Government Information *

Federal Resources

The University of Southern California is one of the oldest federal depository collections in Southern California, having been a selective federal depository for government documents since 1932. The federal depository collection is a broad based multidisciplinary set of print and digital resources selected to support the curriculum and research needs of USC faculty, researchers, and students and the information needs of the general public. The core collection consists of over 500,000 monographs and serials; 1,000,000 microfiche; and online resources. In accordance with federal regulations, we provide access to the FDLP's Basic Collection and the collection is especially rich in Congressional materials. Government documents are housed in the Library for International & Public Affairs (former Von Kleinsmid Center Library) and Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library, the main campus library. The print and microfiche collection is housed in the off-campus Grand Avenue Library and is accessed through USC Libraries's catalog, which allows our user community and the general public to request items either online or manually. 

Selection Policy: The Library for International & Public Affairs (LIPA) only accepts government publications for the Government Documents Collection directly from agencies of the U.S. Government and the State of California. However, donations to the USC Libraries Annual Fund for LIPA are appreciated to fund acquisition of research materials, cataloging books and collections, and new programming and events.

Access Policy: The general public is welcome to use government documents materials in the USC Libraries. Federal depository law guarantees free and unimpeded access to the collection (44 U.S.C. § 1911), however, there is a fee charged for photocopying materials. To access online electronic publications and electronic databases, LIPA maintains a public terminal. Walkup access to the collection is provided 10:00am - 2:00pm, Monday-Friday. All documents except those designated as reference or as serials, circulate for four weeks to USC faculty, staff, and students. Non-USC users may use materials in the library. 

The USC Libraries have been a depository for California State documents since 1947. The collection consists of publications of selected state agencies, and the executive and legislative branches. The types of publications collected emphasize public policy issues, especially budgetary and planning documents, statistical compilations and reports, analytical and investigative reports from the Legislative Analyst's Office, and Legislative hearings. Most of the collection is cataloged and appears in the library's on-line catalog. The core California collection is housed in Grand Avenue Library, an off campus site. Except for selected reference materials and journals, it is a circulating collection that can be paged. Items in the collection that do not appear in the online catalog may be accessed through special indexes in LIPA. Most California government agencies, as well as the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of state government, provide digital access to their current publications and resources.

Library for International and Public Affairs is the regional depository in Southern California for all materials produced by the European Union. The collection is part of a network of depository libraries intended to give Americans access to all official publications of the EU. The Library automatically receives one copy of most EU books, statistical reports and journals. The official publications contain information ranging from policy developments in all sectors of EU activity to statistics on trade, demographics, agriculture, transport, energy and economic indicators. Of particular importance is the Official Journal of the European Union, the EU equivalent of the United States Federal Register. The depository collection also contains legislative proposals and communications of the Commission in their original, "COM," document form, reports and debates of the European Parliament, Opinions of the European Economic and Social Committee, and decisions of the European Court of Justice.