United States Government Information
Quick Links: Citing Government Information | Congressional Research Service | en Español | Executive Branch | Judicial Branch | Laws & Regulations | Legislative Branch | Other Information Resources, Web Sites, and Search Engines | Subject Access to Government Information
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GPO Access (Official Federal Government Information)Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (GPO Access) |
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Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids |
LSU Libraries Federal Agencies Directory (via Louisiana State University Libraries)
Abbreviations and Acronyms of the U.S. Government (via Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis)
GovSpeak: A Guide to Government Acronyms & Abbreviations (updated version of the IUPUI site above)
2008 Statistical Abstract of the United States
- Tables available in Excel and PDF formats
- Links to earlier editions (1878-2007)
United States Government Manual (via GPO Access)
- 2007-08 available
- Search 1995-96 forward
- Browse 1997-98 forward
Executive Branch
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (1993-present)
(browse the Table of Contents, 2001-present) - Search the Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States
- Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, 1929-2000 (public domain version) (via University of Michigan)
White House Home Page (official site)
Executive Branch Resources on GPO Access
- Executive branch resources, publications, and web sites
GPO Access Online Resources: Grouped by Branch of Government: Executive Branch
- Search and retrieve executive branch information -- Budget of the United States (FY1996-present ), Economic Report of the President (1995-present ), etc. -- from the US Government Printing Office
Legislative Branch
Bills | Biographical Directories | Comprehensive Legislative Web Sites | Conference Reports | Congressional Record | Congressional Research Service | Documents & Reports | Hearings
United States House of Representatives
- Rep. Mike Conaway (11th District of Texas)
Bills
Congressional Bills: Main page (via GPO Access) (103rd Congress-present)
Biographical Directories
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (1774-Present) (via Congress)
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005 (House Document no. 108-222)
- Last published in 1989, the comprehensive 2,236 page directory provides the biographies of thousands of Members of the Senate and House who have served from the first through the 108th Congress.
- Closing date of compilation: January 3, 2005
- Available in sections or as one 11.3 MB zip file.
Congressional Directory: Main Page (109th) (via GPO Access)
- Search 104th-110th; browse 105th-110th
Congressional Pictorial Directory: Main page (105th-110th) (via GPO Access)
- 105th-110th also available in paper in the U.S. Documents Collection: Y 4.P 93/1:1 P/
Conference Reports
- Conference Reports: Main page (109th- ) (via GPO Access)
- A conference report is a compromise on legislation that is negotiated between the House and Senate via conference committees. It is printed and submitted to each chamber for its consideration, such as approval or disapproval.
- This page contains links to active ("unofficial") and archived ("official") conference reports.
Congressional Record
Congressional Record: Main page (via GPO Access) (v.140 (1994)-present)
Congressional Record Index (CRI): Main Page / Search (via GPO Access) (1983-present)
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873 (Library of Congress American Memory Collection)
- Brings together online the records and acts of Congress from the Journals of the Continental Congress through The Congressional Globe, which ceased publication with the 42nd Congress in 1873
- Search all collections at once, or each collection separately
The Congressional Record and its predecessor are also available in the Library:
- Congressional Globe: (1st sess.:37th Congress-2nd sess.:38th Congress) (Closed Stacks, West Texas Collection (University Center): J 11 .G56)
- v.1(1873)-v.122(1976) on microfilm (in the basement)
- v.123 (1977)-v.134 (1988). 95th Congress, 1st session - 100th Congress, 2nd session. (U.S. Documents Microfiche: X)
- v.134(1989)-present. 101st Congress, 1st session -present (U.S. Documents Microfiche: X 1.1:)
Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service (CRS) (information from the Library of Congress)
- The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is the public policy research arm of Congress. This legislative branch agency works exclusively for Members of Congress, their committees and their staffs.
- CRS does not provide direct public access to its reports, considered among the most authoritative sources of information on topics of national and international interest. Citizens are required to request the reports from their Member of Congress. Some Members, as well as several non-profit groups, have posted the reports on their Web sites.
- Many CRS reports are updated on a regular basis.
Use the following sites to search for those CRS Reports that have been released to the public.
Congressional Research Service Reports (hosted by the University of North Texas)
- This site aims to provide integrated, searchable access to many of the full-text CRS reports that have been available at a variety of different Web sites since 1990.
- Users have the ability to search by keyword, title, author, subject, and report number, and browse by subject.
- Includes all versions of the reports that could be located.
- Please note that this site does not contain a complete collection of CRS reports.
Congressional Research Service Finder. (zFacts.com)
- The zFacts.com web site uses the Google search software to search in "every CRS report on the Web and only into CRS reports."
- Retrieves CRS reports from all types of web sites (governmental and non-governmental).
- zFacts.com is a non-governmental site, created by Steve Stoft, a Ph.D economist.
Open CRS -- A project of the Center for Democracy & Technology, Open CRS provides citizens access to CRS reports that are already in the public domain and encourages Congress to provide public access to all CRS reports. It is a centralized utility that brings together the following collections to search.
- CRS Reports (National Council for Science and the Environment. National Library for the Environment (NLE) -- includes reports primarily on Environmental topics. Users may browse by topic, date, or code, or perform a search.)
- Federation of American Scientists (FAS) -- provides reports on secrecy, intelligence, security, and space-related issues.
- Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
- Thurgood Marshall Law Library: CRS Reports (University of Maryland School of Law) -- an online collection in the subject areas of homeland security/terrorism and health law and policy.
- IP Mall at Pierce Law Center -- the full text of intellectual property, cyberlaw and electronic commerce publications
- Center for Democracy & Technology -- includes reports on the subjects of speech, privacy, copyright, and open government
Other resources to use to locate and obtain CRS reports:
- Your Member of Congress -- request reports from your Senators and your Representative's offices.
- Penny Hill Press – sells individual reports & offers a subscription service.
- Gallery Watch has partnered with Penny Hill Press to provide subscription-based access to numbered CRS documents and electronic briefing books.
Documents & Reports (i.e., "Serial Set")
U.S. Congressional Serial Set (via GPO Access)
- Congressional Documents: Main Page (via GPO Access) (104th Congress-present)
- Congressional Reports: Main Page (via GPO Access) (104th Congress-present)
Hearings
Congressional Hearings: Main Page (via GPO Access) (104th Congress-present)
- Search for hearings
Congressional Hearings: Browse (via GPO Access) (104th Congress-present)
- Browse a current catalog of congressional hearings available on GPO Access. Includes links which will retrieve the text of the hearing as an ASCII text or PDF file.
U.S. Congressional Bibliographies (compiled at North Carolina State University)
- The U.S. Congressional Bibliographies enumerate and describe meetings held by Congressional committees since 1985, those for which printed transcripts are issued, and those that remain unprinted. Its sources are the Congressional Record's "Daily Digest" and bibliographic information supplied by the U.S. Senate Library. Its primary goal is to be an authoritative, exhaustive reference source of meetings held and documents released by House and Senate committees.
- U.S. Senate Bibliographies -- Comprehensive lists of hearings, prints, and publications printed by the Senate, 1983 to present
- U.S. House Meetings -- Lists of House Committee meetings recorded in the Congressional Record's Daily Digest, 1985 to present
Comprehensive Legislative Web Sites
GPO Access Online Resources: Grouped by Branch of Government: Legislative Branch
- Search and retrieve congressional information -- bills, directories, documents & reports, and the Congressional Record -- from the US Government Printing Office
Legislative Branch Resources on GPO Access
- Congressional publications, House & Senate links, Other legislative branch publications & resources, and Legislative branch web sites hosted by GPO Access
Thomas (Legislative Information on the Internet)
- The Library of Congress provides searchable information about the U.S. Congress and the legislative process
- Search bills by topic, bill number, or title
- Search through and read the text of the Congressional Record for the 104th-109th Congresses
- Search and find committee reports by topic or committee name
Judicial Branch
Supreme Court of the United States (the official web site)
U.S. Courts (Federal Judiciary Home Page)
- Maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the U.S. Courts
- Contains news and information about the Federal Courts
U.S. Supreme Court Decisions
- NOTE: The Supreme Court does not view any of its electronic information as official.
- 1893-Present (United States Reports v.150 (1893)- ) (Hosted by FindLaw)
- 1990-Present (Hosted by Legal Information Institute, Cornell University, under the auspices of Project Hermes)
- 1937-1975 (United States Reports v.300-422) (Federal Legal Information Through Electronics (FLITE) Hosted by FedWorld)
- 1937-1975 (Hosted by GPO Access)
Judicial Branch Resources on GPO Acess
- Judicial branch resources, publications, and web sites
GPO Access Online Resources: Grouped by Branch of Government: Judicial Branch
- Search and retrieve Supreme Court decisions -- from the US Government Printing Office
Laws & Regulations
Federal Register (FR): Main page (via GPO Access) (v.59 (1994) forward)
Federal Register: What It Is and How to Use It (online tutorial) (National Archives)
- An online guide for the user of the Federal register, Code of Federal regulations system.
- This online tutorial is available in two formats: PDF and HTML. Download the PDF files to a personal computer for faster access.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR): Main page (via GPO Access)
Public and Private Laws: Main page (via GPO Access)
- Collection of laws enacted during the 104th Congress (1995-1996)-109th Congress (2005- )
- Prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
United States Code: Main page (via GPO Access) (1994 through 2000 editions)
- The United States Code is prepared and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives.
- Database contains the general and permanent laws of the United States.
GPO Access Online Resources: Grouped by Branch of Government
- Search and retrieve information -- Public Laws (104th-109th Congresses), the United States Code (1994 and 2000 editions), History of Bills, the Federal Register -- from the US Government Printing Office
- Established by the Regulatory Information Service Center to assist users who want to find information about Federal, state, and local regulation
- Includes the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions
- The Regulatory Plan, which is published as part of the fall edition of the Agenda, identifies regulatory priorities and contains additional detail about the most important significant regulatory actions that agencies expect to take in the coming year
- "Your one stop site to comment on federal regulations."
- Introduced January 23, 2003
- "On this site, you can find, review, and submit comments on Federal documents that are open for comment and published in the Federal Register, the Government’s legal newspaper."
Reports on Federal Agency Major Rules (General Accounting Office)
- Pursuant to section 801(a)(2)(A) of title 5, United States Code, the General Accounting Office provides a report to the Committees of Jurisdiction of both houses of Congress on major rules proposed by Federal Agencies within 15 days of the receipt of a copy of the rule at the General Accounting Office or publication in the Federal Register, whichever is later.
- Includes U.S. federal and state codes, statutes, regulations, and cases
Government Information en Español
GobiernoUSA.gov (El portal oficial en español del Gobierno de los EE.) (The U.S. government's official Spanish-language web portal)
Government Information en Español (St. Mary's University, San Antonio)
Información Gubernamental en Español (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)
Other Information Resources, Web Sites, and Search Engines
Organization & University Web Sites
Documents Center (University of Michigan)
Government Information Connection® (University of North Texas)
- Congressional Research Service Reports Archive
- CyberCemetery (Archive of defunct U.S. government web sites)
Frequently Used Sites Related to U.S. Federal Government Information (American Library Association, Government Documents Round Table)
Search Engines
USA.gov (The U.S. Government's official web portal) (formerly: FirstGov.gov)
- Search the Federal Government through USA.gov (GPO Access) (uses the USA.gov search index)
Google U.S. Government Search (formerly "Google UncleSam")
Grants.gov (single access point for over 1000 grant programs offered by all Federal grant-making agencies)
INFOMINE: Government Information (Scholarly Internet Resource Collections) -- INFOMINE Home
Science.gov ("FirstGov for Science")
- "Science.gov is a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies including research and development results."
- Includes more than 50 million pages of government science information
- Searches an index of 1,850+ agency-selected sites
- Includes a "spelling suggestion tool" (a recent enhancement)
Students.gov (Student gateway to the U.S. government)
Subject Access to Government Information
Browse Topics (developed by volunteer government information librarians, provides topical pathfinders to U.S. Government information)
Federal Resources Organized by Topic (GPO Access resources organized into categories)
Government Information on the Web Subject Index (St. Mary's University, San Antonio)
Subject Indexes to Government Information on the Internet (Idaho State University)
Citing Government Information
Citing Government Information Sources Using MLA (Modern Language Association) Style (University of Nevada, Reno)
Cheney, Debora. The complete guide to citing government information resources: a manual for social science and business research. 3rd ed. Bethesda, MD: LexisNexis, Congressional Information Service, 2002. (Reference Room: J9.5 .G37 2002)
Government Documents Home
Revised: January 2008, by Janetta Paschal, Government Documents/Reference Librarian