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This compilation of over 500 United States Government bibliographies is the second annual supplement to BIBLIOGRAPHY OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1968–1973 (Pierian Press). Due to the Government Printing Office backlog during 1974, many 1973 and 1974 titles are included in this 1975 Supplement, which should have appeared earlier.

Bobbie Scull's bibliography of federal government bibliographies was begun in 1971 as an annual informational publication primarily intended for the faculty at Louisiana State University. Later she distributed it to libraries all over the state of Louisiana. In 1973 RSR began to publish these lists on an annual basis. This is the fourth such appearance. In the meantime these bibliographies were cumulated and published in two volumes: Bibliography of U.S. Government Bibliographies 1968–73 and 1974–76. (Pierian Press, 1975, 1979). RSR is proud to continue the annual supplements which are now computer produced at LSU. Although this supplement appears in Volume 8:1 (1980) in the future they will appear in the final issue of the year.

This annotated listing of 131 United States Government bibliographies with 1973 imprints partially represents the broad scope of Federal interest. THE MONTHLY CATALOG OF U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS was the primary index searched in locating these documents, though other conventional and unconventional methods were used. Since the search cut‐off date was the February 1974 MONTHLY CATALOG, a number of 1973 bibliographies may not be listed here. However, it is the compiler's objective to include all 1973 bibliographies in a forthcoming Pierian Press publication, BIBLIOGRAPHY OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1968–1973.

This annotated listing of 125 United States Government bibliographies is the first annual supplement to BIBLIOGRAPHY OF UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BIBLIOGRAPHIES 1968–1973 (Pierian Press). Most publications included bear a 1974 imprint, though there are some with earlier imprints which are not included in the 1968–1973 BIBLIOGRAPHY.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

The federal government is frequently described as being the greatest information producer (in volume, if nothing else) in the world. Yet, the fact is often ignored that the federal government, as an entity, is one of the world's greatest information consumers. Its concerns are great and far‐reaching; many societal problems are on the cutting edge of research, and all possible forces are brought to bear in addressing them. It is not surprising that the federal government frequently finds a large body of literature which must be synthesized and be made available for immediate use in a convenient form. To meet these needs, the U.S. government has developed indices to the scholarly and research literature in fields with which it is intimately involved: labor, wildlife, environment, energy, and so forth. Perhaps the best known products of these efforts are the Bibliography of Agriculture and Index Medicus.

Reference Services Review is closing its third year of publication with this double issue. During these three years, RSR has received numerous reviews and citations in the literature which have praised its value. Bill Katz, writing in Magazines for Libraries, called it one of the 50 best periodicals started since 1971. It has been highly recommended by American Libraries, Library Journal and Catholic Library World, to name just a few.

For documents specialists it was a schizophrenic year. On the one hand we waded through a Bicentennial flood of historical publications extoling the significance of the past two hundred years of federal existence. On the other we faced future shock as the Monthly Catalog was wedded to OCLC while the GPO moved further into micropublishing.