University of Southern Maine

Maine State Documents in the USM Libraries

Where Are State Of Maine Documents?

Most State of Maine documents are located in a separate collection on the second floor of Glickman Library on the Portland campus. Education- and geology-related material are located on the first floor of the Gorham campus library, near the Reference Desk.

What Do The Collections Contain?

The Maine State Depository System distributes publications from most State agencies, including the State Legislature. The collection is comprised of annual reports, handbooks, rules & regulations, statistical reports, periodicals, special studies, etc.

How Do I Know If There Are Documents On My Topic?

URSUS (ursus.maine.edu), the catalog of the University of Maine System libraries, includes State of Maine documents held by USM. Look for URSUS locations Por Maine Doc and Gor Maine Doc. To the right of the location is the call number where the document can be found in the collection.

How Are The Documents Arranged?

The State documents collections is arranged by agency first, then by the type of document, e.g., rules, handbooks, annual reports, etc.

Each document gets assigned a call number by which it is filed in the collection. The numbers have three parts:

For example:

Part One -- identifies the agency

This part consists of a letter based on the name of the agency, followed by a number to identify that agency from others beginning with that same letter. Some numbers have a slash (/) followed by another number -- this is to separate different offices within an agency.

Part Two -- identifies the type of publication

.1 - Annual Reports

.2 - General publications

.3 - Bulletins

.4 - Circulars

.5 - Handbooks, Manuals, and Guides

.6 - Laws and Regulations

.7 - Directories and Catalogs

.8 - Bibliographies

.9 - Maps, Charts and Statistics

.10- Special Studies and Reports

.11--.36 refer to serial publications

Part Three -- identifies the individual item.

This is the Year/Month, Volume/Issue, Report Number or a number based on the title of the item.

Can The Documents Be Checked Out Of The Library?

Yes, regular loan policies apply to Maine documents.

How Can I Get Additional Help?

Ask for help by clicking on Ask A Librarian or by phone: at Portland (780-4272) or Gorham (780-5344)