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U.S. Government Documents - Research Guide
Contents- I. Document Holdings at the Penn Library
- II. Key Indexes and Catalogs for Accessing or Identifying Documents
- III. Executive, Legislative, Judiciary Branch Links
- IV. Selected High Use Documents - Electronic and Print Versions
-
a. American State Papers
| b. Bills
| c. Congressional Record
| d. Constitution
| e. Declassified Documents
| f. Federal Budget
| g. Foreign Relations
| h. Federal Register
| i. Hearings
| j. National Security Files
| k. Presidential/Executive Documents
| l. Public Laws
| m. Serial Set
| n. Staff Directories
| o. Statutes at Large
| p. Supreme Court Decisions
| q. U.S. Code
- V. Key Statistical Sites from the U.S. Government
- VI. Published Research Guides to Using U.S. Government Documents
- VII. Document Depository Tools
-
| a. Major Statistical Sites
| b. Agriculture
| c. Crime
| d. Defense
| e. Economics
| f. Education
| g. Environment
| h. Health
| i. Housing
| j. Immigration
| k. Population
| l. Transportation
| m. Weather
I. Documents Holdings at the Penn Library
The Penn Library has been a selective depository for U.S. government documents since the end of the 19th century and holds a strong collection of documents back to the founding of the nation. While Franklin, the Penn Library Catalog, provides access to bibliographic records for much of this material, the Library has many uncataloged documents, particularly in microfiche. Timeline of Major Document Resources at Penn Library is a chronological list of the major Document text resources at Penn and Indexes and Catalogs of the documents. Period of coverage is indicated by the vertical line.
II. Key Resources for Identifying and Accessing Documents
Recent Documents and Some Full-text
Indexes to Identify Documents
From 1940 to the 1990s, the Monthly Catalog was the most comprehensive index to publications of all U.S. government departments and the Congress. The Document Catalog is preferred for the period 1893-1940. The arrangement is by government agency. Indexes refer to Monthly Catalog (MoCat) entry numbers. Entries provide full bibliographic information and Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) Number.
Catalogs, abstracts, and indexes all publications of Congress, except Bills and the Congressional Record. Covers Reports, Documents, Committee Prints, and Hearings. Includes Legislative Histories of Public Laws. Indexes by subject, name (author, witness), bill, report, and document number.
Retrospective Print Indexes
A comprehensive index, based on the enhanced titles of the more than 325,000 documents contained in the American State Papers and the Serial Set. Each entry gives document title, publication series & number, congress and session, and Serial Set volume number. There is a separate index of names and organizations as subjects of private relief and a numerical list of reports and documents and schedule of Serial Set volume numbers. There is a one volume index by reported bill numbers, 1819-1969.
III. Executive, Legislative, Judiciary Branch Links
IV. Selected High Use Documents - Electronic and Print Versions
American State Papers
A reprint of records covering the early sessions of Congress. Generally considered a part of the Serial Set. Indexed by the Serial Set Index.
Selected reprints of House and Senate Documents, covering the 15th through the 36th Congresses, issued in separately cataloged topical series: Agriculture, 19 vols. (HD 1759 U55 1973); Commerce & Navigation, 47 vols. (HF 3025 U53 1973); Indian Affairs, 13 vols. (E93 U938 1972); Public Finance, 32 vols. (HJ 249 U55 1972); Public Lands, 8 vols. (HD 171 A222 1973); Science & Technology, 14 vols. (Q 127 U6 U485 1973)); Explorations & Surveys, 15 vols. (G 220 N48); Labor & Slavery, 7 vols. (E 441 N48); Manufactures, 9 vols. (HD 9726 N48); Social Policy, 5 vols. (HN 56 N48); Transportation, 7 vols. (HE 195 U53 N48)
Bills
Y 1.4/2: Congress -(nos) Senate Resolutions (S.Res.)
Y 1.4/3: Congress -(nos) Senate Joint Resolution (S.J.Res.)
Y 1.4/4: Congress -(nos) Senate Concurrent Resolutions (S. Con.Res.)
Y 1.4/6: Congress -(nos) House Bills (H.R.)
Y 1.4/7: Congress -(nos) House Resolutions (H.Res.)
Y 1.4/8: Congress -(nos) House Joint Resolutions (H.J.Res)
Y 1.4/9: Congress -(nos) House Concurrent Resolutions (H.Con.Res.)
The Free Library of Philadelphia (19th and Vine) has:
73rd - 96th Congress (1933-1980) on fiche.
97th (1981 - present) on depository fiche.
Congressional Record
Bound edition (paper) [Van Pelt Library Stacks: J11.R5], 1874 - 1984, 1998-current.
Bound edition (paper) [High Density Storage], 1985-1997, v. 131-143.
Bound edition (microfiche) [Van Pelt Library Reference Gov Docs Room: U.S. Documents - X/97/1 - X/98/2], 1981-1984.
[Van Pelt Library Stacks: J 11 .A5]
[Van Pelt Library Stacks: J 11 .D5]
[Van Pelt Library Stacks: J 11 .R5]
Constitution
Declassified Documents
Federal Budget
Federal Register
[Biddle Law Library Govt. doc# AE 2.106], Lib. has v.1(1936)- present, some volumes are incomplete. Backfile on 6th floor. See also Fiche S24, Film S231 and Microopaque S2.
Foreign Relations
It is organized by year or groups of years, with geographical or topical sub-divisions. Many volumes deal with specific countries at specific times. For many years some volumes are simply labelled "general" to include those documents that do not fall into more specific categories. The documents in each volume are arranged chronologically. Each document has notes indicating its source and, where necessary, annotations providing contextual information or data relating the document to others. There is also a table of sources and abbreviations at the beginning of each volume, and each volume has its own detailed subject and author index. Cumulative indexes, shelved with the set, cover 1861-1899 and 1900-1918 (but the latter does not include the volumes dealing with World War I or the Russian Revolution). The World War II years (1939-1945) are covered in a commercially-produced index (Van Pelt Library Reference: JX 1416 C85). These volumes have several sub-series relating to special topics.
Hearings
National Security Files
The Lyndon B. Johnson national security files, 1963-1969.
- Africa (Microfilm 4330)
- Asia and the Pacific (Microfilm 3987)
- Asia and the Pacific, first supp. (Microfilm 4327)
- Asia and the Pacific (Microfilm 3987)
- Israel national security files, 1963-1969 (Microfilm 4329)
- Latin America (Microfilm 4322)
- Middle East (Microfilm 3988)
- United Nations (Microfilm 4326)
- USSR and Eastern Europe (Microfilm 4325)
- Vietnam, special subjects 1963-1969 (Microfilm 4323)
- Vietnam, first suplement (Microfilm 4320)
- Vietnam, Nov 1963 - June 1965 (Microfilm 4321)
- Western Europe (Microfilm 4328)
The John F. Kennedy national security files. 1961-1963.
- Africa (Microfilm 4331)
- Asia and the Pacific (Microfilm 3985)
- Latin America (Microfilm 4314)
- The Middle East, (Microfilm 3986)
- The U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe (Microfilm 4324)
- Vietnam (Microfiom 4332)
- Western Europe (Microfilm 4319)
Presidential/Executive Documents
Public Laws
Serial Set
Sequentially numbered bound volumes of
congressional reports and documents.
Besides committee reports
relating to pending legislation, the Serial Set included the
House and Senate Journals from 1818-1954. In the 19th century,
approximately 50% of Senate and House Documents were reprints of
executive branch or departmental publications.
It is worth
considering the Serial Set as a source of all types of government
publications into the first quarter of the 20th century.
Staff Directories
- Congressional Directory, 1995/96 - present.
- Government Manual, 1995/96 - present.
- Congressional Staff Directory
- Federal Staff Directory
- Judicial Staff Directory
- Congressional Pictoral Directory - 105th-106th, 108th Congresses
Statutes at Large
- Statutes at Large, 1789-
(Containing the Acts of Congress, including the Public Laws of the U.S.)
The United States Statutes at Large, typically referred to as the Statutes at Large, is the permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress. The Statutes at Large is prepared and published by the Office of the Federal Register (OFR), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Every public and private law passed by Congress is published in the Statutes at Large, in order of the date it was enacted into law.
All statutes are available via LexisNexis Congressional. Choose Laws, then Statutes at Large.All statutes are available via Hein Online.The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America .., 1789-1845. Buffalo, N.Y. : Dennis & Co., 1963.Print : [Biddle Law Library: KF 50 U5], v.1-8 1789-1845.The Statutes at Large of the United States of America, 1851-1936. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off.Print: [Biddle Law Library: KF 50 U5], v.9(1851)-v.20(1877-1879), v.22(1881-1883)-v.49(1936).United States Statutes at Large, 1937- . Washington : Published by authority of law under the direction of the Administrator of General Services by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service : Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1937-.Print: [Biddle Law Library: KF 50 U5], vol. 50 to the present. Print: [Van Pelt Library Stacks: KF 50 U58], v.78 (1964)-v.101:pt.3 (1987), v.106:pt.1 (1992)-present.Alternative source: From 1789 to 1873, the text of the statutes can be found in the appendices to each volume of the three forerunners to the Congressional Record: Annals of Congress, 1789-1824; (Van Pelt J 11 A5), Register of Debates, 1824-1837; (Van Pelt J 11 D5), and Congressional Globe, 1852-1873 (Van Pelt J 11 G5).
Supreme Court Decisions and Briefs
Choose U.S. Supreme Court Library. Includes U.S. Reports (1754-c. 2004), as well as U.S. Reports Preliminary Prints (2002-2006) and U.S. Reports Slip Opinions (2002-present).U.S. Supreme Court Records and Briefs, 1832-1978 is derived from two essential reference sources. For the period 1832 (when printed Court records began) through 1915, the documents are based primarily on the holdings of the Jenkins Memorial Law Library, Americas first law library, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. For 1915-1978 the source is the Library of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, a nationally recognized research facility and the single largest member supported law library in the United States. Approximately 150,000 Supreme Court cases are featured, the majority consisting of those for which the Court did not give a full opinion.Read about Oyez. Oyez aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. Information about major constitutional cases heard and decided by the Supreme Court. Digital records of Court proceedings in RealAudio.GPO AccessUS Supreme Court decisions from 1893 to the present, from volume 150 of the U.S. Reports. .Text of decisions from May, 1990 to the present. Plus over 600 historic cases. Compliments of Legal Information Institute, Cornell University.Text of decisions from 1937 to 1975.
United States Code
Current version. Choose Legislative Histories, Bills & Laws from left menu.U.S. Code - Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives.The Office of the Law Revision Counsel prepares and publishes the United States Code, which is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.- United States Code - Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
- United States Code - Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School.
- Based on the version provided by the U.S. House.
- GPO Access
- 1994 through 2000 Editions, plus Supplements.
V. Key Statistical Sites from the U.S. Government
Major Statistical Sources
- Statistical Abstract of the United States - all editions, 1878-present.
- FEDSTATS -
- Provides easy access to statistics produced by over 100 government agencies.
- STAT-USA/Internet
- Business, trade and economic information data.
- LexisNexis Statistical
- Statistical Universe indexes statistical data published in federal, state, and selected privately published titles, at the table level. In some cases the fulltext of the document is also available. Includes all American Statistics Index (ASI) abstract and index records for statistical publications from the U.S. government, indexing from Statistical Reference Index for non-governmental publications, links to hundreds of full-text documents published from 1994 to the present, and some state and international publications.
- Census Bureau
- Economics Statistics Briefing Room
- Social Sciences Briefing Room
- Provides easy access to statistics produced by over 100 government agencies.
Agriculture
- National Agricultural Statistics Service
- Foreign Agricultural Service
- Agricultural Factbook
- Census of Agriculture - 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007.
- USDA Economics and Statistics System - Mann Library, Cornell University
Crime
- Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice
- Crime - Social Statistics Briefing Room
- Criminal Justice Statistics, National Criminal Justice Service (NCJRS)
- Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Department of Justice
- Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center (FJSRC)
Contains comprehensive information about suspects and defendants processed in each stage of the Federal criminal justice system in a given year (1994-96). - Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
- TRAC: Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse - ATF Web Site
- Uniform Crime Reports - Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1995 - present.
- Uniform Crime Reports - University of Virginia, Social Sciences Data Center, data from 1990 to the present.
Defense
- Defense Almanac
- Facts and Reports - U.S. Department of Defense
- Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, Statistical Information and Analysis Division - U.S. Department of Defense
Economics
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S.Department of Labor
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor
- Office of Policy, Research and Statistics, Social Security Administration
- Budget of the United States Government, FY 1996 - current
- County Business Patterns - 1993 - present; from the Bureau of the Census
- Economic Census
- Economic Indicators, 1995 - present.
- Economic Report of the President GPO Access, 1996- present
- Economics Statistics Briefing Room
- Occupational Outlook Handbook (latest)
- State Personal Income, 1969 - 2003 - University of Virginia, Social Sciences Data Center
Education
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Condition of Education
- Digest of Education Statistics
- Education - Social Statistics Briefing Room
- Science Resources Studies Division, National Science Foundation
Environment
Health
- National Center for Health Statistics, Department of Health and Human Services
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Data and Statistics
- Health - Social Sciences Briefing Room
- Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities (IIF) - U.S. Department of Labor
Housing / Urban Development
Immigration
Population
- Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce
- U.S. Census - Research Guide
- County and City Data Book, 2000 - U.S. Bureau of the Census
- County and City Data Book, 1988 & 1994 - University of Virginia Social Sciences Data Center
- Current Population Survey - Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Demography - Social Statistics Briefing Room
Transportation
- Aviation Accident Statistics
- Federal Highway Administration
- Federal Railroad Administration
- TransStats, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Department of Transportation
- National Transit Database (FTA)
- National Transportation Data Archive, U.S. Department of Transportation
- National Transportation Safety Board
- Transportation - Economics Statistics Briefing Room
Weather Data
- National Climatic Data Center
- Climate Resources
- Get/View Online Climate Data
- Climatological Data Publication - monthly precipitation by place.
- Local Climatological Data
Need to identify city and airport abbreviation first, monthly reports since 1996. Data provided includes daily minimum and maximum temperatures, wind, precipitation, heating and cooling degree days, sunrise and sunset. - Hourly Precipitation Data Publication
- Monthly Climatic Data for the World
VI. Published Guides to U.S. Government Documents
- Morehead, Joe. Introduction to United States Government Information Sources. 6th ed. Englewood, Colo., Libraries Unlimited, 1999.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: ZA5055.U6 M67 1999]
- Herman, Edward. Locating United States Government Information; a Guide to Sources. 2d ed. Buffalo, Hein, 1997. 580p.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: J 83 H47 1997]
- Sears, Jean. Using Government Information Sources; print and electronic. 2d ed. Phoenix, Oryx, 1994. 539p. Index. Subject search, agency search, statistical search, special techniques: legislative history, budget, treaties, etc.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: J 83 S4 1994]
- Robinson, Judith. Tapping the Government Grapevine; the User-friendly Guide to U.S. Government Information Sources 3rd ed. Phoenix, Oryx, 1999.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: J 83 R633 1998]
- Schmeckebier, Laurence. Government publications and their use. 2d ed. Washington, Brookings Institution, 1969. 502p.
- The
standard guide until replaced by Morehead.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: Z 1223 Z7 S3 1969]
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: Z 1223 Z7 S3 1969]
- Boyd, Anne. United States Government Publications 3d. ed. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1949. 627p.
- Superseded in part by
Schmeckebier but still useful for historical purposes.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: Z 1223 Z7 B7 1950]
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: Z 1223 Z7 B7 1950]
- Kurian, George. A Historical Guide to the U.S. Government . N.Y., Oxford Univ. Pr., 1998. 741p. Index.
- An A-Z historical
profile of government departments and agencies.
Appendix of basic documents.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks: JK 9 H57 1998]
- Librarian's Guide to Public Records. Tempe, BRB Pubs., 1995. 299p.
- 11,500 major
federal, state, and county public
record locations.
- [Van Pelt Library Reference Desk: JK 468 P76 L53995]
VII. Document Depository Tools
- U.S. Government Online Bookstore
- Federal Depository Library Program
- Documents Data Miner
Search List of Classes, Inactive/Discontinued Lists, profiles of all depository libraries. - List of Classes
- Item Lister - List a Depository Library's Current Item Number Selections
Penn 0513B, Biddle 0513C, Free Library 0515 - Basic Depository Library Documents: The Unauthorized HTML Editions
- Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program
- GODORT
Send mail concerning this page to Patty Lynn at lynn@pobox.upenn.edu

