Jamail Center for Legal Research
Tarlton Law Library

Government documents - reference and instruction

As a depository library, the government documents department offers reference assistance and instruction to law school students and faculty, other University of Texas students and faculty, the bar, and the general public. The documents librarian offers lectures to Law School classes on request.

Reference services

The documents librarian is available for reference help and consultation in the documents office on the 5th floor. She can help

• plan search strategies
• guide you through the special documents indexes in the documents index room
• show you how to compile a legislative history
• introduce you to government documents on the internet
• guide you to additional documents sources in Austin when Tarlton does not have what you need, etc.

She cannot give substantive advice on legal questions or interpret legal materials. Reference help is available on a walk-in basis. However, if you feel you need an extensive help session, you may want to set up an appointment with the documents librarian. Telephone reference help is available on a much more limited basis.

Instructional Services

Individualized instruction on finding specific government information, constructing legislative histories, following regulations, etc. is always available for the "documents novice" or the person wishing to refresh his documents research skills. In addition, the more formalized lectures on documents research techniques in general or documents research strategy in a specific area of the law are available on request.

Guides and Finding Aids to Government Documents

Selected New Government Documents at Tarlton

What is the Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Classification Scheme?

What's Online On GPO ACCESS

GPO Access Training Manual

How Our Laws Are Made   (Senate Document 105-14, November 12, 1997)
      Text (166k) PDF (327k)

What is the Federal Register and How Can the Public Use It?