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Government Publications Review, Vol. 3. PP. 43-49 (1976). Pergamon Press Printed in U.S.A. CIRCULATION OF FEDERAL DOCUMENTS IN ACADEMIC DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES PHILIPA.YANNARELLAANDRAOALURI Gene Eppley Library, University of Nebraska at Omaha Box 688, Downtown Station, Omaha, NE 68101 ABSTRACT A postcard-questionnaire was mailed to 213 academic deposi- tory libmries to survey their policies regarding circulation of U.S. Government documents. Of the 196 responding libraries, 90% circulate documents to the academic clientele and 35% circulate to the general public as well. The type of access (closed or open stacks) or the nature of the collection (separate or integrated) has no impact on documents circulation. Forty-three percent of the libraries which circulate documents encounter problems in their return on time. However, 63% of them are satisfied by the success of their remedial steps. While many aspects of the administration of government documents in depository libraries have been described in library literature, documents circulation policies pursued by the depository libraries have received sparse attention. Eastin (1948)’ conducted a survey of the then existing 542 depository libraries and reported that 15% of them did not circulate documents, some because “they believe that by law they are prevented from circulating depository publications.” This study was primarily concerned with the annual circulation of documents. No distinction was made between circulation within and outside the library. Eastin further reported that 356 libraries did not keep records on documents circulation. Schwarzkopf (1974)2 reported in his survey of regional depositories that 40 regionals circulated documents locally and three academic regionals did not. However, the regionals formed only a small percent of the total depository system; academic depositories alone number over 750. Harleston and Stoffle ( 1974)3, McCamy ( 1949)4, and Jackson (1955)’ only briefly dwelt on the topic of documents circulation but failed to provide any documentation. None of the studies or brief articles mentioned above dealt with the question of documents circulation in academic depository libraries which account for more than half of the depository system. The question of documents circulation is of serious interest to academic libraries. Greater efforts are being made in the area of bibliographic control of documents and the last few years have seen the significant involvement of commercial publishers. Documents librarians, through the 43

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Government Publications Review, Vol. 3. PP. 43-49 (1976). Pergamon Press Printed in U.S.A.

CIRCULATION OF FEDERAL DOCUMENTS IN ACADEMIC DEPOSITORY LIBRARIES

PHILIPA.YANNARELLAANDRAOALURI

Gene Eppley Library, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Box 688, Downtown Station, Omaha, NE 68101

ABSTRACT

A postcard-questionnaire was mailed to 213 academic deposi- tory libmries to survey their policies regarding circulation of U.S. Government documents. Of the 196 responding libraries, 90% circulate documents to the academic clientele and 35% circulate to the general public as well. The type of access (closed or open stacks) or the nature of the collection (separate or integrated) has no impact on documents circulation. Forty-three percent of the libraries which circulate documents encounter problems in their return on time. However, 63% of them are satisfied by the success of their remedial steps.

While many aspects of the administration of government documents in depository libraries have been described in library literature, documents circulation policies pursued by the depository libraries have received sparse attention. Eastin (1948)’ conducted a survey of the then existing

542 depository libraries and reported that 15% of them did not circulate documents, some because “they believe that by law they are prevented from circulating depository publications.” This study was primarily concerned with the annual circulation of documents. No distinction was made between circulation within and outside the library. Eastin further reported that 356 libraries did not keep records on documents circulation. Schwarzkopf (1974)2 reported in his survey of regional depositories that 40 regionals circulated documents locally and three academic regionals did not. However, the regionals formed only a small percent of the total depository system; academic depositories alone number over 750. Harleston and Stoffle ( 1974)3, McCamy ( 1949)4, and Jackson (1955)’ only briefly dwelt on the topic of documents circulation but failed to provide any documentation. None of the studies or brief articles mentioned above dealt with the question of documents circulation in academic depository libraries which account for more than half of the depository system.

The question of documents circulation is of serious interest to academic libraries. Greater efforts are being made in the area of bibliographic control of documents and the last few years have seen the significant involvement of commercial publishers. Documents librarians, through the

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American Library Association’s Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) are making a concerted effort to promote the understanding and use of government documents. Reference librarians’ increased interest in the wide variety of information published by the U.S. Government6 is bound to be reflected in the more in-depth library instructional programs currently gaining popularity in academic libraries. All these developments, once firmly established, should have significant effect on the circulation policies followed by academic depository libraries. The absence of information on these policies makes it difficult for libraries to review and

formulate coherent circulation policies.

This survey was undertaken to discover how many academic depositories circulate documents. Since real or perceived problems with documents circulation act as deterrents to liberal circulation policies, the survey also inquired if the libraries which circulate documents faced any problems; and, if they did, what remedial steps were taken; and finally, if these steps were successful. It is hoped that the findings of the survey will provide guidelines to academic depository libraries in

reviewing their circulation policies. For this study, 213 academic libraries of varying size (in terms of enrollment, documents

collection size, etc.) from all 50 states were arbitrarily selected from the list of depository libraries published in the September 1974 issue of the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications. This selection included all the academic regional depositories. Other types of libraries included university libraries, state college libraries, branch libraries of the same university, and

libraries of four-year colleges. The questionnaire (see Appendix) was kept short and simple so that respondents would be

more likely to complete and return it. This simplicity undoubtedly affected the return rate which was exceptionally high (92.5%) since 196 useable replies were received out of 213 questionnaires.

ANALYSIS OF THE REPLIES

Number of Libraries which Circulate Documents

It is very interesting to note that 90% of those libraries which responded, (i.e. 176) circulate government documents, 10% (i.e. 20) do not.

Apparently, a majority of the documents librarians interpret the Depository Library Act in a liberal manner. This Act stipulates “Depository libraries shall make Government publications available for the free use of the general public, . . .” (44 U.S.C. 1911) (Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat 1286). This stipulation has been interpreted in two ways: (1) that the depository libraries should circulate their documents; or (2) that the libraries should not circulate them since they must be made available at all times .’ More documents librarians surveyed favor the first interpretation; as one librarian commented, “I feel very strongly that government publications collections should be open and circulate to achieve greatest utilization.” Neither the Act nor the Congressional hearings that preceded its enactment states anything categorically about the circulation or non-circulation of the deposited documents. The Superintendent of Documents, in his Instructions to Depository Libraries,’ leaves the decision of documents circulation to the depository libraries: “. . . if they cthe documents1 can circulate as do other books in your collection, so much the better.” He goes on to state, “those libraries wishing to keep their

depository collection intact may find it convenient to purchase extra copies of Government Publications through our Sales Program for use in circulation.” Clearly, there is no substance to the contention that the Depository Library Act demands either circulation or non-circulation of the documents. However, treating the government documents like any other library material for circulation purposes will go a long way in making them “available for the free use of the general public.”

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A number of responding libraries place restrictions on the circulation of some government documents. For example, the following types of documents are frequently mentioned as non-circulating: documents with reference value (such as statistical abstracts, organization manuals, census publications), the serial set, documents which are heavily used, items too expensive to replace, the Congressional Record, serial publications, indexes, law volumes (such as U.S. Code, Federal Regisrer), maps, rare volumes, and easily lost material.

Clientele to whom Documents are Circulated

About 91% of the libraries circulate documents to faculty; 87% to students; 85% to staff; 92%

on interlibrary loan; and 35% to others.

Number of libraries circulating documents to:

Faculty 178 Students 171

Staff 166 Interlibrary loan 181 Other 68

Though the number of libraries which circulate documents to students is high, undergraduate students are frequently denied loan privileges. Keeping this exception in mind, it is interesting that 85% of the libraries circulate documents to faculty, students and staff.

It is also noteworthy that more than 90% of the libraries are willing to make their documents available to other libraries through interlibrary loan. However, not all of these libraries receive such

requests. One possible reason is that major academic libraries and regional depository libraries serve the interlibrary loan function better than partial depositories. Only one library surveyed restricts material sent through interlibrary loan service. It circulates all documents “except depository and reference items.”

The fact that more than 90% of the libraries are willing to make their documents collections available to other libraries is probably because the concept of interlibrary cooperation is firmly accepted by the library profession. However, some documents librarians hold the view that they are required by law to make deposited documents available to other libraries through interlibrary loan services. Strictly speaking, this is not true. While the Depository Library Act is specific about the interlibrary loan responsibilities of the regional depositories (44 U.S.C. 1912) (Pub. L. 90-620, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat 1286), it does not mention anything about those of the depository libraries.

Another interesting fact is the relatively large number of libraries (35%) which loan documents to the general public. One librarian said, “depository libraries are required to circulate to U.S. citizens and anyone else who needs them.” As has already been shown, this is a rather broad interpretation of the Depository Library Act but is probably close to the spirit of the law. Also, this loose interpretation is the result of the vagueness in the wording of the Act itself. In any case, documents are circulated to non-academic clientele such as local residents over 18; local business firms, companies, industries; residents of the State; U.S. citizens; anyone with sufficient identification such as a driver’s license; local government agencies; courtesy card holders; other institutions; and outside researchers with special permission.

Problems in Circulating the Documents

Following is the breakdown of responses from all the libraries to the question: “Do you encounter problems in their cfederal documents1 return?”

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Yes, having problems 49 (25%) Yes, sometimes 26 (13.3%) No more than with other material 20 (10.2%) No problems 89 (45.4%) Do not know 2 (1.0%) Did not answer 10 (5.1%)

Here, the significant information is that only 38% of the libraries experience problems with the circulation of documents; 55.6% of the libraries either do not experience any problems or, if they do, they are not significantly different from those experienced due to circulation of any other library material. It is interesting to compare a similar survey conducted by Hemon and Pastine (1972)’ on the circulation of reference material. They found that 68% of the libraries which permit the circulation of reference material have problems. In the case of documents circulation, this percentage is only slightly higher than 40%. It is possible that librarians are not as alarmed about documents not being returned on due date. Slight delays in returning documents may not cause much inconvenience to other patrons. It is also likely that, because of the nature of the content of documents, documents librarians are more interested in circulating this type of material.

Steps Employed by the Libraries to Remedy the Circulation Problems

The libraries which face problems arising from documents circulation employ a variety of remedial methods. Following are the methods used by respondents to combat problems. The number of times each method was mentioned by respondents is noted:

Overdue notices (53); phone calls, verbal reminders (23); fines (25); replacement charges (9); collection agency (1); withdrawal of user privileges (4); assigning non-circulating status to the documents (3); withholding of student records (6); preventing registration the following term (1); personally retrieving overdue items from the faculty (1); contacting the professor in the case of

delinquent student (1); following up personally (1); stopping circulation to the students altogether (1); restricting the circulation period (2); restricting the number of loans to 100 each month (1); circulating documents through the Circulation Department (or following their procedures) (8); circulating through the Documents Department (instead of through the Circulation Department) (1); individual action in each case (1); term loan (1); replacement (1); and renewal (1).

Seven libraries specifically mentioned that they do not impose fines on delinquent borrowers. One library said it does not withhold student grades if documents are overdue. Apparently they either feel the above methods are too harsh or they are satisfied that less punitive methods are equally successful.

Imposing fines on the overdue material still remains a common method of tackling delinquent borrowers. Some of the fines include: 154 per day; $1.00 per day; $10.00 flat charge; and $25.00. Similarly replacement charges include $5.00 per item; “Monthly Catalog cost” plus $2.00 processing fee. One librarian said, if the overdue notices fail, “we order a replacement copy and

charge it against the faculty member’s departmental library allotment.” A few other problems librarians face in connection with documents circulation include: (1)

documents returned but misplaced within the library; (2) pilfering or unauthorized circulation of the material; and (3) lack of adequate staff to follow up problems.

Circulating the documents to the non-academic community, academic staff, and other libraries through interlibrary loan does not seem to present serious problems. However, academic libraries face many problems in circulating the material to the faculty and students. While the general public and interlibrary loan were cited only once each as the causes of problems, faculty

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and students were identified as causing problems 25 times. This is not surprising since these two groups are the heaviest borrowers of library material, Faculty have been called the ‘worst offenders’. One librarian said, “faculty do not return documents and it is difficult to take any action.” However, faculty offenders are treated in a deferential manner and are not subjected to as many academic and non-academic sanctions as the students are. Many librarians solve (or postpone) the problem by such means as extended borrowing privileges or indefinite loans; and fine only in ‘extreme cases.’ One librarian pointed out “the problem is usually limited to the same

professors, semester after semester.” Faculty extended loan has been justified on the ground that

“most materials borrowed for extended loans are of a specialized nature.” On the other hand, there do not seem to be established procedures (especially in smaller academic libraries) to fine the faculty or otherwise handle the circulation problems stemming from them. Hernon and Pastine (1972)’ described a ‘blacklist’ method to handle the problem with the faculty. In this method, the offenders are not permitted to check out more library material until overdue items are returned. A blacklist method avoids the unpalatable alternative of imposing fines on the faculty.

In comparison with the way the faculty offenders are treated, student delinquents are handled in a harsher manner. Usually they are the first to be fined - even by libraries which have a definite

policy of not fining faculty. In addition, undergraduates may not have loan privileges in some libraries. Student offenders face a variety of measures: withholding of grades, diplomas, and/or prevention from registering the following term. Only one library specifies that student grades will not be withheld. While these ‘jawboning techniques’ work, one librarian put the problem in perspective saying, “getting the material back is the important thing.”

Success of the Remedial Steps to the Circulation Problems

About 63% of the libraries with circulation problems, indicated that their remedial steps were successful. (Thirteen of these libraries modified their replies with comments such as ‘generally; ‘usually;’ ‘fairly c “ m most cases;’ etc.). Twenty-one percent of the libraries said remedial steps employed by them were partially successful. Only 13% of the libraries reported that they were not successful in reducing circulation problems; and one librarian complained that the situation becomes worse all the time.

Have these steps been successful? Yes 47

Yes, partly 16 No 10 Unable to answer -2

75

It is likely circulation problems are slightly worse in the regional depositories. (Twelve of the 21 responding regional depositories reported problems.) One especially exasperated librarian from a regional depository commented about the effectiveness of their efforts to solve these problems:

not much you can do - write letters, send overdue notices - you are obligated by law to make documents available to the people. As a regional depository library we are doubly responsible - the only alternative is to not circulate documents or shoot all those who misuse them - the last is not legal and the ftrst is unfair. We have no answer.

A more optimistic opinion was expressed by another regional depository librarian who said, “overdue notices generally bring good results and the delinquents we report are usually few in

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comparison with total users.” At least one librarian is not sorry for the failure of the measures employed by her library. She said, “would prefer circulation to any other solution. Feel other solutions are less desirable. Open stacks and no circulation Ileads to1 high theft rate. Closed stacks Imeans high library cost candx greater inconvenience to user.”

Influence of Type of Access and Type of Collection on Circulation

There are a number of factors likely to influence the decision whether or not to circulate documents. Among these are (a) nature of physical access (such as open or closed stacks); and (b) nature of the organization of the collection (such as integrated or separate collection). It can be speculated that if documents stacks are closed to the patrons, they are less likely to be circulated. If the stacks are open to the public, there probably will be more browsing and greater pressure on the library to circulate them. Similarly, if documents are integrated, the circulation policies will

not be any different from those of other library material. Consequently, they are more likely to be circulated. On the other hand, documents which are kept in a separate collection (with separate

physical and bibliographic accesses as well as the relative unfamiliarity of reference librarians with this material), are less likely to be circulated. Testing of these two hypotheses show that neither the nature of access nor the nature of organization of documents has any significant influence on their circulation. The data is shown below in tabular form.

TABLE 1

CIRCULATION VS. NATURE OF THE PHYSICAL ACCESS

Access Circulation Yes No

Closed stacks 25 (80.6%) 6 (19.4%)

Open stacks 142 (91.6%) 13 (8.4%)

Other 9 (90%) 1 (10%)

TABLE 2

CIRCULATION VS. NATURE OF THE COLLECTION ORGANIZATION

Collection Circulation

Organization Yes No

Integrated 10 (91%) 1 (9%) Separate 82 (87.2%) 12 (12.8%)

Both 82 (92%) 7 (7.9%)

CONCLUSION

The picture of federal documents circulation is encouraging, as most of the academic depository libraries surveyed pursue liberal policies. The libraries which circulate documents reported no serious problems in getting the material returned which cannot be solved by simple means such as overdue notices, telephone reminders, etc. However, this study is primarily

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explorative and further work is needed to gain a comprehensive view of the documents circulation. For example, as this survey does not concern itself with magnitude of circulation, it is not certain

if the absence of problems is not due to the smaller level of documents circulation compared to other library material. It will also be interesting to know if libraries exploit the documents resources of the smaller nearby depositories to the fullest extent before turning to the regional depositories for interlibrary loans. Another question which merits study is the relative advantages and disadvantages of documents circulation through either Circulation Departments or Documents Departments. Further, it will be useful if the documents librarians disseminate more information on their circulation procedures and their resulting problems, if any. The picture will not be complete if the non-academic depositories are left out as they are closer to the man on the street. It will be of interest to know what policies they pursue in making the Government publications available “for the free use of the general public.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors gratefully acknowledge the help of Peter Hernon (formerly Reference Librarian at Gene Eppley Library, University of Nebraska at Omaha) in all phases of the project. Thanks are also extended to Maureen Pastine, Jim Sweetland, and Jeff St. Clair (all Reference Librarians at Gene Eppley Library) for their critical comments of the manuscript. Special thanks are due to Yuri Nakata for her stringent editorial criticisms.

APPENDIX

Questionnaire on documents circulation policies:

1. Is your government document collection: Closed stacks -Open stacks -Other- 2. Is the collection: Integrated-Separate-or Both_ 3. Do you circulate federal documents? Yes-No- 4. If circulated, to whom? Faculty- Students_ Staff_ Interlibrary loan_ Other

(specify)- 5. Do you encounter problems in their prompt return? Yes-No- 6. If “yes”, what remedial steps have you taken?

7. Have these steps been successful? (Comment)

FOOTNOTES

r Eastin, R. B. “Let’s use public documents !” Library Journal, 73 (November 1, 1948), 1554.

‘Schwarzkopf, LeRoy C. Survey of Regional Depository Libraries for U.S. Government Publications. College Park, Md.: The Author, 1974, p. 34.

3Harleston, Rebekah M. and Carla J. Stoffle. Administration of Government Documents Collections. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1974, p. 138.

4McCamy, lames L. Government Publications for the Citizen. New York: Columbia Press, 1949, p. 65.

sJackson, Ellen. A Manual for the Administration of the Federal Documents Collecrions in Libraries. Chicago: American Library Association, 1955, p. 81.

6 Hernon, Peter. “The Academic reference librarian as documents specialist and promoter,” Pennsylvania Library Association Bulletin, 30 (March 1975) 27.

‘Hoduski, Bernadine E. “The Federal Depository Library System: What is its basic job?” Drexel Library QuarterZy, 10 (January-April 1974), 107.

aU.S. Superintendent of Documents. Instructions to Depository Libraries, Rev. July 1974. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1974, p. 7.

‘Hernon, Peter and Maureen Pastine. “Faculty loan policies for reference collections,” Pennsylvania Library Association Bulletin, 27 (July 1972), 175.