SuDoc Numbers and Other Things

FDLP logo

Here at the State Library, we predominantly focus on state documents – but occasionally we handle the odd reference question about federal materials. Technically, we’re a Federal Depository Library and part of the larger Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) but our collection in no way compares to that of other libraries in the FDLP, especially the Boston Public Library which is the Regional Depository for Massachusetts. In FDLP-speak that means that the BPL is the leader when it comes to Massachusetts’ collections of federal publications.

Federal documents are classified by what is called the Superintendent of Documents Classification Scheme. Each document is given a SuDoc Number which consists of a combination of letters and numbers that indicate the Agency (and any sub-agencies) responsible for its creation, as well as information about what type of document it is or what its serial/series title is and any other information necessary for distinguishing it from other publications. If you really want to get into the details of the system, you can read all about it here: Introduction to the Classification Guidelines | FDLP

Diagraming the number helps me understand what I’m reading whenever I come across a federal publication. For example, the publication titled, Wildflowers of the Savannah River Site has a SuDoc number of A 13.150:W 64. This SuDoc number was taken from Structure of the Classification Number | FDLP which has a way more detailed explanation than what I’m about to provide.

Basic anatomy of a SuDoc Number:

This document was published by the Agriculture Department (A), specifically the Forest Service (13.), and that it is a general publication from the Southern Research Station (150:). The W 64 indicates the individual publication/book number.

In Massachusetts, the Public Document Series also had a classification scheme of sorts and in the Mass Room located within our library’s stacks, state documents are organized by a homemade classification scheme our predecessors invented.

Photo of Massachusetts government documents in the Mass Room. Photograph by Emily Buff

Thankfully, there are tools to help navigate the SuDoc system. You can look up a SuDoc number in the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) to find its title. Heads up – the GPO has a new search tool called DiscoverGov that is more user-friendly. It’s available here: DiscoverGov

If you find yourself doing federal research, some of these websites might come in handy:

** Note: this in no way is an exhaustive list of the branches of the federal government or federal agencies -- they also aren’t in any particular order.

GovInfo – Really, this should be your first stop when looking for federal material. You can find digital versions of the following types of material: 

• Bills & Statutes
• Budget & Presidential Materials 
• Regulatory Info
• Congressional Committee Materials 
• . . . and more! (The list is long and already on their site so there isn’t really much of a point to me repeating it all here). Some highlights from the above categories include:
• Congressional Committees
•  United States Statutes at Large (1789 – 2019)
•  United States Code (1994 - 2023)
•  Statute Compilations
•  Compilation of Presidential Documents (1992 - Present)
•  Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (1929 – 1932, 1945 – 2016)  Spoiler Alert: one of our February display cases in the library is going to feature our collection of these documents in honor of President’s Day – stay tuned!

Fraser – If you’re looking for primary sources on the economic history of the U.S., this is your go-to. FYI, they also have a nifty coloring book that you can download here. 

United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions a.k.a. the “Plum Book” – this is another resource that you can find on GovInfo which has the ones from 1996 – 2024 digitized (although the publication started in 1960, with its proto-type starting in 1952). What’s so special about the book you ask? It contains the list of every presidentially appointable position in the Federal Government along with the names of the people in those positions. There are over 7,000 of these positions, so it’s a bit of a beast. You want to know who the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education was in 1996? Check the Plum Book!

National Agricultural Library – if you are researching agriculture and related areas in the US, this library has tons of resources and materials in their digital collections.

As for the physical versions, you won’t find them in our catalog; however, our Reference Librarians can help you track down where physical copies can be accessed (most likely BPL). If you need research assistance, please contact us at Reference.Department@mass.gov


Maryellen Larkin

Reference & Government Documents Librarian

Scrapbook Treasures of the Community Music Center of Boston

Within the Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) Records are several scrapbooks, all of which hold a wealth of information from the earliest days of the Boston Music Settlement School and the South End Music School. You can find recital programs, event invitations and menus, newspaper clippings, mailings, and photographs of student musicians who undeniably love their instruments and the music they play. Most of these scrapbooks were compiled by Marilla MacDill, a former teacher at the Boston Music Settlement School who later served as a board member from the 1940s to 1960s.

From a page in Marilla MacDill's scrapbooks

 MacDill’s scrapbooks were gifted to the Community Music Center by her daughter, Katherine Barrows, who also served as a school board member. In fact, four generations of Marilla MacDill’s family served on the school board, including her mother and her nephew. MacDill’s impact on the CMCB lives on, as the CMCB awards the Marilla MacDill Award to faculty members who exhibit excellence in their teaching. The CMCB’s website describes MacDill as “a talented pianist and a patron of American music,” and “an unwavering advocate of music education for underrepresented populations.”

Carmela Ippolito,

Boston’s Prodigious Violinist

Each page in the scrapbooks is intriguing, but there are some which stand out amongst the rest. One of the most compelling figures I stumbled upon was Carmela Ippolito. The first clipping of Ippolito is shown here; the rest of the writeup reads, 

 

Ten pupils, ranging in age from ten years to nineteen, assisted by School Settlement Orchestra, furnished an excellent program. Millie Ippolito and Etta Wein, who are but ten years old, rendered violin solos. Those who heard the little musicians play declared their work really remarkable. At a previous concert Millie won great favor when she played a minuet by Boccherini. Last night she rendered the Handel Sonata in A Major, which has been found complicated by advanced students. Millie said to an American reporter, “When I was five years old my brother Salvatore, who plays a cello, would set with me nights and teach me the notes. When I was nearly six years old I took my first music lesson. In October 1911, I entered the Boston Music School Settlement, and since have taken part in the plays and concerts that have been presented by the settlement. I just love to practice, and when each session of school is over I go right home for my violin and then back to the music school. Instead of finding it hard, I find a great deal of pleasure in it.

Carmela Ippolito was born in Boston in 1902 to Vincenza Fiandaca and Pasquale Ippolito. Early clippings describe her as a North End girl; later clippings from when she was around 20 years old reference her living in East Boston with her family. It was difficult for me not to go down an extensive rabbit hole searching for more information about Ippolito, as there were a rather large number of news stories reported on her remarkable talents. Ippolito played a mandolin solo in Tremont Temple when she was four years old “for the benefit of Sicilian earthquake sufferers.” She was accompanied by the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a violin soloist at age 20. She studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia under Efrem Zimbalist, a Russian and American concert violinist, composer, and conductor who by age 21 was considered one of the world’s greatest violinists. Ippolito was based in New York City for at least part of the 1930s-40s, playing regularly at concert halls and booking recital tours.

While much was written about Ippolito in her early years, information about her later life seems to be scarcer. One of the bittersweet things about working in libraries and archives is how invested I tend to become in these individuals and their stories, often with many unanswered questions. Maybe someone reading this will decide to search for more about her and have better luck; in the meantime, you can read more about this remarkable collection in its finding aid linked here in our digital repository.


Alyssa Persson

Processing Archivist

Resource Spotlight Update: New Nolo Books

You may recall last year we wrote a blog post highlighting the new selection of Nolo books that our Reference librarians added to our collections. We started out purchasing seven Nolo titles and quickly found them to be very popular amongst our patrons conducting research in our reading room.

Since then we’ve added several new Nolo titles which have already been popular. These new titles include:  

• Renters’ Rights
• Every Tenant’s Legal Guide
• How to get a Green Card
• The Essential Guide to Family & Medical Leave
• Divorce Without Court
• Social Security, Medicare & Government Pensions
• The Executor’s Guide
• The Small Business Start-Up Kit

As we mentioned in our previous post, these books are part of our non-circulating Reference collection. While you won’t be able to check them out, you can always use them in the library, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm. Our Reference librarians can’t provide legal advice, but we can connect you to our Nolo books and other legal resources you may be interested in!

Reach out to us at Reference.Department@mass.gov or 617-727-2590. We’re always happy to provide research assistance.


Jessica Shrey
Legal Research Reference Librarian

Good Luck Cardinals in the Library

Happy New Year! We're starting the year off by sharing Audubon's Cardinal Grosbeak (plate 159) in our reading room. The bright red cardinal is the male, and the female, with the red-tinged wings, is perched below. Both are shown in the branches of the wild almond tree.

Cardinals are considered by some to be a symbol for the New Year, since they represent hope, joy, and good luck. In Massachusetts, these are year-round birds, and with their vibrant red color they can look especially striking against snowy scenery or winter's grey days. You can read more about the cardinal and hear its bird call on the Mass Audubon website.

Curious about the Audubons that were exhibited in Januaries past? In 2024 we displayed the Snow Quail, a northern bird which turns white in the winter to camouflage itself into its snowy surroundings! And in 2023, we shared an adorable pair of puffins. 

Visit us from January 8 through February 11 to see the cardinals on display.

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Farmer's Almanacs on Display

1793 title page

For the past few years, we've begun the New Year by sharing an historical almanac from our Special Collections holdings in our Collection Spotlight case. This year, we are keeping the tradition going by sharing three volumes of the Farmer's Almanac: 1793-1799, 1800-1809, and 1810-1819. Bound in ten-year increments, these almanacs are the earliest versions of the publication now known as the Old Farmer's Almanac ("Old" was used occasionally in the 1830s, but added permanently in 1848). You may also see older issues with the alternative spelling “almanack.”

The Farmer’s Almanac began publication in 1792 and continues today, which gives it the distinction as the oldest continuously running publication in North America. It was founded by Robert Bailey Thomas, a resident of Grafton, Massachusetts. Thomas was a schoolteacher who studied astronomy as a hobby, and then transitioned to a career as a bookbinder and bookseller and aspired to produce an almanac. He did so with the publication of the Farmer’s Almanac in 1792, and he served as its editor until his death in 1846.

The 1793 almanac is the first edition of the Farmer’s Almanac, and we’re sharing its title page, which indicates that it is “fitted for the town of Boston, but will serve for any of the adjourning States.” This means that the information found within would be applicable to other surrounding states in New England, but there were other almanacs published regionally that would be relevant for other parts of the country. This almanac was published in Boston at the Apollo Press by printers Joseph Belknap and Thomas Hall, who were also the printers of the fairly short-lived newspaper, the American Apollo. The almanac was then sold at the Apollo office, and also by Robert Thomas himself. The title page gives readers an idea of what they’ll find inside, described as “containing, besides the large number of astronomical calculations and farmer’s calendar for every month of the year, as great a variety as are to be found in any other almanac, of new, useful, and entertaining matter.” We have several 18th and 19th century almanacs in our Special Collections holdings, but not all of them include a farmer’s calendar like this one does. For each month, in addition to predicted weather conditions, lunar phases and astronomical calculations, and important historical dates, there is also a notation of tasks that a farmer should be completing at a certain time. For example, January 16 is shown as “cold but pleasant,” January 17 as “Dr. [Benjamin] Franklin born in Boston, 1706,” and January 18 as “low tides” and for all three dates there is the following entry for the farmer’s calendar, “look well to your cattle, and see that they are kept clean.” There was a wealth of knowledge in the almanac to assist farmers throughout the year.

A page of miscellany, showing a new method for making butter,
rules for a long life, and "Anecdote of the Marquis de
Lafayette and an old soldier." 

In addition to the practical information described above, the Farmer’s Almanac also included interesting tidbits. Throughout the years, editions shared “recipes” to cure maladies like pimples, freckles, toothaches, and corns. Cures were not limited to people, as there were also instructions to cure a sore of any kind in horses, or a wound in sheep. But if you tired of reading about medical ailments, there were also biographical entries for historical figures and listings and descriptions of memorable occurrences throughout the years, almost like an abridged history textbook. Almanacs would also include information like locations of circuit courts, the routes of interstate roads, and academic calendars for local universities like Harvard and Dartmouth. And to add a bit of whimsy, in later years of the almanac’s publication, each month also included an illustration and either a few poetry lines that described the month or a few lines of a poem that continued from month-to-month. Also on display, and shown below, is the drawing and festive verse for January 1814, which reads “Wish you a happy new year — friends and neighbors! / I wish you a full purse, full cellars and barns, / I wish you good hearts to enjoy all your labours, / And not to neglect your immortal concerns.” The almanac was a one-stop shop for information of all kinds! 

Listing out everything that is found in almanacs would make for a lengthy blog post, so just a few sections have been mentioned. The best way to discover the variety of published content is to peruse them, and luckily, more and more are available digitally. Some in our collection are available through our digital repository (links included in the blog posts below), and we’re also in the process of conserving and digitizing even more. A selection of Farmer’s Almanacs, including the 1793 edition, can be found in the Internet Archive and HathiTrust.

If you are in the Boston area, be sure to stop by the library from January 7 through February 4 to see a few Farmer’s Almanacs on display, and check out the links below to learn more about the almanacs we’ve displayed in previous years:

Strong’s Almanack from 1796 and 1797 

The New-England Almanack from 1815 and 1818

Peter Parley's Almanac for Old and Young, 1837

Fleet's Pocket Almanack for the year of our Lord 1789: Being the First after Leap Year and the Thirteenth of American Independence

Isaiah Thomas’s New England Almanac from 1797, 1800, and 1812 

Elizabeth Roscio

Preservation Librarian

Author Talk with Ellen Douglas and Paul Kirshen

• Climate Change Impacts and Projections for the Greater Boston Area: Findings of the Greater Boston Research Advisory Group Report
• Wednesday, January 15, 2025. 12pm - 1:00pm
• In-person and Virtual event. No registration required.
• State Library of Massachusetts - Room 341, Massachusetts State House
• Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/user/mastatelibrary

The State Library of Massachusetts Author Talks Series kicks off 2025 with a presentation on climate change specific to Boston and the surrounding area. Ellen Douglas, PhD and Paul Kirshen, PhD from UMass Boston will be speaking on their report, Climate Change Impacts and Projections for the Greater Boston Area.

Please join us at noon in our historic reading room or tune in virtually; the event will be livestreamed on our YouTube channel courtesy of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Broadcast Services.

Be sure to sign up for our Author Talks newsletter and follow our social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, and X) for the latest information on our visiting authors. If you are unable to attend, the recording will be posted to our YouTube channel to watch anytime - view all past recordings here!

About the Report

Published in 2022, this climate change report is a follow-up to the notable 2016 report focused on the City of Boston, published by the Boston Research Advisory Group. This updated report goes beyond Boston to include analysis of 101 cities and towns that make up the greater, metropolitan area of Boston. Douglas and Kirshen delve into the specific climate risks to this area including temperatures, storms, and sea level rise. Read the full abstract and access the article as a downloadable PDF for free via UMass Boston School for the Environment Publications; article link.

About the Authors

Ellen Douglas - Dr. Ellen Douglas is a hydrologist and engineer with broad expertise in the analysis of water-related issues. Ellen was a professor in the School for the Environment at UMass Boston for 17 years, researching the impacts of climate change on coastal and inland communities across New England before joining the AECOM team in August 2023. Her role at AECOM includes managing projects related to climate resilient infrastructure. She has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and technical reports. She was a contributing author for the 2013 U.S. National Climate Assessment and the IPCC Fifth and Sixth Assessment Reports. Ellen spent nine months as a Fulbright Fellow in Australia (2013-14) working with the CSIRO on the Water Values and Benefits project.

Ellen is a first-generation college graduate and one of only two members of a large extended family to earn a PhD. She lives at CanDo Acres, a small hobby farm in Fremont, NH along with dogs, horses and goats. She spends most of her free time managing the farm, riding her horse and her Trek road bike.

Paul Kirshen - Dr. Paul Kirshen has 45 years of experience serving as Principal Investigator/Project Manager of complex, interdisciplinary, participatory research related to water resources and coastal zone management and climate variability and change. He is presently Professor in the School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts Boston, Founding Core Faculty Member of the UMass Boston Sustainable Solutions Laboratory, which focuses upon climate justice, and the founding Director (now Research Director) of the Stone Living Lab, a partnership of UMass Boston, Boston Harbor Now, and some government organizations. This Lab conducts research on the socio-economic and biophysical performance of coastal Nature-Based Systems for coastal flood protection. He is also a Visiting Professor in the Civil Engineering Department at Tufts University.

He has been conducting research and consulting on the integrated vulnerability of metro Boston to present and future climates and adaptation/management strategies since 1990 and presently supports the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the City, and metro Boston in these activities. His research has been cited by the US Supreme Court (No. 05-1120, decided April 2, 2007). Since 2008, the consideration of environmental justice and equity has been an explicit focus of all research. Climate change adaptation experience has also been in other parts of the US, the Caribbean, and India. He has over 100 journal articles on these topics and numerous technical reports. He has received both academic and civic awards for this research. He was a Lead Author of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (water resources in North America) and the 2014 US National Climate Assessment (coastal zone). He received his ScB in Engineering from Brown University and his MS and PhD in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As always, this author talk is free and open to all. Assisted listening devices will be made available upon request. If you are able to join us in person for this talk, attendees will be able to participate in a question-and-answer session with the authors. Any questions or concerns, please email us at AuthorTalks.StateLibrary@mass.gov.

For more information on the State Library Author talks series, please visit our site.


Author Talks Working Group

State Library Newsletter - January Issue

Happy January 2025! What do cardinals, climate change, and historic photographs all have in common? They're all keywords from this month's newsletter!

 
Pictured here is a preview, but the full issue can be accessed by clicking here. And you can also sign up for our mailing list to receive the newsletter straight to your inbox.