The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) is the finding tool for electronic and print publications from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government. These publications make up the National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publications. The CGP contains descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online.

Scope

More than 500,000 records generated since July 1976 are contained in the CGP and it is updated daily. The catalog will grow to include records for publications dating back to the late 1800s, making the CGP the central point for locating new and historical Government publications.

The CGP was originally the online counterpart of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, which had been printed since the passage of the Printing Act of 1895. The print version of the Monthly Catalog was discontinued with the December 2004 edition.

For publications issued prior to 1976, the printed Monthly Catalog should be consulted. Print editions of the Monthly Catalog and many of the publications indexed in it were distributed through the Federal Depository Library Program. To locate the depository library nearest you, use GPO's Locate Libraries service at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/libraries.html

Features

• Direct links to online versions of publications from the cataloging record
• "Locate a Library" feature within each record to find a nearby Federal depository where a particular publication or expert assistance can be found
• Robust search engine
• Basic, Advanced, and Expert search options
• Searches can be narrowed to specific collections or formats, such as maps, Congressional, or Internet publications
• Search results or selected records can be e-mailed

Standards

GPO is the authoritative national source for descriptive and subject cataloging for Federal Government documents. In creating full bibliographic records for the Catalog, GPO's Office of Library Technical Information Services (LTIS), Bibliographic Control Section (BCS) adheres to the bibliographic standards set forth in the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, 2nd edition, Library of Congress Rule Interpretations, MARC21, CONSER, OCLC's Bibliographic Formats and Standards, 2nd ed., GPO Cataloging Guidelines, and other national standards.