John M. Olin Library Federal Depository Library
Access to the Collection
POLICY STATEMENT: The John M. Olin Library, Federal Depository Library 388, provides free access to the resources of the Federal Depository Government Documents collection to any person.
REASON FOR POLICY
Olin Library is constituted a depository for Government publications under Title 44, Chapter 19, Section 1906 of the U.S. Code. The depository law states that "Depository libraries shall make Government publications available for the free use of the general public ?" (44 U.S.Code, ch.19, sect. 1911).
GUIDELINES
1. Olin Library provides services that support physical and intellectual access to Government information resources in fulfillment of the present and anticipated needs of Cornell students, faculty and staff and, as appropriate, to alumni and the broader public.
2. Any person may visit Olin Library and use Government information on-site and free of charge. Government publications are integrated with the library's other materials and are shelved in open library stacks.
3. Olin Library Reference Department provides assistance and instruction on how to locate and use Government information. Reference staff are available at service desks or via e-mail or telephone. Assistance in borrowing documents from regional and other libraries through interlibrary loan is provided to qualified borrowers.
4. Olin Library provides facilities for using depository Government document materials within the library, including photocopying facilities, equipment for reading and reproducing microforms, and equipment for accessing electronically-formatted materials, both tangible and on-line, including desktop mapping.
5. Olin Library's depository Government publications circulate under the published circulation policies for Cornell University Library Faculty and Staff, for Graduate Students, for Undergraduate Students, for Library Card Holders and for Visiting Readers. These policies describe who may borrow material, including interlibrary borrowing, and for what loan periods. Government publications do not circulate to patrons who do not have borrowing privileges. The privilege of borrowing is a personal one and may not be transferred.
6. Generally the following depository Government publications do not circulate: reference materials, rare books, reserve materials, microforms, some journals, and maps.
7. Olin Library's depository Government publications may be requested by other institutions on interlibrary loan. Their lending is subject to the same regulations as those for other library materials.
8. Generally the following Olin Library depository Government publications may be lent to library patrons through other institutions on interlibrary loan: most books, most bound serials, most videos, most microforms, most non-reference electronic products.
Last Revised October 2002