Government Information - Public Access Policies

Boatwright Memorial Library - Federal Depository Library (#0635)

Boatwright Memorial Library serves as a selective federal depository library for the 7th Congressional District of Virginia. Additional depository libraries in Virginia serve each Congressional District.

This page provides access to federal governmental resources and guides to their use.

Access to Government Information

Any member of the public may access U.S. government information in Boatwright Memorial Library as mandated by law. The public has access to government information in all formats during hours Boatwright Memorial Library is open to the general public.  Access to the Boatwright Memorial Library's Government Information web pages is constant.

Anyone may request government information available in Boatwright Memorial Library collections regardless of format at no charge. There is a small fee for photocoping and printing that requires the purchase of a copy card.  Scanning is free of charge, but requires a user to have a thumb drive.

Research assistance for government information is available during hours  reference staff is on duty at the Main Service Desk at Boatwright Memorial Library. Please contact the Government Information Librarian directly if you want in-depth assistance (contact information is in the right column of this page).

Circulation of Government Information

All UR students, faculty, staff, alumni and Special Borrowers may check out government documents with their UR ID card that is also their library card.

Most government documents circulate, with the exception of items located in Boatwright Memorial Library's Reference Collection, Rare Books Collection or Special Collections; or Government Documents in poor condition.

A user sign-on name and password are necessary to access library computers. Reference staff provide temporary sign-on names and passwords to members of the general public needing access to government information.  Note that during midterms and finals, guest computer sign-on is suspended.

Library subscription databases are available during all hours that Boatwright Library is open to the general public.

Boatwright Memorial Library updates its computers on an ongoing basis to provide optimal access to electronic resources for all users and exceeds computer requirements stipulated by the Federal Depository Library Program.

All patrons of Boatwright Memorial Library may download, print or email government information in electronic formats from any public computer terminal in the library. Printing is subject to a small fee.

Every effort is made to make government information in electronic formats available to the public in a timely manner. Documents in physical format are processed immediately upon receipt. The library's web pages are updated continuously.

Last updated: 16-April-2013