How Does
SuDocs Work?
Basic tips to remember
when locating materials using a SuDocs number is that
each agency of the government is assigned a letter or letters
for its designation. For example, all materials published by
the Department of Agriculture begin with an "A," Congressional
materials start with "Y," and Presidential
materials start with "PR". It is NOT a
decimal system. Each number after a form of punctuation is a
whole number. For example, materials published by the Internal
Revenue Service would be shelved like this:
T 22.2:T
71
T 22.15:R
15
T 22.44/2:55
B/2003
T 22.130/1:B
16
After the "T
22." the numbers are treated as whole numbers. Thus
the order is 2, 15, 44, and 130.
The SuDocs number
T 22.44/2:55 B/2003 can be interpreted in this way:
Everything before the
colon tells you who wrote it and everything after the colon identifies
a specific item.
For an extremely detailed
instruction manual on the SuDocs Classification System you
can read the Classification
Manual (1993).
More information about
government documents at the University of Maryland libraries
can be found in the Government
Documents and Maps division at McKeldin Library.
