Government Information Resources
Journalism Information Gathering (J233)
As a member of the Federal Depository Library Program since 1886, Ohio University receives and collects government information, documents and publications. Many government documents - including legislation, government regulations, court cases, and Congressional documents - are also available on the World Wide Web through a variety of free Websites and subscription services. The Libraries' Government Documents site includes links to key resources online, hours and contact information, and a ready reference collection that includes online documents as well as important titles in Ohio University's collection.
Professional reference service is available in the Government Documents Department:
Monday - Wednesday 8 a.m. - 8 p.m., Thursday & Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday Noon - 9 p.m. (3x Month)
The Department is open all hours that Alden library is open.
Documents at Ohio University
ALICE
Most of the government documents at Ohio University do circulate and are cataloged in ALICE. Use a keyword search and use the Modify Search button and select Show/Hide Advanced Options and set the LOCATION to Alden Government Documents. Change the Limit to: View Entire Collection to World Wide Web to find government documents with links to electronic information and websites.
Finding Aids / Research Guides for :
Citation Guides
How to Cite? from and for Lexis-Nexis Congressional
Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications -- University of Memphis
Citation Guides on the Web -- Univ. of Michigan Library
Citing Government Information Sources Using MLA (Modern Language Association) Style [MLA] -- Univ. of Nevada, Reno
Research Databases / General Finding Aids
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
Finding tool for electronic and print publications from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government. The National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publication has more than 500,000 records generated since July 1976. Choose ADVANCED SEARCH.
Lexis-Nexis Congressional 
The Congressional service from LexisNexis includes material that focuses specifically on Congress and the legislative process. You can look up Bills and Laws, Congressional Hearings, and witness testimony as well as run Legislative Histories on this site.
Legislative History Chart from University of Michigan summarizes the steps in the legislative process with links to public access and campus-licensed web products. Resources marked with * are only available to University of Michigan affiliates, local users open a second window and use the resource via Ohio University Libraries InfoTree (type in the name of the resource in the search box).
Declassified Documents Reference System
This service provides access to over 500,000 pages of previously classified government documents covering events from the Cold War to the Viet Nam war and later. Valuable material for researching international relations, American Studies, United State foreign and domestic policy studies, journalism, and more.
Other Major Databases and Electronic Resources for Government Information
with Ohio University Athens Campus Web Licenses
Notes resources that are available by subscription only. As a subscriber, Ohio University does make access available to students, faculty, and staff through on-campus or remote access to the University's network.
Agency Material
Federal Agencies Directory
Search by keyword to locate an agency or browse the structure of the federal government. Perhaps the best online agency directory from the Louisiana State University Libraries and the FDLP.
United States Government Manual
Call No.: AE 2.108/2: current year Location: Government Documents Desk
Directory of agencies and officials; provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government. It also includes information on quasi-official agencies, international organizations in which the United States participates, and boards, commissions, and committees.
U S Government Information Resources- Executive Departments and Agencies
Free Government Information Search
On this site, you can search more than 51 million Web pages from federal and state governments, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Most of these pages are not available on commercial websites. USA.gov also offers a directory to state and federal sites as well as online transactions with government agencies.
Searches state, local, and federal Websites so results are more specific and reliable. The nicest feature is a cache that stores documents that may have moved, or been removed, from a site.
GPO Access
This site offers a number of resources that are essential to researching legislation, regulations, and congressional activity. It includes online versions of the Congressional Record, Congressional Bills, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, and the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents. Federal Resources Organized by Topic
Catalog of U.S. Government Publications
Finding tool for electronic and print publications from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government. The National Bibliography of U.S. Government Publication has more than 500,000 records generated since July 1976.
University of Michigan Documents Center
Federal, State, Foreign, and International information with links by subject
covering government, political science, statistical data, news and more.
State Legislatures Internet Links
NCSLnet Search contains information from the home pages and websites of the fifty state legislatures, the District of Columbia and the Territories. You can select to view specific website content materials (such as, bills, press rooms, statutes, constitution, issue reports, legislators) from all states, one state or a selected list of states.
THOMAS : Legislative Information on the Internet
The Library of Congress hosts this site. It is designed to allow users to keep up with Congress and the legislative process. There is some overlap between THOMAS and GPO Access. For example, both sites include the Congressional Record and Congressional Bills; however, some users find THOMAS easier to use. The main thing to remember is that THOMAS focuses only on Congress, so THOMAS does not include regulations or Presidential material.
How Our Laws Are Made
provides a basic outline of the numerous steps of our federal lawmaking process from the source of an idea for a legislative proposal through its publication as a statute.
Understanding the Federal Courts
provides an introduction to the federal judicial system, its organization, and its relationship to the legislative and executive branches of the government.
Current Documents in Print and Electronic for Policy, Rules and Regulations
Code of Federal Regulations - Call No.: AE 2.106/3: Location: Fifth Floor, Government Documents Reference Collection
All current federal regulations are available in the Code of Federal Regulations.
Congressional Record
GPO Access Text search: 1994 - current - GPO Access Index Search: 1983 - current
Call No.: X 1.1/A: Location: Fifth Floor, Government Documents Collection,
The Congressional Record is published daily when Congress is in session. It is a verbatim account of the activity on the floor of Congress. Supplemental reports and material can also be "read into" the Record and are thus included.
Federal Register - Call No.: AE 2.106: Location: Fifth Floor, Government Documents Collection
The Federal Register is a daily legal newspaper from the federal government. It includes Presidential Proclamations, Executive Orders, Proposed Rules, and Final Rules. Any new rules or proposed changes in federal regulations are open for public comment and are first announced in the Federal Register.
Public Policy
Selected Public Policy sites in Infotree for research institutes, think tanks and government watchdogs.
Government Accountability Office (GAO) "Provides both summaries and full-text files of reports and testimony dating back to fiscal year 1979. GAO posts full-text files on its web site daily, often within 24 hours of when a report or testimony is publicly released."
Public Policy Matrix from University of Michigan Documents Center
A good starting place for research on public policy questions, type of sources and starting resources.
Resources marked with * are only available to University of Michigan affiliates, local users open a second window and use the resource via Ohio University Libraries InfoTree (type in the name of the resource in the search box).
The Brookings Institution
"one of Washington's oldest think tanks, is an independent, nonpartisan organization devoted to research, analysis, and public education with an emphasis on economics, foreign policy, governance, and metropolitan policy"
CRS Reports
LexisNexis Congressional Research Service Reports provide members, committees, and congressional staff with nonpartisan and objective research and analysis on all public policy issues.
The Federation of American Scientists
"focuses the resources of the scientific and technical community on some of our nation's most critical challenges. FAS is the oldest organization dedicated to ending the worldwide arms race and avoiding the use of nuclear weapons for any purpose." Information provided covers Stategic Security, Information Technology and Energy and Environment.
National Journal Group's Policy Central
Covering politics, policy and government including the following titles:
National Journal In print (Current Periodicals JK1.N28)
Congress Daily
The Hotline
American Health Line
Technology Daily
NIRA's World Directory of Think Tanks, by National Institute for Research Advancement (Japan)
International directory of policy research institutes organized by name, by country and by acronym.
Other Resources of Special Interest
C-Span
Provides public access to the political process that includes gavel to gavel coverage of the U.S. House & U.S. Senate
The Hill
A non-partisan, non-ideological weekly newspaper that describes the inner workings of Congress.
Congressional Quarterly publications
The Reference Department on the second floor has many important publications from the Congressional Quarterly.
Some interesting information is also available from CQ's:
CQ Researcher
CQ Weekly
CRS Reports
LexisNexis Congressional Research Service Reports provide members, committees, and congressional staff with nonpartisan and objective research and analysis on all public policy issues.
Congressional Serial Set - Call No.: Serial Volume Number Location: Digital Collection and Fifth Floor, Government Documents Collection
The Serial Set comprises the documents and reports that are created as part of the legislative process. Many of the documents that are found as part of Legislative Histories are found in the Serial Set.
Voting and Elections Resources
Ohio
Ohio Capitol Connection
Updated daily, it has the complete status and full text of bills introduced in the Ohio General Assembly and closely tracks the activities of the executive and judicial branches. Provides daily coverage of issues in and around Ohio's government and political systems. Includes the Revised and Administrative code.
State of Ohio Government
http://ohio.gov/
Ohio´s official web site offers information for residents, businesses, government employees, and tourists. It also serves as a directory to websites for Ohio executive branch agencies, the legislature, and the courts.
General Assembly for Ohio
International Documents
AccessUN (1998 - Current)
Provides access to current and retrospective United Nations documents and publications. Selected full-text available, depending upon section searched.
Research Guide to UN information at Alden.
Europa
http://europa.eu.int/index_en.htm
Europa is the official web site of the European Union (EU). The contents are available in the official language of each EU member nation. Treaties, trade documents, and a variety of official publications are available.
United Nations
http://www.un.org/english/
The UN site offers documents, reports, publications, treaties, outreach material, and contact information in a variety of languages. It is not a complete source for UN material; however, most newsworthy materials appear on the site.
Remote Access
Off-campus, or remote access is provided for many of the Libraries' databases and electronic services, including LexisNexis Academic and LexisNexis Congressional. If you connect to the internet by dialing-in through the university's network, you should already have access to these resources from home. If you have a high-speed internet connection or use a dial-up internet service provider, you will need to follow these instructions to gain remote access to these resources.
OhioLINK
Ohio University subscribes to these resources as a member of OhioLINK, therefore, you can gain remote access through the OhioLINK Authentication service.
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