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U.S. Superintendent of Document Numbers (SuDoc)

Back to K086 Index Code Help

According to the U.S. Government Printing Office's Explanation of the Superintendent of Documents Classification System, the SuDoc numbering system:

is designed to group together publications by the same government author. Each executive department and agency, the Judiciary, Congress, and other major independent establishments are assigned a unique alphabetical identifier, based on the nature of the organization. For example, 'A' is used for the Agriculture Department, 'JU' for Judiciary, and 'NS' for National Science Foundation. The letters 'X' and 'Y' are reserved for Congress, and the letter 'Z' is not used.

The GPO Classification Manual provides the following additional information regarding the correct formatting of the SuDoc number:

The format of the ... number is critical for the proper construction of the number itself and for accurate sorting and searching of class numbers in automated systems. One important aspect of the construction of the class number is the use of spacing.

A space must be inserted between letters and numbers in the class number unless there is intervening punctuation. Parentheses are the only exception. One space must be inserted before and after a parenthesis, unless there is adjacent punctuation. No spaces precede or follow symbols, such as the ampersand (&).

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