Government Information

Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) Classification System

Most federal government publications are indexed and arranged by the Superintendent of Documents (SuDoc) classification system. This system recognizes the AGENCY which produces the materials as the AUTHOR and assigns a letter or letters to identify this issuing agency:

E - Energy Department
HE - Health and Human Services Department

Example of a SuDoc Classification:

The example below shows how the Superintendent of Documents classification number is assigned. C 61.34:987 is constructed for the publication U.S. Industrial Outlook:

C Commerce Department (issuing agency)
61: International Trade Administration (subordinate bureau within the agency)
34: Number designating the title
987 Year of Publication (1987)

SuDoc Classification System

Here are the prefixes from the Superintendent of Documents classification numbers for some other agencies that you may be interested in:

A Agriculture Department
C 3 Census Bureau (Commerce Department)
D Defense Department
E Energy Department
ED Education Department
GA General Accounting Office
GS General Services Administration
HE Health and Human Services
I Department of Interior
J Justice Department

Ju Judiciary
L Department of Labor
LC Library of Congress
NAS National Aeronautics and Space Administration
S State Department
SI Smithsonian Institution
T 22 Internal Revenue Service
X, Y Congress
Y 4 Congressional Committees