Documents from the following five collections are obtained through depository programs from each governmental body:
U.S. federal
Canadian federal
United Nations
European Union
Food and Agriculture Organization
The U.S. federal depository program explicitly states that "All Government publications supplied to depository libraries under the FDLP remain the property of the United States Government and may not be disposed of, except as outlined in Chapter 4 of these Instructions," i.e., Instructions to Depository Libraries, Chapter 4, Maintenance.
The other four programs do not state that depository publications remain the property of the originating governments.
Withdrawals from U.S. and Canadian federal documents depository collections must first follow the procedures dictated by those depository programs.
For U.S. depository collection instructions, click here.
For Canadian depository collection instructions, click here.
Both programs require libraries withdrawing documents to offer the documents to other libraries; if documents are not claimed within a specified time frame, the library may dispose of them according to its own policies and procedures. Any withdrawn U.S. and Canadian federal documents that are not claimed by other libraries are to be disposed according to Yale Library policies and procedures, with the following exceptions: two categories of U.S. federal documents are allowed to be withdrawn and discarded without following the "offers" process – secondary copies and superseded publications, as described in Chapter 4 of Instructions to Depository Libraries.
Catalog Maintenance. Withdrawn documents from the Canadian, European Union, United Nations, and Food and Agriculture Organization should be treated according to the standard Yale Library policies and procedures. However, because U.S. federal documents always remain U.S. federal government property, the bibliographic records for withdrawn U.S. federal documents should be suppressed from the OPAC.