General Collection

The general collection includes publications produced by bureaus and offices of the Department of the Interior, as well as reports of research and projects funded by the Department. The Library receives many reports each year from other agencies of the U.S. Federal government as a selective Federal Documents Depository Library.

The Library acquires books and journals on such subjects as:
 

Reference Collection

The Reference Collection includes standard reference sources such as almanacs, encyclopedias, yearbooks, and directories. Titles of special interest to the Department are also collected. These include microform copies of all Congressional publications and documents, presidential executive orders and proclamations, and selected records from the Department that are permanently maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Periodicals and Newspapers

The Library receives hundreds of journals and newsletters, and subscribes to five daily newspapers. Recent issues of many of the most popular titles and selected legal periodicals are shelved in the Periodicals Reading Room.

Earlier issues are retained. Most periodicals are shelved alphabetically by the title of the periodical, on Deck 6. Legal periodicals are shelved alphetically by title on Deck 4. Earlier issues of a few journals are shelved in the book stacks by their call number.

All current periodicals and newspapers, and most others, are listed in the online catalog. A summary of holdings for some periodicals is shown in the catalog listing for that periodical. Consult a Reference Librarian to discover the Library's exact holdings of other titles.

Law Collection

The Law Collection contains United States Reports, Federal and regional reporters, selected state, territorial, and tribal codes, and legal treaties. There are also Departmental legal and administrative materials, law reference sources, and law reviews. Subject specialties include environmental law, public lands and land use, law relating to American Indian tribes, and administrative law.

The Library has acquired free IP-authenticated access to Westlaw at the DOI Library's patron workstations. No user ID or password is needed, and patrons may use Westlaw's All Primary Law National Practice collection. DOI employees may also contact a reference librarian to request searches of other Westlaw and LEXIS-NEXIS databases.

Seven other online information services may also be of interest to employees:

    * HeinOnline
    * National Journal Daily
    * GREENR: Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources
    * ProQuest Congressional Collections
    * Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Digital Library
    * U.S. Congressional Serial Set
    * Academic OneFile

Rare Book Collection

The Rare Book Collection includes titles published in the 19th century and earlier, on subjects such as the Department of the Interior, Native Americans, American history, and natural history. In the online catalog, the locations of rare books are shown as "RARE." To use a rare book, please see a Reference Librarian.