Publications included in the Basic Collection are vital sources of information that support the public's right to know about the workings and essential activities of their Federal Government. The Basic Collection serves as a good resource when developing and maintaining a depository collection.

The list of titles constituting the Basic Collection was first developed in 1977 to identify the most basic Federal publications for inclusion in depository collections. This list has been periodically updated since then. For additional information on developing the collection in your Federal depository library, see the Federal Depository Library Handbook, Chapter 5.

A depository library is REQUIRED to have the titles in the Basic Collection accessible for immediate use by your users. How this is accomplished is a local decision; however, merely linking to GPO Access or the CGP does not provide sufficient access to all of these titles. Access is best accomplished by cataloging the titles and including active hyperlinks in the bibliographic record. Other alternatives are also available to depositories; they include:

• Link to all the titles in the Basic Collection from the library's Web site;

• Catalog the Basic Collection using a collection level record and including a hyperlink;

• Link to the Basic Collection Web page from the library's Web site;

• Purchase and make available commercial equivalents (tangible or electronic) of the Basic Collection titles; and

• Incorporate Basic Collection titles into topical bibliographies or guides

* Print version of the title may not be available at all depository libraries as it was distributed in 1976.

** Copyright restrictions prevent the inclusion of some tables in electronic versions.

Format designations:

P = Paper
EL = Online electronic format
CD = CD-ROM
MF = Microfiche

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