Collection Overview

Tulsa City-County Library was designated a selective federal depository in 1963 and a full state depository in 1978. In addition, the library is a repository of historical Tulsa County and City of Tulsa publications.

Accessing the Collection

The Tulsa City-County Library (TCCL) offers the public free and unrestricted access to Federal Government information in print, microform and electronic formats. As a participant in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), TCCL follows the principle of free access governing use of depository materials as provided in Section 1911 of Title 44, United States Code.

All of the federal, state, and local publications part of the Research Center collections. Many federal and state publications are available for checkout and can be routed to a branch library of choice. For assistance accessing these collections, call Customer Care (918-549-7323), or Ask a Question online.

TCCL's federal, state, and local publications are included in the library's online catalog. Librarians in the Research Center are available to aid in locating materials in these areas.

Public access to FDLP and State of Oklahoma information on the Internet and in other electronic formats is free of charge, though printing fees do apply. The use of library computers to access electronic formats is defined in the Library's Computer Use Policy. Tulsa City-County Library does use filtering software on all of its workstations and WiFi network.

Documents Basics

The FDLP: Helping to Keep America Informed

The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) was established by Congress to ensure that the American public has access to its Government's information. Since 1813, depository libraries have safeguarded the public's right to know by collecting, organizing, maintaining, preserving, and assisting users with information from the Federal Government. The FDLP provides Government information at no cost to designated depository libraries throughout the country and territories. These depository libraries, in turn, provide local, no-fee access to Government information in an impartial environment with professional assistance.

FDLP logo

SuDoc Explained

The government documents received at TCCL are housed in the Research Center at the Central Library (4th St & Denver Ave). These materials are primarily arranged by SuDoc, short for the Superintendent of Documents call number system.

The SuDoc system is an alphanumeric call number scheme that places materials together in the shelves according to the agency that issued the document, reflecting the organization of the government. Here's an example:

sudoc explainedclick the image for additional information

 

For a more detailed explanation visit:
FDLP Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Classification Scheme

Government Information on the Web

  • DiscoverGov
    DiscoverGov provides simple, one-stop searching across multiple U.S. Federal Government databases including GPO's Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) and GovInfo. It will retrieve reports, articles, and citations while providing direct links to selected resources and publications available online.
     
  • OK.gov
    OK.gov provides Oklahoma citizens and businesses with 24/7 access to state government information and services. The portal offers more than 374,000 pages of information and interactive services.
     
  • A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies
    Get contact information for U.S. federal government agencies, departments, corporations, instrumentalities, and government-sponsored enterprises. Find websites, email, phone numbers, addresses, and more.
     
  • GovSpeak: a guide to U.S. Government Acronyms and Abbreviations
    This guide lists acronyms and abbreviations commonly used by the United States federal government. Each acronym is defined and links to the home page (or best alternative) of the identified department, agency, office, program or publication. From the University of California San Diego.

Digitized Government Documents Collections

 

FDLP Basic Collection

Core U.S. Government resources made available at all Federal depository libraries.

https://libguides.fdlp.gov/fdlp-basic-collection