College and Research Libraries


By N A T H A N I E L S T E W A R T 

The Superintendent of Documents 
and American Libraries: 
A Liaison Approach 

ACOMMON base of interests and opera-tions characterizes t w o of the largest 
library related enterprises in the United 
States: the w o r k of the Superintendent of 
Documents 1 and the card distribution of 
the Library of Congress. Both maintain 
sales and distribution programs which run 
into millions of items at an annual income 
which measures up to that of a major in-
dustrial or business corporation; they serve 
a similar clientele—libraries, individuals, 
cultural and research agencies, scholars; in 
the final analysis, both are expected to pro-
vide the key which will unlock the re-
sources of libraries—whether such key be a 
catalog entry, an index, a list, a bibliog-
raphy, or other aid. T h e economies in 
cataloging and the services of many libraries 
have, in large measure, become dependent 
upon these t w o central enterprises of the 
federal government. O t h e r significant fea-
tures of identity exist in the internal mecha-
nism of each agency, as evidenced in a re-
cent comparative j o b analysis and position-
classification survey made by the author. 
Incidentally, both face the same hazards of 
annual requests f o r appropriations before 
Congress—with the same difficulties in 
planning long-range development and the 
same pressures inherent in a contracting 
economy in federal expenditures. 

1 T h e popularized term " S u p e r i n t e n d e n t of Docu-
m e n t s " will be used in this paper rather than the 
official title, Division of P u b l i c Documents of the 
Government P r i n t i n g Office. 

T h e cumulative advantage of having 
managed the latter enterprise, firsthand 
knowledge of some of the internal prob-
lems of the office of the Superintendent of 
Documents, and cognizance of some of the 
needs in processing documents prompts me 
to present this approach to the p r o b l e m — 
namely, the liaison approach. , • 

The Background 

T h e literature of the A . L . A . Public 
Documents Committee f r o m 1934 to 1938 
and allied contributions to the subject in 
the journals since that date provide ade-
quate orientation f o r the interested student 
of the field. By taking off, then, f r o m M r . 
W i l c o x ' s 1944 contribution2 as the most 
comprehensive statement of the problem be-
cause it incorporates the view of more than 
one hundred depository libraries, it is n o w 
necessary to review some of the significant 
history since that year. In their greater or 
lesser impact upon the problem, neverthe-
less, here f o l l o w some pertinent events of 
recent date: 

1. Joint A.L.A.-A.C.R.L. effort in develop-
ing the Documents Expediting Project op-
erating centrally from Washington, D . C . 
with its prime objective to procure for li-
braries such documents which are not dis-
tributed normally by the Superintendent of 
Documents or which are difficult to obtain 
through the usual channels 

1 W i l c o x , Jerome K . " I n d e x i n g and Distribution of 
F e d e r a l P u b l i c a t i o n s : A P r o g r a m f o r A c t i o n . " Li-
brary Journal 69:1029-32, D e c . 1, 1944. 

18 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



2. Declassification of a large collection of 
documents which were "restricted" or other-
wise designated as confidential matter dur-
ing and shortly after the w a r years. T h i s 
is estimated to require about two years' work 
in the office of the Superintendent of D o c u -
ments to process these documents 

3. Cumulative Catalog of the Library of 
Congress printed cards—a new development 
in keeping current the monumental Edward 
Brothers edition of the Catalog of Books 
in the Library of Congress Represented by 
L.C. Cards. T h e immediate subscriptions 
(more than 600) attest to its role as a 
cataloging and bibliographic aid. T h e M a y 
issue, f o r example, lists more than 400 en-
tries for U.S. documents 

4. College and university enrolments have 
swelled to unprecedented figures in the past 
two years. Greater library resources are 
needed to meet 'the demands of this new 
mature student seeking practical answers to 
the socio-economic and technological prob-
lems of contemporary American life. G o v -
ernment publications represent some of the 
richest source materials for college and uni-
versity libraries. Inadequacies of staff to 
service the documents collection, weaknesses 
of the Monthly Catalog as an index to docu-
ments, and the six-year lag in publishing the 

"" Documents Catalog are handicaps 
5. A revised, code of rules for descriptive 

cataloging has recently been prepared and 
published by the Library of Congress. Its 
effect upon rapid and probably more intel-
ligible cataloging of documents should be 
beneficial 

6. A new area of interest faces the docu-
ments librarian in research libraries in the 
acquisition, processing, and reference use of 
United Nations and related documents— 
thereby enlarging the field of documents ac-
tivity 

7. Personnel changes—a new Superinten-
dent of Documents, Fred W . Cromwell, ably 
assisted by the Assistant Superintendent of 
Documents, Roy B. Eastin. Persons, often 
more than events, may be more instrumental 
in shaping improved liaison with American 
libraries 

8. A political shift has brought into power 
a new Congress with curtailment of federal 
expenditures as one of its avowed objectives. 
T h e Superintendent of Documents and other 

offices of the Government Printing Office, not 
unlike other agencies, may expect a similar 
fate 

9. Problems facing the Superintendent of 
Documents: cataloging and distributing the 
mass of declassified documents recently in-
herited; speed and more speed in delivery 
of the depository sets to libraries and in 
the sale of currently publicized documents; 
promptness in preparing and distributing the 
Monthly Catalog; improved entry leading to 
desirable conformity with established cata-
loging f o r m ; limited budgetary appropriations 
and the urgency of many immediate and long-
range jobs to be done; etc. 

10. Liquidation of the Documents Catalog 
11. Conferences on principles and methods 

of securing bibliographic control over govern-
mental reports of scientific and technical na-
ture 

12. T h e W i l c o x survey and recommenda-
tions in the summer of 1947. 

T h i s is a realistic inventory. T h e r e is 
needed a comprehension of and sensitivity 
to these developments in appraising the j o b 
of the Superintendent of D o c u m e n t s in rela-
tion to our libraries. W h a t is needed is 
an awareness of its management problems 
and recognition that w h a t is to be ac-
complished can only be accomplished 
through joint effort. T r a d i t i o n a l criticisms 
aimed at the Superintendent of D o c u m e n t s 
w i l l be misdirected and fruitless. Such criti-
cism is certainly not a constructive answer to 
an agency which has experienced a 4 0 per 
cent increase in w o r k load but has received 
no increased appropriations to parallel this 
g r o w t h . 

Persistence of the Basic Weakness 

A m o n g the developments there is re-
served f o r special mention the recent W i l -
c o x report.3 T h e report warrants specific 
mention not only because of its recom-
mendations f o r technical and operational 
improvements but also as a significant step 

3 U . S. Supt. of Documents. Monthly Catalog . . . * 
No. 632, September 1947, p. iii-vi. 

JANUARY, 1948 19 



in p r o m o t i n g relations between the Super-
intendent of D o c u m e n t s and the library pro-
fession through the appropriate A . L . A . 
committee. F o r the details of the report, 
analysis, recommendations, and resultant 
changes one must consult the September 
1947 issue of the Monthly Catalog and the 
recent announcement in the Library Jour-
nal.4 T h e modifications and changes have 
been all to the g o o d . T h e proposed sup-
plements w i l l be particularly gratifying and 
helpful to documents users. Despite the 
incorporation of these sound recommenda-
tions and w o r t h - w h i l e n e w features, there 
still persist the f o l l o w i n g weaknesses of the 
Monthly Catalog: 

I. General absence of added personal 
name entries which, in effect, are true au-
thor entries under government sponsorship 
and support: contributors, researchers, spe-
cialists, and others responsible for the author-
ship of many government publications 

2. Inadequate subject cataloging treatment 
in the accepted sense 

3. Descriptive cataloging inconsistent with 
established descriptive cataloging rules 

4. Absence of a dictionary arrangement of 
author, title, subject, and cross-reference 
entries. 

F o r lack of a dictionary arrangement, 
f o r example, the entries on housing, in the 
improved September issue of the Monthly 
Catalog, are dispersed over some 18 differ-
ent pages. Incidentally, f o r the 95 pages 
of entries in this issue there w a s required 
an index w h i c h ran over into m o r e than 
3 0 pages. W e r e the index pages prepared in 
the same type size as the entries in the 
text, the result w o u l d be even m o r e dispro-
portionate. T h i s deficiency, notably n o w 
that the Documents Catalog w i l l no longer 
be issued, remains a sore spot in terms of 
bibliographic facility and use of the indexes. 

W h i l e the availability of L . C . cards f o r 
U . S . documents assists many libraries in 
their cataloging problems, this service itself 

4 Library Journal 72:i2'S4, Sept. 15, 1947. 

is insufficient in many respects. It is only 
selective; the service is s l o w ; L . C . is o f t e n 
incapable of meeting commitments of pre-
assigned L . C . card numbers in the Monthly 
Catalog. 

Some of these weaknesses, particularly 
the dictionary arrangement, has been c o m -
pensated f o r in the past through the biennial 
Documents Catalog. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the 
e c o n o m y ax and shifts in w o r k priorities re-
sulted in liquidation of the Documents 
Catalog. It is only necessary, then, to re-
read R u t h M . Erlandson's observations5 
regarding documents cataloging policy and 
practices to realize that it is later than w e 
think. Questions rfelating to organization 
of documents—selective versus f u l l catalog-
ing, subject approach, classification systems, 
training of documents librarians, e t c . — a r e 
no longer academic. T h e y are as real as the 
serious library service deficiencies which 
germinate f r o m them. 

The Proposal 

It is proposed that there be published one 
master bibliographic tool, therefore, w h i c h 
w o u l d represent a fusion of the features 
of the present Monthly Catalog and the 
f o r m e r Documents Catalog w i t h several 
n e w features. T h e Printing A c t of 1895 
( 2 8 U . S . Stat. 6 0 1 - 2 4 ) provides f o r the 
preparation and publication of a monthly 
catalog and a comprehensive index. T h e 
language of the act, h o w e v e r , does not set 
f o r t h the specifications as to f o r m a t of the 
catalog or as to the character of the index. 
It f o l l o w s , therefore, that the " c a t a l o g " 
and the " i n d e x " could be merged into one 
and the final product w o u l d c o n f o r m w i t h 
the letter and spirit of the l a w . 

T h e f o l l o w i n g outline indicates some of 
the features of the p r o p o s a l : 

T i t l e : Federal Documents Catalog. 
D a t e : beginning Jan. 1, 1949. 

5 B o y d , A n n e M . United States Government Publi-
cations. N . Y . , H. W . W i l s o n C o m p a n y , 1941, p. 510-18, 
A p p e n d i x B . 

20 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



Frequency: monthly. 
Cumulations: quarterly; annual; 5 yr. 

cumulation; 10 yr. cumulation. 
F o r m a t : page setup similar to that used in 

the L . C . Cumulative Catalog. 
Arrangement: dictionary arrangement of 

main, subject, title, added personal names, 
and cross-reference entries. History cards 
to be included as a separate and appended 
feature. ( I n short, a complete dictionary 
index which will serve for documents as the 
C.B.I, now serves for books.) 

Characteristics of the entry: standard 
descriptive cataloging form according to the 
new code of the Library of Congress; all 
tracings; three classification symbols: Super-
intendent of Documents symbol; L . C . class 
number; Dewey class number; price of the 
publication; asterisk denoting publications 
sent to depositories. 

Source: cataloging of the publications to 
be done centrally in the Library Section of 
the office of the Superintendent of D o c u -

ments. M a y be helped via the cooperative 
cataloging route by other federal agencies, 
as may be necessary or desirable. 

Scope: all federal documents. (Private 
laws, public laws, House reports, Senate re-
ports, etc., would not be cataloged. These 
would be listed, as at the present time, and 
appended as a separate listing.) 

Price: since such a publication is especially 
designed f o r libraries and would be beyond 
the normal operating funds and personnel for 
its systematic preparation in the office of the 
Superintendent of Documents, it would neces-
sarily have to be maintained on a self-sustain-
ing basis by the subscribers. Price to be 
established on cost plus 5 per cent basis and 
will depend, of course, upon the number of 
subscribers. Annual subscription fee. N o 
free distribution to depositories or other 
federal agencies—strictly on a self-sustaining 
basis. 

T h e characteristics of the proposed entry 
are suggested in the chart b e l o w . 

JANUARY, 1948 21 



Perhaps the strongest statement in de-
fense of the proposed project, as outlined, 
is to be f o u n d in the very fundamentals on 
w h i c h it rests. Primarily, this is not just 
another bibliographic tool. I t w o u l d actu-
ally be used as the catalog of the holdings 
of every depository library. T h i s is its 
principal justification. I t is tailored cata-
l o g i n g f o r documents depositories. In this 
sense, it is strikingly different f r o m the L . C . 
Cumulative Catalog w h i c h describes only 
the collection of the L i b r a r y of Congress 
but serves as a cataloging and bibliographic 
aid f o r other research libraries. F u r t h e r -
more, the recipients of the proposed federal 
documents catalog w o u l d have greater as-
surance of receiving as f u l l coverage as 
possible of all government publications since 
the catalog w i l l emanate f r o m the office of 
the Superintendent of D o c u m e n t s . T h e 
card distribution service or the Cumulative 
Catalog of the L i b r a r y of Congress, on the 
other hand, is limited in that both provide 
only f o r such documents received, selected, 
and finally cataloged by the L i b r a r y of 
Congress. M o r e significantly—being c o n -
cerned exclusively w i t h federal documents, 
the Superintendent of D o c u m e n t s must 
promptly process all such publications. 
W e r e such a proposed catalog to stem f r o m 
any other agency, it w o u l d be subject to the 
hazards of priorities w h i c h that agency in-
escapably w o u l d establish in processing 
books, journals, pamphlets, etc., along w i t h 
federal documents. 

N o t only do libraries utilize the Monthly 
Catalog as an acquisitions and reference 
source but many have c o m e to accept it as 
their i n f o r m a l type of author catalog f o r 
government publications. It is precisely be-
cause libraries regard the M o n t h l y C a t a l o g 
as an authoritative cataloging of federal 

publications that it should now take shape 

as a bona fide centralized cataloging product 

consistent with established rules and form 

for descriptive and subject cataloging. 

Some Fiscal and Staff Considerations 

A n appropriate committee c o u l d study, 
in time f o r January 1949, the problems of 
production costs and determination of a fair 
subscription price to the federal documents 
catalog. It c o u l d also study the probable 
staff necessary to assure a competent p r o d -
uct delivered on time. Preliminary studies 
indicate that the production cost, exclusive 
of salaries, w o u l d be about two-thirds that 
of a typical issue of the Cumulative Catalog 
of the L i b r a r y of Congress. Inadequate 
data exist at this time as to m o r e definite 
cost analysis. C a t a l o g cards, similar to the 
L . C . card, f o r the entries w o u l d have to 
be prepared first by the G o v e r n m e n t P r i n t -
ing O f f i c e as the basis f o r photo-offset of 
the proposed page layout. T h u s , there is 
the possible thought of the Superintendent 
of D o c u m e n t s selling catalog cards f o r fed-
eral publications as a by-product of this 
enterprise. It may or may not be feasible 
f o r the Superintendent of D o c u m e n t s to 
undertake a card sales venture f o r federal 
publications, but it is w o r t h y of considera-
tion by an appropriate committee. It is 
clear, h o w e v e r , that the m o r e than 10,000 
subscriptions to the Monthly Catalog at the 
present time should be a potent factor in 
keeping the subscription price f o r the p r o -
posed federal documents catalog reasonably 
l o w . 

Potential Advantages 

W h a t are some of the potential advan-
tages of centralized cataloging of federal 
documents and a master bibliographic tool 
in the f o r m of a cumulative dictionary cata-
l o g ? Primarily, it bears the advantage of 
savings to libraries, in money and m a n -
p o w e r , w h i c h accrue in any centralized cata-
l o g i n g s c h e m e — p r o v i d e d it is run efficiently, 
economically, and with a quick professional 

responsiveness to consumer needs. P r o b l e m s 
of catalog maintenance in libraries should be 
resolved, to some extent—relief of c o n -

22 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



gested " U . S . " catalog trays and of the con-
gested patron traffic using this area of the 
library's main catalog; reduction or possible 
elimination of labor costs in filing L . C . 
cards for documents. Several subscriptions 
would place copies of the federal documents 
catalog in the main reference room, catalog 
division, departmental libraries, and other 
logical units in a large library, thereby 
spreading the service possibilities over a 
wider range and acquainting a larger li-
brary clientele with the availability and 
value of federal publications. Procurement 
of the federal documents catalog would 
render unnecessary further purchase of L . C . 
cards f o r government publications, thus 
realizing for the aggregate libraries which 
n o w catalog federal documents a savings of 
more than $ 3 0 , 0 0 0 annually. T e s t studies 
have disclosed that the aggregate libraries 
n o w expend more than $30,000 each year 
in the purchase of L . C . cards for docu-
ments. T h e D e w e y class number would 
enable libraries which employ this classifica-
tion system, but which order f e w L . C . cards 
f o r documents, to incorporate federal docu-
ments more easily in their classified collec-
tion of books on various subjects. 

Government researchers and specialists in 
various fields, too, often neglected in biblio-
graphic reference, would receive through 
full centralized cataloging their due recog-
nition and publicity. Library patrons and 
students, familiar with the use of the 
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature 
and other dictionary indexes, should find 
an easy transfer of skills in consulting the 
federal documents catalog f o r location of 
items. It w o u l d relieve reference librarians 
of much routine search. Readers advisory 
w o r k should similarly be facilitated and 
strengthened. T h e element of memory, 
upon which many documents librarians have 
long been dependent, w o u l d no longer need 
to be a keynote in servicing documents col-
lections. T h e orthodox issuing bureau ap-

proach w o u l d be invaded, indeed, and 
w o u l d give way to the .more significant 
subject approach to documents in academic 
and public libraries. By virtue of the alpha-
betical filing arrangement of entries, never-
theless, all works by a particular issuing 
bureau could easily be located. In a very 
real sense, it should be a major step in 
humanizing the field of documents and in 
gaining greater bibliographic control over 
federal publications. 

T h e r e are disadvantages to be contended 
with, to be sure. A n d it is here that the 
importance of a competent committee is 
of the greatest significance. Questions such 
as these, among others, might well be raised : 
W o u l d it not make f o r a bulky and un-
economical way in which to check the acqui-
sition of items? W h a t of incompatibility in 
subject headings with that used in other li-
braries? W o u l d it be possible f o r the 
Superintendent of Documents to edit and 
publish this in sufficient time so that it 
w o u l d reach libraries promptly? W o u l d 
it really augment reference service and be 
used widely by library patrons—or is this 
wishful thinking? Other and more criti-
cal queries may well be raised and investi-
gated. 

The Road Ahead 

T h e efforts of Kuhlman, Boyd, W i l c o x , 
Childs, M i l l e r , W y e r , and others have rep-
resented a level of thinking and action for 
improved library service which merits a 
permanent place in American library de-
velopment and control of the documents re-
sources. T h e writings of the A . L . A . 
Public Documents Committee warrant re-
reading for an appreciation of the construc-
tive literature toward effective Superinten-
dent of Documents —American libraries 
liaison. Merritt's excellent study6 points 

• M e r r i t t , L e R o y C . The United States Government 
As Publisher. C h i c a g o , U n i v e r s i t y of C h i c a g o P r e s s , 
1943-

JANUARY, 1948 2 3 



the way to more scientific analysis and 
fundamentals in government publications as 
a communication medium in American life 
and as a publishing venture in the realm 
of research and administration. 

T h e future course should be one in which 
the Superintendent of Documents becomes 
increasingly conscious of libraries and their 
clientele as consumers and, in turn, libraries 
become increasingly aware of the resources 
and management problems of the office of 
the Superintendent of Documents. A cur-
sory reading of the past t w o annual reports 
reveals sufficiently a picture of the mana-
gerial problems. In any event, several steps 
warrant attention in the road ahead. T h e 
office of the Superintendent of Documents 
is not merely a sales agency; it has great 
potentialities and should strive f o r a posi-
tion of leadership in cataloging and biblio-
graphical control of federal publications of 
all kinds. T h e subject approach must be 
exploited to the fullest. W h e n it develops 
that funds and personnel are inadequate to 
maintain the balance of vast, free distribu-
tion and sales on the one hand and necessary 
bibliographic and indexing activities on the 
other, organized library opinion through 
the A . L . A . National Relations Office and 
through members of Congress should be 
mobilized well in advance of the appropria-
tions deadline. Libraries should press f o r 
a change in legislation which w o u l d make 

it possible to obtain a liberal appropriation 
f o r travel by the Superintendent of D o c u -
ments—for the purpose of visiting deposit-
ories, witnessing documents collections and 
librarians in action, and gaining first-hand 
knowledge of the importance of biblio-
graphic and indexing aids in libraries. 

W e must impress deeply upon the Super-
intendent of Documents that, through the 
instrumentality of libraries, government 
publications are brought into the hands of 
scholars, technicians, researchers, subject 
specialists, and American library patrons as 
a whole. Large as the volume of sales by 
the Superintendent of Documents may be 
to private individuals it nevertheless rep-
resents but a small fraction of the larger 
clientele, actual and potential, reached 
through the medium of libraries. T h e pur-
suit for all processed publications must con-
tinue and a system of distribution perfected 
— a prime responsibility of the Superintend-
ent of Documents and the successful 
achievement of which w o u l d greatly cement 
the relationship with American libraries. 
Major bibliographic or cataloging activities, 
for all practical purposes, appear to be pos-
sible only on a self-sustaining basis, as evi-
denced in the large library enterprises of 
the Library of Congress. 

T h e quality of the relationship will de-
pend upon the quality of understanding and 
good faith of the t w o parties. 

The Documents Expediting Project 
(Continued from page 17) 

strated pragmatically that these materials 
are available to those libraries which are 
aggressive enough to go after them on a co-
operative basis. Furthermore, with an 
economy-minded Congress and with print-
ing costs mounting higher and higher, it 
may well be that libraries may have to rely 
more and more on the kind of service 

provided by a documents expediting office 
f o r the acquisition of government publica-
tions. T o guarantee adequate distribution 
of the many publications n o w on hand the 
joint committee invites additional subscrip-
tions to the Documents Expediting Project 
and assures every participant a substantial 
return on its investment. 

24 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES