Mary Abdoney
Information to Govern
"Knowledge will for ever govern ignorance: and a people who mean to be their own Governours, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives. James Madison (1822)
"Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government. Whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights." Thomas Jefferson (1789)
Most government materials are copyright-clear, often are free-of-charge, and usually may be posted or copied by anyone, as in this example.
U.S. State and Local Government Information
The W&L University Library Web site includes collected links to state and local governments, and the professional associations of people who work in these governments.
U.S. Federal Government Depository
The Washington and Lee University Library is a selective U.S. Federal Depository Library, as is the W&L Law Library. The complete list of publication series which may be available to Depository Libraries can be daunting.
And remember: LOCKSS.
U.S. Federal Government Information -- Free Sources
AGENCY SITES
The official organizational chart of the U.S. Federal Government gives one some idea of the scope of information generated.
You can get some idea of who publishes what from various guides: official U.S. Government Manual | official USA.gov website | commercially-published guides
Much of what the Federal Government publishes online is available directly and without-charge from agency sites.
Many reports are mandated by Congress.
Sometimes the content created by one office/agency/department can be scattered into several resources, such as Congressional documents and Presidential documents.
And what about agency sites that change or disappear? Cyber Cemetery and National Archives and Internet Archive (such as the official White House site). As of February 2018, there are a number of significant non-governmental projects attempting to provide back-up sites for vulnerable scientific data from EPA and other organizations. Among these are: Climate Mirror ; Data Refuge Project ; DataLumos; Sunlight Foundation.
Some agencies are particularly valuable as sources of statistical information. Two lists: FedStats and from something called COPAFS.
Federal watchdog agencies might be of particular interest to students and other researchers -- maybe especially to journalists.
SEARCH TOOLS
Basic search tool from the U.S. Government Publishing Office:
- GovInfoOfficial Government Publishing Office database provides access to hundreds of thousands of Federal Government documents, dating back to the 18th century.
U.S. Federal Government Information -- Commercial Sources
Since so much government information is in the public domain, private publishers usually are free to package and sell that information. Some common examples include financial information on companies, population data, and weather forecasts.
In some cases, commercial publishers create databases which do an excellent job of finding and retrieving information originally created by the Federal Government.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new windowProbably the single most useful published collection of statistical information on virtually all aspects of life in the United States. And it usually directs you to the originally-published sources of data for more in-depth coverage.
Earlier editions also are available online from the Census Bureau. Printed copies (1878-2011) are available in the library's Reference collection. - ProQuest Statistical Insight This link opens in a new window
Contains references to tens of thousands of data sources from the U.S. Federal Government, U.S. state governments, international intergovernmental organizations, and private sector groups, such as trade and professional associations.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
This is almost certainly the most comprehensive database of Congressional publications, some dating back as far as the late 1700's. Includes the complete texts of hearings and most other documents. An interesting sub-set of the database provides legislative histories. (Law Library subscription.)
- Ancestry Library Edition This link opens in a new window
Contains billions of records in census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more from North America, the U.K., Europe, Australia, and more. U.S. collections include hundreds of millions of names from: Federal Decennial censuses; birth, death, and marriage records including the Social Security Death Index; and U.S. border crossing and trans-ocean ship records. (Here are examples of original Decennial Census records from 1870 and 1880.)
Note About the Decennial Census
The subjects to be included in the 2020 Decennial Census must be submitted to Congress by 31 March 2018. See:
Historical Decennial Census Volumes
Census.gov provides access to digitized copies of Decennial Census of Population and Housing volumes dating from 1790 to 2010, as well as many other "special" studies.
The W&L University Library holds quite original Decennial Census volumes from the 19th Century (and since), with the first 9 Census collections also available in a pristine reprint set.