Your Librarian
Anne Zald
she/her
Contact:
Anne Zald
Subjects: Government Information; Regulatory Compliance; Gender & Sexuality Studies
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Make an Appointment
Subjects: Government Information; Regulatory Compliance; Gender & Sexuality Studies
Northwestern University Library
1970 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Make an Appointment
847-467-6441
Key Resources for Identifying Government Publications
NUSearch contains information about some, but not all, of the government publications in the NU Libraries collections.
- Some U.S. federal government agency publications are included in NUSearch. Supplement NUSearch with searches in additional databases listed on this guide, particularly if you do not find what you need.
- State of Illinois, Chicago, and Evanston publications in our collections are all included in NUSearch but our collections are not comprehensive for all topics and time periods. Consult these guides for additional resources
- Illinois State Government research guide (with tab for Other States)
- Chicago Government research guide
- Evanston Politics & Government research guide
- NUSearch can be helpful locating publications of the United Nations and other international intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), however our holdings are not comprehensive. To identify materials not in our collection, or to identify documentation of the proceedings of UN principal organs, e.g. General Assembly, Security Council, etc., use resources linked to these guides
- United Nations research Guide
- List of IGOs
- International Resources by Region
- International Resources by Theme
- List of Foreign Governments - NU Libraries does not collect publications of other national governments
Use one or more of the following databases to identify U.S. government agency publications - each will have unique features and search options.
- Catalog of U.S. Government PublicationsLists and describes federal publications (1976- ) and provides direct links to those that are available online. Search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general keyword. (See next section for indexes to pre-1976 documents.)
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new windowCongressional publications on key American public policy issues including foreign affairs, crime, national security, science and technology, transportation, the economy, labor, commerce, public health, the environment, and education. Includes the full text of proposed legislation and its status in the legislative process and the full text of recently signed law. Provides information about current members of Congress and Congressional committees.
- Hein Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes publications from all three branches of the federal government. Search across collections from the main page or click on a collection link to browse titles.
- Legislative Insight This link opens in a new windowThe Legislative Insight Collection is a Federal legislative history service that makes available thoroughly researched compilations of digital full text publications created by Congress during the process leading up to the enactment of U.S. Public Laws. It includes only documents related to the passage of a law, so hearings, reports, bills, etc., that are not part of a legislative history are not included in the database. For those other materials, please use ProQuest Congressional. – Publisher
- MetaLib GPO (Government Publishing Office) This link opens in a new windowA service of the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, MetaLib is a federated search engine that searches multiple U.S. Federal government databases, retrieving reports, articles, and citations while providing direct links to selected resources available online.
- U.S. Federal Collections in HathiTrustHathiTrust has collections focused exclusively on publications of U.S. federal government agencies. Searching one of these subsets may help find digitized content.
- United States Government Documents RegistryThe HathiTrust US Federal Government Documents Registry is a database of metadata intended to represent the comprehensive corpus of U.S. federal documents produced from 1789 to the present. It is not yet a definitive set, and we continue to improve accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Indexes to Pre-1976 U.S. Government Publications
Unless otherwise noted, links go to NUSearch, which provides call number and location information for these print resources.
- 1774-1881 Descriptive Catalog of the Government Publications of the United States (Poore)
- Online edition available through HeinOnline (NU affiliated users only)
- Online edition available through University of North Texas Digital Library
- Online edition available through Govinfo,gov (PDF, ZIP)
- 1789-1909 Checklist of United States Public Documents
- Online edition available through HeinOnline (NU affiliated users only)
- Online edition available through University of North Texas Digital Library
- Digitized edition available from Govinfo.gov (PDF, ZIP)
- 1789-1909 Checklist of United States Public Documents. Indexes.
- Online edition available through HeinOnline (NU affiliated users only)
- Online edition available through University of North Texas Digital Library
- 1789-1976 Cumulative Title Index to United States Public Documents
- 1881-1893 Comprehensive Index to the Publications of the United States Government (Ames)
- Online edition available through HeinOnline (NU affiliated users only)
- Online edition available through HathiTrust
- Digitized edition vol.1 available from Govinfo.gov
- Digitized edition vol.2 available from Govinfo.gov
- 1893-1940 Document Catalog ; Catalogue of United States Public Documents
- Online edition available through HeinOnline (NU affiliated users only)
- Digitized edition available through Govinfo.gov in 13 parts
- 1895-2004 Monthly Catalog of United States Publications (print edition in NULibraries)
- Digitized edition via GovInfo.gov (monhtly issues!)
- 1900-1971 Cumulative Subject Index to the Monthly Catalog
- Pre-U.S. Colonial GovernanceSuggestions for where to begin your searches for publications produced by the Continental Congresses held in North America between 1774-1789
Collections of Digitized U.S. Government Publications
The vast majority of government publications are now published directly to the web, ensuring widespread availability. However, access to most older government documents remains somewhat limited; these items are generally only available in libraries that are part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) - this map/directory will help you determine which depository libraries are near you. Many libraries and other organizations, such as those noted below, are working to increase availability by creating digitized copies of these older documents.
- govinfo.govgovinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government, and is a service of the Government Publishing Office.
- U.S. Federal Collections in HathiTrustHathiTrust has collections focused exclusively on publications of U.S. federal government agencies. Searching one of these subsets may help find digitized content.
- Internet ArchiveCollection of federal government documents hosted by the Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library.
- Google BooksIncludes government documents as well as other items. To focus a search to government publications, try adding "Government Printing Office: or "G.P.O." in the publisher field.
- LLMC DigitalCollection of legal titles and government documents. Includes the Statutes at Large and US federal, US state, and foreign legislative, executive and judicial materials.
- Technical Report Archive and Image Library (TRAIL)digitized U.S. government technical reports issued primarily pre-1975
- University of North Texas (UNT) LibrariesAccess to a large number of digitized documents, arranged in several distinct collections.
U.S. Federal Government Organization & Responsibilities
Knowing what an agency is responsible for, and who works in that agency, can help find the information you need,
- U.S. Government ManualThe official handbook of the federal government provides comprehensive and authoritative descriptions of the programs and activities of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The Manual also includes information about quasi-official agencies, international organizations with U.S. membership, and Federal boards, commissions, and committees.
- A-Z Index of U.S. Government AgenciesUSA.gov is an interagency product administered by USAGov (formerly the Federal Citizen Information Center), a division of the U.S. General Services Administration's Technology Transformation Service. USAGov's mission is to make it easier for everyone to find and understand the government services and information they need—anytime, anywhere, any way they want.
- Guide to U.S. Government Publications (Andriot)Traces depository publications through agency changes and assigned SuDoc numbers. Entries include title, publication history, ISSN, frequency of distribution, short descriptions, and notes about changes. Provides agency, title, and keyword in title indexes. The "Agency Class Chronology" traces the history of all agencies current or defunct. (Print only.)
- Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for KidsBen's Guide to the U.S. Government, a service of the Government Publishing Office (GPO), is designed to inform students, parents, and educators about the Federal Government, which issues the publications and information products disseminated by the GPO’s Federal Depository Library Program.
How to Cite Government Publications
- Citing Government DocumentsProvides guides to citing government sources in APA, Chicago, MLA, and Turabian styles.
- DocsCiteProvides a template for creating government publications citations in APA or MLA format.
- General Guidelines for Citing Government PublicationsProvides good background material on deciphering the various elements of a government publication for citation.
Open Access for Federally Funded Research
- OSTP Issues Guidance to Make Federally Funded Research Freely Available Without DelayIssued August 25. 2022 this directs federal agencies to update their access policies for tax-payer supported research publicly available without embargo or cost no later than December 31, 2025, ending the optional 12-month embargo from an earlier directive.
- OSTP 2021 Public Access Congressional ReportRequired annual report regarding U.S. federal agencies’ progress in implementing their public access plans, as guided by the 2013 OSTP Memorandum on Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research.
- White House MemorandumFebruary 22, 2013 memo from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), directing federal agencies to develop a plan to support increased public access to the results of research funded by the federal government.
- Data Sharing Requirements: By AgencyThis website allows tracking, comparing, and understanding both current and future U.S. federal funder research data sharing policies. Provided as a joint project of SPARC & Johns Hopkins University Libraries you can browse specific agency requirements, compare up to 3 agencies at a time OR download the entire dataset.
- Public Access Mandates for Federally Funded Research Implementation PlansTable showing agencies that have made their OA plans public, with links to implementation plans.