Doing Research with Government Documents
Because the U.S. Federal Government conducts and funds so much research and publishes a wealth of information, there are government documents on an astonishing array of subjects.
Don’t pass up this treasure trove of information!
Government documents are published by the Government Publishing Office (GPO) and made available through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP), and GovInfo. In addition to these, the U.S. Department of Commerce also maintains the National Technical Reports Library (NTRL).
Each of these sites has unique characteristics, and it is worth learning about the differences.
FDLP
The FDLP handles cataloging, indexing, and classification of government publications. They provide standards and training for libraries housing government documents. You can get to the CGP and Govinfo from the FDLP website, but it is not itself a catalog.
CGP
Found on the GPO website, the Catalog contains publications from all three branches of the government as well as federal departments and agencies. If an official version is available in digital format, it will be linked in the catalog. If not, an unofficial version is often available with a simple Google search.
The CGP can be searched as a whole, or within the following subsets:
- Congressional Serials
- Congressional Publications
- Historic Shelflist
- Electronic Titles
- FDLP Web Archive
- Government eBooks
- Serials
GovInfo
GovInfo provides full-text access to official publications, including Congressionally Mandated Reports, Bills and Statutes, and the U.S. Court Opinions. Publications that are updated daily, such as the Federal Register and Congressional Record Daily Digest, are easily accessible on the front page of this site.
NTRL
The NTRL is a subset of the CGP, but has its own website. It is a collection of scientific and technical reports published by about 100 different Government Departments and Agencies. Similar to the CGP, not all content is available in full text on the site. But what’s not there can usually be found on the GPO site, on the originating agency’s website, or with a Google search. A word of caution when using this site: Many of the reports have incorrect or missing date information.
Whatever you are researching, it is worth a look. Information found in all these government sources dates back to the 19th century, so even historical research may benefit from a search.
Jennifer Williams is the owner of Entrelac Information LLC, conducting multi-disciplinary research to support client projects for authors, filmmakers, nonprofits, other organizations and individuals. In addition, she offers library consulting for collection management and vendor engagement.
