Guidelines for the Disposal
of Federal Depository Publications
in Missouri

Title 44, United States Code , Section 1912 authorizes Regional depository libraries to permit Selective depository libraries under their jurisdiction to dispose of federal depository publications "which they have retained for five years after first offering them to other depository libraries in their area, then to other libraries." The following guidelines are intended to help Selective depository libraries in Missouri plan for and carry out disposal of unwanted depository publications.

These guidelines are customized for the needs of our state, but they remain in compliance with the Federal Depository Library Handbook (see "Disposal Process" section in Chapter Twelve, pp. 140-143, and Chapter Five, "Depository Collections,") and with the FDLP Guidelines on Substituting Electronic for Tangible Versions of Depository Publications.

Note: federal agency depository libraries in Missouri (such as the Federal Reserve and others) are NOT governed by the Regional library; however, they are encouraged to notify Missouri libraries of government publications targeted for disposal through the MODOC-L listserv or the regional's MO Government Documents Exchange List Service.

Disposal Policy Overview

The Federal Depository Library Handbook states that "discarding is a privilege granted by the Regional and not a right of the Selective. The Regional library may refuse to grant permission for disposal of any publication that it feels should be kept by one of its depositories for a longer period of time." (p. 71)  However, the Regional's decisions concerning the disposition of depository publications are not arbitrary. The principle responsibility of a Regional depository library is "to ensure the comprehensiveness and integrity of the government information resources in the state or region." Supervision of the disposal process is a primary means of achieving this goal.

Permission to dispose of tangible publications which have been retained for at least five years is usually granted if the publication is already part of the Regional's permanent collection, and if the removal of the item from the Selective's collection would not significantly compromise physical access to government information. The Regional might instruct the Selective to retain a publication, or send it to the Regional for addition to the Regional's permanent collection.

Disposal of materials retained for less than five years is allowed if the items are secondary copies or fall in the category of approved substitutions.  These categories are explained in Section III below.

While the Regional retains the sole right to permit the disposal of depository publications, Selective depositories may suggest proposals for the transfer of their depository publications to other FDLP libraries and to libraries outside the program.  All such proposals will be given serious consideration.

Suggestions and comments regarding these guidelines are solicited and welcome.

Disposal Policies

I.   Publications retained less than five years

Selective depository libraries may discard government publications without requesting permission from the Regional if either of the following two conditions are met:

a) Documents are listed in the Superseded List

Documents that have been superseded may be discarded immediately. Note: the Superseded List is not meant to be exhaustive; additional publications could meet the criteria.  Let the Regional librarian know if you find documents that you believe should be added to the Superseded List.

b) Documents are secondary copies

Secondary copies include duplicates, preprints (meaning, documents that are later superseded,) and unrequested documents sent from GPO by mistake. These materials may be discarded immediately without seeking permission from the regional.  Government publications received from sources other than the FDLP may be retained or discarded at the discretion of the individual libraries.

Though it is not required, libraries are encouraged to make secondary copies of valuable monographs and long serial runs available through the Missouri Government Documents Exchange List Service, which is also part of the National Needs and Offers List.  If no libraries in the United States request the documents, they may be discarded, recycled, or offered free of charge to the public.  They may be sold only if money collected is turned over to the U. S. Superintendent of Documents. 

II. Publications retained five years or longer

The disposal policy for publications which have been held for five years or longer by the Selective is based on the document's publication date. 

 a) Documents dated 1990-forward

Generally speaking, Selective depository libraries do not need the Regional's permission to dispose of materials dated 1990-forward if they have been held for at least five years.  However, note the following:

• Selective libraries should check the  Missouri Government Documents Needs List to see if any other Missouri depository is actively seeking the documents they wish to discard.
• The Regional library is actively seeking tangible electronic publications (CDs, DVDs, etc.) in order to build a complete duplicate collection. Please contact the Regional before discarding CDs and DVDs.

 b) Documents dated 1960-1989  

Depository libraries may dispose of any document published from 1960-1989 without requesting permission from the Regional as long as both of the following conditions are met:

• It has been in the selective's collection for at least five years. 
• The publication is shown in the MERLIN Library Catalog as being in the MU Libraries' Columbia campus holdings.  

There is one grace item in this category. The regional gives automatic permission to discard folded sheets and pamphlets published from 1960-1989 regardless of whether the items are in MU-Columbia library holdings. For the purposes of these guidelines, a pamphlet is defined as any print publication that is less than twenty pages in length, exclusive of the cover pages.

c) Documents dated prior to 1960 

Because the Regional library has a responsibility to build and maintain a complete legacy collection of tangible depository materials, it seeks to fill gaps in its historic collection. The primary means for accomplishing this is by requesting materials from Selective libraries' discard lists. 

Therefore, Selectives must request the Regional's permission to dispose of any publication dated before 1960 unless that publication is a secondary copy.
 

III. Approved substitutions

Chapter Five of the Federal Depository Library Handbook includes a section titled "Substitution of Depository Materials."  It states that "A depository is permitted to replace tangible versions with electronic equivalents provided the electronic version is complete, official, and permanently accessible."  Regional permission is still necessary before disposing of originals if the publication date places it in a category requiring permission (see above.) 

To request permission, libraries should submit a list of the material to the Regional according to the procedures outlined below. In addition, Selectives should also submit a brief statement justifying the substitution. This statement should contain:

1. Bibliographic information identifying the original and substituted copies.
2. Statement on the library's ability to provide intellectual access to the substituted copies (indexes, catalogs, etc.)
3. Location where the substituted copies will be housed.
4. Verification of the library's software and equipment needed to access the substituted copies.

GPO also allows depository libraries to substitute Internet-accessible equivalents for tangible depository publications, provided that the substitute is free, complete, official, and permanently accessible. Libraries considering on-line substitution should read the FDLP Guidelines on Substituting Electronic for Tangible Versions of Depository Publications before submitting a disposal request. Disposal procedures for on-line substitutions are the same as for other substitutions; however, the Regional will only consider requests if, in addition to the statement of justification described above, the library meets the following conditions:

1. The library provides direct, title-level access to the substituted copies, either through the library's web site or web catalog.
2. The library has in place a written policy regarding public services for Government information in electronic formats consistent with Depository Library Public Service Guidelines For Government Information in Electronic Formats (Administrative Notes, 19:11, September 15, 1998).
3. The library has in place a written policy for FDLP Internet use consistent with the FDLP Internet Use Policy Guidelines (Administrative Notes, 20:10, June 15, 1999).

The Regional will respond to all substitution requests, in writing, within thirty days of submission.

Securing permission to dispose of documents

As indicated in sections I and II above, it is NOT necessary to request the Regional's permission to dispose of ALL depository documents.  After a Selective has identified and set aside the group of documents that may be freely discarded, the process to obtain permission to discard the remaining items can begin.

Reminder!  -->  At this point it bears repeating that selectives may certainly CHOOSE to list all weeded items on exchange lists even though they may not need permission to dispose of some of them. 

The first step in securing permission to dispose of weeded depository items is to put them on an exchange list.   (We call it an "exchange list" because it will be used to allow other libraries to select and acquire materials.  It is also sometimes called a "weed list" or "discard list.") 

Documents on exchange lists are offered first to the Regional depository, then to other federal depository libraries in the state, then to federal depository libraries in other states and finally to non-FDLP libraries and private citizens.

The exchange list header should include the following elements:

• Institution name and library name.
• List number. The list number takes the following form:
  Depository Number--the two digit Year--the two digit List Number.
  For example, the list number for the fourth list of 2008 submitted by Southwest Missouri State would be 0330B-08-04.
• Publications format. Please indicate the format of materials on the list: paper, microfiche, electronic, maps, etc.
• Submission date.
• Name and email address of the contact person.
• Any special instructions or conditions.  Selective depository libraries may require reimbursement for shipping costs that exceed $5.00; however, the regional library is exempt from any reimbursement requirements.

All exchange lists must contain the following elements in the body of the list for each publication listed:

• SuDoc number.
  This should be a complete number; however, for serials it is permissible to provide only the class stems, as long as the complete date range of listed publications is also included.
• Document title (and series title, if applicable.)
  It is not always necessary to include the complete title, but the information provided should be sufficient to uniquely identify the listed publication.  If the title appears to be part of a series, please list the series title as well since many libraries have not analyzed the contents of serial collections.
• Publication date(s).
  Monograph publications are straightforward.  For serials, you may indicate the inclusive dates of the issues listed and any gaps in chronological sequence. It is also helpful to indicate whether serials are bound or unbound.

In addition, the following rules apply:

1. Lists should be in SuDoc order.
2. Cuttered serials should be listed individually by title.
3. Lists should include only one format type (for example, do not mix paper and microfiche items in the same list.)
4. Exchange lists must be submitted to the Regional by email as an attachment in Rich Text Format (RTF). The address for submission is govdocs@missouri.edu.
5. The words "Exchange List" should appear somewhere in the SUBJECT line of the message.
6. The filename of the attachment should correspond with the list number (for example, 0321-08-01.rtf )

All exchange lists submitted to the regional will be made available through the Missouri Government Documents Exchange List Service. The current address of the service is activelists.htm.  The regional will assign list deadline dates based on the list content. 

If the regional does not give permission to dispose of a depository publication, libraries may request permission at a later date.

The Regional will also maintain an archive of past lists.

Alternative Disposal Procedures

The Regional recognizes that there may be circumstances where the procedures outlined in Section III are inappropriate or onerous. In those cases, the Regional will entertain proposals for alternatives. All such proposals will be given serious consideration.

(Effective: January 9, 2009)