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Kresge Library - A teaching library with an oustanding student-centered information literacy program
Federal Government Documents
 
Oakland University Documents Center -- Welcome -- Kresge Library is an official depository for both US and Michigan governments publications. These materials can be accessed using the Voyager online catalog.
Government Documents Home Page

Federal Documents


Comprehensive sites/Search engines/Indexes

Ben's Guide (a source of  U.S. government information for kids K thru 12)

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (the major finding tool for Federal publications, both historical and current, with direct links to those that are available online)

Cyber Cemetery (this site provides permanent public access to the electronic web sites and publications of defunct U.S. government agencies and commissions)

GovEngine.com (this site provides quick access to a large number of Federal, State and Local government and court resources)

Government Information Online (a free online information service that allows you to ask questions and receive responses from government information librarians located at various libraries across the nation)

Government Information Subject Index (a keyword index which leads to lots and lots of links to government information by subject)

GPO Access  (a comprehensive Government Printing Office site which offers links to the Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Congressional Record and other important sources)

INFOMINE Scholarly Internet Resources/Government Information (another one of those wonderful cornucopian gateways to a large number of government web sites)

New Electronic Titles  (electronic publications recently added to the Federal government's depository library program)

Internet Sites by SuDocs Numbers  (quick jumps to Federal websites arranged by Superintendent of Documents classification numbers)

USA.gov (formerly FirstGov, this is the government's most robust search engine giving access to thousands of web sites)

U.S. Federal Government Agencies Directory  (an awesome collection of links to all major Federal agencies, their subagencies and their sub-subagencies; if it's not here, it probably doesn't exist)

Uncle Sam Migrating Government Publications  (this site tracks printed government documents which are migrating to the Internet by identifying URLs and linking them directly to the electronic documents)

University of Michigan Documents Center, Federal  (many many U.S. government links on the mother of all government information web sites)

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Congress

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation (a linked set of published congressional records of the United States from the Continental Congress  through the 42nd Congress)

Congress.org (an excellent one-stop site for Congressional information that facilitates civic participation by allowing, among other things, direct online communication with elected officials)

C-Span/Congressional Quarterly Capitol Spotlight (an informative site that focuses on major Washington political events)

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet (information on Congress, texts of bills, the Congressional Record and other capital things)

Metavid (this site offers an archived collection of televised proceedings of the United States Senate and House of  Representatives, with video footage provided by C-SPAN)

U.S. Congress Votes Database (sponsored by the Washington Post, this site provides a searchable database of  Congressional voting from 1991 to the present)

United States House of Representatives (offical site giving schedules of house floor action and hearings, information about members, tallies of roll call votes, links to other Federal sites and lots more)

United States Senate (official site of the world's most exclusive 100 member club, with lots of information similar to what's found on the House site)

Senator Carl Levin's Website (Michigan's senior senator)

Senator Debbie Stabenow's Website (Michigan's junior senator)

Representative Joe Knollenberg's Website (represents the 9th Congressional District, wherein lies our beloved OU)
 

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Census/Demographics



American Factfinder (your link to all the information from the 2000 Census of Population, plus some useful economic and geographic data)

Bureau of the Census (your gateway to a plethora of statistical data compiled and presented by our nation's human being counters)

Historical Census Data Browser (allows for browsing of  U.S. census data from 1790 to 1960; data goes down to county level in most cases)


    see also under Michigan:

    see also under International:


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Information about Foreign Countries


Background Notes (the long-standing State Department series of brochures, now electronic, which gives general information about other countries)

Constitutions of the World (constitutions in English for all the countries in the world)

Country Studies (the renowned series of Area Handbooks, originally published by the U.S. Army and long a mainstay of government documents collections, now available in electronic format for more than 80 countries)

Department of State Countries and Regions Page (gives links to all State Dept. websites giving information about foreign nations)

Export.Gov (the U.S. government's export portal with lots and lots of country and industry market reports; this site requires free registration prior to access)

Portals to the World (selective links providing in-depth information about nations and areas of the
world)

Trade Port Market Research (lots of good economic information about countries, including analyses by specific industry.

UnitedStates Embassies (links to official home pages of U.S. foreign embassies and consulates)

World Factbook (this Central Intelligence Agency source is a standard for obtaining up-to-date
information on any country on this planet)

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Technical Information

DARTS/Depository Access to Reports, Technical & Scientific ( provides access to approximately 240,000 publications issued from 1964-2000 in the National Technical Information Service's database; access is restricted to Kresge Library computers--off-campus access is not permitted)

FedWorld
(the National Technical Information Service offers a comprehensive access point for searching, locating, ordering and acquiring government technical report literature)

FirstGov for Science (a gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by the United States government)

GrayLIT Network (accesses the gray literature---defined as materials usually available only through specialized channels rather than through normal systems of distribution---of various Federal agencies; includes primarily technical report literature)

National Climatic Data Center (the gateway to lots and lots of local and national climate and weather statistics)

North American Industry Classification System/NAICS  (this site provides for searching in NAICS, the industrial classification system which is replacing the old Standard Industrial Classification System/SIC)

Patent and Trademark Office (if you've got that ol' inventive bent, here's the site that could start you on your way to fame and fortune)

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Laws, Regulations, Forms

FedLaw (Federal laws and regulations by subject, and more)

FindLaw Forms (lots and lots of Federal and state forms in PDF format)

GPO Access (a comprehensive Government Printing Office site offering links to the Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, Congressional Record and other important governmental databases)

Internal Revenue Service (a link to the site providing all the forms and publications we all need every April 15th)

Regulations.gov(a one stop site which allows a user to both view and comment upon any Federal regulation)

Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet (information on Congress, texts of bills, the Congressional Record and other capital things)

Uncle Sam-Forms From the Feds (this site provides links to forms on a large number of Federal agencies websites)
 

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President/Executive Branch

American Presidency Project  (over 30,000 historic documents regarding American presidents, including State of the Union addresses, Inaugural addresses and Public Papers)

American President: An Online Reference Source (a comprehensive collection of material about the President of the United States and the history of the presidency)

GODORT's Frequently Used Sites (a very good comprehensive site offering links to just about everything Presidential that one could think of)

Federal Agency Directory: Executive (another excellent comprehensive site with links to a wide range of sources)

Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies (part of the Library of Congress American Memory Project, this source provides likenesses of each U.S. president and most of the first ladies)

Presidential Libraries (provides links to all the presidential libraries beginning with Herbert Hoover's)

Presidents of the United States (this site offers a plethora of information about each of the chief executives of our great nation)

The American Presidency: a Glorious Burden (this website is based on a fall of 2000 Smithsonian exhibition containing artifacts and facts dealing with the lives and times of our country's presidents)

The White House (news and information emanating from that famous residence located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in our nation's capital)
 

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Elections and Politics

 American National Election Studies (this site provides access to statistical data on American elections since 1948)

Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections (this is a commercial site, but a good one providing lots of detailed information)

 Federal Elections Commission (site of the federal agency charged with enforcing campaign finance law and overseeing public funding of Presidential elections)

Guide to U.S. Elections and Voting (provides non-partisan as well as partisan sources of information on elections, voting and lots of additional things)

Opensecrets.org  (your guide to just how much money is spent on U.S. elections, by PAC's, lobbyists and other groups)

Political Information (a search engine leading the user to a multitude of things of a political nature)

Project Vote Smart (a good source of election-related information, including lobby group ratings of candidates, campaign finance data and candidate biographies)

Publius(voter education site that allows for viewing a specific voter's ballot, mapping of polling locations and other election/voting issues)
 

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Supreme Court


Cornell/Legal Information Institute (current Court decisions since 1990, plus a collection of 600 historically-important decisions)

FindLaw(contains a searchable database of Court decisions since 1893)

GPO Access (click on "Judicial" under "What's Available"; gives access to Court decisions from 1937 to 1975 and from 1992 to date)

History of the Supreme Court (this site includes teacher resources, time lines, factual articles and an encyclopedia)

The Oyez Project (a terrific site providing access to decisions plus a lot more concerning our nation's highest court)

Supreme Court Historical Society (for both the novice and the scholar, this site provides valuable insights into the history and working of the Court)

United States Supreme Court Home Page (latest opinions and more on the Court's home turf)
 

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Statistics

Bureau of Justice Statistics  (various crime statistics on many topics)

ChildStats (easy access to statistics and reports on children and families)

Education Statistics (provides direct access to major NCES publications such as  Digest of Education Statistics, Condition of Education and more)

FBI Crime Statistics (links to three annual statistical publications: Crime in the United States, Hate Crime Statistics, and  Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted)

Faststats from the National Center for Health Statistics (provides quick a-z access to statistics on topics of public health importance)  

FedStats (provides access to statistical information produced by more than 100 Federal government agencies)

Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (includes data from more than 100 sources about many aspects of criminal justice in the United States)

State and Local Government Finances (financial statistcs taken from the Census of Governments are given in four categories)

STAT-USA  (business, economic and trade information from one of the U.S. government's premier websites;  please note that access to this resource is limited to 2 simultaneous users, on campus only)

Statistical Abstract of the United States (the national data book of sociological and economic statistics, this site offers access to the current edition plus older issues back to 1878)

TranStats (the intermodal transportation database brought to you by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics)


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Miscellaneous Links


Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (a government-wide compendium of Federal programs, projects, services and activities which provide assistance or benefits to the American public)

Federal Business Opportunities (this site provides up-to-date information about Federal government procurement opportunities)

Federal Toll-Free Telephone Numbers (from the Federal Citizen Information Center, a list of agency telephone numbers which, if called, will not come back to pester you on your monthly phone bill)

FirstGov Citizen Gateway (locate government offices and services in your local community, region or state by using this website)

National Climatic Data Center (the gateway to lots and lots of local and national climate and weather statistics)

Pandemic Flu (official U.S. government website providing information on pandemic flu and avian influenza)

The Student Guide (student financial aid from the United States Department of Education)

War of the Rebellion Records (the official Civil War records of both the Union and Confederate armies and navies)
 

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Government Documents Home Page

Please contact us if you have any questions or comment