Government Information
Government Information versus Government Documents
Government Information is not just the government documents area located on the third floor of the Main Building. Government Information encompasses every discipline within the university--from business to political science to health to education to hard sciences to even the fine arts and humanities. Finding government information can involve a simple Google search all the way up to using Lexis-Nexis Congressional. Doing this requires creativity and flexibility. Don't get too caught up in ONE way of doing anything. And, as always, if in doubt, ask!
Government Documents
General Sites for Government Information
- Google U.S. Government Search
- Good starting point that searches the .gov domain as well as the state level sites.
- Gives you a sense of which agencies are relevant to a topic.
- USA.gov
- Covers a wide range of public interest topics related to the United States government.
Finding Congressional Information
- Thomas
- Provides access to congressional floor activities and debates (Congressional Record), congressional bills, acts, most reports and much more.
- Search by individual Congress or multiple Congresses
- Lexis-Nexis Congressional
- Provides access to fulltext Serial Set, committee reports, public laws, and much more.
- More Info
Finding Statistics
- FedStats
- Provides a range of government produced statistics.
- Grouped by topic rather than agency.
- Census homepage
- Official homepage to the Bureau of Census and its world of data.
- American FactFinder is a great starting place.
Some Key Federal Publications
- United States Statutes at Large
- Official source for all of the laws and resolutions enacted by each session of Congress in chronological order.
- 1789-1875 available from A Century of Lawmaking
- 1789-2005 available from HeinOnline
- 1789-2005 available from Lexis-Nexis Congressional
- 1937-1963 available on microform in Government Documents
- 1957-2005 are in print copies in the Reference Dept (near Lynda's office)
- United States Code
- The cumulative and codified compilation of America's laws divided by subject matter and eliminating expired or amended information.
- New editions available every six years.
- Online through the House of Representatives
- Cornell University Law School's searchable interface
- Current code available from Lexis-Nexis Congressional
- Latest edition is available in the Reference Dept (near Lynda's office)
- Federal Register
- Daily newspaper of the federal government that is published by the National Archives and Records Administration.
- Includes federal agency regulations, public notices, executive orders, and other presidential documents.
- 1994-present available from GPO Access
- 1936-present available from HeinOnline
- 1980-present available from Lexis-Nexis Congressional
- 1965-1997 available on microform in Government Documents
- Code of Federal Regulations
- Annual compilation arranged by subject of all of the existing rules and regulations from all federal agencies.
- Similar to the United States Code in purpose and subject arrangement.
- 1996-present available from GPO Access
- Current code available from Lexis-Nexis Congressional
- Latest edition is available in the Reference Dept (near Lynda's office)
- Congressional Record
- Official record of daily floor debates, agendas, and actions of Congress.
- Published daily when Congress is in session.
- 1994-present available from GPO Access
- 1989-present available from Thomas
- 1985-present available from Lexis-Nexis Congressional
For more information, contact: Lynda Kellam, Data Services & Government Information Librarian
