On Oct. 20, Olin Memorial Library will celebrate its centennial as a depository library for publications of the United States Government. The University’s collection includes items primarily from the Library of Congress, the Census Bureau, the Labor Department, the National Endowment of the Arts, and the Smithsonian museums.
“People think our documents are all tables of statistics—and we do have scads of those— but we also have lots of colorful things and advice on a variety of topics,” said Olin Documents Librarian Erhard Konerding.
The Special Collections and Archives department at Olin is collaborating with Konerding to host an exhibit featuring samples of the variety of unique publications the University possesses. In addition to large and ornate books from the Library of Congress and yearly “Statistical Abstracts of the United States,” Olin holds such items as a 1978 pamphlet from the Public Safety Commission on bicycle safety that is styled as a Marvel comic book.
The exhibit will explore the history of how the University became a depository and how technology has affected publications over the past 100 years.
“[The collection] shows the kinds of information available and not only how that changes over time, but also the consistency over time,” Konerding said. “It’s still government information. The format may change, but the substance stays the same.”
An institution may become a depository library upon appointment by a congressional representative or senator, or by virtue of its being in a certain class of establishment, such as a public university. Since its designation as a depository library in 1906, the University has received, free of charge, publications from the United States Government Printing Office, an agency of Congress. The depository system was created in order to make government information available to as many people as possible.
Paper books to be displayed include items printed using letterpress, the oldest printing technique by which a raised surface is inked and then pressed against paper, and photo offset, by which a document is first printed as a film negative and then transferred to a photomechanical printing plate. The collection will also exhibit the progression from microfiche to cassette, to floppy computer discs, and most recently to CD-ROMs, DVDs, and websites.
These government documents are not restricted to display only. Almost all of the items are fully integrated into the commercial publications in Olin and can be accessed like any library book. Konerding believes that many people use depository documents without realizing that they are doing so.
“I see [the government documents collection] as a parallel to commercial publications, though you won’t see any Danielle Steel potboilers,” he said.
Depository items printed before 1976 are kept on the Ground Floor of Olin. Newer publications can be found in the University’s card catalog system as well as online at http://www.marcive.com/webdocs/webdocs.dll.
The Government Printing Office, the official portal and search engine to information in the United States Government, also posts documents at http://access.gpo.gov and http://firstgov.gov.
Konerding views the documents’ online availability as a benefit to their distribution.
“Technology changes things,” said Konerding. “People don’t have to go to the library to read things because the government printing office makes things available online and people can access them more easily.”
The exhibit at Olin opens after Fall Break and the Centennial Celebration, scheduled for Oct. 20, will feature current United States Superintendent of Documents Judy Russell.
“And there will probably be cake,” Konerding said. “I know that always gets me to come to things.”
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