Staff from the Government Documents Collection and the Digital Libraries recently completed a years-long project in collaboration with the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) to increase public access to our historical collection of military technical training manuals from the World War II/post-war era (roughly 1940-1950). Print copies of the manuals were cataloged, preserved, and digitized for the U.S. National Collection as part of GPO’s Preservation Steward program.

You can browse and view the entire collection here: Military Technical Manuals 

The collaboration was called “Pilot Project 2” and work on it began in 2022. UNT’s and GPO’s project teams worked together to classify, catalog, inventory, and evaluate 877 volumes.

GPO ultimately selected 632 titles for digitization and inclusion in the National Collection. E-book records for those titles, with permanent URLs, will soon be imported to UNT’s online catalog for easy access.

As part of the project, UNT’s Digital Library contributed existing files from its World War II collection for manuals that had previously been digitized at UNT. These digital copies will be incorporated into the national collection; likewise, digital copies and metadata created by GPO have been provided to the UNT Digital Library.

These manuals are some of our most-requested government documents. They cover virtually every aspect of American military life during World War II and provide insights into how information was communicated at the time. Now, that information will be accessible globally through GPO’s GovInfo database and UNT’s Digital Library.

UNT’s project team included Robbie Sittel (former Government Information Librarian), Betty Monterroso, Sam Riney, and Mark Phillips.

Would You Like to Know More?

We invite you to visit Sycamore Library at the UNT Denton campus. Here you can explore the Government Information Connection housed at Sycamore Library, as well as other collections such as the Juvenile Collection, the business, political science, and law collections, and our collection of historic maps and posters. After you leave, you can explore our Digital Collections and Subject Guides from the comfort of your home or dorm room.

If you need assistance finding or using government information, please visit the Service Desk in the Sycamore Library during regular hours, contact us by phone at (940) 565-2194, or send a request to govinfo@unt.edu. To request a research consultation or in-depth assistance, we recommend that you e-mail or call us to make an appointment with a member of our staff.

Source of Image

“Executing the command Cover,” in U.S. War Department, War Dogs, TM 10-396, War Department, 1943, p. 72, fig. 25. 

Article by Betty Monterroso.