Skip to Main Content

Government Documents: Brief Overview

The MSUB Library's Government Document Collection

The MSU Billings Library has been a selective depository library in the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) since 1958.  The collection provides access to government information in print, electronic, and microform formats.  The MSU Billings Library is also a State of Montana Depository Library.  The collection includes governments information at national, regional, state, county, and city levels.

 

There are a number of libraries in Montana that are a part of the Federal Depository Library Program.  A listing of these participating libraries can be found at Federal Depository Libraries.

 

The Government Information Research Guide at the University of Montana and the Government Documents Research Guide at Montana State University also contain a lot of helpful information and links.

Government BookTalk

  • Understanding Tomorrow’s BattlesThis link opens in a new windowMar 31, 2025

    The global stage is increasingly defined by irregular warfare – think cyberattacks, global conflicts, and disinformation campaigns. A new publication available from the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) Bookstore, The Future Faces of Irregular Warfare: Great Power Competition in the 21st Century, is a must-read for anyone wanting to grasp this evolving landscape.

    The Future Faces of Irregular Warfare, from the Irregular Warfare Center, is an edited volume of essays on the future evolutions and trends of irregular warfare and competition. Written by leading scholars and practitioners of irregular warfare and national security, the book presents a forward-leaning analysis of how irregular warfare (IW) between the U.S. and its competitors is likely to play out in several key theatres, such as the Indo-Pacific and the Baltics, and in particular issue sets, such as climate change, misinformation and disinformation, economic coercion, and counterterrorism.

    The publication provides a platform for helping policymakers, military professionals, and researchers understand and prepare for the challenges ahead. Read this timely resource to better understand a world in change.

    The GPO Online Bookstore – Easy Access to Federal Publications

    HOW DO I OBTAIN THIS RESOURCE?

    Sign up to receive promotional bulletin emails from the US Government Online Bookstore.

    Shop Online Anytime: You can buy a vast majority of eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at https://bookstore.gpo.gov.

    Order by Phone or Email: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

    Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

    Find more than a million official Federal Government publications from all three branches at www.govinfo.gov.

    About the author: Blogger contributor Ed Kessler is a Promotions Specialist in GPO’s Publications and Information Sales Office.

    Images and additional content provided by Government Book Talk Editor Trudy Hawkins. Trudy is the Senior Marketing & Promotions Specialist in GPO’s Publication & Information Sales Office supporting the U.S. Government Online Bookstore (https://bookstore.gpo.gov).

The Physical Collection

Most of the recently published government publications are available online.  As time and funding permits, older documents are being digitized and available online as well.  Even though many documents are available electronically, the MSU Billings Library has a selected print collection of government documents including, books, reports, pamphlets, and maps.  Our government documents focus on Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park.  This collection is open to the public during library hours. The collection uses the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) Classification System.

MSU Billings Library Electronic Sources of Government Information