Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications

Chapter 26

 

From this chapter:

The Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (MOCAT) is the major tool for finding information about government publications. The catalog marked its 100th year of publication in 1995. In the preface of the January 1895 issue, the superintendent of documents, Francis A. Crandall, expressed the hope that it would be the "initial number in a long series of official Monthly Catalogues."
Over the years many changes have occurred. A significant change took place in 1976, when "Anglo-American cataloging rules" were first used to catalog publications appearing in the Monthly Catalog. Availability of the Monthly Catalog in electronic formats, first on tape and later in other formats, has enabled the Government Printing Office to make information on federal documents available to a greater number of people. Beginning in 1996, a CD-ROM version of the MOCAT was introduced. Most of the features of the traditional paper version were included in the CD-ROM version. An on-line version of the catalog is also now available on the World Wide Web. These new MOCAT formats will make it easier for users to retrieve information about federal publications. The paper version of the MOCAT will continue to be available with shorter entries and a keyword title index. The problem with the paper version, however, is that you'll be lucky to find one (the microfiche version was discontinued after the December 1995 issue). This is just one example of how books and paper libraries may become things of the past; in the future we will have "media centers."




Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications