Subject Guides: Government Information: Search Tools and Databases

Search Tools & Databases

General Federal Resources

Lists & Catalogs | General Information Sites | Laws & Regulations

Lists and Catalogs

Federal Depository Collection: Core US Government Resources
Links to vital sources of information about the workings and essential activities of the U.S. Government from the FDLC.
Library of Congress Government Web Resources
Extensive list of web resources compiled by the the Serial and Government Publications Division at the Library of Congress.
A-Z Index of US Government Departments & Agencies
Contact information for U.S. federal government departments and agencies including websites, emails, phone numbers, addresses, and more.
Catalog of US Government Publications (CGP)
Finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive information for historical and current publications as well as direct links to the full document, when available.

General Information Sites

GovInfo
Free, online access to Federal Government publications, including publications from the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches issued by the Government Printing Office.
Census Bureau Data
Search economic, housing, population, and geographic data from the Decennial Census, American Community Survey, and Economic Census, and other sources.
usa.gov
US Government’s official web portal for the public to get information and services.
grants.gov
The US Government’s central portal for over 1,000 grants programs.
congress.gov
A public source for Congressional information, including the full text of bills, committee reports, floor actions and votes, and the Congressional Record.
The Federal Register
Official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.
Library of Congress
The US’s national library including its catalog to collections and access to the library's digital collections.
Cybercemetary
Archive of websites and publications of defunct US Government agencies and commissions.
US Government Manual
The official handbook of the Federal Government. Provides information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.
US Government Bookstore
To purchase a government document.

Laws & Regulations

United States Code
Consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the United States.
Public & Private Laws
Enacted bills and joint resolutions including "slip laws" that have not yet been added to the Statutes at Large.
Statutes at Large
Permanent collection of all laws and resolutions enacted during each session of Congress including those that may not have been codified.
Code of Federal Regulations
Codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the federal government.

Executive Branch Resources

Executive Branch Publications | Presidential Papers

Executive Branch Publications

The White House
Official website for the White House. Highlights the president’s recent activities and provides basic information about the executive office.
Official US Executive Branch Web Sites
List of agency websites compiled by the the Serial and Government Publications Division at the Library of Congress
Executive Agency Publications
Links to various executive agency publications on GovInfo.
Budget of the US Government
Full text of the proposed budget, presented by the president to Congress.
Economic Report of the President
Annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and submitted to Congress. Includes trends and goals concerning topics such as employment, production, income, and Federal Budget outlays. 1996-present.
Executive Branch Agencies
Information about the executive branch if the US government including links to official webpages for executive agencies, departments, committees, and other groups.

Presidential Papers

The American Presidency Project
Non-profit non-partisan An archive of documents related to study of the presidency including oral and written addresses, executive order, signing statements, and more. Hosted at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Public Papers of the Presidents
A series published containing papers and speeches of presidents going back to the Hoover administration through present. Roosevelt’s papers are not included as they were privately published.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
Manuscripts and images relating to American government, law, and politics including papers from most presidents. Collections appear in alphabetical order by first name.
Compilation of Presidential Documents
Contains the full text of executive orders, presidential proclamations, and other public statements. 1992-present.
State of the Union Addresses
GovInfo results for the full text of the speeches from 1994-present.

Legislative Branch Resources

Official Websites | Congressional History | Other Information

Official Websites

congress.gov
A public source for Congressional information, including bills, committee reports, floor actions, votes, and the Congressional Record.
Member Guide for the Current Congress
Official information about congressional members including information from various GPO publications.
US House of Representatives
Official home page, includes public disclosure reports and filings for Representatives.
US Senate
Official home page, includes links to individual Senator’s websites.

Congressional History

Biographical Directory of the US Congress
Basic biographical information with a bibliography of additional sources. From the House and Senate Historians. 1774 - present.
Congressional Profiles.
Information about each US Congress including size, party information, committee members and more. 1789 - present.

Other Information

Conressional Research Service Reports
Search research & policy reports by the CRS (shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress).
C-SPAN Video Library
Library of C-SPAN video coverage of Congressional sessions. Searchable by keyword, bill, or member name.
Open Secrets: Congress
Information on campaign contributions accepted by each member of the US House and Senate.
FEC: Campaign Finance Data
Campaign finance data for Congressional races from the Federal Election Commission.

Judicial Branch Resources

Supreme Court | Case Law | Other Resources

Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States
Official website for the top US federal court. Includes oral argument transcripts, opinions, bar admission and more.
Oyez
User-friendly site for viewing Supreme Court cases including text of the opinions, audio recording or arguments, and more.

Case Law

Nexis Uni
Provides the most comprehensive information on federal and state court cases including the full-text of decisions, lists of cases that cite a case, and law reviews.
HeinOnline
Millions of pages of historical and government documents and scholarly legal articles. Includes Fastcase Premium case law search.
Court Listener
Free search for millions of legal opinions from federal and state courts. From the Free Law Project.
FindLaw
Free case summaries for select federal and state courts.

Other Resources

Federal Judiciary
Official website of the federal courts including selected publications, court records, statistics, information on judges and more.
Cornell Legal Institite
Collection of online information about US law including Supreme Court and other federal court opinions.
Law Library of Congress Research Guides
A starting point for researching legal topics and recommend relevant materials in the Law Library's collections and online. Provides links to reliable international, national, and state level legal resources.
JUSTIA
A good secondary source for legal information. Basic overview of a variety of areas of law, links to primary sources of law, dockets, and legal news. Includes Supreme Court Opinions by year 1759-present.
Public Access to Court Electronic Records
PACER provides electronic access to federal court records. Note: access costs $0.10 per page, but there are ways to waive that fee.
The Constitution of the United States
Text of the United States Constitution as ordered to be printed by Congress in 2007.

State and Local Government Resources

Illinois | Lake County | Cook County (Chicago)

State of Illinois

Illinois.gov
Official state website with links to the office of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and Secretary of State.
Illinois State Constitution
The text of the constitution for the State of Illinois.
Illinois General Assembly
Website for the State of Illinois Legislature. Includes links to Illinois statutes (codified law), administrative code (regulatory law), and register (precursor to the administrative code).
Illinois Blue Book
An almanac of state government affairs and statistics published by the Secretary of State. Current volume online and older selected volumes between 1968-2005 available in the library.
Illinois Handbook of Government
Contains the Illinois State Budget, the constitution of Illinois, and other state government information.
Illinois Courts
State judicial information, includes Supreme and Appellate court current and archived opinions dating back to 1996.
Illinois Electronic Documents
The portal for official publications of the state of Illinois.
Illinois Quick Facts
Federal US Census data on the State of Illinois and its counties.
Illinois Digital Archive
The repository for the Illinois State Library and other library and cultural institutions of Illinois. Includes government documents, photographs, oral histories, and more content.
Open States: Illinois
Data and information on state governments going back to 2009. Use to rack bills, review upcoming legislation, and see how your local representatives are voting in your state
Laws of Illinois
Historic digitized volumes of the Laws of Illinois from Western Illinois University. 1818-120.

Lake County

Lake County
The official government site of Lake County, the Illinois 10th Congressional District.
City of Lake Forest
Lake Forest city website with local community, school, and government links.

Cook County & Chicago

Cook County
Official government site for Cook County,. Find public information and links to county agencies and departments.
Cook County Clerk
Official site for the county clerk. Responsible for maintaining most of the county records.
Injustice Watch
Non-partisan reporting and data on the Cook County legal system.
Cook County Open Data
Source for open data from Cook County.
City of Chicago
Official website for the city of Chicago. Includes links to city office and agencies.
Chicago Data Portal
Browse and donwload datasets about city departments, services, facilities, and performance.
Office of the Inspector General
Information portal and reports from the Chicago OIG, an independent, non-partisan watchdog with jurisdiction to conduct investigations, audits and reviews of most aspects of City government.
Encyclopedia of Chicago
Historical resources including articles, photos, maps, broadsides and newspapers related to Chicago’s history.

International Government Resources

Inter-governmental Organizations | Non-governmental Organizations | International Law | Statistics

Inter-Governmental Organizations (IGOs)

United Natiions (UN)
Official website for the UN with links to all UN agencies, projects, and public documents.
World Bank
Statistics, cross-country thematic research reports, and analysis on the global economy.
World Trade Organization
Official website for the WTO. Includes legal texts of agreements and information on issues covered by the agreements on international trade.
World Health Organization (WHO)
News and publications related to health around the world, including disease outbreaks, travelers' health, and the World Health Report.
Inter-parlimentary Union (IPU)
Contains information on the structure and working methods of 265 chambers in all of the 188 countries where a national legislature exists.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Includes e-library of official texts and archives for NATO since its founding in 1949.
International Monetrary Fund (IMF)
Data, statistics, and publications such as the World Economic Outlook.
European Union
Includes reports, country profiles, and links to EU committees and agencies.
International Crimminal Court (ICC)
Includes reports, court records, and international case law.
List of IGO Websites
An alphabetical list of IGOs with links compiled by the Northwestern University Libraries.

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO)
Organization dedicated to promoting cooperation between NGOs. Includes a worldwide NGO directory.
Amnesty International
Organization dedicated to fighting human rights abuses. Includes global issue overviews and human rights issues by country.
Human Rights Watch
Includes links to reports, videos, and news.

International Law

ECOLEX
A database on global environmental law including treaties, judicial decisions, policy literature and more collected from UN agencies and the IUCN.
HeinOnline
The international resources section includes treaties, international agreements, arbitration, and the Foreign Relations of the United States.
Library of Congress Guide to Law Online
Guides to legal information for 125 countries. Includes links to free legal resources.

Statistics

International Statistics Agencies
Links to organizations who collect international statistics including the national statistics offices for most countries.
Eurostat
The statistical office of the European Union. Information on jobs, housing, poverty, and more.
International Labour Organization Statistics
Statistics, research summaries, and publications fro the UN agency responsible for setting international labor standards.
Orgnanization for Economic Cooperation & Development Statistics
Data and stats from the Paris-based 38-member IGO.
Parline
Data on national parliaments provided by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
UN Data
The United Nations's data portal.