Government Documents - POL 308W - Research and Writing in Political Science / Brophy-Baermann, Michelle - James P. Adams Library at James P. Adams Library

US Government Documents and Data

This page provides a starting point for finding United States government information. It lists resources for locating primary documents and data produced by the federal government including: search tools and catalogs, data sets and statistics, Google, and other government publication guides available at the Adams Library.

First, a few general strategies:

Use Google. Tip: limit the domain to .gov by adding site:.gov after your search words.
Read general or legal news stories that might offer clues to assist you with identifying relevant agencies, reports, and data sources.
Go to the website of a public agency and search there. Check out this list of Federal Agencies .
Search the Government Printing Office (GPO) Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. See, "Search Tools and Catalogs."
Use the Hein Online research database. There's a link to it below.
Ask for help!

Covers of US Government Publications via Flickr

HeinOnline

HeinOnline
In addition to its collection of academic journals, HeinOnline contains historical and government documents, including the entire Congressional Record, Federal Register, and Code of Federal Regulations, complete coverage of the U.S. Reports back to 1754, and treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, U.S. Presidents, and much more.

Search Tools and Catalogs

GovInfo
GPO's GOVINFO.gov, like the FDSys webpage, presents core resources and documents from all three branches of the U.S. Government. These searchable resources and collections include the the U.S. Budget, Code of Federal Regulations and Federal Register, Congressional Record, Economic Indicators, Economic Report of the President, Public Laws, US Code, and the U S Statutes at Large.
Science.gov
Searches over 40 databases and 1,950 selected websites, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information, including research and development results
USA.gov
The U.S. Government's Official Web Portal, provides links to information and services from the U.S. government... a consumer oriented site.

Government Data Resources

Data.Census.Gov
Previously, American FactFinder, Data.Census.Gov is the U.S. Census Bureau's end user search engine designed to search the Bureau's many statistical resources. It delivers a wide variety of population, economic, geographic and housing data.
U.S. Census Bureau
The federal agency for national demographic and economic data.
Data.gov
Data.gov provides access to machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Content includes, both raw and geospatial datasets, statistical reports, etc. The public is encouraged to contribute ideas and apps for data management

Government Domain Searching in Google

Gov Pubs @ Adams Library

Gov Pubs @ Adams Library

The Adams Library Gov Pubs guide provides access to and information about United States government information resources. The majority of the linked resources are created by government departments and agencies, though a number of them are to non-governmental organizations. Over 160 links are provided.