USGS WATER RESOURCES INVESTIGATION REPORTS: A CASE STUDY FOR IMPROVING ACCESS

Since 1973 the USGS has published over 4,000 reports in the series, Water Resources Investigation Reports. Copies of the studies, dealing with water in localities throughout the United States, have been deposited in libraries for use by academic researchers and the general public. From the outset the University of Michigan Library sought to collect the reports comprehensively. Prior to the digital era limited resources caused the library to catalog only the series name and to record holdings only by the piece number. With rare exceptions, catalog entries were not made for author, title, or subject for individual pieces. As more reports arrived, management of the collection became more difficult and access to the individual pieces became more problematic. By the late 1990's attempts by patrons to consult items in the series often required extensive staff help for what should have been a straightforward, self-service function.

In late Spring 2000 the Shapiro Science Library embarked on a project to improve the situation. The project proceeded in several phases and with multiple goals. The most important of these were achieved by Spring 2003. Among them was providing a separate catalog record for each WRIR number in the U of M collection, thus making each searchable by author, title, subject and keyword from anywhere in the world. Improved bibliographic access also makes items more available for use via interlibrary loan. This paper discusses the need for the project, the challenges encountered, and the solutions adopted. It will be of special interest to institutions considering improvements to their collections of WRIR or other government publications in series.