DePaul University Library in Chicago is designated as a new digital-only member of U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Federal Depository Library Program. The university will provide access to an online collection of thousands of federal government documents to share with the public, faculty and students. Pictured here is the Information Commons, a technology-rich, comfy space in the John T. Richardson Library designed for study and collaboration. (DePaul University/Jeff Carrion)CHICAGO — The U.S. Government Publishing Office announced the designation of DePaul University Library as a digital-only member of its Federal Depository Library Program. DePaul will provide access to an online collection of thousands of federal government documents to share with the public, faculty and students.
According to the announcement, available documents will include the U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations and Daily Compilation of Presidential Documents.
DePaul is one of some 1,200 libraries nationwide, nearly 75 percent of which are academic libraries, that provide free public access to published information on all three branches of the federal government.
The federal program can be traced back to 1814, when President James Madison authorized the 13th Congress to provide the American Antiquarian Society with a copy of the Journals of Congress. This allowed organizations to collect and provide access to federal publications.
“Libraries are a critical component in providing the public free access to Government information,” said Davita Vance-Cooks, director of the Government Publishing Office. “GPO welcomes DePaul University Library into this historic program and looks forward to providing information in digital formats for the library to share with its community.”
“Government information is critical to teaching, learning, and scholarship across the curriculum,” said DePaul University Librarian Scott Walter.
“Increased access to digital data sets created by federal government agencies and the tools to use them will allow us to provide greater support for faculty and students in our swiftly growing programs in data science,” Walter said.
“The commitment to provide government information services to members of the public “will also allow our library to contribute in new ways to DePaul’s community engagement programs and its efforts to deepen our connection to the city of Chicago,” Walter added.
Additional information about the DePaul University Library is online at http://library.depaul.edu. Information about the U.S. Government Publishing Office is at http://www.gpo.gov. And, information about the Federal Depository Library Program is at http://www.fdlp.gov.
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Media Contact:
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