Guides
- Citing Government and Internet Resources
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- Economic Statistics
- Federal and State Funding
- United States Foreign Trade
- International Foreign Trade
- Online Government Statistics
Government Information and Maps
Government Agencies
Government Information Resources
Guides
U.S. Government Documents as Primary Sources
Primary Source documents are materials created at the time of an event or at a later date by participants in the event. United States documents produced by government agencies such as congressional documents, agency annual reports, and administrative reports are primary resources and provide a wealth of information about the history of the United States. This guide includes some of the basic tools for researching U.S. history.
General Online Sites
- 100 Milestone Documents – National Archives and Record Service list of 100 United States Documents
- http://www.ourdocuments.gov/content.php?page=milestone
- Avalon Project – Yale University; Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy
- http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm
- Primary Documents in American History – Library of Congress
- http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/PrimDocsHome.html
Historical Indexes for U.S. Congressional Documents
- U.S. Congressional Serial Set 1817-1980 via Newsbank/Readex
- http://uclibs.org/PID/42461
- Full text congressional committee documents and reports, including the American State Papers 1789-1838. Ongoing digitization project.
- CIS U.S. Serial Set Index, 1789-1969. [print]
- Index Table in Government Information and Maps.
- Indexes congressional committee documents and reports. See also online version – Readex U.S. Congressional Serial Set for full-text online.
- LexisNexis Congressional.
- http://web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp/
- Indexes and provides full text access to congressional publications. Search by bill number, laws, subject, committee and more in congressional indexes 1970 to present. Historical Indexes cover congressional documents 1789 to 1969 with no full text.
- CIS Index to U.S. Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1909 : guide to documents listed in Checklist of U.S. public documents, 1789-1909, not printed in the U.S. Serial Set [print]
- Index Table in Government Information and Maps.
- Indexes U.S. Government agency documents through 1909.
- CIS Index to Publications of the U.S. Congress, 1970 to present. [print]
- Index table in Government Information and Maps.
- Indexes U.S. congressional documents, reports, and committee hearings and summarizes legislative histories by public law number. See also online version – LexisNexis Congressional.
Congressional Proceedings
See also Digital Collections listed below.
- Debates and Proceedings 1789-1824.
- Gov Info Reference J11 .A5
- Register of Debates 1824-1837.
- Gov Info Reference J11 .D5
- Congressional Globe 1834-1873.
- Gov Info Reference J11 .G5
- Congressional Record 1873-1984
- Shields Library stacks J11. R2.
- Later followed by microfiche and online from GPO Access.
- Journal of the House of Representatives. 1789-1817
- Shields Library J31 .A2
- Journal of the Senate 1789-1817.
- Shields Library stacks J31. A2
Digital Collections of Historical American Documents
- American Memory Collection - Library of Congress
- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
- A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation – the American Memory collection from the Library of Congress
- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html
- Kappler's Indian Affairs Laws and Treaties
- http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/
Presidential Papers
- Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States. [print]
- Shields Library J80 .A2
- Library has volumes from Truman through Bush.
- Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States – University of Michigan Digital Library
- http://www.hti.umich.edu/p/ppotpus/
- American Presidency Project
- http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/
- Includes Public Papers of the Presidents, Hoover 1929 through Bush. Inaugural addresses, 1789 to present, Annual messages to Congress, Washington 1790 to present.
Foreign policy
- Foreign Relations of the U.S. – from the State Department.
- Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity. The series begins in 1861 with Lincoln's presidency.
- Declassified Documents Reference System
- http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/ucdavis?db=ddrs
- DDRS database contains declassified U.S. documents issued between 1941 and 1997.
- Digital National Security Archive
- http://nsarchive.chadwyck.com/
- The DNSA database includes more than 55,000 of the most important declassified documents regarding critical U.S. policy decisions.
- Documents of American History [print], edited by Henry Steele Commager
- Latest Edition: Hum/SocSci Ref and Gov Info Ref, E173 .D59 1988
- American State Papers [print]
- Gov Info Reference J33. A2
- A multivolume set containing more than 6000 publications issued between 1832 and 1861. Arranged thematically, i.e., Foreign Relations constitute 8 volumes. Also online in the Readex Archive of Americana Collection.