A. Mission Statement

Alexander Mack Memorial Library of Bridgewater College, located in the 6 th Congressional District, was designated a Depository Library during 1902. The mission of the Government Documents unit is to support the general collecting activities of the Alexander Mack Memorial Library, which serves the Bridgewater College community and patrons from the 6th Congressional District. This mission is fulfilled in accordance with the requirements defined in the Instructions to Depository Libraries, the Guidelines for the Depository System, the Federal Depository Library Manual and Supplements, the Bridgewater College mission statement, and the Alexander Mack Memorial Library mission statement.

B. Demographic Information

The 6 th Congressional District of the State of Virginia has a population (2000) of 643,504. There are 309,241 males and 334,263 females living within this district. The percentage of people under 18 years of age is 22.4 and the percentage of people over 65 is 15. The median age is 37.8. The areas in which most people are employed are: retail trade, manufacturing, educational services, health services, construction, and wholesale. There is also a strong agricultural base with a focus on poultry, beef, and crop farming. [Demographic information is based on the 22 nd (2000) United States census data, available via the United States Census' FactFinder web site.]

C. Selection Responsibility

The Documents Librarian is responsible for the selection of government documents. On a continual basis the Documents Librarian will confer with other librarians and staff to ensure that he/she is aware of all traffic in the government documents collection itself and what the public is requesting from the collection.

Selection of supporting materials for the government documents collection is primarily the responsibility of the Documents Librarian. Requests for supporting material are forwarded to the Acquisitions Technician for final approval based upon budgetary constraints.

D. Subject Areas and Collection Arrangement

• The government documents collection is reviewed annually.
• The Library will collect government documents to support the college curriculum in conjunction with the following subject areas - agriculture, consumer affairs, care of the elderly, health (both mental and physical), commerce, the justice system, laws and statutes, country studies, science, finance, education, international and national politics, Congressional and Presidential documents.
• Most of the government documents have been catalogued and are included in the Library's general collection.
• Un-cataloged documents are arranged by Su-Doc number and shelved on the ground floor.
• See Appendix below for a complete listing of all of the item numbers that the Library selects.

E. Formats

Because of limited use, space and research preferences, the Library de-selected the majority of its printed and micro-formatted documents and changed its designation to an electronic depository in 2006. 

F. Selection Tools, non-Depository Items, Retrospective Sources

To facilitate the selection and de-selection of items for the government documents collection the government documents librarian consults the Federal Depository Library Manual Supplement: Collection Development, and appendices A and C, the Catalog of United States Government Publications, the List Of Classes, and the GPO Subject Bibliographies, and the Electronic Collection.

G. Resource Sharing

• The Library actively participates in Interlibrary Loan and is willing to send material wherever it is requested.
• Currently, the Library does not belong to any formal depository consortia. The Library has a resource sharing agreement with James Madison University, which participates in the Federal Depository Library Program.
• All selection and de-selection of government documents is undertaken with consideration of the scope of the collections of other local depository collections and patron needs.

H. Collection Evaluation

• Collection review is in effect on a continual basis.
• Evaluation focuses on online access to electronic government documents through the Library's online catalog .

I. Weeding and Maintenance

• Weeding of the printed collection will take place in accordance with the regulations set forth in the Instructions to Depository Libraries and the guidelines set forth by the regional depository. An accurate listing of the items in the collection will be kept. Each individual item will be indexed. All documents that arrive at the Library will be clearly marked with the depository property stamp, shipping list number and date, and the SUDOC number. Other than with superceded documents, the Regional Librarian will be consulted before items are withdrawn. Items with historical value or potential historical value are retained indefinitely.
• Worn, damaged or otherwise mishandled printed documents are reviewed on an individual basis. If the document is no longer of value to the collection, then the item will be weeded. If the item is of value and damaged beyond repair, a replacement will be sought. If the item is of value and is in a condition to be repaired, then the Documents librarian and the Archivist will undertake the repairs. Items are sent to be rebound as needed, but first several sources are consulted to ensure that the rebinding will not lower the value of the item. If the item is particularly fragile, it is kept in the archives, which has dehumidifiers. A notation is made on the item card so that anyone wanting the information will know where to find it. The archives can be opened by any professional staff member at the library and is located near the physical government documents collection.
• All government documents are listed in an independent index in the Government Documents Collection.
• Finding aids and indexes to the government documents collection are: The Monthly Catalog, OCLC FirstSearch, and OCLC FirstSearch: GPO.

Appendix

Library # 0639 Selections 2005-06