Richard J. Cox’s research while affiliated with University of Pittsburgh and other places

Government publication is a method of disseminating the archival record of government action and reporting and government documents in published form are an extension of government archives. While the federal system of repositories is functional, most of these are in libraries where archival management is compromised by library practices. The condition of stated publications these retention and condition and dissemination are inferior to the federal system. Archival appraisal criteria provide an intellectual guide to accessioning and acquiring governmental documents. Access to government documents is confused by odd mixtures of archival arrangements and descriptive techniques and library cataloging. Archival rather than bibliographic control provides solutions to many library-housed repositories confronting the problem of mass in government materials. Recommendations for cooperation between archives and repositories are provided with observations on the fusion of archival and library rules into a common professional information endeavor.