Government -- United States

See also Law and Political Science

Lists of sites  -- Search Engines -- Legislative -- Executive -- Judiciary -- Budget process
Available in Case Library -- Dates of Congressional Sessions
Link to popular titles and online alternatives

Lists of government sites
    by agency

U.S. Federal Government Agencies Page

A comprehensive list of agencies sites, this one created by the Louisiana State University in partnership with the Government Printing Office.

 

Federal Government Resources on the Web

Created by the University of Michigan Documents Center, this site mixes agency lists with subject lists. Of interest is their link Government Documents in the News, which covers "government making news headlines".

 

USA.gov

Formerly Firstgov.gov, this is the official portal of the U.S. federal government. Browse or search by topic or agency.

 

Subject Indexes to Government Information on the Internet

A list of websites that have subject guides to government information on the net. Organized by institution, not by subject.

 

Lists of government sites
    by subject

Frequently Used Sites

Maintained by the Federal Documents Task Force of the Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association.

 

Federal Government Resources on the Web

Created by the University of Michigan Documents Center, this site mixes agency lists with subject lists. Of interest is their link Government Documents in the News, which covers "government making news headlines".

 

Pathway Services, Browse Topics

Maintained by volunteer librarians and hosted by the Superintendent of Documents, this site arranges government Internet sites by subject topic. The list of topics is based upon the current Guide to U.S. Government Information, also known as The Subject Bibliographies (Case Indexes Z1223. A195)

 

USA.gov

Formerly Firstgov.gov, this is the official portal of the U.S. federal government. Browse or search by topic or agency.

 

 

Search Engines/Indexes

Colgate's Library Catalog (Mondo)

The Colgate Libraries' catalog contains cataloging records for documents from July 1976 to the present. Some older documents have been cataloged, including documents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Civil Rights Commission.

 

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications

Online (FirstSearch):  July 1976--
Paper:  July 1924-76
Case Indexes Z1223.A18

Subject coverage: multidisciplinary.
Materials indexed: materials published by the federal government.
Publishing info: published monthly; cumulated annually. Time lag up to3 years. Arranged by publishing agency; subject index. Author, title and report number indexes added in 1976; keyword title index added in 1980. Preceded by:
    Checklist of United States Public Documents 1789-1909 (arranged by SuDocs number)
    Poore's 1774-1881 (stored during construction)
    Ames 1881-1893 (Case Indexes Z1223 .A114 1905)
    Document Catalog 1894-1939 (stored during construction)

 

GPO Access

Mandated by congress, GPO Access contains the full text of many congressional publications (including bills, documents and reports, the Congressional Record), and an increasing number of non-congressional publications, such as the Economic Report of the President, GAO Reports, and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Also provides links to other federal agency web pages. Grows weekly.

Google Uncle Sam

Has a special search engine for .gov and .mil web sites. Searches .pdf files!

 

USA.gov

Formerly Firstgov.gov, this is the official portal of the U.S. federal government. Browse or search by topic or agency.

 

Uncle Sam: migrating government publications

Maintained by the regional depository library at University of Memphis, this site provides direct access to individual publications as they are converted to digital format by agencies. Can be browsed by title or by Superintendent of Documents number (agency).

Legislative Information

Legislative Process help

subscription, Colgate users only

• Lexis/Nexis Congressional help files include brief and detailed descriptions of the process
• How our Laws are Made - http://thomas.loc.gov/home/lawsmade.toc.html
• Session Dates of the U.S. Congress

Indexes/Search engines

Many government titles have their own indexes, not listed below. Ask at Reference Desk.

Lexis/Nexis Congressional--subscription, Colgate users only

Online:  varies with portion of database (coverage chart)

Includes the online version of CIS Index to Publications of the United States Congress, including abstracts and legislative histories; selected full text of congressional reports, documents, and prints, and the Congressional Record; prepared statements at hearings (not complete text), full text of bills and bill-tracking, U.S. Code  Service, current Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations, biographical and financial information and voting records of members of congress; committee rosters, charters, and schedules; news from the hill, including stories from the Washington Post, Roll Call, and The Hill; and links to hot bills/topics and other websites.

GPO Access

Mandated by congress, GPO Access contains the full text of many congressional publications (including bills, documents and reports, the Congressional Record), and an increasing number of non-congressional publications, such as the Economic Report of the President, GAO Reports, and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Also provides links to other federal agency web pages. Grows weekly.

 

Thomas

Contains a wide range of legislative materials, including many that are also on GPO Access. Better for  tracking bills and current legislative action than GPO Access

Legislative Branch Internet Resources

Comprehensive list of links to websites with legislative/congressional information, including GPO Access and Thomas (see above).

 

Legislative Histories (selected laws)

LexisNexis Congressional 1988- 
U.S. Federal Legislative Histories (Hein Online)

 

U.S. Senate

The official web site with links to members' pages, committees, roll call votes, and recent legislative activities.
Link directly to New York State's senators: Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton

 

U.S. House of Representatives

The official web site with links to members' pages, committees, roll call votes, and recent legislative activities.
Link directly to John M. McHugh representative of the 23rd Congressional District (Clinton, Essex (part), Franklin, Fulton (part), Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida (part), Oswego, St. Lawrence counties). District map

 

U.S. Congressional Bibliographie

Maintained by North Carolina State Univ., provides lists of meetings held by Senate and House committees (1985-- ), and of hearings, prints published by the Senate (1983-- ). Based on data from Congressional Record Daily Digest, and Senate Library information.

 

C-Span Capitol Hearings

Streaming video of televised hearings

 

Roll Call Votes
Lexis/Nexis Congressional--subscription, Colgate users only

Covers 1988--
When connected, select Members. Key votes option is searchable by name; votes option is searchable by bill number or keyword.

 

U.S. Congress Votes Database

Covers 1991--
Maintained by the Washington Post, covers house and senate votes from 102nd congress-- . Can be browsed by representative name or by bill number. Includes an RSS feed

 

House of Representatives Roll Call Votes

Covers 1990--

 

Senate Floor Votes

Covers 1989--

 

Voteview

Covers 1789-2000
VOTEVIEW is a software designed to manipulate legislative roll call data. The data currently available with Voteview include all individual roll call votes for the first 106 Congresses (1789-2000), maps of congressional districts, codebooks with descriptive information on the roll calls, codings of the roll calls into thematic and topical categories, and the Poole-Rosenthal DW-NOMINATE ideological scores for members

 

Congressional Roll Call. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press

CASE Ref JK1.C6635  1979, 1982--
Published annually. For each congress, contains vote studies, votes on key measures arrange by CQ assigned number. Bill number and subject indexes.

 

Congressional Quarterly Almanac. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press

CASE Ref JK1.C66 1945--
Published annually. Appendices contain vote studies, votes on key measures arranged by CQ assigned number, bill number index.

 

Congressional Voting Guide: a ten year compilation of the 99th congress. Victor Bosnich, 1987.

Case Main JK1051 .B67 1987
Covers 1977-1986
Lists "major votes" of members of the 99th congress. Lists measures by house, then votes by state and representative

Almanac of American Politics. Washington, D.C.: National Journal

CASE Ref JK271.A42 1972--
Online 1998--
Published biennially. Arranged by state and representative.

 

CQ's Politics in America. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press

CASE Ref JK1012.C63 1990--
Published biennially. Arranged by state and representative

Congressional Research Service Reports

 

Executive Branch

Library of Congress

Comprehensive list of links to executive branch websites, including the White House (see below).

 

Presidential Directives

List of sources (some online) which contain presidential directives. Maintained by the staff of the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room of the Library of Congress.

 

The White House

President Bush. Previous White House web pages available at National Archives and Records Administration http://clinton.nara.gov

 

OMB Statements of Administration Policy on Non-Appropriations and Appropriations Bills

Full text of Presidential position statements about proposed legislation. Begins with 105th congress, 1st session, 1997.

 

Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Action

Official site at GPO Access
Unofficial site at U.Mass

 

GPO Access

Mandated by congress, GPO Access contains the full text of many congressional publications (including bills, documents and reports, the Congressional Record), and an increasing number of non-congressional publications, such as the Economic Report of the President, GAO Reports, and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Also provides links to other federal agency web pages. Grows weekly.