The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library is one of nearly 1,400 designated depositories for U.S. Government Publications. It is also one of the older federal depositories in Louisiana, having been designated a depository by Congress in 1884. It is a selective depository, receiving approximately 65 percent of available publications from the Government Printing Office. The collection currently exceeds 150,000 documents in paper(paper documents are currletly housed offsite), microform and electronic format. Selection of government documents and related reference materials at the Howard-Tilton library is based on several factors:
- As a University library, the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library serves the needs of the faculty, students and staff of Tulane. The selection of documents is coordinated with the specific needs of the university community.
- As a designated depository library, the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library serves the information needs of users in the second congressional district of Louisiana. The citizens of this district are the documents collection's largest constituency.
- The Howard-Tilton Memorial Library's depository collection is only one part of a much larger information context that takes into account the strengths and weaknesses of the nearby depository libraries when deciding what publications to select.
- Space considerations and projected growth of the collection may affect selection decisions.
