LibGuides: Government Documents: US Government information

Search Engines

Here are various search engines for locating government information, both current and archived.

Gov Info
Excellent starting point for federal government information. A service of the U.S. Government Publishing Office.
USA.gov
The U.S. government's official web portal. Groups "online service" by audience, e.g. citizens, business, governments.

More search engines that can prove useful to find resources.

GovEngine.com
A directory which links to all branches of federal, state, and local governments and court resources. The local government directory breaks down each state by counties and cities (townships, villages, etc.).
FedWorld
Points to business and technical information sources, including reports, forms, standards, tax, and customs. Some sources require payment.
FDsys
Offers digital access to government information submitted by Congress and Federal agencies. A service of the U.S. Government Printing Office.
Science.gov
A gateway to government science information and research results, allows searching of over 36 scientific databases and 200 million pages of science information.
CyberCemetery
An archive of government websites that have ceased operation
Government Attic
Docs acquired from FOIL requests

Specific Topics

Bureau of Labor Statistics
Premier site for economic and labor statistics.
Consumer Action
News for consumers, Consumer Action Handbook, sample complaint letter, etc.
Frequently Used Sites Related to U.S. Federal Government Information
Massive directory organized by level of government and by subject. Maintained by the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) of the American Library Association (ALA).
National Contact Center
Have a question about Federal programs, benefits, or services? Contact government information specialists by phone, e-mail, or chat.
USAspending.gov
A great web site resulting from the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (Transparency Act) that requires a single searchable website, accessible by the public for free that includes for each Federal award:
1. the name of the entity receiving the award;
2. the amount of the award;
3. information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc;
4. the location of the entity receiving the award;
5. a unique identifier of the entity receiving
governmentattic.org
Digital versions of hundreds of interesting Federal Government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
Government Web Resources
Comprehensive list from the Library of Congress includes meta-sites, official sites, and links for U.S. politics and select international sites.
GovSpeak: A Guide to Government Acronyms & Abbreviations
By Kelly L. Smith, formerly of Indiana University. The abbreviations and acronyms link to the official website for the agency or program.
National Nutrient Database
From the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Nutrient Data Laboratory.
NLM Gateway
Gateway to the National Library of Medicine's information resources.
NLM Databases and Electronic Resources
Provides access to National Library of Medicine resources like American Indian Health, Genome Project, Household Products Database, Visible Human Project ®.
Science Accelerator
A gateway to the information resources of the U.S. Department of Energy including databases like EnergyFiles.
USAJobs
Official job site of the United States Federal Government.
Vital Records Information - United States
Provides detailed information on where to obtain vital records for U.S. states and territories. Includes records available (e.g. birth, death, marriage, divorce); costs, and other helpful information. Links to some non-U.S. vital records web sites.

Locating Federal documents in the collection

NOTE: These documents will have SuDoc call numbers

(ex.C 3.223/13-2:970/1-4)

TIP: SuDoc call numbers like the example above have slashes "/" and colons ":" as part of the call number. This is how they differ from an LC call numbers.

ALSO NOTE: Some Gov Docus may be located in the general stacks and will have Library of Congress call numbers.

Government provided databases

Thomas
THOMAS includes the Congressional Record and full text legislation from 1989 (101st Congress) to the present. THOMAS also provides summaries (not full text) of legislation back to 1975 (94th Congress).
Biographical directory of the United States Congress
Photographs, biographies, archival information, and bibliographies about current and former senators, congresspersons, vice presidents, territorial delegates, resident commissioners and delegates to the Continental congress. Covers 1774-present.

SU databases for Federal Government Information

Access Note: Licensed for Otterbein access only.

CQ Researcher
Consists of reports on public policy issues. Over 44 reports are released each year, providing in-depth coverage of social and political issues with reports on topics in environment, health and nutrition, education, international affairs, economics, and science and technology.
CQ Weekly
A week by week non-partisan report on activity within the United States Congress. Discusses issues about to be addressed by Congress, summaries of the previous week's legislative events, status of bills pending before the House and Senate, committee and floor activity, and outcomes of roll call votes.
CQ Global Researcher
CQ Global Researcher offers reports on current international crises and events (e.g., climate change, world peacekeeping). Each report focuses on a single topic and features concise background discussion and chronologies, overviews of the current situation, pro and con commentary, as well as online indexes to articles