2009 Gov Docs Refresher

Historical Docs refresherStatistics TipsDigital historical gov docs

Historical Gov Docs Refresher

1976-present in OPAC, sporadic cataloging for materials prior to that

WorldCat is the next best place to look for older gov docs

Remember to use LexisNexis Congressional to find hearings

Statistics Tips

Statistical Abstract firstGoogle or USA.gov search isn’t a bad strategy.Agency approach works well—who would

collect that data?Census Bureau A to Z is good for pointing in

the right direction.Powerhouses other than Census:

BLS BTS

EIA NCES

BEA NCHS

BJS

Old Census Figures

CEIC has quick access to historical population figures for Montana (http://ceic.mt.gov)

We do have old Census volumes Advanced search Census Year

Historical Census Browser at UVACensus Bureau has digitized lots of their

historical reports (more on this later…

AGENCY, LIBRARY, COOPERATIVE, & PROPRIETARY SOURCES

Digitized Historical Government Documents

Don’t forget about licensed resources

U.S. Congressional Serial Set

Hein Online

Digital National Security Archive

What is the Serial Set??

Short answer: A huge historical treasure trove•House & Senate reports related to legislation•Many reprinted executive branch documents (especially annual reports)•Special investigations•Miscellaneous cool stuff

•Not hearings (with a few rare exceptions)

More Serial Set

Look for something in the Serial Set when: People are looking for gov docs older

than 1964

People have a citation in hand that looks like S. Doc 91, 88-1 or H.Rep. 231, 54-2

Hein Online

Law library licenses this (campus-wide license)Great content:

Statutes at Large Federal Register Presidential documents Supreme Court opinions

Search interface needs improvement, but the content access is great.

Downloadable PDFs (excellent for email reference)

Digital National Security Archive

Access to declassified government information related to U.S. foreign policy

Useful for topics in the latter half of 20th Century

Think of this database if student is researching provocative foreign relations issues (Cuban Missile Crisis, Iran-Contra, history of U.S. in Afghanistan)

COOPERATIVESAGENCIESLIBRARIES

The free stuff…

Cooperatives

Google Book Project: http://books.google.com/

Cooperatives, cont.

Open Content Alliance / Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/USGovernmentDocuments Has separate section for digitized U.S. Government

Documents Librarians can submit materials for digital archive Better understanding of copyright-free status

Federal Agencies

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Publications Warehouse: http://pubs.usgs.gov/ Annual Reports Bulletins Circulars Open-File Reports Water Supply Papers Water-Resources Investigations Reports

Census Bureau

Digitized copies of historical statistical volumes: http://www.census.gov/history/ Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the

United States, Colonial Times to 1970 Historical Census Reports Statistical Abstract of the U.S.: 1878-present (

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/past_years.html)

Forest Service

Treesearch: http://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/ Research station publications

Forest Service publicationsare highly dispersed. It canbe useful to visit individualforest or research stationwebsites.

National Agricultural Library Digital Repository

Many core USDA series: http://naldr.nal.usda.gov/ Agriculture Handbooks Yearbook of Agriculture Reports of the Secretary Agriculture Agricultural Economic Report Miscellaneous Publications Technical Bulletins

NASA

NASA Technical Report Server: http://ntrs.nasa.gov NASA technical reports, 1958-present NACA collection, 1915-1958

NASA Images: http://www.nasaimages.org/ NASA's images, videos and audio collections Cooperative project with the Internet Archive

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

FRASER: http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/publications/ Banking & monetary statistics, 1896-1970 Economic Indicators, 1948-2008 Economic Report of the President, 1947-2008 Survey of Current Business, 1921-1999

ALFRED: http://alfred.stlouisfed.org/ Sets of current and “vintage” data

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

Electronic Reading Room: http://www.foia.cia.gov/ Family Jewels UFOs Psychological warfare Space weapons Memos about other countries

Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Digital Library: http://www.sil.si.edu/Galaxy.cfm?id=1.1 Contributions series U.S. Exploring Expedition Biodiversity Heritage Library Collection Mosaic of Science

Department of Labor

Wirtz Labor Digital Library: http://www.dol.gov/oasam/library/digital/main.htm Department of Labor publications Trade union and labor history materials Labor leaders’ biographies Statistical abstracts

Bureau of Land Management

General Land Office records: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ Land Patent search for all available states Plat maps for some states

Montana plat maps: http://glo.mt.gov/

Library of Congress

American Memory collection: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html

Academic & State Libraries

University of North Texas

Government information digital collections: http://www.library.unt.edu/govinfo/digital-collections CRS reports Experiment Station Publications Federal Newsmaps FCC Record USDA publications

University of Wisconsin

Foreign Relations of the United States: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/

University of California, Santa Barbara

American Presidency Project: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Washington to

Taft (1789-1913) Public Papers of the Presidents: Hoover to Bush (1929-

1993) Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents:

Clinton to G.W. Bush (1993-2008)

Oklahoma State University

Digital Collections: http://digital.library.okstate.edu Kappler’s Indian Affairs: Laws & Treaties Indian Claims Commission Decisions

Cornell University

Making of America: http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/moa/

The Cornell site has the War of the Rebellion series for the Army and Navy.

University of Virginia

Digital Collections: http://lib.virginia.edu/digital/collections/ Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery

Historical Census Browser: http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus State and county data for common topics,

1790-1960

Illinois State Library

Part of the Illinois Digital Archive: http://www.idaillinois.org/cgi-bin/ida/specificInstitution.pl?inst=118

Beautiful scans of WWI and WWII documents

University of Maryland School of Law

Special Collections and Digital Projects: http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/specialcollections/ Historical Publications of the United States

Commission on Civil Rights Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports

Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Libraries Digital Collections: http://dig.library.vcu.edu/index.php PS Magazine, the Preventive Maintenance Monthly

Yale University

Avalon Project: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm

Text versions of important legal documents

Other favorites

David Rumsey Map Collection: http://www.davidrumsey.com/

Other Favorites, cont.

Bureau of American Ethnology Annual Reports (French National Library): http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb37575968z/date