Library: Govinfo.gov Guide: Primary Sources for Citizen Engagement and Learning: Home

Information Services and Instruction Librarian

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260-481-6515

Subjects: Anthropology, Communication, Criminal Justice, English & Linguistics, Government Information, History, International Language & Culture Studies, Literature, Philosophy & Religion, Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, Women & Gender Studies

About Govinfo.gov

GovInfo.gov
Free public access to over a million, official full-text publications. Govinfo.gov is also the Government Publishing Office's (GPO) website for digital government information, especially 1994-current U.S. documents as well as large backfiles for some collections.
Govinfo.gov Help
Govinfo.gov has an extensive help section. For example, see the tutorials and handouts and the search query operators. Try also a Google search, such as: govinfo.gov help congressional record.
FDsys to Govinfo Transition
In December 2018, Govinfo.gov will replace FDsys. In December, FDsys links will automatically redirect to Govinfo.gov. For the latest updates to Govinfo.gov, see the release notes.
A to Z List for Govinfo.gov
Browsing the A to Z list is a helpful way to see what's included in GovInfo.gov. Each entry in the A to Z list also defines and explains the contents of each collection. For example, see the entry for the Federal Register.
Govinfo.gov Webinar
This one-hour webinar by GPO's Amanda Dunn and Christine McMahon provide an excellent overview of Govinfo.gov and the transition from FDsys to Govinfo.gov. For more GPO webinars, see the FDLP Academy: Webinars and Webcasts.

Search Examples for Govinfo.gov

Here are some examples illustrating a range of search options in Govinfo.gov.

1. Find a Public Law: Basic Search Example

"lilly ledbetter fair pay act"

"lilly ledbetter fair pay act" [Refine by Collection: Public and Private Law (under "See More")]

Public Law 111-2 - Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 [Summary/Detail view]

Public Law 111 - 2 - Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 [Related Documents]

Remarks on Signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 [Presidential Signing Statements and Remarks]

Inspire Indiana Databases

Inspire databases, available to all Indiana residents, include helpful summaries and analysis of many laws, bills and other legislative topics. If you have access to a university or public library, try also their article databases. For example, if you're at Purdue University Fort Wayne, try the political science and public policy databases.

Points of View Reference Center
Includes publications such as the Hill and Congressional Digest. Try the Advanced Search and, for more search results, change "Select a Field" to "All Text." Contains resources that address multiple sides of controversial issues as well as resources that are useful for developing persuasive arguments.
Newspaper Source Plus
Provides cover-to-cover full text for more than 40 national (U.S.) and international newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, the Washington Post, the Washington Times, the Times (London) and the Toronto Star. Also contains selective full text for more than 300 regional (U.S.) newspapers. In addition, full-text television and radio news transcripts are provided from CBS News, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, NPR, etc.
Academic Search Complete
A multi-disciplinary, full-text database designed specifically for academic institutions. This scholarly collection provides coverage for nearly all academic areas of study - including social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies, etc. and nearly 4,000 full-text scholarly publications.
Business Source Complete
This database includes law journals, which may provide legislative, legal and/or policy analysis. Aimed at the needs of business schools and libraries, this database also covers all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance and more. Some content is available back as far as 1886.
GreenFILE
Information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. Its collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles covers a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology. Topics include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling and more.
MasterFILE Premier
Designed specifically for public libraries, MasterFILE™ Premier contains full text for nearly 2,000 periodicals covering general reference, business, health, education, general science, multicultural issues and much more. This database also contains full text for more than 500 reference books, over 80,000 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of nearly 600,000 photos, maps & flags.
Military & Government Collection
Current news pertaining to all branches of the military including publications such as Air Force Comptroller, Defence Studies, JFQ: Joint Force Quarterly, Military Technology, Combat Edge, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Foreign Affairs, Naval Forces and many more.
Inspire Indiana Databases
Search across mutliple Inspire databases and find a list of all Inspire databases by browsing by subject or with the A to Z list. Inspire is supported by the Indiana General Assembly through Build Indiana Funds, the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act and in partnership with the Academic Libraries of Indiana

Websites and Guides: Helpful for Using with Govinfo.gov on Legislative Research

GovTrack.us
Nonprofit dedicated to tracking federal legislation. Pulls in legislative information from government sources, such as GPO (103rd Congress/1993-present; selected historical data), as well as voting data, committee info., etc.
Congress.gov
Search by legislation or member of Congress. See also date coverage.
more...less...
This website is also built from FDsys (soon Govinfo.gov) data. See also the Legislative Process Videos.
Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports
To find CRS reports, do a Google search for CRS and a policy issue, e.g. Google for: CRS immigration. These non-partisan reports are created by the Library of Congress' Congressional Research Service for members of Congress.
HathiTrust
HathiTrust is a digital book and journal archive that can be helpful for finding digitized historical government documents.
Legislative Process: Whole Picture
This guide, from Duke University, succinctly describes the steps a bill goes through in Congress to become law. Note, that some links are to Duke's subscription-access resources.
Legislative Histories of Selected U.S. Laws on the Internet: Free Sources
This list includes some free legislative histories of recent laws (see the bottom of the list). This list could be consulted to identify possible search topics for Govinfo.gov
Jerome Hall Law Library Guides by Subject
From Indiana University Bloomington
Helmke Library Guide to Government Information
Use the links at the left hand side of the page to find resources for federal, state, local and international government information.