Introduction
The Superintendent of Documents classification system was developed in the
Library of the Government Printing Office between 1895 and 1903. It was
first described in October 1903 by William Leander Post, then in charge of
the Library, in the preface to List of Publications of the Agriculture
Department 1862-1902, Department List No.1, issued by the
Superintendent of Documents in 1904.
Mr. Post gives credit for the foundation of the system (classification by
governmental author) to Miss Adelaide R. Hasse, who used government
organization authorship to assign classification numbers to a List of
Publications of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1841 to June 30,
1895. Miss Hasse prepared the list while assistant librarian in the Los
Angeles Public Library. It was published by the Department of
Agriculture in 1896 as its Library Bulletin No. 9.
This system has expanded as the Federal Government has grown. Though still
retaining the principles upon which it is based, it has changed in some
details and methods of use.
Because the classification system is based on the current organizational
status of the government author, it changes as the organizational structure
of the Federal Government changes. Thus, publications of some issuing
agencies may be located in as many as three different places in the system.
.Despite this functional weakness, it has remained a workable arrangement
for uniquely identifying publications issued by the United States
Government. The Superintendent of Documents classification system has been
used for nearly 100 years to identify public documents which were
distributed to depository libraries and described in the Monthly
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. The system is also used to
arrange the documents collections in most depository libraries, as well as
in the documents collection of the National Archives.
The purpose of this edition of the Classification Manual is to set forth
the current policies in effect for assigning Superintendent of Documents
classification numbers in the U.S. Government Printing Office. The user of
this manual should be aware that many policies and practices have changed,
sometimes radically, over the years. Where possible, the manual indicates
earlier policies that resulted in quite different class numbers for some
groups of documents. .
Manuals are updated as needed. Please, e-mail susan.matveyeva@wichita.edu with suggestions and questions.
