CIC-Google Government Documents Project

Google Book Search Project

CIC-Google Government Documents Project

Project Scope

The libraries of the CIC universities are partnering with Google to digitize a comprehensive collection of U.S. Federal Documents.  It is believed this collection will comprise between 1 and 1.5 million volumes. Digital facsimiles of successfully scanned Federal Documents from CIC institutions will be accessible through Google Book Search, with copies also being returned to the HathiTrust Digital Repository, where public domain material can be universally accessed.
 
This project is part of an overarching CIC Library Director-led initiative to assess the opportunities HathiTrust might provide for more cost-effective management of less frequently used print resources.  With four CIC universities designated as comprehensive Regional Depositories for print documents (Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska), it is anticipated the Selective Depositories might be in a position to make coordinated decisions about print retention.  The U.S. Federal Documents collection is one of several categories of material where our libraries believe they can achieve efficiencies by better managing the relationship between digital and print resources, with assurances that an adequate number of print copies are available for future use.
 

Project Documentation

Documents Framework

Steering Committee Staging Plan

Implementation Team Charge

 

Participating Libraries (as of May 2011)

    Minnesota

Approximately 85,000 duplicate holdings were sent to Google for scanning. These duplicates cover the whole SuDoc range but are particularly heavy in the areas of Agriculture, Interior, Census, Labor, Transportation and specific Congressional committees, from 1976-present.

    Penn State

Approximately 26,000 volumes have been sent to Google. These are exclusively Congressional committee hearings, reports and prints published between 1960 and 2009. The library is planning to provide the Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent Office and selected Department of Commerce documents.

    Illinois

Approximatley 92,000 have been scanned.  The material was drawn from the following agencies: NASA, Department of Defense, General Accounting Office (GAO), Labor Department, and Commerce.

    Purdue

Approximately 8000 volumes of the Congressional Serial Set will be sent during 2011.

    Indiana

Currently working with Google to identify holdings that can be digitized.