Many government publications are available online. This page provides links to a variety of online sources of state and federal government documents.

This page includes these sections:

• Idaho
• Idaho Government Publications
• US Government
• US Government Publications
  • Federal Depository Libraries
  • Catalogs and Databases
  • Government Documents on Non-Government Web Sites
  • Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
  • Educational Resources & Research Help
  • United States Statutes at Large

Idaho

• State of Idaho web page

Idaho Government Publications

• [stacks] Idaho’s Digital Repository – Digital repository for Idaho documents.
• Idaho State Records Center – This landing page for the State Records Center provides a short guide to state records. The center is part of the Idaho State Archives.
• Digital Atlas of Idaho – This site is administered by Idaho State University. It is a great place to start researching geology and natural history topics in Idaho.
• Idaho State Agency Databases – This site created by the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) provides links to databases provided online by Idaho state agencies.

U.S. Government

The United States Federal Government consists of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches. USA.gov is the main online directory for the U.S. government. The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has created the Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government to provide an introduction to the Federal Government and how it works. Explore the structure of the federal government in the U.S. Government Manual.

Legislative Branch

• Congress.gov
• United States House of Representatives
• United States Senate

Executive Branch

• Whitehouse.gov
• Executive Departments of the U.S. Government include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Lists of of Quasi-official Agencies, Independent Federal Agencies, and Boards, Commissions, and Committees are available at USA.gov.

Judicial Branch

• Supreme Court of the United States
• United States Courts

U.S. Government Publications

• Federal Depository Library Basic Collection

Federal Depository Libraries

These Idaho Libraries provide access to materials published by the Government Publishing Office (GPO). They are part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).

• Boise
  • Albertsons Library, Boise State University
  • Boise Public Library
  • State Law Library, Idaho Supreme Court
• Lewiston
  • Lewis-Clark State College Library
• Moscow
  • University of Idaho Library (Regional Depository Library) – Research Guides
• Nampa
  • John E. Riley Library, Northwest Nazarene University
• Pocatello
  • Eli M. Oboler Library, Idaho State University

Find more Federal Depository Libraries using Federal Depository Library Directory

Catalogs and Databases

• Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP) – Search for recent government publications, including online copies of government publications.
• MetaLib – Use this meta search engine to search 70 U.S. government databases at once. Use the Advanced Search to select a category.
• GovInfo – GovInfo was created by the Government Publishing Office to provide secure access to full text publications from all three branches of the federal government. Many publications are available back to the 1990s.
• National Archives – The National Archives is the repository for all three branches of the federal government.
• Library of Congress – The Library of Congress serves the United States Congress and is the largest library in the world. 
• Homeland Security Digital Library (HSDL) – This database consists of a Public Collection and a restricted Full Collection.
• Science Databases – The FARRIT page on scientific databases provides links to a number of government databases.
• List of Government Document Indexes available on GovInfo

Government Documents on Non-Government Web Sites

• Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) Web Archive is hosted by Archive.org. You may also access these sites through the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.
• Internet Archive
  • U.S. Government documents on Archive.org
  • Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) Web Archive, Archive-It.org – Archive of federal government web pages.
• U.S. Government Documents on HathiTrust
• Society for History in the Federal Government
• Government Attic – This site provides online access to federal government documents obtained by Government Attic through the Freedom of Information Act.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports

CRS Reports are written to help clarify important issues for members of congress.

• CRS Reports (Congress.gov) – This site was launched on September 18, 2018. Older reports may not be included.
• Every CRS Report – An attempt to post every CRS Report online.
• Congressional Research Service Reports, University of North Texas Digital Library 1990 – present

Educational Resources & Research Help

• Guides to Citing Government Information Sources, GODORT
• Government information librarians from a number of institutions have partnered to provide help through Government Information Online.
• The U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) has created the Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government to provide an introduction to the Federal Government.
• The Our Documents Initiative is a cooperative project of National History Day, the National Archives and Records Administration, and USA Freedom Corps.
• Education Resources from the Library of Congress
• Educational Resources from the National Archives
• Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – The United States Department of Justice has created a web page to help guide you through the FOIA process.
• LibGuides – LibGuides are online resources created by Librarians to help organize information about research topics. You can find LibGuides created by staff at universities and other organizations by searching for LibGuides on the Internet. Examples of LibGuides are:
  • Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) LibGuides
  • University of Idaho’s government information research guides. The University of Idaho is the regional federal depository library for Idaho.

United States Statutes at Large

The United States Statutes at large are laws and resolutions as passed by Congress. They aren’t freely available in one place on the internet. Find them in the following locations:

• 1789-1875: 1st Congress (1789-1791) volume 1 through 43rd Congress (1873-1875) volume 18 – American Memory
• 1789-1950: 1st Congress (1789-1791) volume 1 through 81st Congress (1949-1950) volumes 63-64 – Law Library of Congress
• 1951-2011: 82nd Congress, 1st Session (1951) through 112th Congress, 1st Session (2011) – GovInfo
• 1973-current: 93rd Congress (1973) through current legislation – www.congress.gov
• Print copies United States Statutes at Large may be available at your local Federal Depository Library under SuDoc number AE 2.111:.

 

This page updated by Ronnie Joiner on October 26, 2020.