The University of North Dakota Chester Fritz Library and the North Dakota State University Library are authorized to grant permission to depository libraries in North Dakota to dispose of federal publications no longer wanted by a depository library. These instructions have been drafted for the use of depository libraries in complying with the provisions of the law and the requirements of the Superintendent of Documents, based on a memorandum from the Chief of Depository Services, United States Government Printing Office, dated April 7, 1995, revising regional depository disposition policies. It is hoped that they will expedite transfer or disposal of documents with a minimum of difficulty for all concerned. These instructions apply to all publication formats. Suggestions for revision of these instructions are welcome and may be sent to Pat Berntsen or Kathryn Thomas (addresses below).
1. Lists of needs will be prepared by the Joint Regional Depository (UND Chester Fritz Library and NDSU Library) and will be available on the World Wide Web. Lists will be updated regularly. Other depository libraries may also prepare and distribute needs lists if they wish.
2. A depository may dispose of any federal documents after five years from the date of receipt, or when superseded by another publication. Discards should be checked against the needs lists.
3. Publications not on the needs lists and held five years or longer may be discarded without offering them to the Joint Regional Depository, with the following exceptions:
Depository librarians may offer any publications held five years or longer to the Joint Regional Depository.
4. The publications listed as exceptions in item 3 above should be offered to the Joint Regional Depository. You may send an e-mail message to the Regional librarians if you prefer. Wait for a response before discarding these items; the Regional librarians will respond as promptly as possible. If in doubt about whether to offer an item, offer it.
5. Items listed in the Superseded List may be discarded according to instructions in the List. If you aren't sure about an item, check with one of the Regional Depository Librarians.
6. Send a copy of your offers list to each library of the Joint Regional Depository. Send lists to:
Pat Berntsen
Chester Fritz Library
University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND 58202-9000
777-4647
PatBerntsen@mail.und.nodak.edu
7. Publications on a needs lists may be sent to the library without checking in advance; needs of the Joint Regional Depository Libraries have precedence over those of other libraries. Don't send any documents not on their needs lists to UND or NDSU unless requested to do so.
8. You may offer selected publications to other depository libraries. If you prefer, you may use e-mail to send messages to those libraries that have it; all North Dakota depository librarians have e-mail addresses and are included on the GOVDOC-ND list. You may also offer discarded publications not wanted by another depository library to non-depository libraries; make sure they understand that these publications remain federal property.
9. When requesting publications from another library, clearly indicate needed items. Requests should be made promptly as items will be held for a limited time. Provide an adequate supply of mailing labels, and reimburse postage if requested to do so.
10. A list of selected publications may also be submitted to the Needs and Offers List or GovDoc-L. Items that should be considered for offers are long runs, bound sets, and monographs with historical value.
11. Publications not wanted by libraries should be destroyed, recycled when possible, or sold. If sold, the proceeds must be sent to the Superintendent of Documents. All depository documents remain the property of the federal government and libraries are not allowed to obtain any profit from them.
12. Documents which have been purchased or received as gifts may be included on offers lists as another library may have a need for them and may wish to request them.