U.S. Government Documents 

Princeton University has been part of the federal depository library program since 1884. Through this program the library has acquired a wide range of United States goverment documents that are essential in supporting teaching and research in many academic departments, schools and programs. U.S. Documents can usually be located by title in the Main Catalog.

As a selective depository, Princeton receives only publications it has designated as appropriate to its collections, approximately 60 percent of the total range of publications offered to depository libraries. The regional depository for New Jersey is the Newark Public Library, which receives and permanently retains all available government publications from the U.S. Government Printing Office. When a document is not held at Princeton, the Interlibrary Loan Service can usually borrow it for a Princeton user from the regional depository or from another library.

The FDLP website is a source of information for librarians who manage U. S. government documents collections.

GPO Access is an online portal for government information resources pertaining to the legislative, the judicial, and the executive branches of the federal government. This information is in the process of migrating "on a collection-by-collection basis" to a new digital portal called FDsys.

The general public is welcome to use depository materials free of charge. For access information and hours, please consult the the online hours (choose "Firestone Library - Depository Access" from the drop down menu), Access Information Page, and the Firestone Access Office. 

PLEASE NOTE:  While the general public is welcome to use depository materials free of charge, many of our U.S. Government resources, including many of the resources listed in this research guide, are not depository materials and may only be used by Princeton University students, faculty, and staff.  This includes most of the electronic resources such as Lexis Congressional and Hein Online.

Princeton University Library adheres to the following policies set by the Goverment Printing Office: FDLP Internet Use Policy Guidelines and Depository Library Public Service Guidelines for Government Information in Electronic Formats.