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Databases Related to Government Information

NOTE: A web-based database indicates one that can be accessed from any computer on the Internet. A database with the NIU note indicates one to which the University Libraries subscribes. These can be accessed, by members of the NIU community, from a computer on the campus network.

General Databases

  • Catalog of Government Publications [web-based] http://catalog.gpo.gov/ — from the US Government Printing Office, “provides an index to print and electronic publications created by Federal agencies.” The database covers from 1976 to the present. One new aspect of the search is that it also covers a growing number of older, print titles that have been scanned and are now available as full-text electronic documents. The catalog also includes an advanced search , and a frequently updated listing of new titles.
  • U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980 (with) American State Papers 1789-1838 [NIU subscription] - - The Serial Set “offers an unparalleled view of the activities of the United States federal government from the founding of the Republic through most of the twentieth century”[NIU description]. This series provides an in-depth record of US history from the government's perspective, covering a broad range of topics. This electronic version of the Serial Set also includes a browseable map collection. The American State Papers cover the period from the Revolutionary War to the 1830's.
  • GPO Monthly Catalog [NIU] http://firstsearch.oclc.org/dbname=GPO;done=referer;fsip — description from the site: “Covers all types of U.S. government documents (more than 498,000 records), including Congressional reports, hearings, debates, and records; judiciary materials; and documents issued by executive departments (Defense, State, Labor, Office of the President, etc.). Includes a bibliographic citation in each record.”
  • Lexis-Nexis Congressional Publications [NIU] http://web.lexisnexis.com/congcomp — From Lexis-Nexis, this database indexes publications of Congress from 1789 to the present. Included are: legislative histories for laws from 1970 to the present, bill-tracking for current legislation, and full-text for most current material such as hearings and committee reports on a given bill. This site also covers individual members of Congress through their voting records, financial disclosures as well as campaign contributions from individuals and political action committees.

Specialized Databases

  • Agency Publications Indexes [web-based] http://www.gpoaccess.gov/api/index.html — This GPO site includes links to bibliographic databases maintained by U.S. government agencies, such as the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Justice and NASA. Included are most of the web-based databases listed below. Many citations that can be found through these databases are linked to full-text documents.
  • Agricola [web-based] http://agricola.nal.usda.gov/ — Description from the site: “AGRICOLA (AGRICultural OnLine Access) is a bibliographic database of citations to the agricultural literature created by the National Agricultural Library (NAL) and its cooperators. Production of these records in electronic form began in 1970, but the database covers materials in all formats, including printed works from the 15th century. The records describe publications and resources encompassing all aspects of agriculture and allied disciplines, including animal and veterinary sciences, entomology, plant sciences, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, farming and farming systems, agricultural economics, extension and education, food and human nutrition, and earth and environmental sciences.”
  • Air University Library's Index to Military Periodicals (AULIMP) [web-based] http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/aulimp/ — This database “is a subject index to significant articles, news items, and editorials from English language military and aeronautical periodicals. The Index contains citations since 1988 and is updated continuously.” [description from site]
  • Archives USA [NIU] http://archives.chadwyck.com/ — Description from the site: “ Archives USA is a directory of 5500 repositories and 149,218 collections of primary source material across the United States.”
  • Congress Daily [NIU] http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/congressdaily/ — published by National Journal , Congress Daily emphasizes politics, but also provides coverage of legislation before Congress. Includes an online version of the Almanac of American Politics.
  • Congress votes database | washingtonpost.com [web-based] http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/ — “This site lets you browse every vote in the U.S. Congress since 1991.” Details include member, party, gender, Congressional vote missers, narrow and wide margins on votes, and late-night votes.
  • Energy Citations Database [web-based] http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/about.jsp — Description from the site: “contains bibliographic records for energy and energy-related STI [scientific and technical information] from the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies, the Energy Research & Development Administration (ERDA) and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). The Database provides access to DOE publicly available citations from 1948 through the present, with continued growth through regular updates.”
  • ERIC [web-based] http://www.eric.ed.gov/ — ERIC is a bibliographic database of more than 1 million citations, of education related material. Coverage is from 1966 to the present. Note:[NIU] — the NIU Libraries also offer access to the ERIC database through four subscriptions: CSA Illumina http://www.csa.com/htbin/dbrng.cgi?username=niu&access=niu450&cat=eric&adv=1, FirstSearch http://firstsearch.oclc.org/dbname=ERIC;done=referer;fsip, Ovid http://gateway.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&PAGE=main&NEWS=n&DBC=y&D=eric, and EBSCO http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=eric.
  • GeoRefS [NIU] http://firstsearch.oclc.org/dbname=GeoRefS;done=referer;fsip — GeoRefS indexes literature in geology and the earth sciences, covering 1785 to the present for North America, and from 1933 to the present for the rest of the world. Included are publications of government agencies such as the US Geological Survey, and other literature written by government scientists.
  • GLIN: Global Legal Information Network [web-based] http://www.glin.gov — from the Law Library of Congress , is a database of “laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other complementary legal sources contributed by governmental agencies and international organizations.” Some sources, particularly US, are full-text.
  • GovSearch [NIU] http://www.carrollpub.com/subscribers/ — This database publishes news from agencies of the federal government and also includes a directory of government offices from the national to the local level
    • .
  • Historical Statistics of the United States, Millennial Edition [NIU] http://hsus.cambridge.org/ — includes statistics from the pre-Revolutionary War period to the present, on a broad-range of historical topics. Each topical section includes explanations placing statistics in historical context. Tables can be downloaded in different formats.
  • Hotline [NIU] http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/hotline/ — Also from National Journal , the Hotline provides daily poliitical news, buzz columns, and an online version of the Almanac of American Politics.
  • IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) [web-based] http://www.epa.gov/iris/ — Site description: “IRIS is a database of human health effects that may result from exposure to various substances found in the environment.”
  • Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) [web-based] http://www.itis.usda.gov/ — taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world. For any species, this database provides the taxonomic hierarchy with references to authoritative information. The search result screen offers the further option of searching for outside resources, which will poll Google images http://images.google.com/, and article databases from the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Network http://search.nbii.gov/portal/server.pt, Entrez Life Sciences http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gquery/gquery.fcgi, and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Data Portal http://www.gbif.net/portal/index.jsp. Some of the outside full-text resources may be limited to subscribers only access, but abstracts for articles are free.
  • LegalTrac [NIU] http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/niulaw_main?db=LT — Indexes a wide variety of legal sources including bar association journals, international journals, and law reviews, as well as law-related articles from general and business journals.
  • Military & Government Collection [NIU] http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=mth — indexes nearly 400 periodicals and academic journals covering government and military-related topics. From the site: “The database also includes full text for 245 pamphlets and offers indexing and abstracts for more than 500 titles. Some publications covered in this database include Air Force Comptroller, Army Reserve Magazine, Defence Studies, Global Security Review, JFQ: Joint Force Quarterly, Military Technology, National Review, Combat Edge, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Foreign Affairs, Naval Forces, and many more. Many full text titles are available in native (searchable) PDF, or scanned-in-color.”
  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service [web-based] http://www.ncjrs.gov/index.html — includes many statistical publications on justice issues and substance abuse. You can search the abstracts database http://www.ncjrs.gov/abstractdb/search.asp or choose a broad category from their topical index http://www.ncjrs.gov/viewall.html .
  • National Journal [NIU] http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/nj/ — nonpartisan weekly on politics, policy and government.
  • NSCEP/NEPIS: National Environmental Publications Information System [web-based] http://www.epa.gov/nscep/ — from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications, this site allows searching of includes 24,000 EPA documents. Click on “Simple Search” on the left side of the screen, to get started. Includes scanned images of full-text documents.
  • OECD Economic Surveys [NIU] http://miranda.sourceoecd.org/vl=378677/cl=101/nw=1/rpsv/periodical/p7_about.htm?jnlissn=03766438 — “produces in-depth reviews of Member countries' economies and selected non-Member countries” (SourceOECD). Surveys cover current economic developments with special coverage of current interest topics. They also include statistical information. The OECD is made up of countries from Europe and North America, and include Australia, Japan and Korea from the Pacific region.
  • Publications Warehouse of the U.S. Geological Survey [web-based] http://infotrek.er.usgs.gov/pubs/ — a searchable database of electronic publications of the USGS.
  • Public STINET [web-based] http://stinet.dtic.mil/ — scientific and technical information network of the Defense Technical Information Center, provides full text documents about such varied topics as medicine, aerospace science, military affairs and social sciences.
  • PubMed [web-based] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?DB=pubmed — description from the site: “PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, includes over 15 million citations for biomedical articles back to the 1950’s. These citations are from MEDLINE and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full text articles and other related resources.”
  • TOXNET [web-based] http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov — “a cluster of databases on toxicology, hazardous chemicals, and related areas.” [description from the site]
  • TranStats [web-based] http://transtats.bts.gov/ — the intermodal transportation database, is an index of over 100 transportation-related data bases.

Current Information

  • USA.gov — major portal, good first stop, search includes all government sites, not only .gov and .mil.
  • GPO Access — primary source for US government electronic information.
  • Supreme Court — High court opinions from 2002 onward, oral arguments, and more.
  • Thomas — Look for Congressional Bills, Resolutions, legislative summaries & status, browse the Congressional Record.
  • The White House — Current policy, press briefings, photos from the Executive Mansion.

.gov Portals

These portals pool information from many agencies, covering one topic, into one central webpage.

  • Info — search firstgov from Federal Citizen Information Center, includes links to further portals.
  • Disability — disability related information and resources.
  • Forms — “official hub for federal forms,” includes tax forms.
  • GovBenefits — find federal and state government benefits.
  • Grants — find and apply for grants.
  • Health — health news, links to indexes, such as MedlinePlus® and initiatives such as Healthy People 2010 and dietary guidelines.
  • Regulations — read and post comments on proposed regulations.
  • Science — “gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results.”
  • Statistics — links to statistics from 100+ agencies, includes statistics links arranged by topic and agencies.