Most materials in the John Griffith Ames Government Documents Collection are housed in open stacks in Sawyer Library and in the Schow Science Center Library. Some maps and most monographs can be charged out to authorized borrowers. There is free access to all documents in the Libraries by the public whenever the Libraries are open. Photocopiers are available. Some electronic publications, such as CD-ROMS, are housed in a closed stack area and are available on request through the Systems Office. To make a request, stop at the Research Help Desk on the first floor. Public Internet access, including such finding aids as GPO Access are available from workstations on the first floor. Reference service for all users is available during regular reference hours (normally 10-5 & 7-10 M-TH; 10-5 F; 1-5 Saturdays and 1-5 & 7-10 on Sundays during the school year. Modified hours are in effect during academic breaks.
The John Griffith Ames Government Documents Collection at Williams College (Federal Depository Library #0259) is located in Williamstown, Massachusetts (2000 Census population 8,424 ), in northern Berkshire County (2000F Census population 134,953 ). Although Berkshire County has experienced a decline in population in the 80s (-4%) and 90s (-4.5%) [source: 2000 County and City Extra, 9th edition. Lanham [MD]: Bernan Press], the area has seen an increase in the past several years in the number of high-tech firms located here. Tourism and the hospitality industry, however, dominate the local economy and many cultural activities highlight the Berkshire scene, including the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Mass MOCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), Tanglewood (summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) and the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. The area's past dependence on manufacturing has declined a great deal in the past 20 years.
As a research center for all of Berkshire County, the Williams College Libraries are committed to making depository items available to, and useful for, the public at large while serving the curricular needs of the College. Because of the limits of size and staffing, this depository depends on regional libraries and a large selective library for ready access to documents not in the collection; these libraries are the Boston Public Library, the State Library at Albany and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The branch of the National Archives in Pittsfield can also be a valuable resource, as is the documents collection at SUNY Albany.
Because of the relative proximity of the two larger libraries, as well as other depositories, and because of the increase in Internet access to government information, almost 100% of published government information is available to users. Given these conditions, the John Griffith Ames Depository operates most efficiently selecting about 25% of the materials made available through the depository program.
This collection is administered and developed according to the requirements of Title 44, Chapter 19, of the United States Code and the guidelines in Instructions to Depository Libraries issued by the Library Programs Service, Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office.
Depository documents in this collection and elsewhere are made more accessible to the public by providing appropriate indexes. We also lend documents to other libraries through Interlibrary Loan. For general users, bibliographic assistance is provided with referral to the local public library for Interlibrary loan or to the regional depository. No-fee Internet access is available for all users.
As the overall administrator of the Federal depository collection, the
librarian responsible for government documents coordinates operations
with other library departments. Responsibility for selection rests with the documents librarian.
Suggestions from academic department liaisons, faculty, students,
library staff and the general public are sought and encouraged. To make
suggestions, send e-mail to Rebecca Ohm rohm@williams.edu, Government Documents Librarian.
Item numbers will be selected if they meet the following criteria:
Titles will not be selected for which little demand is anticipated, or
for which adequate housing or expertise is not available. Examples of
such materials include patents, military specifications, highly
technical reports, management and personnel manuals, home economics
publications, consumer advisories, tourist maps, and promotional
materials.
As one of the first selective depository libraries in the country, The John Griffith Ames Government Documents collection has an unusually rich collection of older and valuable materials. For some of these materials, consideration is given to either housing them in remote storage or transferring them to the rare book collection. These transfers take place in consultation with the Rare Books Librarian.
This depository has always collected Congressional documents in depth and continues to do so, supplementing or replacing print and microfiche for permanent digital versions, when appropriate.
When appropriate, selected documents may be housed in the general
collection, the reference collection, or the Schow Science Center
Library, which is part of Williams College Libraries. Some of these
documents are classified according to the Library of Congress
schedules, others are classified by SuDoc number. The documents staff
and the staff of the Science Library share maintenance of these
collections; however, the Government Documents Librarian retains
ultimate responsibility for these materials. Specific policies follow
for special categories of documents:
Item numbers will be reviewed annually to avoid unnecessary duplication, to make efficient use of the limited space available, and to optimize coverage of available depository items. Community and curricular needs are reviewed annually.
Methods of determining needs include:
This Government Documents collection development policy will be reviewed annually.