Government Information Circulation

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Many materials from the department's various collections circulate. Staff at Government Information reference desk can answer questions regarding whether or not a particular item is eligible for check out.

The following materials circulate:

  • Dewey classified monographs with NUcat records
  • U.S. Federal monographs with records already in NUCat
  • CD-ROMS/diskettes housed in the cabinets.
  • "In Process" monographs but ONLY after they have been fully catalogued.

The following materials do NOT circulate:

  • CD-ROMS/diskettes in the CD racks on top of the cabinets
  • Serials and periodicals including Annuals
  • Monographs (both Dewey and SuDocs classified) without Voyager records or those considered rare or fragile.
  • Volumes of the U.S. Serial Set
  • Reference Room, Supplementary Reference, and Legal Materials
  • Census items
  • Pamphlets - If an item is four or fewer copied pages, staff will provide a photocopy for the patron.
  • Rare items
  • Maps - With the availability of an oversize copier, maps are normally a non-circulating resource. Exceptions are made at the discretion of the maps librarian (or in her absence, the head of the dept). These may include maps too large for the copier, the user desires a color copy, or the user is a professor or lecturer and requires a large map to display in a class. Rare and/or brittle maps do not circulate under any circumstance

Other reasons for the non-circulating status of items can be provided at the discretion of staff member at the desk, and the final decision on whether or not an item circulates rests with this person. Selected government publication monographs circulate with the permission of the Government Information reference desk staff. Staff members reserve the right to disallow particular monographs to circulate for reasons including condition, fragility, rarity, and location (e.g., Reference).

All materials are circulated through the Main Library Circulation Desk. All patrons with a current Northwestern WildCARD or a Borrower's Card may checkout materials. Loan periods are consistent with those of other parts of the library, and are based on affiliation and status in relation to the University. Policies regarding borrowers, loan periods, holds, recalls, fines, etc. will be those that are in effect for the Main Library, which can be found on the Circulation site.

The main function of reference desk staff is to provide reference service. Reference Desk staff reserve the right to ask borrowers to return at a later time, no later than the next day the department is open, to pick up books they wish to take out. This is because the collection is not circulation-ready and staff must create item records for, bar code, and pocket some materials for circulation. It may not be possible to do this as the borrower waits if other patrons are waiting for reference assistance.