Why You Need Them

Who Publishes Them

Their Formats

The Information in Them

Tracking Them Down

Printable Checklist

Checklist

• Government documents are the publications of government agencies -- federal, state, local, or even international.
• Government documents are absolutely necessary for many kinds of research. They are especially good sources for statistics.
• Government documents also include:
  • Congressional hearings and committee reports
  • bills, laws, regulations
  • court cases
  • patents and trademarks
  • consumer information
  • reports by agencies, commissions, and other institutions
  • historical documents
• The more you can learn about how governments work, the easier it will be for you to track down government information.
• Most recent government documents are available for free on the Web. However, many important documents are available only in other formats, such as print, video, or non-Web electronic formats.

• There are several places you can start for general online searching of government documents:
  • Google Search: Unclesam (http://www.google.com/unclesam)
  • FirstGov.gov (http://www.firstgov.gov/)
  • Fedworld (http://www.firstgov.gov/)
  • GPO Access (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/)
  • Access Indiana (http://www.in.gov/)
• Use the one that seems best for your needs.

• For statistics:
  • Statistical Abstract of the United States (http://www.census.gov/statab/www/)
  • FedStats (http://www.fedstats.gov/)
  • FirstGov.gov: Data and Statistics (http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Data.shtml)
  • American FactFinder (http://factfinder.census.gov/)
• Also for statistics:
  • CenStats (http://censtats.census.gov/)
  • Stat-USA (http://www.stat-usa.gov/)
  • TradeStats Express (http://tse.export.gov/)
• For Congressional information:
  • Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov/).
• For legal citations:
  • Library's law databases (/databases/dbsubq.asp?stype=LAW).
• For patent and trademark information:
  • US Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/).
• For print resources, especially historical records:
  • LUIS, the Library catalog (http://luis.indstate.edu/)
  • WorldCat (http://panther.indstate.edu:2048/login?url=http://newfirstsearch.oclc.org/dbname=WorldCat;done=referer;FSIP)
  • the book Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
• For other historical records:
  • National Archives and Records Administration (http://www.archives.gov/)
  • Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov/)
• For non-federal depositories of historical government records:
  • Digital Collections, Cornell University Library (http://www.library.cornell.edu/about/digital_collections.html)
  • Historic Documents (directory), University of Michigan Documents Center (http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/fedhis.html)
  • National Security Archive, George Washington University (http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/)
  • OMB Watch: Information and Access (http://www.ombwatch.org/info/)

• Public access to government documents is guaranteed by law and is your right as a member of a democracy.