Community members are welcome to use our government information and maps collections in the library. For best service, please schedule an appointment with a librarian by contacting us at govdocs@uvm.edu or (802) 656-2542.

 

This department houses several collections, described below.

For questions and assistance, please contact the Reference Desk on the main floor or at library.uvm.edu/askhowe (hours).

U.S. Government Information

• The David W. Howe Memorial Library is one of more than 1,000 congressionally designated depository libraries established to provide public access to U.S. government information.
• The library receives approximately 90 percent of the publications distributed by the U.S. Government Publishing Office, in print and online.
• The collection includes approximately 900,000 publications dating from the 1700s to present in various formats—print, online, microfiche, CD, and DVD.
• Most of the collection is shelved in browsable open stacks on the library’s ground floor, available any time Howe Library is open. Some publications are housed off-site in the Library Research Annex and may be requested to be brought to Howe Library.
• Materials published 1976 and later may be identified in our publicly accessible library catalog (http://voyager.uvm.edu/vwebv/searchAdvanced). To identify earlier materials, please consult with a librarian at the Reference Desk.
• For links to online government publications, use our Government Information research guide at https://researchguides.uvm.edu/usgovinfo.
• Most federal documents can be checked out to UVM students, faculty, and staff, as well as those who hold UVM guest borrower cards (see http://library.uvm.edu/about/information/library_cards).

The UVM Patent and Trademark Resource Center

• The Howe Library is a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC), designated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). PTRCs support patent and trademark research and technology transfer. PTRC services are free and open to the public.
• See The UVM Patent and Trademark Resource Center for more information.
• Contact the UVM PTRC at ptrc@uvm.edu or (802) 656-2542.

Maps

• For access to the Map Room, please contact us to make an appointment at govdocs@uvm.edu or (802) 656-2542.
• Howe Library holds the largest collection of paper maps in Vermont, with an estimated 200,000 sheet maps of all areas of the world. The vast majority of maps in the collection are from the 20th century.
• The collection includes a wide range of spatial data resources including Vermont orthophotography and satellite photography. A scanner and a computer with GIS software are available.
• The Map Room is located next to the U.S. Government Information collection on the ground floor of Howe Library.
• Most non-Vermont maps can be checked out to UVM students, faculty, and staff.