New Image Collection: U.S. Government Manual

[This post was written by OFR intern Lissa N. Snyders]

We are excited to announce a new visual collection of the U.S. Government Manual (USGM) covers. The covers of each edition from 1935 to 2013 were digitized and additional information about each volume, like the number of pages and names of the editors, was collected. The cover images reflect the technology of the times and often mark important events for each year. Using the Library of Congress’ Viewshare tool, you can view this new collection.

The early covers use a simple “stars and stripes” design in various solid colors, like the Fall 1940 cover shown below.

The first USGM cover with an image is from 1962. It features a charcoal sketch collage of the U.S. Capitol dome, the Supreme Court façade, and the White House North Portico.

The 1976 cover was the first to use more than one color. It displays a typographic red 76 on a blue background.

The first color photograph featured on a USGM cover was in 1980. A panoramic photograph of U.S. National Mall taken from the south across the Tidal Basin wraps around the spine and back cover.

My personal favorite is the cover from 1984. In an effort to portray the modern technology of the times, a photograph of a desktop computer with books entering on the left and tractor feed paper leaving on the right demonstrates the transition to digital information. The computer screen displays the U.S. Constitution and the background image is of circuit boards in a fuchsia tone.

The USGM covers can also be viewed in our Flickr album and the dataset can be downloaded as a CSV file.

The USGM is the official handbook of the United States government and includes information about the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. A typical agency description includes:

• A list of officials leading the agency’s major units
• A summary of the agency’s mission and purpose
• A brief history of the agency
• A description of its programs and activities
• Contact information to assist the public in contacting the appropriate agency staff

Early editions were published more than once a year, either seasonally (e.g., Summer, Fall, Winter) or with multiple editions (e.g., First Edition, Second Edition). Starting in 1948, the year the Office of the Federal Register took over publication of this resource, it has been published once a year, usually in summer. The USGM has been available as a web-based edition since 2011. Electronic editions of the USGM from 1995 to present can be viewed in the Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) Federal Digital System (FDsys).

We hope you enjoy exploring this collection! Let us know which cover is your favorite in the comments. Be sure to follow @FedRegister on Twitter to learn about new editions of the U.S. Government Manual!