ed, Comp. “Directory of Government Document Dealers and Jobbers, 1979.” Documents IO the People. 7 (July 1979). 159-163. Olds, Brenda F. Shelton, ed. The Slate of State Documents: Past, Present. Furure. Arlington, Va.: ERIC Document Reproduction Service, ED142 174, 1976. p. 43. American Library Association. Committee on Resources. “[Report of] Committee on Resources.” Bullerin of/he American Library Association, 26 (August 1932), 553-555. Downs, Robert B. “Government Publications in American Libraries,” Library Trends, I5 (July 1966), 178-194. Ibid., p. 194. Ibid., p. 189. Fry, Bernard M. Government Publications: Their Role in rhe Narional Program for Librar.v and bformation Services. Washington, D.C.: National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, 1978. p. 73. Ibid. Center for Research Libraries. Handbook. Chicago: CRL. 1978. pp. 104-105. Fry, op. cit., p. 78.

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49. Brigham, Herbert 0. “Public Document Clearing House and its Problems, ” in American Library Association. Committee on Public Documents. Public Documenrs. 1933. Chicago: American Library Association. 1934, pp. 80-83.