Government Documents

Abstract

Federal Documents: Cornell has three Federal Depository Libraries: Olin, Law and Mann. Olin Library: Federal Depository Collection Development Statement [3] State Documents: For a number decades, Cornell had a dual appointment as a New York State Documents Depository Library and a New York State Documents Research Depository Library. These legacy documents remain in our collection. The Cornell University Library received New York State documents as an official depository since at least 1955, although we have many older documents as well. Under this original depository program, we were a full depository and received all of the state's major publications which were available for the NY State Library to send to us. A second depository program began in 1989. As a New York State Documents Depository Library we received a wide variety of documents in paper form. As a New York State Documents Research Depository Library, Cornell also received an extensive collection of documents on microfiche; most documents which the New York State Library received from issuing agencies from 1989 through 1994, excluding most copyrighted material, are included in this microfiche set. The microfiche program ceased at the end of 1994 and was replaced in 1995 by scanned documents on the New York State Library's Web site. State documents that were once issued in print are now available in electronic form from the New York State Library -http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/scandocs/ [4]. International Documents: Historically, Olin Library was a depository for both United Nations documents and European Union documents; however, both organizations have, for the most part, moved to online dissemination, though we occasionally receive paper documents as part of our legacy relationships with these organizations. United Nations: As a United Nations depository, Cornell received both paper copies of Official Records and Masthead Documents, dating back to the beginnings of the organization. UN Sales publications are not part of the depository arrangement and are purchased separately. We also purchased the Readex UN Documents Microfiche collection as an archival backup. Official Records were collated and bound. Masthead documents that were duplicated in the microfiche were discarded. In 2000, we discontinued receipt of the paper masthead documents. In 2010, we discontinued receipt of all United Nations Official Records, as both the masthead documents and Official Records were available in the United Nations Online Distribution System. We occasionally receive some paper documents as part of our legacy, depository relationship with the UN. In 2013, the United Nations announced that most UN depository publications will only be available online through the UN Online Distribution System and a yet-to-be-developed archival system. In the future, the depository designation would refer to the legacy documents still in our possession and in helping researchers locate and access UN documents. As of 5/24/2016, pricing and access for the Official Records, masthead documents, and UN sales publications through this new delivery system are still being worked out. European Union: Cornell University Library has been a depository library for documents and publications of the European Union since 1997. On July 1 , 2013, the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities replaced physical distribution of the Official Journal of the European Union with an online version http://eur-lex.europa.eu/oj/direct-access.html [5]