User Guide: Documents and Maps at the Library

The Documents & Maps area, located on the second floor (west side) of the library, contains the U.S. Government Documents, Iowa Documents microforms, Maps and Atlases. Service for these collections is provided by staff at the Reference Desk which is staffed all of the hours the library is open. The Reference Desk phone number is (319) 273-2838.

Circulation of Documents & Maps

Students may check out most documents and maps for three weeks with one week renewals. Graduate students may check out most material for the current semester, and faculty for the current academic year. All academic year and current semester loans are subject to recall after three weeks. Documents and Maps circulate from the main circulation desk. Atlases shelved in the Map Reference area do not circulate, however atlases shelved in the third floor stacks may be checked out for the same periods as other stacks materials.

U.S. Government Documents

The library is a selective depository for federal publications and receives more than half of the publications distributed by the U.S. Government Printing Office. These publications are produced by virtually every agency, bureau, and unit of the three branches of government. The collection contains books, congressional hearings, research reports, journals, pamphlets, laws, and electronic databases produced by the U.S. Government at the expense of the tax payers. The collection consists of paper, microfiche, CD-ROMs, and Internet resources. Some items in the collection are more than a century old, but most are from the past 30 years.

In addition, it is possible to access a wide range of U.S. government information sources through the World Wide Web. A good starting point for doing this is the library's Documents and Maps in the Library page.

Identifying U.S. Documents

     General Finding Aids--Places to Start

UNISTAR (the online catalog)
UNISTAR contains records for more than 100,000 U.S. government publications. Most of these records are for documents published since the late 1980s. However, records for documents published before the late 1980s by selected agencies have been entered into UNISTAR. These included many Senate and House hearings, selected Geological Survey documents, and Congressional Budget Office publications. Additional records for new publications that the library receives are added regularly. Look for items with locations containing "UNI Docs."

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1895-
Paper: 1895-1976: Docs Index/Abstract Z 1223 A18
Web: GPO Monthly Catalog through SilverPlatter, July 1976 (UNI restrictions)
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (GPO), January 1994- (unrestricted)

This index, in its various forms, is the most comprehensive and general index to government information resources published by the U.S. Government Printing Office.

CIS Annual, 1970-
UNI Docs Index/Abstract Z 1223 Z7C65
Indexes and summarizes U.S. Congressional Publications such as hearings, committee prints, and reports. These documents provide in-depth information on a wide range of topics. There is an enhanced web-based version called Congressional Universe (UNI restrictions). This version includes the full-text of many documents including Congressional hearings.

American Statistics Index, 1973-
UNI Docs Index/Abstrct Z 7554 U5A4
Indexes and summarizes statistics published by the federal government since the early 1960s.

Cumulative Subject index to the Monthly Catalog, 1900-1971
UNI Docs Index/Abstract Z 1223 Z7C82

Cumulative Title Index to U.S. Public Documents, 1789-1976
UNI Docs Index/Abstract Z 1223 Z7C64

CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, 1789-1969
UNI Docs Index/Abstract Z 1223 Z7C64

Iowa Documents

The library is a full depository for State of Iowa documents. Major Iowa documents such as the Code of Iowa, Iowa Official Register and Vital Statistics of Iowa are shelved in the library's Reference Collection. The Iowa Documents collection contains directories, research reports, newsletters, regulations, and pamphlets from about 120 Iowa agencies. The collection includes microfiche documents issued since. State of Iowa publications in print format are found in the library's stacks and are listed in UNISTAR. A catalog and index of Iowa documents covering the years 1956-1992 is located at UNI Docs Index/Abstract Z 1223.5I6 I585.

Maps

The Maps Collection contains over 40,000 maps, aerial photographs, and satellite images from both government and private soucres. Some of the maps are listed in UNISTAR with the lcoation UNI Map, but many can be identified only by looking in a card catalog located in the area adjacent to the collection. It is possible to find thematic maps that address a particular topic as well as general political and physical maps.

Topographic Maps
Some of the most-used maps are topographic maps published by the U.S. Geological Survey. These provide very detailed topographic information about small areas called quadrangles. This information may be useful to those interested in site location, hikers, students and researchers of various types. These maps are arranged alphabetically by state and then the name of the quadrangle. The library collects these maps for thirteen states; California, Colorado, Illionois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Index maps for these topographic maps are located on top of the maps cases.

Folded Maps
The library also has a large collection of folded street and highway maps for all states and many U.S. and international cities. This collection is in two cabinets in the area. These maps are arranged by type in alphabetical order. There are records for some of these maps in UNISTAR, the online catalog.

Historical Maps
The library also has a collection of historical maps of Iowa. These are listed in the card catalog in the Documents & Maps area. The cabinet containing these is kept is locked. Please ask for assistance at the Reference Desk.

Atlases

The Atlas Collection consists of general atlases as well as those that are subject-oriented or thematic. The atlases are found along the wall adjacent to the Maps Collection. They are listed in UNISTAR with the location UNI Map Ref.

There are other atlases in the Reference and Stacks collections of the library. These are listed in UNISTAR.

Government Information on the Internet

Governments of all types and levels are making information available to the public through the World Wide Web. One can access government information on the Internet from the library's Documents and Maps in the Library page. From this page, it is possible to connect to government information from the U.S. government, the State of Iowa, and other governmental entities.

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