Welcome to Government Documents!

The Wellesley College Library Documents Collection contains publications of the federal government, the United Nations and its affiliates, the Organization of American States, the European Communities, the Council of Europe, FAO, UNESCO, and material from selected intergovernmental agencies and foreign countries. We also maintain a small collection of Massacusetts information. Materials are received in print, microform, and various electronic formats. Most of the paper publications are housed in open stacks on the second floor of Clapp Library; while publications in microform and CD/DVD format are housed on the first floor. Some materials are also found in the Art, Music, and Science libraries on campus. Cconsul the online catalog for location and availability.

The Wellesley College Library has been a congressionally-designated federal depository for United States Government publications since 1943. Our selection rate ranges between 32%-34%. The federal depository collection serves the Wellesley College community as well as the general public. Although we are part of the 4th Congressional District of Massachusetts, our clientele is mainly from Metrowest Boston. Our primary collection areas are demography, education, and Congress.

Assistance in use of all government publications is provided from the Reference Desk at Clapp for the following hours during the academic term:

• Monday-Thursday: 10:00 - 6:00, 7:00 - 10:00
• Friday: 10:00 - 5:00
• Sunday: 1:00 - 5:00

For directions to Wellesley, hours of service at other times, and information on access to the branch libraries, please click here.

Telephone reference, with voice mail, is available by calling:

• 781-283-2100 (Government Documents, Clapp Library Reference Desk )
• 781-283-3426 Betty Febo, Government Documents Coordinator, or
• 781-283-3497 Jacqueline Fitzpatrick, Research and Instruction Specialist

E-mail reference inquiries should be sent to: efebo@wellesley.edu

Citing Government Documents

• The Complete Guide to Citing Government Information Resources. 3rd ed. 2002. Clapp Ref Z 7164 G7C48 2002 (Usually kept at the Clapp Reference Desk.)
• The Bluebook : a uniform system of citation. Clapp Ref KF 245 .B58 2000
       Used most often by lawyers and legal scholars.
• Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications from the University of Memphis.
• Try DocsCite from the University of Arizona.
       Choose APA or MLA, choose the document format (print, electronic, CD-ROM, etc), then fill in the blanks with information from your document.