Government Documents at MIT

Searching the Gov Docs Receipts Databases

Why hasn't the data been updated since October 2000?
We've been looking for a better solution to providing receipt data for government documents. What we do is copy over the data in our USDOCS system into a the three separate databases above, and you search them using a very simple PERL script (search software) written many years ago. It isn't very sophisticated, and it isn't great with big databases. That's why we're trying to figure out what to do.

For monographs, Barton is actually a better place to look for receipts after May 2000, which is when we began cataloging most documents; for these monographs, the record of receipt is actually the fact that a bib record (either a brief one or a fully cataloged one) exists in Barton. Of course, given our downtime with Aleph and the fact that the gov docs loaders aren't working, you can't see receipts for monographs in Barton for June 2000- ... but we're hoping to fix that soon!

If you're looking to see if a specific issue/volume of a serial has been received, ask Maureen. If it was received between 1994 and October 2000, it will be in the Serials Receipts database above. If it was received before 1994 or after October 2000, you'll have to ask Maureen for now. Remember, whether or not you'll find it is based on when we received it, not on when it was published.

The Items database contains a record for every class number associated with each item number available for selection. It also includes local data, such as whether or not MIT selects the item number and how we choose to catalog it (sercat, LC call number, percat, SUDOCS class, etc.). This database will be updated soon (soon after 1/9/02). If you have questions in the meantime, please contact Maureen.

Search Hints for the Government Documents Databases:

• You are searching by keyword across the entire database; there is no way currently to search in a specific field of data.
• To search by SUDOCs number, enter the number with all punctuation.

Search Results in Monograph Receipts

Folklife Resources in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress - American Folklife Center
LC 39.9:14 (0818-G-01)
HUM, paper, /SENDREV
94-0370-P, ship date: 11/16/94, processing date: 12/27/94

Title
Agency
SuDocs Number (Item Number)
Library, Format, Processing Code
Shipping List Number, Date it was shipped to Gov Docs, Date it was processed in GovDocs

More Gov Docs searching hints and how to analyze your search results coming soon!