Graceland University Libraries: Frederick Madison Smith Library

Constructed in 1966, the Frederick Madison Smith Library is dedicated Graceland’s first graduate. The library is located on the west side of campus, off Founders Road.

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Library Resources

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Find and access the library’s physical and electronic book collections. If you need assistance finding something, please contact the library. To place a hold, manage your check outs, or renew a book, login to your library account.

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Government Documents

The Frederick Madison Smith Library participates in the Federal Depository Program. The library holds government publications on site in our Federal Documents Depository. We also provide access to online US Government electronic resources through the links below. As a part of the Federal Documents Library Program, anyone may come in to access these materials from the Government Publishing Office (GPO).

Government Documents provide excellent primary source material on a variety of topics related to history, political science, state and local government, social services, international relations, and more.

What Can A Person Find at a Federal Depository Library?

Information on topics such as health, business, careers, the military, science, technology, travel, nutrition, and more
Books, maps, microfiche, journals, periodicals, and more
Historical publications dating back to the early days of the republic
Reference assistance from Government information librarians
Access to online Government information resources
A network of librarians to facilitate access to materials located at other libraries

Depositories also provide online access to Government information. GPO online services are offered to help users of all ages find Federal information, and depository librarians provide expert assistance in using online services.

For more information about Government Documents at Graceland, contact Kay Grigsby, 641.784.5483

Accessing Government Information

The Catalog of US Government Publications

The catalog of US Government Publications “is the finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online. Users can search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general key word, or click on “Advanced Search” for more options.”

It will also provide you with a list of libraries that hold the publication, including ones nearby you.

This Video Tutorial from Northwestern University will show you how to use the GPO Catalog.

The Government Publishing Office Federal Digital System

The Federal Digital System (FDSys) is a digital library of electronic-only Government Publications. It provides full-text resources to users, and like the catalog users may search by branch, title, subject, keyword, or collection using Advanced Search.

This Video Tutorial from CU Boulder will show you how to use FDSys.

Some content on this page is from the Government Publishing Office.

Special Collections

Graceland University maintains special collections of particular interest to the university.

The DuRose Rare Book Room

Community of Christ and Religious Texts The DuRose Rare Book Room is located at the Frederick Madison Smith Library at Graceland University. It is a small collection of specialized volumes that focus on the history and literature of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ, Latter Day Saints (RLDS), now known as Community of Christ. All books in this collection are non-circulating, non-browsable closed stacks. Access to these materials must be specially requested, and researchers must remain in the reading room with materials from the DuRose room. Much of this collection is cataloged, however, there is a significant amount of uncatalogued items in this collection, so not everything within this collection may be found via the library catalog.

Frederick Madison Smith Library

The Graceland University Archive

Graceland College and University History Collections The Graceland University Archive is also located in the Frederick Madison Smith Library. The archives contain photographs, Acacia yearbooks, The Tower Newspapers, paper, Ledgers, House Scrapbooks, slides, negatives, signs, directories, and many other bits of ephemera all related to the rich history of Graceland University. The contents of the Graceland University Archive is largely unorganized and uncatalogued.

Frederick Madison Smith Library