Research guides: Foreign government information: General resources

Major resources

USA.go
- portal of U.S. Federal Government
- first stop to find any government information online
- indexes individual reports and bills
- A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments & Agencies
- mobile apps available
Govinfo (GPO)
- Provides access to official publications from all three branches of the federal government
- Replacing FDsys which will be retired in December 2018
- Browse by Category
FDsys: Federal Digital System
- 1994+. Some older documents
- US Government Printing Office's official website for online government information
- Congress (bills, hearings, laws, etc.).
- Presidential documents
- Federal Register
- GAO reports
- Supreme Court decisions
- Bulk Data: a format that supports unlimited public reuse, analysis, and republication
- Education Reports from ERIC (1995-2004)
GPO Metalib
- simultaneously searches 50+ federal government publication catalogs, federal library catalogs, and specialized indexes
- supplements catalog of government publications with records for such items as articles within government periodicals and technical reports resulting from government contracts
- pulls in non-government publications, such as the medical literature indexed in the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed and the millions of items described in the Library of Congress Catalog
United States Government Google Custom Search
- Search for government information from the United States of America
- Searches sites including: *.gov, *.mil
Government web harvest: Congressional and Federal (The National Archives, 2004+)
Data.gov
- public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the executive branch of the federal government
HathiTrust Digital Library
Government Information Locator Service (GILS)
- decentralized collection of agency-based information locators
- links to relevant online resources
FEDLINK
- internet archive
CyberCemetery
- archive of defunct U.S. government agencies and commission websites
Google patent search
- 1790s+
- all patents from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
GovEngine.com
- links to federal, state and local government websites
Open Government Guide
- Reporters Committee for freedom of the Press
- covers state's open records and open meetings laws
Datalumos (ICPSR)
A crowd-sourced repository for government data resources.

Major collection

The majority of U.S. government titles cannot be found by searching the library catalogue, but can only be located through searching tools such as the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (Monthly Catalog), indexes, online databases and search engines.

The major US government collection (in microform) is housed in the basement of Robarts Library and in the microfiche cabinets on the fifth floor of Robarts Library. To request an item from the basement, go to the Ask Us Desk on the 2nd floor of Robarts Library.

This collection is filed under two systems in the Library:

Mocat: eg.(85-3456)
SuDoc: eg.(Y 10.2:C 31), SuDoc Filing Rules

Indexed by the Catalog of the United States Government Publications

Details of the Collection:

Depository: 1956 - 1980 (Microprint, basement, filed by Mocat)
Non-Depository: 1953 - 1980 (Microprint, basement, filed by Mocat))
1981 - 2008 (Microfiche, 5th floor)
http://libguides.northwestern.edu/sudoc
- 1981 - 1990 (filed by Mocat, use Marcive to search)
- 1991 - 2008 (filed by SuDoc)

Catalogs

Catalog of United States Government Publications (also called the Monthly Catalog) is the most comprehensive source of information on federal government publications.

Monthly publication since 1895, cumulated seminannually and annually.

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
- 1976 +
- links to many online U.S. Government publications
Marcive web docs
- July 1976+
- online version of Marcive's GPO record database,
- links full text when available
- Both Mocat numbers and SuDoc number available
- Library collection from 1953-1991 are filed under the Mocat numbers
Monthly Catalog: U.S. government publications
- ProQuest
- 1895 - June 1976
- University of Toronto only
Monthly catalog of United States government publications
- 1895 - 2004
- annual index has author, title, subject, series/report index and title keyword
- monthly publication has title keyword index
- before July 1976
- after July 1976
- both MoCat numbers and SuDocs numbers after 1925
Monthly catalog: U.S. government publications
- University of Illinois and Internet Archive
- 1895 -1970 (incompleted)
- full text scans
- formats include: flip book, PDF, B/W PDF, DjVu
- text, basic and advanced search are available in PDF format
Guide to U.S. Government Publications
- 1973+
- Originally known as the Andriot's Guide to U.S. Government Serials and Periodicals
- Annotated guide to the important series, periodicals, and reference tools published by U.S. Government agencies.

WorldCat (OCLC FirstSearch)

Budget

USASpending.gov
The budget of the United States Government
- 1956/57, 1963/64 - current
Budget of the United States Government (FDsys)
- 1996+
Budget of the United States Government (Fraser)
- 1963 - 1990
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
Congressional Budget Justifications
- These are submissions from each federal agency to Congress to accompany the President's budget
- They are available on each agency's website
Appropriations for disaster relief (govinfo.gov)
- Type in the search term eg. "Hurricane Sandy" in the search box
- Limit the category collection to 'public and private laws"
Disaster Relief Fund: Monthly Report

Elections

Federal election laws, results, and voting history
Election statistics
- in .pdf format (1920 - present)
U.S. Elections: for public opinion research
- Roper Center
- Presidential Elections, 1976+
- Primary Exit Polls, 1976+
- National Election Day Exit Polls, 1972+
- State Election Day Exit Polls, 1978
- Popular Votes, 1960+

Web archives

Immigration

US immigration law and policy library (HeinOnline)

Indian Affairs

U.S. Congressional Serial Set: Indian Affairs
- Agencies, committees, and other organizations relating to Indian affairs
- Indian reservations
- Indian treaties
- Names of Indian tribes
- Subjects specific to Indian affairs
- Laws relating to Indian affairs
- Supreme Court cases relating to Indian affairs
Annotated Bibliography of Native American History from United States Federal Documents: Print and Online Resources
Proquest Indian Claims Insight
- The resource includes primary source documents that support U.S. Indian claims from 1789-present as well as State/Territory& Nation and Tribe histories.
- Support resources include a libguide with detailed search strategies for the database and help searching for Indian claims more generally.
Federal Websites for and about American Indians

Scientific Sources

Science.gov

PubMed
Public version of Medline, the core database for health sciences disciplines. This platform is best for quick clinical searches.

Freedom of Information

FOIAonline
- allows you to submit FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests to all participating agencies from this website, track the status of requests, search for requests submitted by others, and generate up-to-the-minute reports on FOIA processing.
Governmentattic.org
- provides electronic copies of Federal Government documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
- Click to "FOIA LOGS" or "DOCUMENTS" to get the actual documents
MuckRock
- provides a repository of original government materials requested via FOIA
- contains information on how to file FOIA requests, and tools to make the requesting process easier.

Directories

United States Government Manual
- 1995+
- official handbook of the U.S. federal government
- comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches
- includes information on quasi-official agencies; international organizations in which the United States participates; and boards, commissions, and committees
- United States Government Organization Chart
United States Government Manual
- University of Toronto only
- 1935+
- Title varies: 1949 - 72 as "U.S. Government Organization Manual"
United States government organization manual
- 1936+
Federal Agencies Directory
- from Louisiana State University Libraries
A-Z Index of U.S. Government Departments and Agencies
- from USA.gov
United States government policy and supporting positions (Plum book)
- from FDsys
- published after each Presidential election
- identifies presidentially appointed positions within the federal government
- provides information such as general salary levels for appointed government officials and expiration dates for some terms of service
Federal Government Mobile Apps Directory

Periodical Indexes

PAIS Index
International research in public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations. Provides access to journal articles, books, government documents, research and conference reports, and more.

Index to U.S. government periodicals
- 1983-1987

Historical Sources

Checklist of United States public documents 1789-1909, congressional
- 3rd edition
- Congressional: to close of Sixtieth Congress, Departmental: to end of the calendar year 1909
- v. 1 lists congressional and departmental publications
- Digitized version of the Checklist
- Arranged by SuDoc number and is useful for tracing a particular agency's publication from the time it was established to 1909.
A Descriptive catalogue of the government publications of the United States, September 5, 1774-March 4, 1881
- referred to as "Poore".
- chronological list with a subject index
- weak in coverage of departmental documents
- Serial Set numbers not included for congressional reports or documents
Comprehensive index to the publications of the United States government, 1881-1893
- referred to as "Ames"
- picks up coverage in 1881 when "Poore" leaves off
- weak in coverage of departmental documents
- Serial set numbers are provided for congressional reports and documents
Catalogue of the public documents of the ... Congress and of all departments of the Government of the United States
- 1893 - 1940
- referred to as "Document Catalog"
- coverage of presidential proclamations, executive orders and articles in periodicals that were regularly issued
- 56th congress (1899-1901)+ : includes references to Serial Set volume numbers for congressional reports and documents.

Making of America (MoA)
- 1850 - 1877
- primary sources related to development of U.S. infrastructure
- strong collection in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology
The American founding era collection
- includes papers of
The Presidential Libraries
American Memory: Government, Law
- from the Library of Congress
Historic Government Publications from World War ll
- from Southern Methodist University
Historical Publications of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
- from the University of Maryland

Miscellaneous

Constitution of the United States (GPO)
100 Milestone Documents (National Archives and Records Administration)
Core Documents of U.S. Democracy (FDsys)
- a selective list of very important government publications as being "key to an informed democratic process"
The Oxford Guide to the United States Government
- University of Toronto only
- authoritative information on the American presidency, Congress, and Supreme Court
- includes search and browse indexes
Government Documents in the Archives Library Information Center (National Archives and Records Administration)
- includes finding aids and research guides to U.S. government information.
Digitization Projects Registry
- a directory listing of U.S. Government publication digitization projects
Inventory of Projects Preserving State Government Information
CIAO: U.S. Government working papers (Columbia International Affairs Online)
- working papers from university research institutes
PolicyFile
- access to U.S. foreign and domestic policy papers and gray literature
- updated weekly
- abstracts and links to the latest reports, papers, and documents from think tanks, research institutes, and agencies
Avalon Project (Yale Law School)
- primary documents arranged by time period and subject
- September 11, 2001: Attack on America
Country Commercial Guides
- Market research by country
Government funding
- Catalog of federal Domestic Assistance
- Grants.gov
Government Documents Media
GovSpeak: A Guide to Government Acronyms & Abbreviations (University of San Diego)
Locating United States Government Information: A Guide to Sources
- J83 .H46 1997
Inventory of Projects Preserving State Government Information
Selected Bibliography of US Government and International Documents on Latin America and the Caribbean

Research Guides

Foreign government information