This study investigates the extent and nature of Use of the government documents collection at Rutgers University's main library for research in the social sciences and humanities. Because most academic libraries find that their documents collections are not fully utilized, this study investigates how to improve bibliographic access, whether to institute a more comprehensive bibliographic instruction program in government information, which sections of documents might be withdrawn or retired to storage, and which sections merit increased or decreased selection activity. A questionnaire was distributed to 575 users to explore the extent of their use of federal, state, municipal, international, and foreign documents, as well as usage of various bibliographic tools to gain access to them. After student respondents named 118 faculty members who had given assignments motivating them to use the documents collection, a sample of these professors was selected to be interviewed. It was found that bibliographic instruction in the classroom significantly affected access to documents and use of microform collections. Users expressed a need for improved bibliographic access, particularly by subject and title. Although the majority of users wanted recently issued federal documents, faculty members and graduate students tended to have more varied research needs. © 1991.
