LibGuides: Alumni Research Tools and Techniques: Government and Community-Based Information

Federal Government Documents

Getting Started with Government Information

There is no one central location where U.S. government documents are available either physically or digitally (or both), but this guide provides tips for navigating multiple locations to identify where to find the information you need. Click the tabs above to browse selected resources available to the public for research related to government information.

Tips to keep in mind:

Effectively locating governing information requires a good understanding of the structure of government.
The same information may be available from several sources, and those sources may not all be equal. With time, you will develop a list of favorites to which you can return.
Don’t get too attached to your favorites. They may go away without much warning.
Names of sources, titles, and publishers may sound similar, and government and commercial titles may have very similar names.
On government websites, databases, and publications, content takes priority. Therefore, the interface, indexing, and usability vary greatly, and advanced search options may be limited.

Places to start:

Discovery tools are a type of search engine designed to provide a “Google”-like single-search experience of the world of library electronic resources, including the library online catalog, databases, e-journals, digital collections, and more. Below, you'll find a list of discovery tools that are often used by researchers looking for government documents and information.

Catalog of Government Publications (CGP) "The CGP is the finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive information for historical and current publications as well as direct links to the full document, when available. Users can search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general keywords, or click on "Advanced Search" for more options."
govinfo "govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch. govinfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government."
MetaLib "Welcome to MetaLib, a service of the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP)! 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. Government Documents on Internet Archive This collection on the Internet Archive includes digital versions of U.S. Government documents as well as other government documents.
USA.gov "USA.gov (www.usa.gov) is the official guide to government information and services." "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."

Legislative branch publications include all records of Congress and records related to bills, legislation, and public law. Congress is made up of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Agencies such as the Congressional Budget Office, General Accounting Office, Government Publishing Office, and Library of Congress that provide support services for Congress are also part of the legislative branch. Below are links to sites that hold information and resources related to the legislative branch:

C-SPAN C-SPAN.org provides access to C-SPAN's daily coverage of Washington as well as to the C-SPAN Video Library, with over 270,000 hours of C-SPAN video since 1987.
Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation brings together online the records and acts of Congress from the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention through the 43rd Congress, including the first three volumes of the Congressional Record, 1873-75.
Congress.gov The official website for U.S. federal legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. Presented by the Library of Congress, it includes bills and resolutions, congressional activity, the Congressional Record, schedules and calendars, committee information, presidential nominations, treaties, government resources, resources for teachers, and help and contact information.
Congressional Record (1994 to the present) on govinfo "The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. This site contains Congressional record volumes from 140 (1994) to the present. At the back of each daily issue is the "Daily Digest," which summarizes the day's floor and committee activities."
Congressional Record, Bound Edition (1873-2016) on govinfo "The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873 and is still published today. At the end of each session of Congress, all of the daily editions are collected, re-paginated, and re-indexed into a permanent, bound edition. This permanent edition, referred to as the Congressional Record (Bound Edition), is made up of one volume per session of Congress, with each volume published in multiple parts, each part containing approximately 10 to 20 days of Congressional proceedings.
Legislative Branch Publications by Agency on govinfo This govinfo collection contains documents published by agencies and other entities in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Legislative Explorer Data visualization of the legislative process from the University of Washington and Schema

The judicial branch is comprised of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Records in this category include those published by the U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts, U.S. Court of International Trade, Bankruptcy Courts, and Judicial commissions.

Google Scholar - State and Federal Courts Use Google Scholar to search select State and Federal Court documents.
Judicial Branch Publications by Agency on govinfo This govinfo collection contains documents published by agencies and other entities in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) “The Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service provides electronic public access to federal court records. PACER provides the public with instantaneous access to more than 1 billion documents filed at all federal courts.”
United States Code "The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 53 titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Code was first published in 1926. The next main edition was published in 1934, and subsequent main editions have been published every six years since 1934. In between editions, annual cumulative supplements are published in order to present the most current information. "
United States Reports via the Library of Congress The United States Reports are the official records of the rulings, orders, case tables and other proceedings of the United States Supreme Court. In addition to online access, we own the following in paper, Vols. 393-556 (1968-2008) with gaps (JU 6.8:)
United States Statutes at Large via govinfo The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress.

Executive branch publications are produced by the Office of the President, the Cabinet, executive departments, independent agencies, and other boards, commissions, and committees. There are hundreds of websites, collections, and databases from the executive branch. Here are some we recommend:

Executive Agency Publications on govinfo This collection contains select documents published by agencies and other entities in the executive branch.
Federal Register The Federal Register is the official journal of the United States Government. It is published daily by the National Archives and Records Administration’s Office of the Federal Register. It contains current Presidential proclamations and Executive orders, Federal agency regulations having general applicability and legal effect, proposed agency rules, and documents required by statute to be published.
Presidential Actions, Speeches, Statements, and More The White House's virtual Briefing Room, including presidential actions, speeches, press briefings, statements and releases, and more.
Presidential Documents Guide from the National Archives The National Archives and Records Administration research guide that outlines the different types of Presidential documents available to the public and where they may be found.
Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States on govinfo Public Papers volumes, which are compiled and published by the Office of the Federal Register in the National Archives and Records Administration, contain the papers and speeches of the President of the United States that were issued by the Office of the Press Secretary during the specified time period. The material is presented in chronological order, and the dates shown in the headings are the dates of the documents or events.
U.S. Census Bureau Portal to the United States Census Bureau.
U.S. State Department: Historical Documents Archive of Foreign Relations documents providing a record of "major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity."

Local Government Records and Information

City and state government records are valuable sources for exploring the historical and contemporary contexts of a specific issue, person, place, or community. The biggest challenge in utilizing these sources is that they can be difficult to find. Like federal records, there is no central location where city and state government records are available, so it is important to remember to search for multiple locations.

Click the tabs above to see selected resources for locating records produced by New York State and New York City.

Image Credit: View of Surrogate's Court from the roof of City Hall, 1930-1940. The Municipal Archives, Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS).

Guides and Places to Start

Guide to the New York State Library Online Catalog Excelsior is the online public access catalog, designed to be the starting place for access to material in the New York State Library and the New York State Archives. Please be aware, though, that not all records are online.
New York State Committee on Open Government The Committee on Open Government is responsible for overseeing and advising with regard to the Freedom of Information Law, the Open Meetings Law and the Personal Privacy Protection Law (Public Officers Law, Articles 6, 7 and 6-A respectively). Staff of the Committee gives advice by telephone, email, written advisory opinions, and training classes conducted throughout the state. Advice is offered to the government, the public and the news media.
New York State Library Guides and Finding Aids Links to guides and finding aids for the resources available through the New York State Library.

Key Resources for Official New York State Information

New York State Archives The New York State Archives preserves and makes accessible over 250 million records of New York’s State and colonial governments dating from 1630 to the present. We provide records management and archival advisory services to New York State agencies, local governments and non-government repositories. We are passionate about ensuring that the essential documentation of New York is effectively managed and appropriately preserved for today and for the future.
New York State Assembly The website of the New York State Assembly, which includes information on Assembly members, legislative info, public hearings, Assembly reports, budget info, and more. The site also includes a NY State Bill search.
New York State Bills and Laws "Browse the current laws of New York organized by subject matter. You can also search for changes to the laws (known as "bills") which have been proposed by members of the Senate, members of the Assembly, and the Governor."
New York State Governor Official government site of the governor of New York State.
New York State Library The New York State Library's collections include over 20 million items that support State government work and the research needs of the general public.
New York State Senate New York State Legislative information, including current bills and resolutions, statutes, the State Constitution, chapter laws, vetoes, Senate member directory, Senate legislative schedule, and more.
Open FOIL NY A centralized location to file a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to more than 50 New York State executive agencies and authorities. Multiple agencies can be selected in a single FOIL request.
Open NY Open NY is the initiative of policies, programs, and tools that provide public access to digital data for collaboration and analysis.

Useful Guides for Getting Started

Begin by understanding how the NYC government operates, the types of records it produces, and the information it makes available to the public. You can start by consulting any of the following resources:

Getting Started with New York City Government Information A comprehensive index of available NYC government information made by Columbia University Libraries
New York City Architecture: How to Research a Building This guide from the New York Public Library introduces the vast number of resources relating to the architecture of New York City that are in the collections of NYPL as well as other institutions.
Researching Historic Buildings in New York City Guide from the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission The Landmarks Preservation Commission has created a Guide to Research Resources to help you learn more about your historic building. This guide is intended to assist you in finding construction dates, architects, and original owners; alterations to buildings and changes in ownership over time; the names of building residents; and historic photos, among other information.
Researching New York City Neighborhoods The subject of this research guide is “site research,” which encompasses both individual building research, and researching a neighborhood, area, locale or region - any physical spot on a map within fixed boundaries. Some resources are specific to what kinds of information a researcher may be looking for – like an address directory for researching a building, or a local history monograph about a neighborhood – and some resources are useful in general, like image collections and newspapers.

Key Resources for Official New York City Information

American Community Survey (ACS) via NYC Department of City Planning "The American Community Survey (ACS) is the most extensive nationwide survey currently available. From its annual releases, we are able to examine the city’s detailed demographic, socioeconomic, and housing characteristics."
CompStat 2.0: NYC Crime Statistics - NYPD Browse crime statistics by geographic location and/or specific types of crimes using NYC CompStat 2.0 from the NYPD.
New York City Council The website of the New York City Council, including sections on districts, legislation, budgets, and land use.
New York City Department of Records and Information Services The Department of Records and Information Services preserves and provides public access to historical and contemporary records and information about New York City government.
NYC DORIS Government Publications Portal Welcome to the Government Publications Portal—the GPP. This portal provides the public with a permanent, searchable online repository of New York City government’s publications. Beginning in 2006 agencies were required to send digital reports to the Municipal Library at the Department of Records and Information Services (DORIS). The Municipal Library has a long tradition of making government information accessible. More recent changes to the New York City Charter, Section 1133, require agencies to submit digital copies of all publications to the Library for permanent access and storage. If agencies don’t submit a report within ten days of publication, DORIS is required to publish a notice that the report has not been sent in place of the report until such report is published.
NYC Open Data Browse through NYC open data sets on topics ranging from city government and housing and development, to education and transportation.
NYPD Crime Statistics Crime statistics from the New York City Police Department.

Economic Data

Local (New York City & New York State)

Bureau of Labor Statistics - New York View data sets from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from the New York - New Jersey information offices.
NYC Department of Labor - Resources List of resources from the NYC Department of Labor, including labor statistics.
NYCEDC Insights Reports, thought leadership, and general news about the city’s economy and industries from New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).
Regional Economy Data and Research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Regional economic data and research as well as information about community issues in the region, from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

National & International

Bureau of Labor Statistics - United States Department of Labor Search through data resources from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Topics include inflation and prices, employment predictions, unemployment, pay and benefits, and more.

IMF Government Finance Statistics This link opens in a new window Provides detailed annual statistical data on revenue, expense, transactions in assets and liabilities, and stocks of assets and liabilities of general government and its subsectors as reported by member countries. Available through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) eLibrary. Scope: Worldwide Dates: 1990 to present, International Finance Statistics from 1948 to present

OECD Social and Welfare Statistics OECD Social and Welfare Statistics provide data on trends in aggregate social expenditure and analysis in changes in its composition. A wide range of social policy topics are covered, including old age, incapacity-related benefits, health, family, active labor market programs, unemployment, and housing. Datasets on social expenditure, income distribution, taxes and benefits, child well-being, and pensions are also available.

OECD National Accounts Statistics This link opens in a new window OECD National Account Statistics includes data on public sector debt, central government debt, GDP, disposable income, and general government accounts for OECD countries and non-member economies. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1955 to present.
OECD Tax Statistics This link opens in a new window OECD Tax Statistics provides information via two databases - The Revenue Statistics and The Taxing Wages databases. Includes tax and other government revenue data, taxation and social security contributions as percentage of GDP, in addition to information about taxes paid and benefits received by workers. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1975 to present (Revenue); 1979 to present (Taxing Wages).
STAN: OECD Structural Analysis Statistics This link opens in a new window Provides data on annual measures of output, labor input, investment and international trade. New tables and data are made available as soon as they are published by OECD. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 2005 to present.
World Bank's DataBank This link opens in a new window The World Bank's DataBank is the gateway portal to the World Bank's World Development Indicators, Statistical Capacity Indicators, Education Statistics, Gender Statistics, and Health Nutrition and Population Statistics. Multiple datasets are available and users can access DataBank publications and the Data catalog. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies. Approximately 1960 to present.

Searching for Gov Docs in the Catalog

Sarah Lawrence College is part of the Federal Depository Library Program and is home to many government documents. You can use the Library Catalog to search for government records (gov docs) or browse through the online collections highlighted in this guide.

In the Library Catalog, use one of the following techniques to search for government documents:

A keyword search that includes a specific branch of government or state department can help you explore government documents held at Sarah Lawrence and/or accessible online through the catalog

Librarian Tip: Use quotation marks around the specific department that you want to search for, so that the catalog will search for the full phrase and not each keyword in your search.

Already know the title of the document you need? Do a title search in the catalog using the Advanced Search
Search by specific government department by using the author field in the Advanced Search to search for documents from that department or branch of government

For more information about government documents at the Sarah Lawrence College Library, please visit this page on the library website.

Nonprofits and Community Organizations

It is common for issue-based nonprofit agencies or community organizations to conduct independent studies and publish reports on their findings. These are usually available on their websites. When you are hoping to learn more about work around a specific aspect of your community, it can be immensely useful to visit the individual websites of related organizations to find their publications.

Places to Start

Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research Data and Reproduction Archive "Cornell Center for Social Sciences (CCSS) has an extensive data collection with emphasis on political and social behavior, demography, economics, and health. The collection includes federal and state census files, administrative records, public opinion surveys, economic and social data from national and international organizations, along with studies compiled by individual researchers."
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) An international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community. ICPSR maintains a data archive of more than 250,000 files of research in the social and behavioral sciences. It hosts 21 specialized collections of data in education, aging, criminal justice, substance abuse, terrorism, and other fields.
Nonprofit Explorer from ProPublica "Use this database to view summaries of 3 million tax returns from tax-exempt organizations and see financial details such as their executive compensation and revenue and expenses. You can browse IRS data released since 2013 and access over 9.6 million tax filing documents going back as far as 2001."

Alumni Research Tools and Techniques

Government Document Call Numbers - SuDoc Numbers

Demographic Statistics

Public Opinion Statistics

Crime Statistics

Federal Government Documents

Local Government Records and Information

Economic Data

Searching for Gov Docs in the Catalog

Nonprofits and Community Organizations