Government Documents
Sherrod Library has been a federal document depository for the First Congressional District of Tennessee since 1942, although many items in our collection were published prior to that date. We are currently 1 of 21 federal depository libraries in the state of Tennessee, selecting over 32% of the items distributed by the United States Government Publishing Office. Our documents collection is one of the seven largest in Tennessee, and we serve as a shared regional depository, with the University of Memphis Library as the primary depository for the state. Collection strengths are in areas relating to the environment, the Appalachian region, mining, health, justice, and veterans' affairs.
Since 2014, Sherrod Library is a designated Center of Excellence (COE) for federal documents published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.The Association of Southeastern Research Libraries grants COE status to libraries which are able to make a commitment to collecting, cataloging, and providing access locally and regionally for documents from chosen federal agencies. A searchable list of titles in our COE collection can be found at https://libs.etsu.edu/links/esdce.html. These documents are for achival purposes and must be used within the library, but for access please visit the Documents/Law/Maps Department on the 3rd floor of the library or email us for remote access.
You can find government publications in all formats--print, microform, CD-ROM, and online--in OneSearch. Other useful websites for finding government information include:
Govinfo - free public access to official publications from all three branches of government
The Catalog of U.S. Government Publications - finding tool for electronic and print government publications
Congress.gov - the official website for U.S. federal legislative information
Data.Census.gov - platform to access data and digital content from the U.S. Census Bureau
Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids – website designed to inform students, parents, and educators about the Federal Government
Sherrod Library has been a depository for Tennessee state documents since 1978. Search OneSearch to find Tennessee documents in the library collections.
For digital state documents, the ETSU Tennessee State eDocuments Collection can be found at: https://libs.etsu.edu/links/tngovdocs.html
Visit the the Tennessee government website at http://www.tn.gov for current state information.
This library is a congressionally designated depository for U.S. Government documents. Public access to the Government documents collection is guaranteed by public law. (Title 44 United States Code)
