How to Procure Government Documents
To keep thoroughly informed on the large body of constantly growing data issued by the government, to know how to procure it without delay and apply to a specific problem is no small accomplishment, and this is one of the important reasons why the business man needs the assistance of a trained library worker. The average business man gets mentally lost in the thick woods of government documents; he either does not know which department or bureau of the government can give the specific information he desires, or he does not know how to procure, in the shortest time, desired data which he knows the government has on file.
Every business librarian should read these two monthly lists regularly
The best way for the business man to find out what information is in print and can be procured for his personal use, is to write direct to each department, or special bureau, for the catalog of their available publications. For example, the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce issues a catalog of Bureau publications which is described as a "review of information available to manufacturers and exporters in the bulletins issued by the Bureau." The Navy Department issues an "Index to Specifications for Naval Stores and Material" which is very useful to many classes of business men who are drawing up specifications for the purchase of various kinds of material. The list of publications of the United States Geological Survey is a most valuable guide in procuring bulletins on water power and irrigation, mines and mineral resources, as well as important papers on economic geology, namely, oil, gas and other useful minerals. The United States Bureau of Standards, the Bureau of Census, the Bureau of Mines, all publish catalogs of papers issued by them, which are of the greatest possible value to business men. These bureaus, in addition to their printed catalogs, issue supplemental lists of new publications each month and the "Monthly Catalog of United States Public Documents," issued monthly, price fifty cents per year, obtainable from the Superintendent of Documents, also gives a list of all the publications of all departments of the government issued each month.
Two samples of the forty-four price lists of documents issued by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.
The Superintendent of Documents issues free of charge, forty-four lists of documents, for sale by his office, on certain subjects, such as Roads, Labor, Foreign Relations of the United States, Finance, Transportation, etc. A complete list of these subjects can be found in Swanton's Guide to United States Government Publications (Bureau of Education Bulletin 1918, No. 2), page 127, obtainable from Superintendent of Documents at twenty cents per copy. This guide is a most useful compilation as it describes briefly the work of each department of the government and kind of publications issued by them, stating where they can be obtained and what classes of publications are free and what are for sale.
Government publications which ordinarily may be obtained free by applying direct to the Bureau issuing them, if out of stock may often be bought from the Superintendent of Documents. The Superintendent of Documents requires that all publications ordered from him be paid for in advance, and this involves some difficulty, as often a man does not know how much money to send to procure the publication, if he has not seen the price quoted. Some business libraries, to save delay in ordering, deposit twenty-five dollars in advance with the Superintendent of Documents against which the cost of documents ordered can be charged. The old idea of procuring publications through a Congressman or Senator is the poorest kind of method of obtaining what is wanted in a hurry, for many government documents will not cost the business firm anything and those for which a charge is asked cost a very small price. The Superintendent of Documents sells coupons which may be sent in payment for documents ordered from his office. The disadvantage of the coupon method of purchasing is that the buyer must know in advance the price of the documents in order to send the correct amount in coupons.
Some of the departments of the government issue advance mimeographed sheets of information and will also give out, in advance of printing, data on file in the department to firms which make special request for it, and have also been known to reply promptly to telegraphic requests.
Some of the bureaus of the government have district offices in a few of the large cities of the United States, for example, district offices of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Weather Bureau, etc., which are of great service in obtaining data in a hurry, and the business man should ascertain the resources of his city in this respect. He should also not forget to use the collection of government documents at his Public Library when he wants to use publications of which he cannot obtain a copy for his own immediate needs. Some of the smaller public libraries do not have their government documents fully cataloged and immediately available so that the business man must not infer, because he cannot find certain government information at his public library, that it does not exist.