Resources for Government Documents Catalogers
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Resources for Government Documents Catalogers

On August 15, 2024, the Government Printing Office's Library Services and Content Management division announced the closing in March 2025 of the Cataloging Record Distribution Program (CRDP), by which GPO partnered with MARCIVE to deliver federal document records to depository libraries. This announcement has been followed on September 5, 2024 by MARCIVE announcing that it will discontinue operations by December 2024, which has advanced the end date for CRDP to December 2024 as well.

These changes will have effects on CARLI member library workflows and practices. This resource page attempts to collate information for CARLI and library staff to consider alternatives for the future.

Last updated: February 20, 2025

GPO Closing the Cataloging Record Distribution Program

Announcement on the closure of the Cataloging Record Distribution Program

Letter from Laurie B. Hall, Managing Director, Library Services and Content Management, GPO, dated August 15, 2024

GPO, Cataloging Record Distribution Program

  • Provides background and information on services that are included (e.g., record customization) and excluded (e.g., barcodes, labels)
  • It may be useful to review and consider whether any may be established as consortial practices.

Navigating the Transition: The Closure of the Cataloging Record Distribution Program and the Future of Government Document Access <>

  • Acknowledges the details of the program and MARCIVE's partnership with GPO as the contracted vendor for the CRDP.
  • Refers to GPO's Sources of GPO Cataloging Records (listed below).
  • Identifies two of MARCIVE's services, Enhanced GPO Database Service, and Documents without Shelves, as possible successors for CRDP members to consider.

Events

2024 Federal Depository Library Conference, October 21-23. Events free of charge.

How to receive MARC records for your U.S. government document titles from OCLC, September 25, 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. CDT. Register for webinar.

CARLI

I-Share members that are CRDP participants, per MARCIVE CRDP site:

  • ISL, MCK, NIU, PRC, SIE, UIS, UIU

CARLI Network Zone Collections

United States Government Documents

CARLI created a central collection, United States Government Documents, in the Alma Network Zone on January 27, 2025. (Collection ID 61490589600005816) The collection is based on records from the OCLC knowledge base, "U.S. Government Documents - Electronic," and updates are processed weekly every Monday morning. OCLC's collection is filled using MARC records that correspond to titles found in the Federal Depository Library Program and contain GPO Item Numbers for selection. CARLI will be supplementing these data with records that do not contain item numbers.

Illinois State Documents

In addition to the United States Government Documents collection, Northern Illinois University created and contributed a collection of Illinois State Documents (Collection ID 61287292390005871) to the Alma Community Zone. This collection is available for any institution to activate. The collection is under consideration for sharing from the network zone.

Sources of GPO MARC Records

GPO

GPO, Sources of GPO Cataloging Records

  • Cites the below resources and includes links to other GPO records information.

FDLP Data Manager

Catalog of Government Publications (CGP) on GitHub

MARCIVE

MARCIVE homepage announcement, ceasing operations by December 2024

GPO Database

  • Monthly subscription plan based on depository library's item profile.

OCLC

WorldShare Collection Manager: GPO - U.S. Government Publishing Office

  • Automated selection of records from WorldCat using a depository library's item selection profile.

Resources

ALA, Government Documents Round Table (GODORT)

GODORT, Cataloging Toolbox for U.S. Federal Government Information

  • Includes list of sources for catalog records and user friendly descriptions of each service.