Services and Access

Reference

Service for government publications, maps, data, and other collections in the department is primarily provided at the reference desk in the department. The GovInfo reference desk is staffed at all times the department is open. Department staff will be pleased to assist people who visit the department. The staff also provides assistance to callers (1-847-491-3130) and people using email (govinfo@northwestern.edu). It is also possible to make appointments with librarians for in-depth research assistance or guidance.

Gov Info staff will be happy to guide you to the book, periodical, or map you may need, or help you get started on searching NUCat for a publication, the right Internet resource, or CD-ROM. They can offer suggestions on gathering materials for a specific topic and can assist you with the use of materials.

Instruction

As a part of reference service, members of the department instruct individuals on how to best identify, access, and evaluate relevant information resources. In addition to this one-on-one instruction, the department’s librarians (see Staff list) are available to provide instruction sessions about collection resources to classes or other subject or discipline-oriented groups. Content of these sessions can range from general overviews to in-depth explorations of resources available in a particular discipline or on a specific subject. For information about this service, contact the department by email (govinfo@northwestern.edu) or phone (1-847-491-3130).

Public Access - Guaranteed

In-library access to government information is guaranteed by the U.S. law governing the Federal Depository Library Program. People of the general public are encouraged to use this vast and important resource of government information.

There are certain times when access to the University Library is restricted to persons affiliated with Northwestern University. During these times (primarily weekends and evenings), it is possible to gain entrance to the Library to use the government information resources of the department. At the checkpoint, inform the attendant that you intend to use the depository collection. A sign in will be requested for entrance.

Copies, Printing, and Scanning

While the collection is freely available for on-site use to the public and persons of Northwestern University, there is a fee for photocopying materials. In the department, there is a regular copier (usually used for letter and legal-sized copies) for paper-format materials as well as a printer for items in microfiche format. There is a large-format copier that is able to produce black and white copies up to 36" wide, and is most often used for the copying of maps. The fees for copying vary between the copiers.

There is also a fee for printing from computer workstations in the department. Downloading is encouraged and free. In addition, it is possible to email the results and information from certain online resources.

The department provides the equipment and software needed to can paper-format publications into digital documents. The software provided on the scanner is TextBridge Pro. The primary purpose of the scanner is to scan statistical tables into a format that can be used with spreadsheet and statistical packages.

Software

The department offers several software packages intended to facilitate the use of government information, statistics, and numeric data.

Circulation

Many materials from the department's various collections circulate. The staff member at the department's reference desk can answer questions regarding whether or not a particular item is eligible for check out. Generally, journals, annual publications, items that are fragile, items in the reference collections, or rare items will not circulate. Other reasons for the non-circulating status of items can be provided at the discretion of the staff member at the reference desk. The final decision on whether or not an item circulates rests with this person. Loan periods are consistent with those of other parts of the library, and are based on affiliation and status in relation to the University. Further details can be found in the department's Circulation Policy.

Updated: 29-jan-08