Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications

Monthly Catalog

Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications (monthly). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Superintendent of Documents, 1895–. GP 3.8.

This index has been issued monthly by the Government Printing Office since 1895. It is organized by issuing agency, with a variety of indexes to provide other kinds of access. Indexes refer to the entry number in the main section of the volume. Over time, the information in the entries and the indexes have changed, but there is usually at least an annual subject index with each volume. Author and title indexes are included with some ranges of years, and a United States Congressional Serial Set Supplement was issued with separate subject, author and title indexes for several years. The Serial Set Supplements were issued up to four years after the Congress which they index.

Because they cover a broad range of years, several privately published indexes are the easiest access points to the Monthly Catalog for 1895 to 1941:

Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1895-1899. Arlington, VA: Carrolton Press, 1977.

Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, 1900-1971. Arlington, VA: Carrolton Press, 1973-75.

Quinquennial Cumulative Personal Author Index, 1941–. Ann Arbor, MI: Pierian Press, 1971–

Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents, 1789-1976. Arlington, VA: United States Historical Documents Institute, 1979-82.

In 1941, the Government Printing Office started issuing author/title/subject indexes which cover periods of five or ten years each, making subject access much easier. This practice continued until 1976, when the main entries were expanded to conform with national standards for cataloging and a wider variety of annual indexes were printed. Two searchable versions of the Monthly Catalog are available on the Internet. The Government Printing Office version covers documents published by the U.S. Government since 1976.

Sample Entry From 1966 Index:

Congress, Joint Committee on Organization of Continued joint committee print (1966), 451 reports (1966), 4087, 4170, 13173 rules of procedure (1966) 451 Congress of Panama, see Panama Congress.

Sample Entry From August 1966:

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, House Documents