United States Federal Government Documents -- Sources

The Grinnell College Libraries have been a selective depository for U.S. Federal Government publications since 1874 ...

[For a more basic list of sources, click here.]

[For a step-by-step guide on locating government documents, click here.]

1. For specific documents --

From many branches and agencies of government:

1. GPO Monthly Catalog (description; FirstSearch interface; covers 1976-present)

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (U.S. Government interface; covers 1976-present)

2. Google--U.S. Government Search

3. WorldCat (description)

4. National Security Archive (description; George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA)

5. Cumulative subject index to the monthly catalog of United States government publications, 1900-1971 (in paper) and Cumulative Index, 1971-1976 (in paper)

Monthly catalog of United States Government publications (in paper under various similar titles; covers 1923-1995)

6. Checklist of United States public documents, 1789-1909 : congressional to close of Sixtieth Congress, departmental to end of calendar year 1909 (in paper; original and reprint)

Catalog of the Public documents of the Congress and of all departments of the Government of the United States (in paper; covers 1893-1940)

Comprehensive index to the publications of the United States government, 1881-1893 (in paper; John G. Ames)

A descriptive catalogue of the government publications of the United States, September 5, 1774-March 4, 1881 (in paper; Benjamin Poore)

From Congress (for Congressional hearings, see below):

1. U.S. Congressional Serial Set (contains the House and Senate Documents and the House and Senate Reports arranged by session of Congress. It began publication with the 15th Congress, 1st Session (1817). Documents before 1817 (and some after) may be found in the American State Papers. In general, the Serial Set includes: committee reports related to bills and other matters, presidential communications to Congress, treaty materials, certain executive department publications, and certain non-governmental publications.

Congressional Documents (covers 1995-present; ... originate from congressional committees and cover a wide variety of topics and may include reports of executive departments and independent organizations, reports of special investigations made for Congress, and annual reports of non-governmental organizations. There are three types of documents: House and Senate Documents; Senate Executive Documents; and Senate Treaty Documents.)

Congressional Documents--Browse

Congressional Reports (covers 1995-present; originate from congressional committees and deal with proposed legislation and issues under investigation. There are two types of reports: House and Senate Reports and Senate Executive Reports.)

Congressional [LexisNexis] (covers 1970-present)

CIS annual (in paper; covers 1970-1997)

CIS U.S. Serial Set Index (in paper; covers 1789-1969)

Numerical lists and schedule of volumes of the reports and documents of the ... Congress, ... session (in paper; covers 1933-1980)

Index to the reports and documents of the ... Congress ... with numerical lists and schedule of volumes (in paper; covers 1907-1933)

Index to the subjects of the documents and reports and to the committees, senators, and representatives presenting them (in paper; covers 1895-1907)

United States Congressional Serial Set

American State Papers

Checklist of United States public documents, 1789-1909 : congressional to close of Sixtieth Congress, departmental to end of calendar year 1909 (in paper; original and reprint)

Guide to American Indian documents in the Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1899 : a project of the Institute for the Development of Indian Law (in paper)

2. WorldCat (description)

3. Congressional Record : proceedings and debates of the Congress (in paper; shelved on the 4th floor of Burling--far west end; covers under various titles 1789-1990's)

Congressional Record (1994-present)

Congressional Globe (1833-1873)

Register of Debates (1823-1839)

Annals of Congress (1789-1825)

Congressional hearings:

1. Congressional [LexisNexis] (covers 1970-present)

CIS annual (in paper; covers 1970-1997)

2. CIS U.S. Serial Set Index (in paper; covers 1789-1969)

WorldCat (description)

A note on identifying Congressional hearings held before 1970:

Documents detailing Congressional hearings were not regularly distributed to Federal Depository libraries until 1922. Prior to that time, congressional hearings were sometimes published as regular documents and some of those can be identified using the CIS U.S. Serial Set Index. Many other hearings were unpublished.

Further information about U.S. Congressional Committee Hearings: Published and Unpublished (produced by CIS/LexisNexis)

Education:

1. U.S. Department of Education

2. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center)

ERIC (EBSCO interface)

ERIC (ProQuest CSA interface)

Laws:

1. United States statutes at large (in paper; under various similar titles covers 1789-present for public laws; up to 1950 for treaties)

available online (1973-present)

available online (1789-1875)

Presidential documents:

1. Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents (covers 1993-present)

2. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States (in paper; available from Herbert Hoover [1929] to present; in addition, the papers of some other presidents have been published separately; check the Library Catalog for specific call numbers)

available online (1991-present)

Science/Medicine:

1. MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine/NLM)

2. PubMed (NLM interface)

Medline (FirstSearch interface)

State Department documents:

1. Foreign Relations of the United States (in paper; currently covers from 1932 up to the Nixon administration)

some volumes available online

volumes available online through the University of Wisconsin--Madison Libraries (covers 1861-1958/1960; some missing volumes)

United States treaty documents:

1. Treaties (covers 1975-present)

2. United States treaties and other international agreements (in paper; currently published but with a large time lag; covers 1950 forward)

3. United States statutes at large (in paper; under various similar titles covers 1789-present for public laws; up to 1950 for treaties)

available online (1973-present)

available online (1789-1875)

4. Treaties and other international agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949 (in paper)

2. If not available online or in paper through the sources above, obtain the documents identified above through --

1. Grinnell College Libraries Catalog (an increasing percentage of our U.S. Federal Government documents are cataloged and can be located and sometimes obtained through the Library Catalog)

2. U.S. Federal Government documents that are part of our collection but are not listed in the Library Catalog are shelved by SUDOC (Superintendent of Documents Classification) number on the 4th floor of Burling (west side), in the Microform Room on the lower level of Burling, and in the Government Documents office in the Technical Services area.

3. Selected individual sources:

GPO Access (covers early 1990's-present; search across and obtain many key documents)

United States Reports : cases adjudged in the Supreme Court at ... and rules announced at (in paper; covers 1790-present)

Supreme Court Opinions (covers 1893-present; FindLaw)

United States Congressional Serial Set (in paper; the Reports, Documents, and Journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives; covers 1817-present; many volumes shelved on the 4th floor of Burling--far west end; other volumes shelved in the Vault or on microfiche)

American State Papers (in paper; covers 1789-1815)

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates 1774-1875 (selected documents; The Library of Congress)

4. The University of Iowa is our regional (full) depository for U.S. Federal Government publications. As a result, they will often hold documents that may not be available here at Grinnell. For information about their holdings and access to their collection, please see a Reference Librarian or Beth Bohstedt.

5. If you are not finding the documents you need, please be sure to see a Reference Librarian or Beth Bohstedt.