Superintendent of Documents Classification System

If you want to locate federal publication documents you don't need to learn the Superintendent of Documents Classification System (SuDocs). The Government Printing Office Catalog of U.S. Government Publications allows you to type in keyword or perform advanced searches.

If you plan on working in a federal library, an academic depository library or you need to access U.S. government produced documents on a regular basis then you might need to learn this classification system.

SuDocs will make it easier to understand which agency is publishing the document and when it was created. SuDocs is a system based on:

• the agency or department that created the document
  
• the sub-level of that agency (if any)
• the series designation (if any)
  
• the number that designates the title of the publication
• the date of publication.

For example: HE20.2:H81 translates to Health and Human Services Department Public Health Services publication entitled National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

To learn More About SuDoc Classification

• Cal State Los Angeles Library has a chart that contains the agency and agency code found in the SuDocs System.
• Federal Deposit Library Program has a on-line classification manual to teach you how to correctly apply the classification system.
• Illinois Institute of Technology Galvin Library Government Documents Collection has an simplified explanation of the classification system.
• Louisiana State University has a tutorial on finding government documents and Understanding SuDocs Call Numbers
• University of Iowa Library has a brief introduction page with clear examples.