This list suggests the best sites to find government information available
online for federal, state, international, and foreign levels of government.
Most sites provide (or link to) full-text information. If you don't find the
government information you are looking for here, use Ways
to Search for Government Information.
Contents:
United States Federal Government
Finding Federal Information/Getting
Started
- USA.gov offers useful menus
and collections of links such as students.gov
and science.gov.
- Federal Agency Internet
Sites
- GPO
Access, the Government Printing Office's web site, includes many databases
plus:
- Federal Resources
Organized by Topic
- Catalog of United States Government
Publications (search for government documents since July 1976; includes
links to those available on the web). In addition to searches, if you
go to the Advanced Search option, there is a tab to view lists of New
Electronic Titles.
- Core Documents of
United States Democracy (a core group of full-text current and historical
Government publications)
- Ben's Guide to United
States Government for Kids (easy to understand explanations on topics
such as how laws are made plus links to the Guide
to U.S. Government Web Sites for Kids & Students).
- United States
Government Manual provides information on the agencies of the legislative,
judicial, and executive branches.
- Government Reference Sources
(an Oviatt Library list of frequently used federal government publications
available online; organized by broad subject topics such as business, crime,
education, foreign countries, etc.)
- Google's U. S. Government Search
The Google web search engine offers a special search that limits hits to
government and military sites; combined with Google's use of site popularity,
this can make for more efficient searching when you need to locate government
infomation.
- Documents Center
(guide from the University of Michigan)
- INFOMINE: Government
Resources (University of California, Riverside)
- Forms.gov
(an official U.S. government site). If you don't find the form you need,
also try Forms
from the Feds (University of Memphis Regional Depository Library).
- United States House of Representatives
- United States Senate Home Page
- The White House
- Abbreviations
and Acronyms of the U.S. Government (Indiana University).
- Finding Statistics (search techniques and
a guide to federal statistics) including:
Federal Legislative and Regulatory Information
- GPO Access includes federal bills,
laws, Congressional Record, Congressional hearings, Federal Register, Code
of Federal Regulations, and more from the United States Government Printing
Office website.
- Reginfo.gov (General Services Administration)
links to federal regulation websites.
- Regulations.gov. Easy way to
participate in federal rulemaking. Find, review, and submit comments on
Federal documents that are open for comment and published in the Federal
Register.
- Legislative
Branch Internet Resources (part of the THOMAS
database)
- THOMAS (search
& retrieve legislation and related information or read How
Our Laws are Made)
- Résumé
of Congressional Activity provides statistical data about the workload
of each Congress since 1947.
- U.S. Congressional
Serial Set & American State Papers -- online access to U.S. Senate
and House of Representatives reports and documents. Content is still being
added; eventually this source will cover these materials from 1789-1980.
(Oviatt library subscription).
- Guide to Law Online
(Library of Congress)
- U.
S. Law Research Guide (a guide to Oviatt Library resources)
- Congress.org (current awareness
and searchable directory of Congress members)
- CQ
Weekly (Oviatt Library subscription) is a great source to track what
is going on in Congress.
- Earmarks database (Office of Management
and Budget). Earmarks are funds provided by the Congress for projects or
programs where the usual congressional review of the project has been circumvented.
U. S. Supreme Court and Other Federal Court Decisions
State and Local Information
- Los Angeles Government Sources (guide to City
of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County).
- California
Home Page
- California On-Line Directory
- California Roster
lists California's key state, county, and local public officials.
- Quick links to California legal sources:
- California State Constitution
- California Bills
and California Statutes
since 1993. California statutes from 1850-1994, as well as other historical
legislative material and a guide to California's legislative process,
are available from the California
State Assembly's Office of the Chief Clerk
- California Codes
(29 codes organizing California law by subject)
- California Code of Regulations
(administrative regulations)
- California State Administrative Manual
- California
Law Research Guide
- Quick links to statistics about local areas, California, and other
states
- State Government Collections -- try one of the following:
- State Constitutions,
Statutes and Related Legislative Information (Cornell University)
- American Law Sources
On-Line
- FindLaw :
State Resources
- State and Local
Government on the Net (Piper Resources)
- StateList
(state publication lists from 32 states)
- Municipal
Codes Online (nationwide list maintained by Seattle Public Library)
- Public Records Directory (Search
Systems). Be aware that while this is site very useful as a guide on what
records are available and from whom, Public Records Directory may charge
you to access information or records which, in some cases, would be free
if you went directly to the government agency's own site or office. Once
you know the agency that has the records needed, always visit its site before
you pay a Public Records Directory subscription or other price for access.
Participate: Voting and Contacting Politicians
International and Foreign Information
Additional Resources
Created and maintained by
Mary M.
Finley
Questions or comments:
mary.finley@csun.edu
Links checked: 25 April 2008
