Because a lot of older documents might only be accessible in a physical format, you may find yourself needing to access physical government information depending on your research needs. This is especially true for any type of historical research, whether you're looking to study a particular time period, analyzing the impact of previous public policy on social issues, or trying to understand economic trends through the years. You may also need to access physical documents in the case of a government shutdown, when some government websites are unavailable. These physical documents can come in a variety of formats, including but not limited to:

• printed publications, such as books, reports, or pamphlets
• CDs and other sound recordings
• CD-ROMs, DVDs, and other digital media
• Maps and atlases

You can find the UH Libraries' collection of federal government documents in the basement of MD Anderson Library.

To keep physical government documents organized, we use a special classification system separate from the rest of the library's collection. This system is referred to as SuDoc. Unlike other systems, SuDoc prioritizes arranging materials based on the agency or department that has published the document. When you find a US government document listed in the UH Libraries' collections, it will have a SuDoc number associated with it that you can use to locate your item in MD Anderson Library.

Each SuDoc number consists of two parts: the stem, which includes a letter code for the agency and all the numbers before the colon, and the suffix, which includes everything that comes after the colon. Individual items are organized in alphabetical order based on the initial agency code in the class stem, then in alphanumerical order based on the following numbers and letters. An example SuDoc call number is C 3.186/22: 999. In this case, the call number can be broken down to:

• C: Issuing agency (Department of Commerce)
• 3.: Subagency (Bureau of the Census)
• 186: Series Title (Current Population Reports)
• 22: Document Title (Poverty in the United States)
• 999: Year (1999)

NOTE: all numbers in a SuDoc number are whole numbers, not decimals.

In case you're wondering which agency published a specific document, or you're interested in browsing documents from a specific government department, the following letters represent the different agency codes that can be found within a SuDoc number.