ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


C&RL News ■  A p ril 1998 / 2 8 9

Depository Library Program. The MOCAT da­
tabase is updated daily with preliminary cata­
loging records that will be edited and pub­
lished in future issues o f MOCAT. The GPO 
Access system provides online access to the 
Congressional Record, the Federal Register, the 
full text o f all published versions o f bills intro­
duced in Congress, the Congressional Record 
Index, the History o f Bills, the Lobby List, the 
Unified Agenda o f Federal Regulations, the 
U.S. Code, Public Laws o f the 104th Congress, 
and, through the Federal Bulletin Board, more 
than 6,000 other files from 25 Federal agencies.”

This site develops its value by allowing 
searchers to gather citations to federally pro­
duced information from an immense database 
o f information providers. By searching the da­
tabase, a user may quickly develop a compre­
hensive set o f citations on almost any topic. 
In some instances the document is available 
in electronic format directly from the site.

Where the document is 
not available online, the 
searcher can determine 
its exact location through 
the use o f a query screen, 
Input o f state and/or area 
code information to this 
screen returns a listing of 

each depository library in the selected state 
that holds this title.

Boolean, proximity operators, and trunca­
tion are all available in the search function. 
Available fielded searches may increase the 
chances o f obtaining meaningful hits in an ex­
pedient manner. The search results present a 
summary record for each publication. This 
includes title, format (i.e., m icrofiche, CD- 
ROM), date o f publication, issuing agency, 
SuDocs Class Number, and Depository Item 
Number, If the publication is for sale by GPO, 
a GPO Stock Number will also be provided. A 
link is available to display the publication’s 
cataloging record. Documents available online 
have a URL to access the appropriate site.

This is an important site for libraries that 
house government documents, and equally 
important to those that do not. Patrons ben­
efit from a quick response as to what docu­
ments are available and their location. This 
site is a win for the government, the patron, 
and the librarian.— T im oth y  E. M cM ah on , 
M etrow est M assachu setts R e g io n a l L ibrary  Sys­
tem ; tm c m a h o n @ sim m o n s .ed u

It was so good to so the eitordtetter Lee an article, such 
as Katherine B ranch’s “The axe for the fro­
zen sea … ”  in the January 1998 C&RL 
News, that extolled the value o f reading. I 
would like to em phasize reading next year 
on our cam pus, but I have been hesitant 
in light o f all the em phasis on tech n o l­
ogy, but your article gives me hope.

T he Arts and S cie n ce s D ivision just 
sponsored a colloquium  on Cold Moun­
tain. Everyone on campus was encouraged 
to read the b o o k  and then discuss it. O ne 
o f the English instructors led a lively dis­
cussion. I would like to work with the 
Arts and S c ie n c e s  D ivision to sp o n so r 
m ore such book discussions.

Thanks for the reference to the Library 
o f Congress site on Building a Nation o f 
Readers. I will go there right after I write 
this message.

I believe in all the new technologies, 
but I really feel as Branch does, that read­
ing still has a vital place in our world. 
Thanks again for your inspiring article.—  
Scott C oh en , h e a d  lib r a r ia n . J a c k s o n  S tate 
C om m u n ity C ollege, s c o b e n @ jscc.c c .t n .u s

mailto:tmcmahon@simmons.edu


290 / C&RL News ■  April 1998