What is the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) Classification System?
United States Government publications are classified by the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) Classification System. This system was developed in the library of the Government Printing Office between 1895 and 1903. Like other classification schemes, the SuDoc system has expanded as the size and scope of the federal government has expanded. The SuDoc system groups publications by government author. Government authors are federal departments, bureaus or agencies of the United States. Since the SuDocs system reflects the organizational structure of the federal government, government reorganization creates changes in the call number system. Thus, some series of publications can be located in several different places within a collection.
