Government Publications

Start by:

Determining the desired Census year(s).

Determining the variables needed. 

Determining the Census geography required.  

Based on the above select the appropriate resource.  Not all data is available for all geographic levels and depending on the geography the data may not be in English. The larger the geographic level, the more likely data is available.   

Start with these:

How an idea becomes a law varies state to state, country to country. Only after it has undergone study, debate, and a consensus is reached does it become a law. The entire process is deliberately convoluted and lengthy. Very few ideas ever become law. 

Text of infographic How an Idea Becomes a Law

All laws start as an idea. An idea begins the legislative process as a bill, which can be introduced in either chamber of the Legislature.  In step one on its path to becoming a Law, the bill is studied.  Witnesses testify for and against it.  Information on the topic is gathered.  If it passes this initial scrutiny, the bill is sent to the full chamber to debate and vote on.  If it survives the debate and the vote, the bill next goes to other chamber and the process begins again.  If the second chamber makes changes to the contents of the bill, it goes back to the original chamber for a vote on the amended version.  This back and forth process continues until both chambers agree on exactly the same version.  The bill is then sent to the Executive Branch for signing.  If signed it becomes Law. 

In the United States, this basic process is followed on all levels of government from the local to the national.  Other countries handle the process differently.  The amount of background information and documentation available for any given law varies law to law, state to state, country to country.  

Start with these:

Federal Resources:

CONGRESS.GOV. (The Library of Congress) 93rd Congress (1973/74)-present. Contains information on Roll Call Votes, Bill Status, Floor Activities, Committee Reports, etc. Updated daily when congress is in session.  [Revised edition of the Library of Congress’ THOMAS.gov]

Congressional Record:  Proceedings and Debates of the Congress. Permanent Edition.  United States Congress. Washington, D.C.:  Government Printing Office, 1874-. Information on introduced bills, debates, amendments, votes, etc. (Since 1874, includes the History of Bills as part of the Congressional Record Index).

Federal Legislative History Research:  Introduction. (Indiana University – Bloomington. Maurer School of Law)  Overview of how laws are enacted, with tutorials, etc.

govinfo. Contains official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.  Links to the Budget of the United States, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register, congressional documents, laws, United States Courts Opinions, etc. Coverage varies. (Formerly called FDsys).

Ohio Resources:

Ohio Primary Law Legal Research Guide. (Hamilton County Law Library) Provides basic information about legal research.

Search Legislation. (The Ohio Legislature) Legislative information 2015 (131^st General Assembly)-present.

State Resources:

State Government. (USA.gov) Links to the official website of each state, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, etc.

State Legislative History Research Guide Inventory:  Introduction. Indiana University – Bloomington. Maurer School of Law) List of state specific guides to assist in locating legislation.

International Resources:

International Law:  A Guide to Resources for the Study of International Law. (Penn State University Libraries) Guide to International Law resources.

United Nations. Official website of the United Nations

Web Sites of National Parliaments. Links to the websites of those countries that have a national parliament. 

Other Resources:

Space Law. (United Nations) Treaties, resolutions, agreements, etc. pertaining to outer space.

See Government Documents and Information – Laws and Legislation, Treaties, and Budget and Appropriations for a further listing of OSUL’s legal research resources.

Treaties are formal agreements between two or more nations concerning peace, trade, etc. In the United States a treaty can only be executed by the Federal Government. While negotiated by the executive branch, it must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. The Senate does not ratify treaties - it only okays the U.S.'s participation.  A treaty is ratified when all parties involved exchange instruments of ratification with each other.

Besides treaties, the federal government can and does enter into other types of international agreements, collectively called executive agreements.  Because of the sharp increase in business being conducted between the U.S. and the rest of the world, Presidents have increasingly been entering into these types of agreements with leaders of other countries, especially in areas of foreign aid, agriculture, and trade.  

There are many resources available for researching treaties and agreements.  Before starting your research, Duke University Law Library recommends that you ask yourself the following questions:

Is the United States a signatory to the treaty?

Are there only two signatories to the treaty (bilateral treaty) or are there more than two (multilateral treaty)?

Is the treaty still in force?

Has the treaty been amended?

How you answered the above questions, will affect how you structure your search. 

Some resources to help you with your search:

Features – Researching Non-U.S. Treaties and Agreements.  (LLRX.com. Stefanie Weigman) Guide on how to research treaties to which the US. is not a signee. 

Treaties.  (Duke University. Law Library) General overview of researching treaties includes research guide lists, etc.

Treaty Documents.  (The Library of Congress.  Congress.Gov) Text of Treaties from 1968-current.  Searchable by congress and/or subject.

Not only do government agencies produce statistical data and legislation, they also engage in and fund original research.  Published as reports, studies, conference proceedings, etc., these technical reports are sometimes referred to as “grey literature.”  Library repositories and others are working to preserve and make these publications available digitally, but even with these efforts locating documents pertaining to government research can be difficult.

Published research produced by government agencies is not necessarily subjected to the same rigorous review process as employed by academia.  This in of itself does not inherently make these publications untrustworthy but their quality can vary widely depending on the source.  Government research can provide unique and critically needed resources in emerging technologies and in the niche research arena that peer reviewed literature cannot.

When searching grey literature, University of New Mexico. Health Sciences Library and Information Center offers these search tips:

Start broad, then narrow your focus as appropriate.

Try limiting your search to domains ending in .org or.gov.

Try limiting your search to [PDF] format, conference proceedings, or dissertations. 

Ask"Who Care?"

Once you have located your documents.  Harvard Kennedy School recommends that each piece be subjected to the C.R.A.A.P. test to evaluate its Currency, Relevancy, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.  Royal Roads University of offers a slightly different assessment tool, which is designed to lead you through the assessment process via a series of questions.

Resources:

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.  Finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online. Users can search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general key word, or click on "Advanced Search" for more options.Very slow to load. 

CONGRESS.GOV.  The official source for federal legislative information. It replaces the nearly 20-year-old THOMAS.gov site with a system that includes platform mobility, comprehensive information retrieval and user-friendly presentation.

CyberCemetary.  Provides permanent public access to the Web sites and publications of defunct U.S. government agencies and commissions. Very useful when presidential administrations change.A partnership between the University of North Texas Libraries and GPO.

Documents and Publications – Reports, Studies and Booklets. Online library and bookshop of publications from the institutions and other bodies of the European Union.Searchable by topic, institution, etc.

WorldWideScience.org. Global science gateway comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals.

The above was compiled from lists provided by Oregon State University Libraries, University of Washington Libraries, and others.  An expanded resource list is available at Government Research Resources. 

Further Reading:

Grey Literature. (University of Michigan Library) Although geared towards the health sciences, provides information on other general resources and information on how to search for “grey literature” especially using Google. 

Grey Literature. (University of New Mexico) Gives background information on the topic, search strategies, and lists of resources.

Grey Literature:  What is it?. (Royal Roads University) Offers a summary of the pros and cons of grey literature, etc.