About Government Information at the R.P. Bell Library
Description | Location | Finding Gov't Info. | Borrowing | Reference Help | Links to Government Information & Statistics
Description:
Government documents, also referred to as "official publications", are defined as information, in any format, published, authorized or sponsored by a government body. The R.P. Bell Library is a full depository for Canadian federal publications. The documents of other levels of government and other countries, as well as international organizations, NGO's, and other types of organizations are selectively collected. See the Collections Development Policy, Appendix A, for more detail.
The library is also a member of the Data Liberation Initiative, providing Mount Allison University faculty and students with access to electronic statistical files. Through agreements with Natural Resources Canada and Service New Brunswick, access is also provided to selected geospatial data files.
Mount Allison University students and faculty members may request acquisitions of government publications not held by the library by filling out the online order form.
Location:
Most government documents are located in the basement of the R.P. Bell Library (call numbers: CA1 - CA9). Others are integrated into the main collection, the Reference collection, or are kept with other, similar formats (maps, microfiche, CD-ROM, etc.) The online library catalogue indicates the location and call number of each document, and links directly to online publications.
Finding Government Information in the R.P. Bell Library:
Use the online library catalogue. Government bodies and organizations can be entered as an author. If you are not sure of the exact format, enter a keyword search in the author field or a combination of keywords (e.g. royal commission and canada and banking). The full record of each item will include its location and unique call number. Write this number down to find the book on the shelf. A guide to understanding government document call numbers is posted in the basement, on the first few book cases of the Government Documents collection.
Other finding aids to government information, government search engines, key web sites and databases are listed on the Government Information & Statistics home page.
Borrowing Government Documents:
Most government documents can be borrowed for the same 2-week period as the other books in the library. The exceptions are periodicals, Statistics Canada publications, and some rare and fragile materials and those designated as "Reference".
Research Assistance:
Reference Librarians will be happy to assist you at the Research Help Desk.