Government Documents are materials produced and published by state governments and the federal government, either by the Government Printing Office (GPO) or independently by the agency.

About the Collection

Buswell Memorial Library is a selective federal depository for approximately 29% of what is produced by the Government Printing Office (GPO). These documents appear in the Library's Online Catalog and are searchable like any other library material. 

Collection Strengths

Census, Education, Health & Human Services, Geological Survey, NASA

Some of the resources held by Buswell Library include:

• Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
• Congressional Record and other legislative resources 
• Federal Register 
• Supreme Court Cases & Opinions 
• U.S. Code 
• Federal Budget Information 
• Social Security Publications 
• Tax Information 
• Justice Department Information 
• Geological Survey Maps and Monographs
• Census Information 

Government Documents Staff

Becky Shields
Government Documents Assistant
(630) 752-5652
becky.shields@wheaton.edu

To get a full listing of federal departments and agencies with their SuDoc author symbols for easy browsing of the collection by department or agency, CLICK HERE.

Materials received from GPO come in a variety of formats: 

• Books and Journals - the majority of which are located downstairs in the Movable Shelving 
• Bulletins, Newsletters, Pamphlets and Fliers - located downstairs in the Vertical File
• CD-ROM/DVD-ROMs, Copyright and IRS Information - located at the Reference Desk
• Microfiche - located in the Microfiche Cabinets on the Main Level
• Online Documents - the library's online catalog provides web addresses for documents available on the Internet. 65% of government documents are now available electronically. This number is growing, as GPO projects that this ratio will grow to 80/20, electronic to print, within the next few years.

1. Search our online catalog. If you know the SuDoc number, try the SuDoc Number Search.
2. If we do not own the item, we can in most cases get the item via Interlibrary Loan