Government Documents

Links to government publications in the National Archives, gateways and guides to federal information, finding aids and indexes to government documents, federal directories, and other government publications.

National Archives & Records Administration

• Government documents in the National Archives
• Finding aids and indexes to government documents:
  • Library Resources for Administrative History by Maryellen Trautman, ALIC Government Publications Librarian
  • Foreign Relations of the U.S. (FRUS) -- Serial Set Correlation List compiled by Maryellen Trautman, ALIC Government Publications Librarian

Other Guides to Government Information

• Government search engines
• Gateways and guides to federal information
• Directories
• Specific government sites

National Archives & Records Administration
Government documents in the National Archives

The major collections of U.S. government publications in the National Archives are in the Library at Archives II; the Center for Legislative Archives, Archives I; and the Microfilm Reading Room, Archives I.

Publications not in any of the National Archives collections may be found at the University of Maryland’s McKeldin Library and at other Federal Depository Libraries. The latter are also a source for people who cannot visit the National Archives. Sale items still in print may be purchased from the Government Printing Office Bookstore.

Finding aids and indexes to government documents

• Library Resources for Administrative History (Compiled by Maryellen Trautman, ALIC Government Publications Librarian)
  Index to administrative history documents by type of document and date.
  Index to administrative history documents by titles and names.
• Foreign Relations of the U.S. (FRUS) -- Serial Set Correlation List (Compiled by Maryellen Trautman, ALIC Government Publications Librarian)

Other guides to government information

Government documents search engines

• USA.gov
  The U.S. government’s official web portal.
• Government Documents Center (University of Michigan Library)
  This resource provides access thousands of web sites with government or statistical information. Users can browse or search the site.
• Government Documents (University of Tennessee at Knoxville)
  This site provides helpful links to federal, state, and local government information, as well as special topics and links to documents by subject.
• Government Documents Librarianship (Mansfield University)
  This metasite includes an alphabetical list of resources and a quick guide to essentials leading to sources on managing government documents.
• Government Information (University of Texas, Austin, Libraries)
  This site contains links to federal resources, including a Getting Started page.
• Government Information (Vanderbilt University)
  Government documents indexed by level of government and by subject.
• Government Information Guide (Oregon State University)
  This site offers links to selected government sites by subject.
• Government Information Library (University of Colorado, Boulder)
  The Government Publications Library provides information from all levels of government, including state and foreign governments and intergovernmental organizations. Also included is a Government Publications blog.
• Hot Docs: Government Documents in the News (Columbia University Libraries Document Service Center)
  "Links to topical full text documents or reports about major governmental activities."
• Uncle Sam: Government Publications Department (Regional Depository Library, University of Memphis)
  Site provides guides and databases to help users locate government information. Of special interest is Forms from the Feds, which contains downloadable government electronic forms organized by agency.

Gateways and guides to federal information:

• CapitolHearings.org
  "CapitolHearings.org distributes gavel-to-gavel audio coverage of U.S. Senate Committee hearings. The Senate produces the audio feeds, and C-SPAN encodes and streams these hearings via CapitolHearings.org."
• Citizen Journalist’s Guide to Open Government
  This site provides guidance for gaining access to government information. Pages include evaluating state web sites, how to request records, a blog, and more.
• FDsys: Federal Digital System (Government Printing Office)
  The official, free, one-stop online public access point for the growing wealth of important information products produced by the federal government. This site replaces GPO Access.
• Federal R & D Project Summaries
  Searchable databases of federal agencies to find descriptions, awards, and summaries of federally funded research.
• Open CRS
  Open CRS is designed to be a centralized resource that gathers and makes available reports produced by the Congressional Research Service that have been released into the public domain.
• PolicyArchive
  "PolicyArchive is a comprehensive digital library of public policy research containing over 27,000 documents." The site is searchable, or users can browse by topic, author, funder, publisher, or special collection.
• Searching for Government Information (University of California, San Diego)
  This web site provides links to resources produced by the Federal government, California government, Santa Barbara government, as well as links to international organizations.

Directories:

• House of Representatives Member Directory (Office of the Clerk of the House)
  Listings include names, addresses, telephone numbers, and committee and subcommittee assignments.
• Senators (Senate Web)
  Includes listings of Senators with links to their web sites and e-mail addresses. Also included are links to the Biographical Directory, Statistics & Lists, Senators’ Phone List, and Organizational Chart information.
• U.S. Federal Government Agency Directory (Louisiana State University)
  This directory "lists current/active/existing U. S. Federal Government agencies as represented in the United States Government Manual."
• U.S. Government Manual (U.S. Government Printing Office)
  "The official handbook of the Federal Government, the United States Government Manual provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches."

Specific government sites:

• Acquisition Central
  This site contains tools to allow users to efficiently conduct business with the federal government.
• Budget of the United States Government
  Budgets from 1996 forward are available on this FDsys web page.
• Checklist of United States Public Documents, 1789-1909
  Commonly known as the 1909 Checklist, this publication has been digitized by Evergreen State College. Searchable by SuDoc call number and agency. Also includes a list of departments, bureaus, etc.
• The Federal Register 2.0
  Access to federal regulations, public laws, and presidential documents on a new web site featuring improved navigation and search tools in a layout similar to that of a daily online newspaper.
• GAO Reports and Testimonies (General Accounting Office)
  Provides access to reports and testimonies arranged by date, topic, and agency.
• Internal Revenue Service
  Includes tax forms, regulations, and other information.
• State of the Union Addresses
  Provides links to State of Union Addresses from George Herbert Walker Bush (1992) to Barack Obama.
• Statistical Abstract (Census Bureau)
  Statistics on social, economic, and international subjects. All editions are digitized and available on this site from 1878 to the present. The Census Bureau home page links to other official statistics.
• United States Secret Service History
  A detailed timeline of the history of the U.S. Secret Service.
• U.S. Congressional Serial Set
  This web site includes the Schedule of Volumes and the Numerical List of Documents and Reports from the 85th Congress (1957-1958) to the 109th Congress (2005-2006), as well as search engines for Congressional reports and documents. There is also a link to "U.S. Congressional Serial Set: What Is It and Its History."