LIS 504: Government Information for Reference Librarians
Depository Programs
U.S Federal
FDLP Desktop
http://www.fdlp.gov/
Depository Library Directory
http://catalog.gpo.gov/fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp
United Nations
United Nations Depository Libraries
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/deplib/index.html
Canada
Depository Services Program
http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/index-e.html
Illinois
Depository Programs at the Illinois State Library
http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/what_we_do/depository_programs/home.html
General Indexes
- Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
http://catalog.gpo.gov
- This is a database of publications cataloged by the U.S. Government Printing Office from 1976
to the present. It includes the ability to find a library near you that has the publication
you are interested in. Another interface is available from the UIUC Library at
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=258121.
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- GPO Access
http://www.gpoaccess.gov
- This site is an access point to information from all branches of the U.S. government as well as
the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications. Search inside laws and regulations here; also
find U.S. Supreme Court cases, federal budget information, presidential speeches, and more.
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- UIUC Online Catalog
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/catalog/
- Use the "Quick Limits" or "More Limits" features to limit your search to the Government
Documents Library collection, which extends back to the late 1970s. If you know you are
looking for a government document, you can also limit an advanced search by using "Government
Printing Office" (for federal information) as a publisher search or words from the name of the
agency you are interested in as an author search.
Legislative and Regulatory Sources
- LexisNexis Congressional UIUC Subscription
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=258117
- This site is an access point for material from the U.S. Congress since 1789. Access the
text of bills and laws, legislative histories, reports and hearings, and the Congressional Record
as well as regulatory material.
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- Thomas (Library of Congress)
http://thomas.loc.gov
- Most information on this site is available from the late 1980s forward. It is designed
for members of Congress to track legislation, and has useful features like tracking of nominations
or budget legislation that are not available in LexisNexis. There is no indexing of hearings
in Thomas.
Statistical Sources
- LexisNexis Statistical UIUC Subscription
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=258185
- Use the "Search Abstracts" screen and the subject list to find statistics published since the
1980s. Often sources described in this index have been published for decades, so you may be
able to use the online catalog to find earlier versions of sources described in this index.
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- Statistical Abstract of the United States
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/
- This reference source is used in almost every public and academic library to find basic
statistics on a wide variety of subjects. If you need more detailed statistics than are
available here, every table is footnoted, often with a URL to a U.S. publication like Traffic
Safety Facts (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/Crash/Index.html).
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- Fedstats
http://www.fedstats.gov
- This free online index to U.S. government statistics on the web has an excellent list of
statistical agencies and their major publications, as well as a subject index that links to agency
web pages.
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- American Factfinder
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http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en
- This is the access point for the decennial census and other censuses and surveys conducted by
the U.S. Census Bureau. It is useful for data back to 1990.
A Sampling of Specialized Sources
- U.S. Serial Set Digital Edition UIUC Subscription
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=395383
- The Serial Set contains reports submitted to and generated by Congress from the 15th Congress
(1817) to the present. This online index contains full text for 1817-1937. For an index
to all Serial Set reports (without links to full text), use LexisNexis Congressional. Most
academic depository libraries have access to the Serial Set.
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- ERIC
http://www.eric.ed.gov/
- Use the thesaurus tab at the top of this page to find reports, articles and many other
publications about educational issues. Coverage of this database goes back to the 1960's,
with a few earlier materials included. Other interfaces to the same index are available from
the UIUC Library's
Online Research Resources page: do a title keyword
search for "ERIC."
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- NTIS
http://www.ntis.gov
- The National Technical Information Service provides an index to technical reports published by
a wide variety of government agencies which research engineering, military or scientific
problems. Many libraries have at least some of these reports, and NTIS is beginning to link
to full text online. This free index goes back to 1990; UIUC subscribes to an index that goes
back to the 1960s, with a few earlier reports included (http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr/get.php?instid=258201).
University Library